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Thursday Gervais Dubina’s story and her quest to smash the Red Bull Trans-Siberian Extreme event!


Sometimes life gives us challenges and sometimes we seek them out. It’s my turn to choose!

My name is Thursday Gervais, I am a cancer survivor, I am an ultra-distance cyclist, and I will be the first female to race my bicycle 9,224 km across Russia in 25 days, 14 stages, setting a new world record!

I am competing in the RedBull Trans-Siberian Extreme. It’s the world’s longest and toughest bicycle race. Twice the distance of the Race Across America, and I’m doing it solo!

But here is the important part…

I want to show other women and girls that there are no limits to what they can do, including ultra-distance cycling and, in the process; I will be raising money for the National Kidney Foundation and Organ Donor Awareness.

Why the National Kidney Foundation? I’m taking Denile Hill, fellow cyclist, with me on this adventure as my support person. She has had a kidney transplant and spent 12 years on dialysis awaiting the second transplant. Without the NKF Denile would not be here to support me.

I need your support to cross that finish line in Vladivostok.

Donations will be used in part, to get us to Russia and back, purchase items we are unable to acquire through sponsors and incidentals that may occur while we are in Russia. The majority of the money raised will go to the NKF. Please consider donating and please share our story with others, whether they be survivors, family, friends or just people who care.

Who Inspires You?

I am dedicating every stage of my race to an inspirational person. There are 14 total stages and I want to know who you’d like to dedicate a stage to. Who has inspired you? Please share your story with me on my website and tell me how this person has inspired you and maybe even countless others and why you’d like a stage dedicated to them.

How This Works

Between now and Jan.8, 2017 and leave me a name and the reason you’d like to dedicate a stage in the RBTSE to that person. It can be anyone, living or lovingly remembered. On Monday January 9, 2017, I will announce stage dedications on www.thursdaygervais.com and social media. I will be asking you to then share this announcement and my gofundme page with everyone you know, after all, I am raising $100k for the National Kidney Foundation. We you donate to the gofundme page, in the comments, leave the name of the person you are dedicating your donation to.

Why Dedicating a Stage is Important

For my race, the RedBull Trans-Siberian Extreme, the shortest stage is 198 miles and my longest is 849 miles. When you’re cycling for someone else, it’s easier to keep going.

Charity cyclists know that when they get to the toughest parts in the race, thinking of the people/causes they’re supporting can help them to keep going. Each day before the start I will read the story of the person who the stage has been dedicated to and when the going gets tough I’ll have them, and you, to pull me along.

Thanks to all for your support and enthusiasm.

Here is the fun part: the person who has the most funds donated in their name on my gofundme page (Cycling for the National Kidney Foundation) will have a special donation made to the National Kidney Foundation in their name and the person who nominated them will receive a signed print of my painting “Road To Russia”.

Please support me on my journey. There are many ways you can help..

Helpful Links to learn more!

In the News:

Bloomington ultra-cyclist headed to Russian extreme race

Zwift: It’s not just for Parents anymore!

New to ZwiftZwift, the 3D cycling world represented by your computer paired with your bicycle’s sensors and a small USB radio adapter, has become so popular and so entrenched in the colder season’s months when we typically spend more time inside than out, that even our younglings have begun to notice!

They don’t just notice us riding or our gear set up in our “pain caves”, but they want to try, they want to participate and they want their own character on the screen with the “cool shirts and bikes” too.

But getting someone much younger than us into the game isn’t as straightforward as it was for us. They are motivated by very different goals and desires than we are.

While we might ride on Zwift to increase our FTP, upgrade our fitness level, lose some of that extra Thanksgiving and Christmas roast from our backside, or recover slowly from an illness or medical procedure, our children want to jump in for the pure, unscripted joy of riding, competing and winning those “neat blue thumbs” (RideOns) or making it to new levels to earn new gear. Let’s face it though, we’re excited to reach that new level and unlock gear too!

