Me and my buddy with our helmets on! 7/11/09

he has red eyes!! 7/11/09

repelling along our way... safety 1st he still has a helmet on! 7/4/09

our old home on Wiggington Rd finally sold... and they added a big ole fence and have 2 big ole dogs!
berry picking; black berries and raspberries 7/4/09

So on Saturday dad and I road the exact same ride as last week so you and I know that makes it 23.6 miles for me and 21.4 for dad. This time we brought a bag and went berry picking seriously--- not just munching like last time:-) We got enough blackberries and raspberries to make a pie or cobbler and they fit safely in my biking bag! Wonder if we are the only team who doesn't completely take our biking seriously? We insist on making it an adventure and having fun not just biking! Bet we are the first in-trainers to go berry picking along the way though! That's why my team is awesome, just dad and me being us! But it'll be fun to have Uncle King join in on our insanity come "race day" although it isn't exactly a race. I made a friend around mile 13, Turtle!!! He was out of his shell and everything! I am sure we are new best friends since I saved his life and removed him from the middle of the road to a nice grassy field. I bet he'll always remember me... hahaha as that goof who disturbed his suntan one relaxing Saturday morning--- ugh humans! We did it all in about the same amount of time give or take 5 minutes and that included 25 or more mins of ONLY berry picking so we MUST be improving! There were lots of bikers out today compared to NO ONE last week. I guess they were on a 4th of July vayacy! Then as usual I went to work... not as usual I was actually really tired today after training... that was no fun, but I fought it off even making a BIG meal of oven ranch and BBQ chicken, corn on the cob, cheesy potatoes, chicken rice, pasta salad, and pepperoni rolls all of which was home made and I had dad and Mark over since mom was out of town. Dad brought watermelon. It was nice having them over even better was getting two more support donations in my mailbox!! My Uncle Tom and Aunt Polly increased their donation from last year from 50 to $60 and Marko's Uncle Bernard and Aunt Helen sent 20!! So I have surpassed the 1/2 way mark and am at 56% now!! I don't think I'll make my $1000 goal but hopefully I can at least match last year. Times are tougher for friends and family this year so fund raising has def been much more challenging! Well hang tight and I'll update you all next week! If you haven't yet donated I sure hope you will, even if it just $3 (that's a penny a mile for each dad and me!) You donate here:
http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/bethanysykes

Biking, my love...

YES I shall annoy and bother you with more tales of the bikes!! It is copied and pasted from my MS150 webpage

New Bike computer!
So I should have biked with dad last Sat but got called into work- UGH! Wasn't even my store. So this weekend dad's out of town with the fam but I rode without him! I was gone for 3ish hours. I rode to Bikes Unlimited. I got a computer for my bike so now I can figure out my mileage WITHOUT mapquest! While they installed it I went to Gives/Little Dickens Bookstore and had some fabulous potato soup and a "eh" strawberry smoothie thing.... at least it was cold and could cool me down. I walked back to the bike shop and got a pair of biking gloves too and off I went! I rode out to Forest and saw the burned down Jefferson shopping center, home of Blackwater Bikes. Rode past Bk. It was scorchingly hot 90 degree. I was dying! I rode home and right before home I stopped at the snowcone place for a medium 1/2 watermelon 1/2 rootbeer heavenly snowcone. I was nicely sunburnt and exhausted not to mention burning hot. Quickly I hopped into the shower as I had work 4-3... that'r right even after a 3.5 hr bike ride I had to work a LONG 11 hour shift! Go Beth!

by Bethany Sykes on Sun, Jun 28, 2009 @ 5:55 PM
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Short and Sweet
After yesterday's overkill on my body between biking and working I took it as easy as possible today! I left for about an hour 7 mile ride. I went from here to Thomas Road, to Lu around campus but it was too crowded with 4th of July activities, so I crossed the train tracks to Wards Road and rode to Wendy's for a late lunch. I took Marko and me some grub on home. Nice simple ride! Not to mention I got some fun Biking Beth shots:-) Then when mom and dad got home from WV they brought with it $90 more bucks from support letters I had sent that a way!! We are now 1/4 the way to my goal and it is OFFICIAL I have a new member to our riding team so our name is no longer a good team name:-/ Uncle King (not from Lynchburg) is joining us!!!!

by Bethany Sykes on Sun, Jun 28, 2009 @ 9:08 PM

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Car Repairs are great for biking
On Tuesday we had an appointment to have the van looked at. Hubby was suppose to get up and take the van in but he stayed up too late (by choice) and asked me to so I did. I put my bike in the van and drove my van over to the shop. I took out my bike and handed the keys over at 7:25AM!! Trust me for me that is EARLY. I was soooo tired and rode on home, stopping at Donald's Bagels 1st for breakfast... darn I forgot my memory card:-( so no pics! It was 6.1 miles and took less than an hour including my breakfast stop!
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More support and Saturday with dad: 4th of July
After a few more donations from 2 BK friends, cousin Izzy, and Kelvin I am now 43% of the way to my goal!! I am hoping for $1000 team goal... but now that my "team" has grown I am not so sure what my team goal is but my personal goal remains $1,000 as EVERYONE knows ONLY Beth does any fundraising.... darling daddy is too chicken to beg HAHAHA
Oh yeah last week (maybe last Thurs!)I got my biking think for my car so I can now transport my Trekie poo anywhere I would like!!
So Saturday (YUP 4th of July!) I got up early and rode my bike the 2.2 miles to dad's and then we rode from 8:20am until 11:30am... I barely made it to work on time at 12!:-/
We did our old usual route! I rode 2.2 Miles to Dad's. We rode down Lancaster, to Fort, Oakley, Lakeside, Forest Brook (3.1miles) to Old Forest (1.1), OF to Wiggington (.6), Wiggington to Hawkins Mill(4) to Coffee rd to North Bedford Baptist Church (3.2) and back.... WOWSERS do the math that is 11.8 miles each way! 23.6 MILES!!! Go Beth and Dad!!
Along the way we enjoyed several wild blackberries and red rasberries. Dad even had fun with a "snake" stick and went repelling-- kinda... pictures on my blog http://bethanysykes.blogspot.com

by Bethany Sykes on Sun, Jul 05, 2009 @ 5:27 PM

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1st Day riding with dad!

