Patrick Dempsey a Treat to Meet for Cycling Fund Raiser

Grab a cuppa whatever you luvva and settle in for this fascinating account by Shannon Gilmartin about how she turned getting back into shape into an opportunity to do just that and more….much, much more. (Like raising over $10,000 for charity and meeting Patrick Dempsey. That kind of more…).

~Melanie

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So, growing up, I was always that kid who ate what I wanted and was skinny as a rail because between swimming, gymnastics, volleyball and whatever else I was doing at any given time, I burned it right off.  Well, after my 3 kids that didn’t happen anymore.  Then we had a long and stressful moving experience from VT back to Buffalo NY area.

I packed on some pounds from nervous eating.   Once all settled into our new house, I decided that I needed something to make me lose weight.  I was now heavier than I had ever been and 30 lbs heavier then the day I got married.

I used diet and exercise videos to lose about 10 pounds.  I still had some extra weight though.   Biking was something relatively easy (I already had a bike) and I could do it while my 2 older kids were at school, with my 3 year old on the back of my bike.  So I started biking.  Well, I also decided that just to keep my motivation, I should sign up for a ride that would make  me stick to it.  At the same time I was thinking of doing something for a cancer charity as my family has been hit hard by many forms of cancer over the years.  So, it occured to me to do a Lance Armstrong ride.  Well, most were in Texas or West Coast, and I am in Buffalo NY area.  Not easy to fly across country with a bike.

Someone mentioned to me that they had heard that Patrick Dempsey started a ride for his cancer foundation and this was the first year.  Why not do that one?  Very good question!  I looked it up and signed my husband and I up for the 50  miles immediately.  The mission of his Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope and Healing is heartwarming to say the least.  What a great charity and great motivation!

I later read in a cycling magazine that Patrick Dempsey was going to ride the 100 mile route, even though he had never done that far before.  Hmmmm…I decided that if I was going to drive the 10 hours to Maine I might as well do the big ride, right?  So, we switched to the 100 mile route shortly after  signing up. (as it turned out Patrick and the pro riders actually did the 50 mile ride and a reporter who interviewed me asked if I would be switching back to the 50 since he had.  My reply was NO WAY!)

I started fundraising and kind of on a whim, put $10,000 as my goal.  It was the top fundraising level and if you got to $10,000, you got a “semi-private” ride with Patrick Dempsey, the pro riders who rode with him (George Hincapie, Ted King and Dave Zabriskie) along with some of the sponsors.  So, I fundraised all over the place.  I got donations from family, friends, businesses and total strangers.

Lo and behold, come the deadline for fundraising, I was in the #1 spot with $10,130 brought in.  I was so excited.  I really never thought I would get anywhere close to that, as I have never fundraised for anything before in my life.

In between fundraising and caring for my family, I was riding every chance I got.  While my girls were at school, my son and I would ride all over the place (his limit was about 15-20 miles a day though, he’s 3 and even though I was doing all the peddling, he didn’t like to be on the bike all day).   My husband  and I were fortunate to have my parents right around the corner, who would take the kids whenever we needed a long training ride. And, by the way, I lost another 23 pounds in the time that I trained!  I am now under wedding weight!

Well, as promised, I got an invite to the private ride the day before the big ride.  My husband and I got there early (although he didn’t get to go on the ride as he very selflessly let me do all the fundraising because he knew my goal was high).  There was a whole team of people from Specialized working on the bikes for Patrick and the others who would be riding with him.  They were even kind enough to tune up my bike for me and hung it on the rack with all the others waiting to ride.

My husband took a picture of my bike hanging out with the “real” bikes as he called them.  All of the organizers etc. were very friendly, and kind to us.  Patrick’s sister Mary was there as well, and she is a really sweet woman who was very encouraging as well.  Shortly after Patrick and crew arrived for the ride, he came over to introduce himself to me, but then realized we had met at a race in June.  (Wow!  Patrick  Dempsey remembered me!)