So let’s talk about how we get our junior riders up and running on Zwift, and how we can support and encourage them to continue enjoying the sport, not just indoors during the winter season, but also outdoors when the weather warms up and the roads are clear of the white snow.
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Zwifting My Way To Better Health

I grew up in a family that loved cycling.

From a young age and for several years I went along on rides organized by our local bike club with my parents and Grandpa.  I enjoyed it, but by about age 12 I was beginning to move onto other things.  It would be close to 20 years before I got on a bike again.

Fast forward several years (who wants to talk about their teenage years anyway!?).  Between 2006-2010 a series of events and losses had me in a pretty dark place and that continued for a long time thereafter.  I began struggling more and more with my weight.  I was also battling severe depression and started having anxiety attacks.  In 2014 at age 31 I found myself at an all time high with my weight, was overall extremely unhealthy, and basically pretty unhappy much of the time as well.  I decided that I couldn’t go on that way and had to start making changes.

Up to that time in my life I did not exercise.  Like at all.

People were telling me that not only would it help me feel better physically, but it would also help me deal with the depression and anxiety issues as well.  I wasn’t convinced.  I started “dieting” and did lose some weight through 2014, but quickly gained much of it back through the holidays and the gain continued during the beginning of 2015.  I had started watching a lot of professional cycling on TV during this time and decided to set my bike up on an old wind trainer that I borrowed with the intention of trying to ride 20 – 30 mins a day while I watched races to make some kind of effort to exercise.  I did it sporadically for a few months, but was not particularly enjoying the experience.

It was around that time that I saw Jens Voigt posting about Zwift on Twitter and Facebook.  I was intrigued.  If for no other reason than I thought, “I want to do that so I can say I rode with Jens Voigt!!”  (Ha! As if!)  I did not have any of the equipment, other than the bike, that I would need to get started and knew nothing about trainers, or power, or really anything at all so I wasn’t even sure if I was ever going to be able to do it.  At the end of May 2015 after some research I finally made the jump and bought a Cycleops Fluid 2 trainer, Garmin speed and cadence sensors, and an ant+ dongle so I could get on Zwift!  I enjoyed it from the get go, but I mostly kept to myself while riding for those first months.

I didn’t have the confidence to even attempt to ride with anyone, in fact if someone was too close for too long I would purposefully drop off the pace to avoid it.  I was pretty sure I would do something wrong if I tried or would be seen as annoying and just generally get in people’s way.  Looking back at Strava I was averaging about 60 miles per week back then.  Then around the beginning of November everything started to change!

One day while I was riding, giving out some ride ons, and still staying to myself Eric Welch said hi to me and invited me to join him on his ride.  Such a small thing.  Yet it had a profound impact and was a real turning point for me.

By the time I realized who had said it in the group that had passed me I was way way back.  I answered that I would try and he slowed up while I chased and eventually caught him just before the KOM.  I pushed harder than I had ever pushed trying to hang onto his wheel up the climb that day and then suddenly lost my internet connection at the top and it was ride over.  I sought Eric out on Strava afterwards to make sure I could thank him for inviting me to ride, it had meant so much to me, and he has since become a good friend.

After that experience I began to want to learn to draft and figure out how to be able to ride with people.  I joined some of the Facebook groups and the IDIF Team.  I started to occasionally try to join people on course when they were going a similar pace, learned a bit about drafting, and eventually went on my first group ride with the IDIF group one weekend.  I was officially hooked.

Around this time I began to notice people on Strava who were doing centuries.  I decided rather abruptly that I was going to do that!  No training, no buildup, no plan.  Not how I would recommend doing it exactly, but on November 11th I got on my bike early in the morning and decided I was going to give it a shot.  I think I started with a 2 hour workout just to try to keep me going through the first part and give me something to focus on.  At the end of that time Eric joined me and rode with me for about the next 60 miles or so.  He gave me tips I would need to help me get through it and gave me encouragement when I started to struggle.  I do not think I would have made it that far without his help that day.