So I left my house and rode my bike 2.2 miles to Dad's. We then rode from his house on Grady to fort to memorial to langhorne to old langhorne and got on the bike trail, did all 14 miles of Black water creek, and got back off at the Ed Page Cancer Awareness Garden eneterance/exit and rode the 3.1 miles back to dad's and I rode the additional 2.2 miles back to my house giving me a daily grand total of 24.6 miles! And dad a total of 20.2 miles!

by Bethany Sykes on Wed, Jun 17, 2009 @ 5:19 PM

Official 1st Day of Training

So I started my official training 3 days later than anticipated! I should have started the 1st weekend in June but instead I had to wait in line and get hubs a dad's day gift- Palm Pre cell phone. So I started Wednesday June 10th. It was getting dusk but what better time for a bike ride! So i started out down wards road and just kept going. I was like G I wonder if I can make it to the airport... that was easy enough so I wondered if I could make it to the next landmark.... that was doable so I was like I've come this far let's see if I can find Brandy's house! I hadn't been there since around the time of Blake's death- almost 6 years... Well I DID IT!! They were a bit shocked to see me... haha! And go figure my bike light batteries died on me. Lucky for me I had my camera with me so I swapped out batteries which was no easy task in the pitch black! I made it home in time for my 11pm news... so was biking about 3 hours. It ended up being 17 miles round trip! The trip back felt easier. Training this time round is feeling easier but only time will tell that!
In front of the airport, taking a break from the speeding 18 wheelers trying to run me over for their road kill supper!




by Bethany Sykes on Wed, Jun 17, 2009 @ 4:09 PM

Ironic?

So I have continually post-poned sitting down and mailing my sponsorship letter. I guess with all the economic bad news I was dreading asking for donations and well I am just lazy sometimes! So I look at last years letter and do some comparing and as I am reading I realived the date at the top "May 30, 2008" How crazy ironic is it that I would sit down and write my sponsorship letter the EXACT day one year later? I guess it is really meant to be!

by Bethany Sykes on Sat, May 30, 2009 @ 11:28 PM

Happy 6th Birthday

Christian Blake Clark, my godson would have been 6 on May 28th. I went to his grave and threw him the best party I could. I hope he had a spectacular Heavenly party. I love and miss you sweet baby of mine<3 I gave him a happy birthday sign, pin wheels, a new flag banner as his old one was way too worn out, a angel plaque that says Faith and a small Mickey from Disney! I was glad I was able to have this somber party with him. I remember a time I'd see him everyday. My baby would help me at work and even have sleep overs with me... although he wasn't too keen on the sleeping part! I wish we could have made more memories together for I think it is now those memories we never made that I grieve. The things you always dream of doing with your child and yet his life was cut short and they were never done. All the things I've done with my own two children I always imagined doing with him first. The playdates we'll never have. All those huge 1sts we've already missed and the ones we will miss. As I was at his grave it came to me... am I the reason he was meant to come here to be our sweet lil man and then to loose him? I mean everyone has a purpose they say and I have searched for so long for his purpose... what was the sence in giving us this very unexpected yet unconditionally loved little boy and just to snatch him away from us less than 2 months later? So as I was up there I wondered. Was his purpose to show me I could trust again, I could have a friend, that friend would be loyal and 100000x committed to being what a real friend is. She wouldn't stab me in the back and even when we may disagree in reality nothing would really ever come between us? After all I had already decided and completely resigned to being a loner and having no friends so I would feel no more pain no more back stabbing and the teenage drama and rejection I grew to know too well. Then out the blue I made a friend without really meaning to at work. We grew undenyable close like best friends do from that August until our baby boy came. She allowed me to be super involved in her baby's life and her pregnancy-- which is one of a very few hobbies I completely loved. So in all this rambling I want to thank you Blake for giving me the most precious and expensive and life long gift, a best friend a secret sister. I just wish it could have been different and that you could have grown up with a special aunt and an amazing mommy. I love you more than I can describe and now nearly 6 years since you died my heart still ached uncontrollably for you. I still miss you so much and that is how I learned to love unconditionally through an innocent baby who taught me more in life in his 8 months pre-birth and less than two months after birth than I have learned in my other 23 years combined! I love you Angel and I always will that will never change.
I did find it Ironic that I took my pictures all in order... didn't erase any yet when I go to view them, these pictures of Blake are all scattered throughout Anthony's graduation ones. I guess Blake was letting me know he saw it! He would have been graduating from Kindergarten this year.

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My graduate<3

So Anthony graduated for Liberty Christian Academy's Early Learning Center May 29th, 2009. Gosh can you believe I have a Kindergartner now? Aunt Chris should have fun with him next visit:-) Jayna and Anthony both sag songs and then the director, Dawna Stinson and Partor Jonathan alwell awarded the kidlets with diplomas! Afterwards they had a small reception where we got the kids' scrapbooks of their year- VERY CUTE! The theme was patriotic red white and blue "God Bless America"

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