This is my buddy, Bill. Everyone should have a Buddy Bill. Bill is the kind of buddy that I want to be to my friends. He’s the guy that is always there for you, ready to help, never expecting anything in return, and genuinely interested in what you do. He’s the guy that considers sacrifice just something that happens along the way when you are somebody’s buddy. He’s the guy that will always point out your strengths, overlook your weaknesses, and find a way to …

OK, I admit it, I’m an obsessive jock. All my earliest memories involve some sort of sport. It was baseball, football, wrestling and diving when I was a kid. My jockular puruits turned to tennis and golf when I hit college (even the football team’s water boy was bigger than me at Penn State). Outside of being “vertically challenged”, I guess the individual sports appealed to the control freak in me. Consequently, I have always been accustomed to training and improving in one sport or …

In my last post, I was excited about how I felt stronger, even though I was training harder. I may have turned the proverbial corner, at least the first of many corners on this long road. Nevertheless, I still had a fresh set of X-Rays taken on Sunday, and sent them to my surgeon extraordinaire; Dr. Harlun Amstutz of the Joint Replacement Institute.

I’m chompin’ at the bit to buy these bibs for the Giretto d’Italia, but I can’t do it till I know if we are an “official” LIVESTRONG event. The suspense is killing me! It’s been about a week since I made the decision to ride in my self proclaimed Little Giro (Giretto), and I’ve managed 5 good training days and 2 days of rest so far. The training is harder than I thought, since now I have to push and structure my indoor rides for myself, not just a class …

So here’s the idea. We get as many riders (intermediates to advanced) that we can to ride our self made “Little Giro” – or Giretto d’Italia for cancer under the LIVESTRONG banner. This will consist of just the first 5 stages of the actual Giro, done about 5 hours in advance of the Pros, but covering every km that they cover. The fact that the founder and worldwide ambassador for LIVESTRONG™ , Mellow Johnny himself, will be riding “right behind us”, makes the event all the more perfect!

I have really done it this time; inserted foot, leg and well more than I can say into my big mouth. I’ve debated doing this for weeks now, secretly hoping no one would be crazy enough to join me, so I would have a reason to not do it – but enough of that wimpy indecision. I booked the flight, and so I am committed to go, with our without others. I’m promising – no I think I should say attempting – to do the first 5 stages of the …