Geared back up all week for the next 3 week push into more miles, more hours and a stronger push for greater power. As I'm learning, a 24-hour ride to break a record will require as much deep power reserve as miles in the saddle. After 4 days of easy spinning, Saturday and Sunday were crank ups to reset the mark. Also, Sunday, was a chance to take education about Lupus to New York City's Central Park during its Pumpkin Fest. Amongst 20,000+ pumpkins, tens of thousands of kids and families, the Life without Lupus volunteers talked about the disease and handed out thousands of orange bracelets along with buckets of chocolate candy. And, we were able to shoot a few bike action scenes on video, and we're hoping to post those soon.

1:15 on the Track - 22:45 to go

After a 2:30 ride on Saturday, I finally had a chance to return to my teenage roots and ride on the Lehigh County Velodrome track for another hour. What a thrill. The track is fast, for sure, and it easily let me roll at 20+ mph, but that steep bank up is going to be a constant reminder that I'll need to keep my focus at the Big Ride. It's a long fall down the slope...a Great Weekend of riding and good visualization for what's going to happen in April '09. Thank you to Angela, my wife and biggest supporter, for encouraging me to go after Lupus in this way. You inspire me.

This morning's ride was a smorgasbord of fast spinning, heavy-duty sprinting and some steady heart rate training. Quite a mix, but with some light rain, quiet roads and the Rascal Flatts in my earphones, it was a super morning. On Tuesday night, I went to the Lupus Scientific conference and chatted up some of the new researchers...it's remarkable how much progress they're making with new lupus-specific drug treatments. The dollars going toward research are finally making real headway - now, if we could get the country's National Institute of Health (the NIH) to increase their funding for all medical research, we'd get somewhere. With this wacky economy, two wars and bailouts, I don't see much of that happening, Obama or McCain. Dr. Shlomchik, a brilliant leader from the Yale School of Medicine told me something that knocked me out: one AIG bailout would fund the NIH for 3 years! This Ride is making real progress. People are intrigued, and we're building good buzz. More to come.

On the phone today, someone said to me: "With so much focus on solving the Lupus issues as your mission, you must be very motivated." What a great way to describe what's happening behind this effort. Every day, I am privileged to get on my bike to ride further and further and stronger and stronger for those suffering from Lupus. From my daughter to my friend in NYC, to the women who works for GM Motorsports, to someone I met online from New Zealand, this Ride is getting more inspiring all the time. Today, I pushed harder than I have since I started - my legs were jelly, literally, when I was done. I had nothing left and, yet, I smiled because this is important. As the momentum builds and word is getting out, it's getting very exciting. With Wall Street in the dumps, it's time to get that bell-ringing picture off the home page! Soon...soon!