Continuing the story from Part 1 which is posted just prior to this one. As we make our way toward Hiawassee, GA we have a minor hiccup in the ride. I say hiccup as though it is something to laugh at, and really it isn’t. Donna was down in her drops and had her vest open. When she raised up the vest caught the handlebars and she went down FAST! Her knee landed on a rock and it caused her an incredible amount of pain. We soon realized that it was more than a bump and she was going to need stitches. Taylor got a hold of her bike to work on it a bit to make sure to fix anything that was damaged in the fall and got it back and running in no time. Donna on the other hand was sitting on the bus asking what she was going to get to numb the pain before she had a needle and thread stitching up her knee! Jana is an M.D. and was asked to assist Keith. After 6 stitches and ice packs on both knees, Donna was ready to call it a night. We were worried because the next day was a full century ride and we thought…no way, her knees will be in big time pain. Well, much like the song on the slideshow, she’s like a rock!! She rode and did amazing along with the other Yellow Bonkers. What a ride it was!
When we pulled into Hiawassee, Mike’s dad was there waiting on us along with Mike’s wife and kiddos. Mike’s dad was beyond proud and SO excited to host a dinner at his house. As we chowed down on spaghetti and salad, Mark & Taylor managed to make us all laugh at the booty/shammy cream jars. Mike then took the laughs a bit further when he showed us all where it was to be used. You will see the funny pic in the slideshow (it’s tame just in case you were wondering..haha)
We tried to take a pic at each state sign – tried is the operative word. Also, WHY is it that we cross the state line at night? Trying to focus my camera in the pitch dark is a total challenge, that is where the flashlights or headlights came in handy.
We met up with team Polka Dot at dawn the next day and the scenery was breathtaking. The fall colors and morning fog made for incredible views!! This was also the day that Brandon became known as “The Cookie Monster”. He came up to the car and was starting saying “coooookies…cooookies”. Speaking of Brandon, while he was off making a call and eating more cookies, we managed to try and play a prank on him. I went up to the person driving the dump truck and asked if he would do us a favor. I said “See that bike over there? Go and get it and act like you are picking it up as trash”. Poor guy said as he was lifting the bike “I’m gonna get shot!”. We laughed and reassured that this was all in good fun. He found it rather humorous too!!
Enjoy the next slideshow. More to come 🙂

Stay posted for more!

~lisa

Many of you know that I recently took part in a journey across several states with an incredible group of people that make up the P3C3 organization. P3C3 stands for Palmetto Peloton Project Challenge to Conquer Cancer. This is the fourth year that the C3 group has ridden their bikes from Greenville, SC to Austin, TX all in an effort to raise money and awareness toward cancer research. Each rider and support person works really hard to raise money each year in addition to training very hard to prepare for the exhausting yet rewarding rides on the way to Texas. When I first started training with the group I mentioned that I wanted to ride AND be the photographer. Well our main man Ron, who organizes these rides each year told me that it probably wouldn’t work to do so. I thought “well sure I can!”. Ron, I must admit that you were (ahem)…right. This was something that I wouldn’t fully understand until after I finished our journey. So in the meantime, I did the training rides and planned to ride in Austin. At least ‘Ruby’ with the new pink tires could tag along and not feel left out! There were five relay teams: Polka Dot, Yellow Bonkers, Dream Team, Purple Power & Livelong. It was the responsibility of myself, Taylor & Kelly to make sure to take care of the teams as we went along. Kelly gave much needed massages after each leg, Taylor was our DJ, driver and amazing mechanic, and I…shot people! I shot people in the morning, at night, in the middle of the day, in rain, shine, fog, on top of cars, next to cars, hanging out of cars and anywhere else I can think of. When Ron said that the three of us would probably get the least amount of sleep I thought to myself that I was up for the challenge. Might I say that we got a little goofy, giddy and even grumpy a couple of times after about the third night of only 2 hours of sleep on a given day. I already came in a wee bit sleep deprived on the day we left because the night before I had an out of town wedding to shoot. Oh and I cannot write this without mentioning Keith who worked his tail off driving the big bus and took care of many important things the whole time.
The C3 group set out for Austin on October 9th from the Greenville Hospital Cancer Center at about 3pm. The energy was high and the emotions were intense. It was at that time that I took pause to really reflect on WHY I was doing this. Cancer has affected many of my family members & friends and I have friends that have had the very same. There are even C3 riders that are fighting their own battle with cancer and still manage to do this very challenging ride. Hats off to you all!!
I learned a little something about myself and left Austin a little bit changed. I am honored to be a part of such a loving and giving group of people that I call friends and I am SO looking forward to doing this again. Next time Ron…I wanna ride! 🙂
This is only part one of a few slideshows. This covers the day we left. Please take a moment to enjoy!

Thank you for stopping by.

~lisa