2007 Palm Beach Cycle Team
My husband, Rob, and I are in the southeast edition of the April 2008 Competitor magazine! My husbands friend, Carlos G., saw us in the magazine and brought a copy of the magazine to Rob the other day. Thanks Carlos!
On the bottom half of page 44 there is a large, full color ad for the Leukemia Societies Team in Training Program. The middle picture shows Rob and I, along with 3 of our Tucson cycle team members, getting ready to start the El Tour de Tucson ride.
At the top of this post is the picture that was included in the magazine ad. From the left is Shannon Cash, Larry Goldberg, Coach Dennis Harkins, Rob Smythe and Lynn Smythe. Those funny looking things attached to the top of our helmets are palm trees. Each Team in Training team attaches something representative of the area they come from to their helmets.
The Las Vegas team had a cool mini neon sign with LCD lights. Other teams had pig snouts, shark fins, pink flamingos - I have to remember to take pictures at this years ride. It’s too funny to see a bunch of hard core cyclists, getting ready to do a 100 mile bike ride with these strange icons attached to the top of their helmets.
Too cool, we are famous! 
No autographs, please. 
Cocoa Beach Century Ride
As some of you might remember, last year Rob and I raised money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society through their Team in Training program. The event we trained for was the 109 mile El Tour de Tucson, which took place on November 17th, 2007. We were the mentors for the Palm Beach County cycle team. It was a phenomenal experience, both the ride, and working towards raising money for such a worthy cause.
This year, Rob is going to be the coach, and I will be the mentor for the group training for the 2008 Intracoastal Waterway Century Ride. This 100 mile road bike ride takes place on October 26th in Cocoa Beach, FL. We are looking for people to participate as a member of the Palm Beach County TNT cycle team.
This is a great way to get the support and structure you need to get in shape, meet new cycling friends and achieve something many people haven’t - riding 100 miles on a bicycle in one day! The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is a charity that does much to further research towards cures, and ease the burden of those battling leukemia, Hodgkin’s disease, lymphoma and myeloma along with improving the quality of life of patients and their families.
In exchange for the support and training, you commit to raising a certain amount of money. The participation minimum for this ride is $2100. This might seem like a large amount, but you’d be very surprised at how quickly and easily this amount of money can be raised. Last year Rob and I raised over $6,500!
ALL CYCLISTS WELCOME
Last year’s team had everyone from very athletic road bikers, to recreational cyclists, to diehard couch potatoes, to a 63/73 year old couple riding their tandem bicycle. EVERYONE is welcome, no matter what prior road biking experience you may have. The Palm Beach County cycle team will have a coach, and a mentor to help you out with your training and fundraising goals. Each training ride also includes a SAG vehicle, filled with snacks and goodies, that sweeps the ride route should anyone have a mechanical problem or any health issues.
INFORMATION MEETINGS
Information meetings will be starting in Palm Beach County over the next few weeks. Rob and I will be attending most of these meetings, and will spend a few minutes at each meeting talking about our experience with the Team in Training program.
BOYNTON BEACH - Monday, April 14 - 6 pm - West Boynton Beach Library
JUPITER - Monday, April 14 - 6 pm - Jupiter Community Center
WEST BOCA RATON - Wednesday, April 16- 6 pm - Fleet Feet Sports Boca
EAST BOCA RATON - Monday, April 21- 6 pm - East Boca Community Center
ROYAL PALM BEACH - Tuesday, April 22- 6 pm - Royal Palm Beach Library
WEST PALM BEACH - Thursday, April 24- 6 pm - South Florida Water Mgmt District
PALM BEACH GARDENS - Saturday, April 26- 9 am - NIKE Women, The Gardens Mall
WEST PALM BEACH - Saturday, May 3- 9:30 am - The National Croquet Center. This is also the Fall Season Kickoff for all TNT events including the Accenture Chicago Triathlon, The Nation’s Triathlon, The Bank of America Chicago Marathon, Nike’s Women’s Marathon and the 20th Annual Intracoastal Waterway Century Road Bike Ride.