When I hit about 80 miles my power flickered briefly and I lost connection with Zwift and everyone on the island disappeared!  I was in a bit of a panic, afraid I would lose my ride and have to start all over.  I posted to the Zwift Riders group and everyone assured me that I wouldn’t and encouraged me to keep going and finish my 100 miles and to get screenshots just in case there were any issues with the unlocked achievements.

Let me tell you it was the hardest 20 miles I’ve probably ever done, but the encouragement I was getting on my post helped me through an otherwise lonely ride and I finished!  I have done two more imperial and one more metric century since that first one with plans to do many more.  That week I got in just over 300 miles, which is still my best week to date.  After that though I began regularly doing 150-200 miles a week and now I am aiming for and doing 200+ every week in 2016.

Through all of this I had been steadily losing weight as a result of the exercise and generally watching what I ate and making healthier food choices.  As an added benefit I also was dealing with less depression and lower anxiety as a result of the regular exercise (turns out all those people in my life were right about that).  With the help of Zwift from the end of May 2015 to date I’ve lost almost 45 pounds.  (My total weight loss to date from that wake-up moment back in May 2014 which was when I was at my worst to right now is about 60 lbs.)

I thank God every day for Zwift and the difference that it, along with the Zwift community, have made and continue to make in my life!!  I could go on and on about all of the friends who have supported, encouraged, and ridden with me over these past few months and the positive difference that EACH one of them have made in my life!

This as well as seeing others share similar stories led me to create the Zwift ~ Ride On 4 Health group.  RO4H is a place for all who are using Zwift as a part of their weight loss goals and/or for other health reasons (as well as anyone who genuinely wants to support others in achieving their goals of better health) to share victories, tips, trials and just generally be a safe and supportive place for everyone to be.  It has been just what I envisioned and hoped it would be so far.  We are still a small group, but growing, and the way that everyone is supporting each other is truly a wonderful thing to see!!

As for my own health and weight goals I still have a very long way to go to reach my “ideal” weight and depression and anxiety remain a battle that I continue a fight against daily.  Maybe the biggest change I have had is one of mindset.  The numbers on the scale just don’t matter nearly so much anymore.

As I focus on my power numbers, and the miles, and just enjoying the friendship I’ve gained along the way the rest has faded into the background.  I no longer wonder IF I will reach my goal weight, I know that I will.  It will simply be by-product of continuing to enjoy Zwift and continuing to put in the miles that I look forward to doing every single day now.  The timeline is no longer important.

I will get there when I get there, and in the meantime I will enjoy every minute and every mile of the ride along the way!

The Hard Road

derek_scar

The implant was changed 3 times

I was 14 years old when I had my first encounter with a disease that was to play such a huge role in my life. A small growth the size of a pea quickly grew into a large orange sized lump on my left thigh and by the time I was scheduled for an operation to remove it, the surgeons told my mother they would have to take off my leg. The only thing at that age I knew how to do well was run and I was pretty good at it, so my mother insisted they think again. They took away so much bone that placing an implant alongside what was left to hold the marrow in place resulted in the prognosis that I would never run again and would most likely have to wear my shiny new leg brace for the rest of my life.

A little more than a year later and I’d run my first marathon for charity around the sports field track in my home town of Huddersfield. This was also when I started cycling seriously for the first time, as on weekends I’d get on my bike and cycle to the seaside at Scarborough, eat fish and chips out of folds of newspaper and then cycle back. It was a round trip of 180 miles. More than 30 years later and I was still doing this trip with club mates on a regular basis.

mont_blanc

The Goûter route up Mont Blanc

I joined the Army at 21, because I was out of control and would most likely have ended up in jail. The pent up anger I carried forward from my abusive childhood (I was brought up in care) needed an outlet and here was an organisation that would not only pay me to travel around the world, but encourage my sporting exploits. It was pretty obvious my forte was endurance, even at this early age. Running, climbing, mountaineering and skiing played a huge part in my life and so that I could spend more time doing this instead of my regular job, I became the regimental outdoor pursuits instructor. This culminated in me taking a party of complete novice climbers to Wales and then the Italian Alps in the regiment’s centenary year (1986) and getting 8 of the 10 man team to the top of Mont Blanc, Europe’s highest mountain. This seemed a fitting way to end my Army career.

