Day 5 Theme: Dig Deep

Day 5 Distance: 100 miles

Day 5 Van: #3

Day 5 Cast of Characters (from L to R): Jim, Theresa, Eric and your humble blogger. Not pictured: Olivia & Sasha

Today was the day to (as Brian Satola said) dig deep. It's exactly 100 miles form Jacksoville to Daytona. Nobody was forced to ride all 100 if they didn't want to. But we were challenged dig deep and try to discern why we are on this trip. Tuesday night at dinner, Jim, Theresa and Eric had already decided they were going to ride together and they were looking for a fourth person to complete the team. They turned to me and asked if I would ride with them. I told them honestly, I'm not as fast as the three of you. They responded we'll work as a team and we'll complete the 100 together. After some quick reflection, I agreed. So we were the third team to leave about starting point. We quickly found our groove and were flying down the road. In fact, we worked so well together that our ride time was 5:38 and total time was 6:03, which are personal bests for me! To Theresa, Jim and Eric: thank you for a fantastic day and a great ride. Cheers! :)

Today, I dedicated my ride to this woman:

This is JulieAnn Villa. She is a running coach and a former cycle coach of mine. How cool of a coach cycle coach was she? In Lake Tahoe for America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride, I was going up a difficult hill with JulieAnn behind me. To take my mind off the task at hand and she being a brainiac, she calculated the square root of my bib number which made me laugh and got me through the climb of that hill. She is the nicest and kindest person you'd want to meet.

In 2010, she was diagnosed with colon cancer. A couple of years ago, she was diagnosed with cancer in her jaw. The most recent scan of her colon showed no traces of the cancer and since she has seupassed the 5 year mark with clear scans ,her colon is considered cancer free. As she recently posted on Facebook, 

"One set of body parts down, one set to go". She has handled all off the procedures, surgeries, and chemotherapy with an amazing grace and dignity.  Keep on keepin' on JulieAnn! You are kicking cancer in its arse! :)

Tomorrow we head to West Palm Beach. I will talk to you then.

Gary

(G-Love)