If you are interested in joining the TNT program, know someone who might be, or would like more information, please drop me a note.
Lynn Smythe
Team in Training Cycle Mentor
Thebikediva@yahoo.com
www.bikediva.net
For more information about Team In Training and the Palm Beach Area Chapter, visit their website at www.teamintraining.org/pb or give them a call at 561-775-9954.
MY PITY PARTY
My freakin left foot has been killing me since Sunday -let’s all have a pity party for me. 1-2-3-AWWWWWWW! 
On Saturday Rob and I did our normal road bike ride with the Boca Raton Bicycle Club. Did the normal route from Palmetto to Lake Worth Inlet and back for total of 38 miles. My feet were fine the entire ride. My feet were fine for the rest of Saturday. My feet were fine most of Sunday.
Around 9 PM Sunday I decided to take the flyer for the Bike America Cycling Festival out to Rob, who was in the family room, to see how early we would have to leave the house on Saturday morning. When I got to the dinning room, it suddenly felt like someone smashed the bottom of my left foot with a baseball bat. I took another step, and more pain. WTF!?!
I couldn’t freakin walk and had to hobble around the house like the old lady that I really am. 
I think Rob and I have an open tab at the Boca Raton Orthopedic Group so I called them first thing Monday morning. They said to come in first thing today (Tuesday morning) to see Dr. Bromson who specializes in surgery and sports medicine of the foot & ankle (and dance medicine too - how versatile 
).
X-RAYS
They took a bunch of x-rays of my left foot and knee. My left knee was hurting too, but I think that’s because of the strange way I’ve been walking/hobbling/hopping since my foot started to hurt. My knee pain could also be because I’m riding in a slightly different position on my new bike and my body has to readjust to the new, aerodynamic position.
BOTTOM FOOT PAIN
Nothing showed up on the x-rays though. Dr. Bromson said the pain on/in the ball of my foot could be a couple of things. His best guess was either a neuroma (benign tumor of a nerve running between the metatarsals) or bursitis (inflammation of the bursa, which is the fluid-filled sac between tendons and muscles and bone).
TOP FOOT PAIN
And the doc say the pain on the top of my foot could be the beginning of a stress fracture. But looking at a few websites, stress fractures usually don’t show up on x-rays until 2-3 weeks after they happen? He said to get some sort of metatarsal pad for my foot and come back to see him in a week and eat a bunch of ibuprofren/aleve.
I thought the OLD inserts I had in my road bike shoes had a metatarsal button on them which ended up causing me a lot of pain. I took the old inserts out and got a pair of those heat moldable inserts from Matt/Knobby. My feet felt great ever since putting in the new inserts. So I don’t understand what a metatarsal pad will do the help alleviate the pain in my foot?
WHERE’S MY MEDS?
I didn’t get a prescription for drugs, a shot of drugs, a lolly pop or anything. What a freakin RIP OFF! $30 co-pay, I should get a pen or a pack of gum or something.
TO RACE OR NOT TO RACE?
Well, I can barely walk to the other side of the house to do laundry. So maybe racing this weekend wouldn’t be such a good idea. My doctor didn’t say I couldn’t race, but he asked me, if I’m not able to ride at all during the week, did I really think I’d be able to get up on Saturday and go do a race? The freaky bike rider in me says - HELL YES!!! But the practical mom side says, take two aleve and call me in the morning. 
I think Rob plans on racing. So maybe I’ll take a ride with him, to at least check out the course for next year. And I can be the unofficial cheerleader.
ADVICE
Anyone out there that’s dealt with similar injuries that could offer their advice, opinions?