It was my fascination with rock climbing that got me back into cycling. The MTB boom had started in the UK and myself and a few friends saw it as a good way of getting to the more remote crags and mountains. There wasn’t a local MTB club, so along with Tony Vangrove, my regular riding partner, we set up West Yorkshire Rough Riders, which became one of the largest clubs in the region. I’m proud to say the club still flourishes today despite some of it’s founder members having passed on.

grand_raide

The hardest MTB race in the world

Although I raced MTB it was the endurance events that really interested me, but because I just couldn’t go downhill fast enough (my skill levels never caught up with my lack of fear) I ended up breaking bones all too regularly. It was this and the fact that I had no-one in the club to really challenge me when going uphill that saw me move over to road cycling once again. This was a whole new ball game and opened up a lot more possibilities of ultra endurance events, not to mention the cyclo sportives both in the UK and in Europe.

I embraced all aspects of the sport, road racing, track, time trialling and of course the sportive. My only regret is I didn’t stick with cycling (instead of running) when I was younger, because although I had decent times in my events, maybe I should have done much better. My coach once told me anyone who could run a marathon in 2:36:40 should really be able to make Cat 1 or Elite, but I never got close as a Cat 3. I had a lot of fun though, travelling regularly to Europe to take part in the Etape du Tour and other long distance events, particularly those involving a lot of climbing which seemed to be what I did best.

A selection of my Etape du Tour medals

A selection of my Etape du Tour medals

In early 2005 just as I was beginning to feel I could do well in this seasons masters category, cancer struck for the second time. I’d entered an event I expected to do well in and came nowhere, so thinking it was overtraining scheduled another race after a rest period. I bombed in that and then knew it was time to visit the doctor. I was diagnosed with prostate cancer and the surgeons suggested I have it removed. After doing some research I found there was a procedure known as brachytherapy, where they ‘sew’ 100 irradiated rice sized titanium seeds directly into the prostate and went back and told them this is what I wanted and it all happened pretty quickly.

Prior to my diagnosis I’d signed up to do a 1,000 mile Lands End to John O’Groats
(LE-JOG) charity ride in just 5 days for “The Race Against Time” with a small group of riders. I’d been doing some coaching on the

Riding the 2005 edition of The Race Against Time

‘The Race Against Time’ – 2005

side and so became the groups unofficial trainer. A couple of weeks after my operation we had our first 100 mile group training ride scheduled. Ciaran, our group leader called me up to ask if I would be attending and I told him I couldn’t yet sit on a saddle, but that I would drive down and join them as it was to be a through and off session and some of the group had never done this before.

I decided I would ride out of the saddle for as long as I could, going back and forth up the group. As we got further into the ride I was asked how long I’d stay with them as I was riding totally out of the saddle – I tried to sit but it was just too painful and responded I’d ride for as long as I could. That ended up being the full 100 miles, or 5 hours, all ridden out of the saddle. For me, it was just another challenge. The sceptical amongst you may find that hard to believe, but it is easily verified by any member of the team of 2005.

Photographing the White Rose Classic

Photographing the White Rose Classic

Another charity challenge (raising funds to send a friend out to the Philippines with Tear Fund) saw me ride from my workplace in Leeds, to Paris and back, a distance of 970 miles in just 4 days. It rained all 4 days. The doctors had warned me not to stress my body too much, as my immune system was shot. I responded by doing the Marmotte in the middle of my treatment, gaining the gold standard for my age group. I was no longer racing and became increasingly involved in the Sportive scene in the UK, working initially with British Cycling and then in 2007 when my wife Caroline was diagnosed with breast cancer we ran our own event to raise funds for cancer research. It became a classic, mostly due to the fact I’d stuck in every difficult hill I could find and if I’ve learned one thing about these type of events, the harder the event, the more riders like it.

