Brent Stanton's Team In Training Page

The Ride is Over ...but the Race is not won...

I just wanted to send you all this letter and THANK YOU!.. for your donations to Team in Training and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Foundation. We had our 100-mile bike ride around Lake Tahoe on the 4th of June. It was an amazing event! Over 3,000 riders took part and we even had to have the road up to Emerald bay from South Lake Tahoe closed off for 3 hours to get us all though the first part of the course. And thanks to your help we raised over 3 million dollars. The event was a huge success. All the teams from across the nation arrived on that Friday and organized their gear. Sat. morning there was an easy 20-mile acclimation ride. Later that night was an informational dinner and we had speakers from all over that helped to explain just where all the funds go and how they affected those in need. It was then an early-to-bed, followed by an early wake up. 4am! We assembled in the Parking lot of the Horizon Casino and at 6am the Ride Officially started. The West LA group had the second wave at 6:05am. It was a cold start. Snow was still in the hills but we soon warmed up and found our pace. It was great meeting so many people from all over! We climbed our first grade by traversing the switchbacks of Emerald Bay and watching the sunrise slowly. The Alpine vistas helped to keep your mind off your being sore and tired though out the ride. We then proceeded down to the north end of the lake. At times I reached more than 45mph on the “down hills.” We broke off the lake at one point and headed off on a fantastic bike bath along a river swelling with snowmelt up to the town of Truckee. It was a quick turn around and back down to the lake again. We made our way around to Kings Beach. All along the way were safety stops with bathrooms, bike mechanics and quick grabs for something to help keep you nourished and hydrated. Also along the route were hundreds of friends and family and inspirational people to keep you’re your spirits up and you body going. Some of which were the very people your donations were going to help. After a short stop in Kings Beach around 1245pm, I got back on the road and faced the final stage of the ride. Spooner Summit is the steepest and longest part of the ride. A fifteen-mile climb! Up to the highest point on the ride. And by now it was mid day and the sun had graced us with a fantastic 85 degrees. Progress was slow and steady and you kept counting the miles off as you climbed. My hat was off to the lady on the side of the road with the “Hudson” sprayer! You could see her up ahead, and that small amount of mist felt so good as you passed on by. I remember thinking how something so little could do so much. Later I reflected on the donations. How so little could combine to go so far. We peeked the Summit where the main road from Reno comes into the south end of the lake. It would be a fast and long ride down hill! It’s an amazing feeling racing full out down an asphalt freeway in a pack of other bike riders. We took up our own lane and raced the regular traffic down the summit. The fresh Mt. air blasting past us as our legs gladly rested. Through Cave Rock and down to Zephyr Cove, there was only a couple of “small Rollers” left and five miles to the finish. But after 95 miles of Alpine riding those “rollers” weighed on your mind as well as you muscles. At last the trees cleared and you came around that last turn. The Casinos rose up like some kind of “Emerald City” and you knew you were only minutes away from the finish line. We rode back into town with the victory in sight and turned into the back of the Horizon once again. We turned a corner and up into an upper area of the parking lot. Only to be greeted by a huge banner and a mass of people cheering! 3:25pm! You had made it…. and done something more by doing so. I can’t tell you all the personal stories from all the individual riders. Where their inspirations came from. There are just too many. The T-shirts with people’s relatives on them. The buttons, the signs, and the photos of those stricken or of those lost… the stories… Crossing the finish was a mixed flood of emotion. Celebration, grief and hope all mixed to take away any physical pains you might normally feel after such an undertaking. It really was something special. We were greeted personally by a little girl who had fought off her cancer. She had spoken the night before at the dinner. She handed out hugs to as many riders as she could, and her eyes where not unlike a little ones on Christmas morning. Bright and amazed at all that was going on around her. And thankful to everyone! The next day I drove out of Tahoe with the top down on my Jeep and my bike on the rack in back. The sky was blue and I felt good. Everyone was saying his or her good byes. I left alone that sunny afternoon but there was one story that kept haunting me… The man that had crossed the finish line with his baby daughters picture held out in front of him… The previous year he had done the same event. Just prior to crossing the finish line that previous year his wife had greeted him and he reached for his little baby girl. He held her up and carried her across the finish with him…. This year he could only carry her picture…and her memory. As I drove out of the high Sierra’s I thought back to how many pictures I had seen. How many? My personal reasons for doing this event are varied and touch me in my own way. I want to thank you for helping and hope that you feel as good as I do in helping to make a difference. It’s a good thing and believe me, donating not just a handing over a little money. It Does Make a “Real” Difference… to “Real” People. - Thank you. …….next year I’ll be back, -Brent If you would still like to make a donation... Please do. Thank you.