Hopkins 4K for Cancer

June 22, 2007

by Nicole Errett
Team Directors! That’s right! Becca and I got to ride together today and it was AWESOME! I also got to ride with Jen, Jerome, and Katherine We started out biking really slow… well it was slow for them. For me, it was pretty normal. Luckily no one tipped over. Sometimes that happens when you go really slow. There were tons of rolling hills so Becca and I wanted to see who was more aerodynamic when going down hill. Because of my short torso, I was much more aerodynamic (i.e. I could coast faster down the hill) when sitting up. Becca, however, was much more aerodynamic when in the tucked position. The tuck, or the position when the rider rolls up into a small ball in order to minimize wind resistance, is a position that Becca has mastered. However, despite the fact that I was faster than Becca in the upright position, we concluded that the tuck is the most ideal non-pedaling position. Boring rides are made a lot more fun with silly games such as ours.
In the afternoon, there wasn’t much on the road until suddenly we saw a giant monster coming towards us. It was huge and green and had four wheels that were bigger than my bike! It took up the entire lane and some of the lane that was going in the opposite direction. It was slowly approaching us and Jen feared for our lives. She said that if we didn’t out bike it, we might succumb to its monstrous wheels. That was all she had to say for slow old me to take off. I rode away so fast that Becca and Jen claimed it was hard for them to keep up with me. I was so excited to find out that I could go 21mph- even if it was only for a few minutes! Unfortunately, the team now knows how to make me go faster. All they have to do is yell “TRACTOR!”
When we got into town, I rewarded myself at the ice cream shop with a diet cola beverage. The team has been trying to wean me off diet cola beverages (my favorite brand rhymes with Miet Boke, but will not be mentioned here…) because if consumed excessively, aspartame, the sweetener in most diet beverages is a carcinogen. Since I used to drink about a two liter bottle of my favorite diet cola beverage per day, it was definitely harmful for my health. In smaller and less frequent quantities my favorite diet cola beverage can be enjoyed healthfully!
When we got into Arapahoe we were taken to our host families to shower. Luckily, team directors got to stay together in Colleen and Rube’s lovely home where we got to sleep in giant comfy beds! We had a delicious baked potato bar dinner at the First United Methodist Church. Many of the church members there shared their stories about their fights, struggles, and successes with cancer. We met one man whose wife is currently battling a brain tumor and whose former wife passed away from cancer. Another brave man announced to us that he was currently fighting prostate cancer. The courage and strength of these people who can stand up and announce their fight with cancer to their friends, neighbors, and 26 young college students puts the strength we claim to have when we get on our bikes to shame. Tomorrow I hope only to draw my strength from theirs – because after going 20mph for more than 5 minutes, we all know that I will need it!