 

LRPS_01

One of my award winning images

The year 2008 saw me changing careers when I was made redundant from my IT job of many years, because I was taking too much time off to look after myself and Caroline. Of course that wasn’t the reason given, but what hurt most was I trained the junior who replaced me. It ended up being one of the best things to happen to me. I had been working as a sports photographer in my spare time, mostly at cycling events and redundancy forced me to go professional. The bank refused a loan, telling me it would be 3 years before I broke even, so I spent all my redundancy money and gambled our future. In less than a year I was earning more than I’d ever done as an IT professional, had overseas assignments and won international awards. I just love it when someone tells me I can’t do something!

The joy was short lived however. In late 2009 Caroline was diagnosed with secondary stage breast cancer (she’d already had the breast removed in 2007) and given just 12 months to live. We made a bucket list and I’ll never know how we managed to make the top 3 happen, because she died just 9 weeks later. Maybe you can begin to understand why I never trust doctors. My world fell apart, I descended into a deep depression which resulted in me failing to take action when the disease returned again. I let my business slip, lost many good friends and shut out the world. The following year my breathing had become so bad I checked myself into a clinic and discovered the cancer had spread to my lungs. Although I was fortunate once again in beating the disease, It had come at a huge cost as I lost the majority of my left lung.

'Roof of the world' - The Pamir Mountains

‘Roof of the world’ – The Pamir Mountains

My depression was the hardest battle I’ve ever faced and I simply lost interest in life. By the time I was told in October 2012 that the cancer had once more returned and was now terminal, it really did come as a huge relief. I asked how long and was told 12 months, to which I replied I would go cycle touring. The doctor said this would be very beneficial and asked “where will you go?” I told him I would cycle to the roof of the world (the Pamir Highway) to which he laughed and said “Derek you need to choose an easier challenge. How do you propose to breathe up there? what you are suggesting is quite simply impossible” to which I replied ‘I like impossible. Thank you for your honesty’ and walked out.

It took just 3 weeks to sell my house (I’d already had to look into this to pay my private medical bills) to sell my business and my car. I gave everything else away to charity and set off to cycle around the world on 12th November 2012, my whole worldly possessions now in my bike panniers.

I even rode across the Sahara

I even cycled across the Sahara

I made it to the roof of the world, cycled the Pamir Highway and sent the oncologist a postcard. It read “nothing is impossible”. My round the world cycle took in 37 countries, 4 continents and 37,000 km’s. It had been a journey of not just discovery, but of healing. I still have bouts of depression, but when I think back to 18 months ago, when I was really ill and my weight had fallen to just 53 kg I know how lucky I’ve been, because one event changed my whole life around and made me start fighting to live again. I fell in love.

Cycling across Canada

Cycling across Canada

Cycling across Canada from Vancouver to Halifax, Nova Scotia, I met Hilke in a hostel. I was not cycling because I’d dislocated my shoulder on a downhill into Rimouski when my front tire exploded, so was taking some R&R and was pretty low. We sat up most of the first night talking and decided along with another girl we’d share a hire car to explore the local Cabot Trail. I was so ill and struggling to breathe I stayed in the car while they went on the trail, but over the next few days we got to know a little more about each other. Hilke was an avid cyclist, but a muscle injury meant she was taking time out and making her own trip across Canada. She lived in The Netherlands and when we finally parted a week later we agreed to look each other up when I eventually returned to Europe to get my dislocated shoulder fixed.

Club ride > Tour of Groningen 165 km

Club ride > Tour of Groningen 165 km

I stepped off the ferry at Rotterdam not knowing whether Hilke wanted to be with me or not. I was madly in love with her, but had no idea if she felt the same. We spent Christmas together and decided we wanted this. It was my best Christmas ever. Cycling the paths I struggled to keep up, but I was definitely getting fitter and when I was bought a road bike for my birthday, I joined a local club. I love the cycling community and although it took a few months before I could be comfortable on club rides, they never left me behind.