Demand Media and the Lance Armstrong Foundation Announce Agreement to Build LIVESTRONG.com
Launching in Q2 of this year, LIVESTRONG.com to become the definitive online social conversation for health, fitness and wellness
SANTA MONICA, CA, January 28, 2008 — Demand Media, Inc., the next-generation social media company and the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) announced their plans to work together to build LIVESTRONG.com, which will launch next quarter. By leveraging the social media platform and online expertise of Demand Media, the LIVESTRONG.com destination will engage users by providing a full spectrum of content, including actionable and personal online tools and professional health, wellness and fitness related content, to help them live better. Per the agreement, LAF and Lance Armstrong will become shareholders in Demand Media.
“LIVESTRONG is a global movement dedicated to changing the world through living well. Demand Media will help us drive awareness of ‘living strong’ to a broader audience through its powerful social media tools and Internet marketing expertise,” said LAF founder and chairman Lance Armstrong. “The LAF will continue to support cancer survivorship and call on our nation’s leaders to wage a new war against cancer through LIVESTRONG.org. LIVESTRONG.com will be a practical resource to find information from experts and the community, and a proactive way to have a daily conversation about being healthy and living an active lifestyle.”
As a strategic advisor and ongoing content contributor, Lance will work exclusively with Demand Media to build and promote LIVESTRONG.com for the next four years. Demand Media will have an exclusive and perpetual license to the LiveStrong.com domain and work with the foundation to develop LIVESTRONG.com into the leading health, wellness, and fitness destination. Demand Media will provide a perpetual license of its proprietary social media tools to support the LAF army of volunteers on LIVESTRONG.org. Donors, supporters and survivors will be able to interact on the non-profit site via profiles, messaging, photos and blogs. Members of the LAF army will be invited to preview LIVESTRONG.com before its public launch in Q2.
“Demand Media was formed to capitalize on the evolution of media where users consume and interact with content based around their own passionate interests. We have developed our platform and network to dynamically create the right combination of professional and user-generated content and applications. We will use this approach to build LIVESTRONG.com into the leading health, wellness and fitness destination on the Web, where users help themselves and then help others,” said Demand Media co-founder, chairman and CEO, Richard Rosenblatt. “Working with Lance and the LAF to launch LIVESTRONG.com is our most exciting venture to date. By leveraging LIVESTRONG’s brand, Lance’s prominence, and our social media platform, we will change the way people find and engage with health information on the Internet.”
About the Lance Armstrong Foundation
The Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) unites people to fight cancer, believing that unity is strength, knowledge is power and attitude is everything. We provide the practical information and tools people battling cancer need to live life on their own terms. We take aim at the gap between what is known and what is done to prevent death and suffering due to cancer. We engage the public at large to pursue an agenda focused on preventing cancer, ensuring access to screening and care, improving the quality of life for people affected by cancer, and investing in needed research. Founded in 1997 by cancer survivor and champion cyclist Lance Armstrong, the LAF is located in Austin, Texas. UNITE at LIVESTRONG.org.
About Demand Media, Inc.
Demand MediaTM is a leading social media company that provides an interactive, personalized and vertically-focused media experience for users. By using its proprietary social media tools and the unique distribution platform of the world’s second largest domain registrar, Demand Media connects content creators and eager audiences to grow its network of vertical media web properties. The privately held company was founded in May 2006 and is based in Santa Monica, CA, with offices in Austin, San Francisco and Seattle. For more information about Demand Media, Inc., visit: http://www.demandmedia.com.
Hi,
I wanted to draw your attention to this important petition that I
recently signed:
“Save the Fort Pierce Mountain Bike Trail”
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/SaveFtPierce?e
I really think this is an important cause, and I’d like to encourage
you to add your signature, too. It’s free and takes less than a minute of
your time.
Thanks!
Lynn Smythe - The Bike Diva
2008 Bike Event Schedule
From time to time my husband and I participate in various road biking events in south Florida. Here is a listing of the events we plan on doing for the remainder of the year. This is not a comprehensive listing of Florida events, just the ones we are thinking of riding.
