Becca Across America!

How would you feel about doing a century ride, that is 100 miles at one time? Or how about two century rides? Or just to make it interesting, how about one after another every day for six weeks, from the peach orchards of Georgia to the dusty prairies of Oklahoma, to the red desert of New Mexico to the Pacific coast in Santa Monica? No, it's not Lance Armstrong.

It's Becca Katzman, a high school student from St. Louis, Missouri who will be the incoming President of the Extra Hands Club at John Burroughs School. Becca isn't a professional, she hasn't trained all her life for her cross-country trek. She's just a person who understands commitment. That commitment recently landed her in an emergency room with an intravenous drip to combat dehydration. But she's soldiering onward as if it never happened.

"Oklahoma is very hilly with headwinds, but still insanely hot. My group is amazing, though, and even the worst day ends up being fun. We start the Rockies in a few days!!!"

Way to go Becca! We're rooting for you all the way!

If you're inspired by Becca you can show your support by making a donation or pledge in her honor to Extra Hands. Here's where to show your support: Secure Donation Center

Gina Six rides Hotter 'n Hell

Well, what an incredible day we had to ride!  Temperatures stayed down, along with the wind for the most part.  We had an overcast day with a slight shower around mile 40 which kept us nice a cool.  So much for hotter than hell!  We were truly lucky with the weather.

At the start line there were nearly 10,000 cyclists lined up with tandems, recumbents, high end bikes to cruisers. They lined everyone up by their category: tandems and recumbents, 100 mile racers (pros, etc.), fast 100 milers, regular 100 milers (that was us), 60 milers, 50 milers, 25 milers and 10 milers. So you can imagine the crowd! We were all packed onto one street like a herd of cows. The National Anthem played while 10,000 + people became silent. Then an Airforce flyover, followed by a cannon shot to start the ride. WOW! I had chills. It took a good 15 minutes of shuffling and walking before we were all actually able to fan out enough to ride our bikes, ever so slowly at first.

The ride was awesome and fast. We did the first 60 miles at about an 18mph pace, hitting a rain shower around mile 40 which made for some wet socks and bottoms! At the 70 mile mark, we had to stop. I had run out of water. Wish we hadn't had to have stopped, because warming back up after a quick pit stop is tough enough, but add a 10 mile slight ascent along with our first headwind of the day and man, I was traveling very slowly for a while. Thank heaven Adele was there to draft off of and urge me along. Another quick stop at mile 80 for some more water (yes I ran out of water again after only 10 miles this time) and a pickle and we were off until the end.

What an incredible feeling when we saw that finish line. Although I felt really good, at that point I felt like I was going backwards. I thought I was going to have to slap Adele and call her a few choice names as she told me, "I feel like I could go 20 more"! And, just to be clear, it wasn't really 100 miles; it was 102 miles! That last 2 don't seem real important when you are talking about 100 miles, but let me tell you, I could have done without them!! We felt great at the end and you'll see from the pictures we did not collapse at the end, but jumped with excitement! What a rush!!! Thanks Adele for being my coach and cheerleader! I couldn't have done it without her!

And, on top of that enormous goal, I managed to raise $1000 for Extra Hands for ALS. Until next year!!!

Gina

CJ Juhasz climbs Mont Blanc

CJ Juhasz, the original inspiration for the XHTC, recently climbed Mont Blanc, the highest peak in Europe. Her grand total now stands at over $25,000 raised for Extra Hands and the Jack Orchard ALS Foundation. Congrats CJ! Here's what she had to say:

A huge thank you to all of you who supported my Extra Hands Track Club alpine climb with your generous donations to Jack's ALS Foundation. I did, in fact, reach the summit (15,800ft) at about 7:45am on July 12th. While it was dark and very cold when we started out from high camp (a warm, safe, alpine lodge with running water, electricity and wait-staff) at 2:40am, the sun made a very dramatic and sparkly entrance just as we stepped onto the summit ridge and brought with it a cloudless, windless, perfect summer day. I could try to describe the color of the sky (blue) or the way the sun reflected off the glaciers on the surrounding peaks (like a mirror) or how the vast expanses felt (very vast)--but words fail me. I was just thrilled with the friendly conditions that allowed me to stand on the summit, gaze down at the world around me, and reflect upon about how much money you all owed.

But seriously, all the good karma you generated through your generosity definitely brought on my beautiful summit day. And together we raised over $10,000 to help Jack and others suffering with ALS. I thank you. CJ