So, we talked for a while in the staging area about the ride and his car racing, and he was very easy to speak to.   Then we both went to get ready for the ride.  I also got to meet the pro riders at this point, which was very exciting for me as I have watched George Hincapie for years in amazement, and was now going to be riding with him.   It was raining or drizzling the whole time pretty much but really, I never noticed.   We had some pictures to take for the center as well, and I must say, it’s NOT awful to have to have your picture taken with Patrick Dempsey a few times, even if I realized later that I had a really goofy grin on my face the whole time.  

When we went on the ride, it was about a 20 mile ride, I actually rode I think with everyone but Patrick.  He did take the time to see how my ride was going when we all stopped for a photo in the middle of the ride at a scenic spot, and also at the lunch after  he spoke to me briefly about the ride before he had to rush off to a press conference and then to the Champions for Hope banquet that night.

My husband and I relaxed for a bit, then got ready for dinner and went to the reception.  There was a reception downstairs with a silent auction before the actual dinner.  There I did an interview with someone from the Dempsey Center about being top fundraiser, got to chat a little bit with Patrick, and some with Peyton, the lighting guy from Grey’s who rode as well, Joe Foster, Patrick’s driving partner, Christy, a girl I had met online through fundraising, and some others as well.  Then it was time to head upstairs for the dinner and awards.

Everyone ate and then the program started. They chatted on stage with the pro riders, Patrick and some of the folks from the hospital as well.  Then it was time for the awards.  I had both the highest number of donors and the highest individual total so I was called up to be recognized.  I have never been a fan of public speaking and somehow didn’t realize that I would have to speak, but managed to  give a bit of a speech about why I did the fundraising and the ride, and my husband assures me that I didn’t sound like an idiot.

There were then other awards for teams, and other cancer fighters that were being honored.  Then they did a skit.  It was hysterical, the whole room was cracking up.  It was a group of 3 guys calling themselves the Maine Hysterical Society and Patrick Dempsey.  My face actually hurt by the end of it from laughing so hard.  Then, it was time to go home, rest up and get ready for the big ride Sunday.

Sunday we got up, had a quick breakfast at the B&B and then headed over to the staging area.  We were staged right in front of the stage where they were speaking, so we had quite a view of Patrick, and everyone else’s pre-ride speech.  The weather was overcast, but the rain managed to hold off all day for us which was great!  The start was delayed for about 15 minutes (though I never did manage to find out why).  The roads were still wet though, so tires were picking up lots of gunk, and within the first 10 miles there we LOTS of people pulled over with flats.

Unfortunately, my husband was among them.

His tire went twice before the first rest area (at about 11 miles in).  At 30 miles, there was a check point, and if you didn’t make it by a certain time, you got shifted to a shorter route.  We missed the cut off time by about 3 minutes!  So, we were not particularly happy at that point but pressed on and completed our new route, which turned  out to be just over 70 miles.

Along the route there were many survivors and family and friends of cancer victims with encouraging signs along the side of the road.  This for me put it all back into perspective.  Yes, I set out to do the 100 miles, but 70 miles is nothing to shake a stick at, and also, the fundaising that I had done over the months was going to make a difference in the lives of many.  So, as I crossed the line, it was a little bittersweet.

There was a lobster bake at the end, and I can tell you that it was THE best lobster I have ever eaten in my life.  Yum!

After we fed and rehydrated ourselves, we headed back to change into fresh clothes, and put the bikes back on the car rack.  We came back to the park where they had a festival-like atmosphere going, and I ran into Ted King, one of the pro cyclists, and chatted again with him for a bit.  He also really struck me as just a really good, down to earth, awesome guy.  I will  definitely be cheering for him in his future races.

This was a crazy whirlwind of an adventure weekend!  Aside from my wedding day and having my kids, this was certainly the most exciting thing I have ever done!

I look forward to next year’s Dempsey Challenge and am determined that I will FINISH the 100 next year.  I am also aiming to beat my numbers from this year, so if you know anyone who wants to sponsor a mom of three to ride 100 hilly miles in Maine for a great cause, send them my way!

Leave a comment for Shannon below, and you can follow Shannon on Twitter @McDreamybiker to learn more about her next fund raising ride or to become a sponsor.