Zwift happened because I wanted to train mostly indoors throughout the winter (due to my poor immune system) and I looked online for a cheap trainer. When I saw the YouTube videos of Zwift I just had to join. So here I am.
My first ride was a metric century and my second ride was 100 miles. I took part in the World Bike Ride charity event, hoping to complete 24 hours non-stop, but saddle sores got me off the bike after eleven and a half hours. My latest marathon was completing 410 km’s in the New Year 12 hour Time Trial.

Footnote: You can never be complacent with cancer and while it appears I’m clear, it is never far from my thoughts. They used to say it is not hereditary, but we now know that’s bollocks. I’ve lost my mother, my absent father, my brothers and a sister to the disease and this is why you’ll see me doing so much fundraising for cancer charities.

The Soul of Zwift – by Frank Garcia

As the Zwift community explodes I thought I would offer an observation on the soul of Zwift. Zwift.com sums it up and gets the priority right:

  1. Zwift is social
  2. Zwift is competitive
  3. Zwift is your training partner

Now the Zwift team has come up with a great workout mode and by all accounts it is going to be a winner. Awesome stuff, great job! That being said, however, the Zwift team might want to look at those website priorities. It is the social nature of Zwift, and for some its competitive nature, that makes Zwift unique. Can you say “events”? Can you say “clubs”? Can you say “teams”?

Judging by the community response to providing solutions to this missing element in the Zwift website/application these are the compelling propositions in Zwift’s future. Sure people will use workout mode, they will pay for it, but in a way it runs contrary to Zwift’s soul. It is anti-social.

Zwift, and its members, want events. That is Zwift’s soul. That Eric Min is what is going to keep people using Zwift, month after month, year after year. Tam Burns has outdone himself with the World’s Event. Jonathan Pait has constructed a team’s site that is getting lots of use. The community is crying out for this functionality.

This is not a knock on the Zwift team. What you have done is amazing. This is just a bit of nudge to the Zwift team to prioritize these items. Charlie Issendorf help us champion these efforts and make them a proper part of Zwift. The sooner the better.

#‎RideOn‬ in all those great events this weekend. I am jealous I didn’t have enough rest to do them (been doing to many Zwift events it seems). I will, however, be a spectator as Nathan Guerra and GCN have shown just how interesting Zwift events are to watch.

A Seuss’ian Zoem – by Jonathan Lemon

Zwift

People who cycle
have various goals:
from racing to fitness
or avoiding car tolls.

Spinning those pedals
and turning that chain
should be merry and fun
but is sometimes a pain.

To ride in the rain
in a soaking downpour
that chills to the bone
and makes riding a chore.

Avoiding the dangers
of multi ton cars
whose drivers are texting
while homeward from bars.

Or hazardous thorns
with perilous spikes
which puncture and rend
the tubes on your bike.

The summer’s sun scorching
which blisters unseen
because you were careless
applying sunscreen.

Outside is not pleasant
as riding inside
in comfort and warmth
with coffee besides.

By training indoors
these things are laid low
but boredom approaches
along with the snow.

Zwift has created
a way to make tame
converting this training
into a fun game.

For workouts that strain
for a personal best
presuming you did
your FTP test.

As breathing gets ragged
and heartbeats do pound
throughout on the course
going round and around.

Sweat will pool and puddle
underneath your bike
while on screen you’re riding
your virtual trike.

From Richmond to Jarvis
are courses to ride
with terrain that varies
and squirrels that hide.

The kit is varied, so
jerseys collect
from Strava and Kona
to Jaguar and Trek.

We set Everest records
for riding uphill
While races are speedy
and spin out downhill.

The races are present
and Cats get to play
to challenge each other
in a virtual way.

We climb and we sprint
there are jeresys replete
for orange, green or dots
the riders compete.

Endurance rides increase
as riders get fit
or centuries repeated
for black and grey kit.

The weekends are social
with friendly group rides
which people can join
and RideOn with pride.

Convenient training
means fitness is greater.
As all good Zwifters know:
Zwift now, win later!