Re-entry...

Tue, 23 May 2012


I'm home and back to work - 'riding a desk' again. It'll take some time to adjust to being back in the 'real' world after the experience I've had; it's always a challenge to work and train, then be a part a part of something that is a cause so much bigger than any one of us who were involved.  

I know that my efforts, along with your generous support does make a difference and each time we are nearing closer to our shared goal of ending AIDS.


With so much gratitude to you and yes, hope for all...I will continue until AIDS is conquered.


Mary's AIDS Vaccine rider page - donations still gratefully accepted!

Packing for a cross-country trip to ride my bike all weekend doesn't pair well with last minute piles of work tasks - ugh!  Trying to clear my desk in order to finish packing and be ready to head to Atlanta tomorrow.  


Even though the weekend weather forecast doesn't include rain, I've packed my rain gear anyway, heeding the adage of "if you bring it, chances are you won't need to use it".  Looks to be @ 80 degrees with light winds - nice!

Super moon over Seattle, 5/5/12 (nothing to do with my ride, but I'm representing Seattle in the south this weekend!

I'll post pics and updates along the way...please know again how grateful I am for your support of AIDS Vaccine research!


Mary Harding's rider donation page - AIDS Vaccine Ride 2012


Tailwinds!
Mary

My bike is packed and I just need to cushion it well with my cycling clothes in strategic places and I will feel better about it withstanding the whole 'in transit' experience.  It always feels better once I get to my destination and can unpack and reassemble it, take a quick test ride and know that it's as ready to ride as I am!


Luckily I won't be under time pressure to get ready once I arrive in Atlanta; there's a dinner Friday night where we'll get our rider packets, route maps/cue sheets and hear about any last minute route changes.  Extended forecast shows temps in the 80's, some clouds and wind doesn't seem to be a factor, thankfully.  Usually, there are chances of thunderstorms in the afternoon, so I'll just have to get started early and pedal hard to finish before that kind of trouble!


I'm excited too about seeing the scientists and researchers from the Emory Vaccine Center - the beneficiary of our fundraising efforts.  They are working so hard and making extraordinary progressive; I've been working hard in training and fundraising so that I can support their vital efforts. 


As ever, I am a trustworthy steward of your donation; I pay my own travel costs and this is a completely volunteer ride effort (organizing committee, riders, road crew, medical staff, corporate sponsors underwriting ride costs of food and supplies), so that 100% of the money raised from this ride will directly fund developing preventive and therapeutic HIV vaccines as well as clinical trials. 
When I'm finished riding on Sunday night and able to sit without pedaling, I'll look forward to hearing an update :)

AIDS Vaccine Ride 2012 - Mary Harding's rider donation page

Tailwinds!
Mary

3 months from today - May 17th - I'll be arriving in Atlanta in advance of the AIDS Vaccine 200 ride.  The cross-country journey will take most of Thursday - lugging both my bike case and gear bag with me.  Then, on Friday, I'll be busy re-assembling and readying my bike, cycling clothing and gear in order to ride out early on Sat, May 19th.  

Early in January I posted a post-operative update and now, I can joyfully report that I've been freed from all casts and boots and can actually fit my still healing foot into my cycling shoe!  My right foot, according to my surgeon was basically reconstructed, but all x-rays look good and I've been discharged to physical therapy.  Weather-permitting I'll get out on my bike for a short, flat ride soon and then put my training ride schedule into gear, as I'll need a bunch of miles on my bike in order to be ready to not only complete the ride, but to have FUN too!

I am grateful for any support you can give me and, in light of recent news re: non-profit organizations, I want to explain again why I chose this particular ride as my beneficiary organization: it's 100% volunteer (ride organizers, riders, crew) and every $ that you donate to my efforts (secure link to my rider donation page below) goes directly to AIDS vaccine research.  Also, I pay every cost associated with my participation: rider registration, round-trip airfare, lodging, meals, cycling gear: all of it.  

Mary Harding's AIDS Vaccine 200 Ride 2012 - rider page


Tailwinds!
Mary

2012!

