Editor's Note: NewsChannel 2 anchorwoman Wendy Chioji is grateful to all of the viewers who have expressed their best wishes as she wages her fight against breast cancer.

Chioji has chosen to use WESH.com as her way of keeping the public updated on her health. New diary entries will be posted periodically.

BREAST CANCER INFORMATION Four Steps Promote Early Detection WENDY'S DIARY Oct. 31: Ride For The Roses Oct. 24: Another Cycling Weekend Oct. 18: An Emotional Finish Oct. 17: Singin' In The Rain Oct 16: Rally In Indianapolis Oct. 15: Chilling In Arkansas Oct. 14: Monster Crosswinds Oct. 13: Tailwind To Texas Oct. 12: An Uphill Climb Oct. 11: The Race Begins Previous Diary Entries WEB LINKS Florida Hospital mammography locations Complete Guide For Breast Cancer Breast Cancer Decision Guide Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation National Breast Cancer Coalition American Cancer Society National Breast Cancer Coalition INTERACTIVE Breast Cancer Survivors: Share Your Experiences Meet Other Breast Cancer Survivors

I just had the most amazing weekend in Napa Valley with my Tour of Hope teammates.

I flew out on Thursday, through Atlanta, and wouldn't you know it, as I was riding on the tram to make my connection, a woman came up to me and said she was participating in the event, too.

She is flying from Central Florida to Washington to see the end of our ride, and to participate in a 100-kilometer Lance Armstrong Foundation ride. I have talked to several people in Central Florida who plan to ride in the Washington ride. I'll be glad to see folks from home by that time, I think.

Slideshow

TOUR OF HOPE PREVIEW See Wendy's Pictures

I have my new Tour of Hope bike. It's a Trek 5200, for those of you who are cyclists. For those of you who aren't, it's a really fast, light bike, and it's yellow. That's just what I was hoping. It also has my name painted on one side and "L.A. to D.C. 2003" painted on the other, and "Tour of Hope" painted on another part of the bike. Now, you'll really be able to see me coming down the road (just don't get too close).

In Petaluma, Calif., all of us were so excited to see each other again. It's funny how certain life situations bring people emotionally together at warp speed. The Tour of Hope is one of those life situations, that's for sure. The focus of the weekend was to simulate, as closely as possible, what we will experience on the actual Tour. Translated: Sleep deprivation was the goal. And it was achieved.

We rode about 50 miles the first morning, and being the Florida girl, I had on arm warmers, a long-sleeved jersey, a fleece, and a windbreaker, and that was just on the top. I don't think I ever warmed up that day.

We spent the afternoon in communications sessions. During the Tour, we will talk to groups and individuals and reporters about clinical trials and cancer research and surviving cancer to live better and stronger. Just as we work with trainers for the bike, we worked with trainers for the talking part. It actually was fun. It's all about getting the message out in the clearest way possible, so you can make a difference.

When the sun went down (and it got twenty degrees colder!), we headed back out on the bikes to the hills of Sonoma County again. Trek Travel had outfitted our new yellow bikes with lights. That was a freaky, but a very fun experience. With our lights, and riding in a "rider envelope" of a lead car and a chase car, there was tons of light to ride by. Besides being very cold, it was a real kick. Our light batteries died early, though, so we went back to the meeting place and rode our bikes on bike trainers for an hour. I got back to the hotel at 12:30 a.m. and got back up at 4:30 a.m. to ride again.

On Sunday morning, we did a hills time trial. Basically, we rode as fast as we could up a hill (remember, I'm from flat old Florida) that was just under three miles long. Of course, me being me, I raced some of my teammates to the start line, so it wasn't much fun climbing the hill. But the way we figure it, the ones who went up the hills the fastest are the ones who will have to climb the big hills on the tour. Maybe I'm smarter than I think I am. (Nah!)

I am falling in love with my team. Remember, of our 20 riders and six support riders, we have four teams. Our little team of Bart, Beth, Eric, Nat, Patrick, and me really works well together, and with our coach, Ivana. We all encourage each other, laugh together, and sometimes at each other. We call our team "Team Yago." But I'm sworn to secrecy about what yago means. I'll tell you after the tour.

Meantime, this will be a "short" week on the bike. I'll only get to about 200 miles this week, but Ivana is promising two-a-days starting next week, and I have no reason to think she's kidding. So, if you see a girl on a yellow bike riding around town, use it as your reminder to get on the www.tourofhope.org and sign the cancer promise. I think that was a pretty good segue.

Wendy
Sept. 12, 2003

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