If you would like more information on any of these events, click on the links to be taken to each events website. You can also email me at thebikediva@yahoo.com if you want to talk to me directly or want to carpool to any of the events or whatever. On the events with question marks, I’ll fill in the exact dates as they become available. And I couldn’t find the 2008 websites for some of the events, so they will be added as I find them.
I’ll also be adding additional events as I find out about them. For instance, last fall, JD State Park in Jupiter had a criterium race series that my husband participated in. If they plan on doing the series again this fall, I may actually sign up to participate.
Bike America Cycling Festival
Vista View Circuit Race - 40 minutes plus 1 lap
Davie, FL
Saturday, March 29th
WPB Time Trial Series - 16K
West Palm Beach, FL
Sunday, April 13th
Pedal for PAL Bike Tour - 62 or 100 miles
West Palm Beach, FL
Sunday, April 20th
MS150 - 150 miles
Coral Gables, FL
Saturday/Sunday, May 3rd & 4th
State Time Trial Championship - 40K
West Palm Beach, FL
Saturday, May 31st
Lauren Katzenstein Ride - 62 miles
Lake Worth, FL
Sunday, June 29th
WPB Time Trial Series - 16K
West Palm Beach, FL
Sunday, July 27th
WPB Time Trial Series - 40K
West Palm Beach, FL
Sunday, August 17th
WPB Time Trial Series - 16K
West Palm Beach, FL
Sunday, September 7th
Intracoastal Waterway Century Ride - 100 miles
Cocoa Beach, FL
Friday, October 24th through Monday, October 27th
Ride is Sunday the 26th, we are doing this ride through the Leukemia & Lymphoma Societies Team in Training Program. My husband, Rob, is going to be the coach for the team and I’m going to be one of the team mentors. We are going to Cocoa a few days early with our son and daughter so we can take them to the Kennedy Space Center and hang out at the beach.
WPB Time Trial Series - 16K
West Palm Beach, FL
Sunday, November 2nd
Leach/Lil Bleeder/Tick Adventure Race
Jonathan Dickinson State Park
Saturday, November 15th
South Broward Wheelers Century Ride
Brian Picolo Park
Cooper City, FL
?November
Kids in Distress Inlet Challenge - 62 or 100 miles
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
?early December
Sunday March 30, 2008 7:30 AM - everglades
Everglades Bicycle Club is proud to announce our annual
Snowbird Century ride for Sunday March 30th at 7:30am.
Register now Snowbird
Location
Fruit and Spice Park
Address: 24801 SW 187 Avenue. Homestead, FL 33166
Snowbird Century Everglades Bicycle Club Member - $30.00
Snowbird Century Everglades Bicycle Club NON member - $35.00
Online Registration Closes:
03/27/08 11:59 PM
Hello!
My husband, Rob, and I did our first time trial today. I think the getting up at 5:15 AM in 47 degree weather was the worst part. I think it was going to snow!?! That’s just slightly sarcastic - we live in SE Florida, so 47 is cold, but that would probably be a heat wave for the rest of the country.
The time trial was part of the West Palm Beach Time Trial Series. We missed the first one of 2oo8, which took place last month. But we are going to try to do as many of the remaining races as possible.
The time trial was only a 15K = ~9 1/2 miles. Don’t remember our exact times - 30 minutes maybe? Nasty headwind first half of the ride - I couldn’t freakin’ move my legs. Rob got 9th place for his age group - some hammerhead old dudes were out in force. The overall male finished in like 19 mintues - he had calves the size of oak trees. 
And the best part of all - I got 3rd place in my age group - yippie! I don’t really think that means anything - I think there were only 4 girls in my group. But I got a $10 bill and a nice, shiny medal - cool!!!! So now I’ve got the bug, got to see if I can beat my own time next time. They give out a KILLER trophy for first place overall - I want one! 
RIDE-A-BIKE, RIDE-A-BIKE, RIDE-A-BIKE, IT’S FUN - WEEEEEEEEEEEE!
Take care,
Lynn
P.S. - I’ll try to take a photo of my medal so I can add it to this post. I am a bike NERD!
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