Happy New Year!

I'm marking not only the start of a new year, but also my 5th week post-op, after extensive surgery on my right foot; I've been non weight-bearing since December 5th!  My cast comes off next Monday and I'll have 5 more weeks in a boot, so I'll hope to be able to have some re-entry time on my spin bike at home before getting outside again in March. Attached is a pic of the day that I got the sutures removed and cast put on; still had 3 more weeks of non weight-bearing so I was lucky to get this full leg brace which allows me to move about w/o crutches and there isn't any weight on my lower leg or foot.  

I'm glad that I didn't have to stay stationary the whole time and appreciate being able to continue to use my right hip joint and quads.  Hopefully it won't be too much of a challenge to ramp back up on the miles when I start training...!

I'm already registered to ride again in the AIDS Vaccine Ride 200 out of Atlanta in mid-May.  It's not as long as some of my previous rides but it's a double-century ride over a weekend, so consecutive 100 mile rides will be challenge enough, thank you very much!  My training time will be condensed so I'm hoping for mild temps and a dry Spring - ha!  Knowing that 100% of every dollar I raise goes directly to the Emory Vaccine Center - HIV/AIDS Vaccine Research is the major incentive for me to get back on my bike and train hard!  As always, I will be paying for all of my own travel and ride-related costs and was also my own first donor :).  The ride organizers mobilize an army of volunteers, along with corporate sponsorships and in-kind donations to cover the costs of moving, feeding, lodging and safeguarding all of the AIDS-riders along the roundtrip route and overnight.  We also were treated to a rider check-in catered dinner at the Emory medical school building, along with breakfast on Saturday morning before we rode out.  They even had a local band playing for our exit from the Emory Univ. campus (to Lady GaGa tunes!).  

start of the AV200 ride, May 2011  (Tracy and I are on far side of road from camera @ :30 seconds, maroon/gold Puget Sound Rider jerseys)

Also, after we both re-registered for this years ride, we were interviewed, so I'm sharing the article highlighting me and my wonderful friend and ride partner, Tracy in a recent ride newsletter:  Rider Spotlight - AIDS Vaccine 200 Ride  

Dr. Mark Mulligan, Exec Director of Hope Clinic/Emory Vaccine Ctr was the medical director for the ride last year, volunteering for the entire time with 1 of his feet in a post-op walking boot. Mark noticed and asked about Peter when he spotted the picture I always wear over my heart, then shared his own pic of his brother Mike; AIDS took Mike too :( 
I was delighted to learn that he has registered as a rider this year!  He and a few of the other world-renowned research scientists at the Emory Vaccine Center met with us at the finish line and provided us with an inspiring report on their promising research. 


Sidebar, but couldn't resist sharing this pic of my grandson, Sullivan, on the day I got him his 1st bike; as you can see, he's most interested in the dragon horn he talked me into getting :)

I ask you to please consider supporting my AIDS vaccine ride efforts again this year; I so appreciate your generous support and just know that I bring you all with me whenever I ride.  You're in the best of company as my road angel Peter always rides in my heart and on my shoulder!

For secure online donations:  

Mary Harding's AIDS Vaccine ride 2012 rider page

Many thanks.


Tailwinds!

Mary

I am sure you're thinking that I've achieved Olympic gold medal status in postponement skills by now, so I'll try to catch up a bit on my AIDS ride effort this year: the AIDS Vaccine Ride 200 in May, supporting the Vaccine Center at Emory University, Atlanta.  


My longtime riding partner, Tracy and I arrived in Atlanta about 5PM on Thursday to a sweltering 93°, then quickly made our way to Emory University, as we were offered medical school dorm lodging since we were the riders who traveled the longest distance.  Turman dorm is a beautiful, new, 4-story 'green' building and we were the only residents other than the RA - nice!  This was great as all of the pre and post ride activities were literally across the road and so was the start/finish line for the ride.  When you already have to pack up gear and bikes, travel cross-country and rent a car for all said gear and bikes, it's a huge help to not have to find off-site lodging and commute for everything.

my side of the dorm room

We settled in quickly after meeting Marc, who coordinated all of the logistics for the ride; this ride is 100% volunteer - so, along with the riders and road crew, the ride management - everyone is a volunteer - donating our time and efforts so that all of the money we raise goes directly to the reason we ride: develop a vaccine to rid our world of HIV/AIDS!
We also quickly found the local Starbucks (we are from Seattle, home of coffee mecca, you know), pizza place, and local bike shop who sponsors this ride.  I spent Friday re-assembling my bike, sorting my clothes and ride gear in readiness to ride over the weekend and prepping all for a very early start on Saturday morning. 
We walked over to the Emory School of Medicine for ride check-in (get rider packets with route information, rider #, emergency contact info, etc) and had a yummy dinner, meeting lots of new friends on Friday then made it an early night as the alarm was set for o'dark hundred!

pre-ride breakfast; Rachel, Mary, Tracy

It was still dark when I brought my overnight bag for gear drop-off and rolled my bike over to the front of the medical school building again Saturday morning.  When I was putting it in the bike rack, another rider tapped me on the shoulder and asked me if he could get some help/ask me some questions.  As it happened, he was an experienced rider but using a borrowed bike with different components than he was used to, so he wanted to ask me if I could coach him on how to change gears!  I'm one of those who would not even use a new saddle or shoes or anything, never mind a new bike on a long ride - whew!  He quickly got the hang of it though and went to practice a bit on quiet campus roads while I went inside for breakfast.  

Mary's bike - ready to ride!

We were able to fuel up well, fill our water bottles, pocket some snacks and head outside for some last minute safety reminders and route updates before we enjoyed the send-off from lots of supporters and a brass band playing Lady Gaga on our rideout...through the streets to connect to a local bike path taking us towards Stone Mountain, site of our first rest stop.
Tracy and I were proudly representing our AIDS rider teammates and wearing our Puget Sound Riders jerseys 

We met up with lots of great folks along the way and we were all very appreciative that the oppressive heat and humidity had disappeared for us to ride out in a light mist, only requiring arm warmers and vests for the cooler early hours of riding.  As a rider who has unfortunately been caught in too many downpours, I now know to pack my rain jacket, just in case, whenever there is threat of rain.  Luckily I only had to carry it and not use it, as the temps were delightful and we rolled through the outskirts of Atlanta, rural backroads, past lots of farms, gorgeous magnolia and oak trees all the way to Rock Eagle 4-H center - our overnight camp 105 miles from the start. 

On Sunday afternoon we all met up at Decatur Square and riders lined up next to each other and our bikes alongside the path, as we silently paid tribute to all of those lost to AIDS - represented by a riderless bike.  We then climbed back on our own bikes, rolled out behind a police escort for the 2 mile ride back to the Emory University campus.  

This was another amazing experience and I'm encouraged anew that we're closing in on our goal: to end AIDS.  Thank you again to my generous donors; together we ARE making a difference!

Tailwinds!

Mary

105 miles are in the book!

Hi all,
Pic is of Tracy and me earlier this afternoon@ 70 miles.  Tha.k you for supporting the AIDS Vaccine 200 ride...it's 100% volunteer - ALL donations go toward a vaccine.
9:15 PM here and I'm about to sleep, then ride it in reverse tomorrow.
Mary

Emory University entrance

I'm in Atlanta...

Staying in a medical school dorm at Emory University...what a beautiful campus!  The Emory Vaccine ctr is the ride beneficiary...will probably meet some researchers at the rider/crew dinner tonight.
My bike is all re-assembled and ready for ride-out @ 7:30 AM, Atlanta time, tomorrow. 
A special shout-out to my friend Carson tomorrow...wishing you smoother roads and tailwinds on lifes journey, Carson...no wrong turns either!

Ready to fly!

My bike is in that bag...ready to head to Atlanta tomorrow; more to come...