Good News, Bad News

Coburn’s 2010

Good News Bad News 15th Edition

Good News: You are getting this before Christmas.
Bad News: We have switched to electronic due to cost cutting measures.
Good News: Michael reconnected with a childhood friend Fritz Wieters and took Connor to visit Fritz and his boys in Jackson Hole, Wyoming for three days of skiing in January.
Bad News: Connor now thinks this is an annual rite and Michael wrecked his back on the last day of skiing when 18 inches of powder had fallen.
Good News: We all went down to Florida to see Jack and Linda for spring break. On the way we stopped in Atlanta for a night and visited the Coke museum.
Bad News: Atlanta hotel was hosting the “Furry Weekend” (google it) and Connor tried all 64 varieties of Coke including Beverly and proceeded to throw up.
Good News: All 3 kids participated in the summer swim team at Hudson Park Estates.
Bad News: Practice was every day at 7:45 a.m. for the first 6 weeks of summer and it was not a voluntary activity.
Good News: Heidi went out to Big Sur with some friends and did a fitness walk along highway 1.
Bad News: The wine and In n’ Out burgers destroyed most of the fitness gained.
Good News: Annelise seems to be a very popular girl in middle school.
Bad News: Dad is not ready for boyfriends and “going out” but then realizes he did the same.
Good News: Isabelle is now riding horses year round and has competed in two horse shows.
Bad News: Temptation to buy a horse could lead to financial ruin.
Good News: Connor loves winter and got his hair cut to a reasonable length.
Bad News: He is getting all grown up and is now taller than Heidi.
Good News: We did our third Pan Massachusetts Challenge and raised $9,000 for Carcinoid Cancer research at Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Great weather and a great ride. We took the party ferry 3 hours back from P-Town to Boston and had a blast.
Bad News: Heidi had bronchitis and knee pain that kept her out of the ride but not off the party ferry.
Good News: Heidi went to Paris with some girlfriends and really enjoyed the time away, culture and the finer things that Paris, France has to offer.
Bad News: Culture and museums got old after a few days and lost out to cafes and local vintages.
Good News: We spent Thanksgiving in Chicago and had fun with the family and the extended Murphy family. The boys drove 40 mph indoor go-karts.
Bad News: Michael’s little brother, Kevin, beat him in the friendly competition for fastest driver inspite of the fact that Kevin’s son was ejected from his kart during a high speed crash with the barriers (he was OK, Kev).
Good News: Heidi got her Christmas present yesterday. CT scan, unchanged from a year ago!

Love,

Heidi, Michael, Connor, Annelise & Isabelle Coburn
Heidi: mhcoburn5@yahoo.com Michael: michael.coburn7@yahoo.com

First Snow

While I don't have pictures, you have to trust me when I say we sit in a winterwonderland right now. Instead of a run this morning, I got out my Cross Country skis and went right down the street and sidewalks of the town for a total of a 3.7 mile tour. It was a lot of work but also great to be out in the 19 degree weather and be perfectly warm. If had waited until later, there would be too much salt and asphalt patches to navigate. It continues to dump snow here with lake effect kicking in. It won't be long til our local ski hill opens up and the kids will be stoked for that.

Soccer, Field Hockey and Horses

It seems our kids our keeping us so busy with their sports and we love it. Isabelle is riding often and really enjoys it. We even help take care of the horses when our friends are traveling. Believe it or not, that can even be fun. Connor is playing Soccer and is at the end of the middle school season. His team was very successful and came in second in the end of year tournament. Annelise made the field hockey team after never having played the sport and has scored two goals this season. Heidi and I just run from one thing to the next when I am not traveling for work. Fall colors have us thinking about skiing and snowboarding which we be here before we know it. Yesterday was the 3 year anniversary of Heidi becoming a cancer survivor. It passed without much fanfare as it should be.

PMC Success

Watch our 2010 video by pasting this into your browser: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyXnxV7R4sU


We are so thankful that we had a successful 2010 Pan Massachusetts Challenge (PMC) bike ride this past weekend. Our sponsors, made it possible for us to join 5,100 cyclists pedaling over 761,685 miles as well as 3,100 Volunteers: 150 massage; 120 medical; 100 bike mechanics; 300 logistics; 100 communications; 100 trucking; 150 parking & traffic; 200 trash & recycling; 300 registration & information; 300 luggage; 1,200 food & beverage prep and service. Together we have raised more than $9,000 towards the $31 million that will be raised this year at the PMC. 100% of that money raised goes directly towards cancer research at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, MA. Specifically, the $9,000 will go along with the $300,000 raised by team Caring For Carcinoid Foundation and directly support research on neuroendocrine tumors which is what Heidi is fighting. Our weekend was spectacular and will forever live in our memory as well as inspire us to return to the PMC next year for the 4th time. While Heidi was unable to ride due to an extended bronchitis and sinus infection (thankfully unrelated to her cancer) this summer and then a nagging knee pain once training began, she is even more committed than ever to ride next year. Training started yesterday with a 10 mile ride with my Mom and kids in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Heidi has visions of two of our children riding with her on a 47 mile loop of Wellesley. I did the two day 163 mile ride from Wellesley to P-Town and then both Heidi and I took the Ferry with 1,200 other PMC’ers back to Boston harbor, celebrating the whole way on the top deck with the live band. On Sunday,I was able to ride with PMC founder, Billy Starr, and his pack of very fast riders which included Magnus Backstedt. Magnus is a melanoma survivor, has a sister fighting breast cancer and is a former winner of a stage of both the Tour de France and Giro d’italia along with winning the very prestigious Paris-Roubaix one day classic in 2004. Needless to say, our pace on Sunday was 21.4 mph for the 80 miles traveled. Heidi did find a great way to contribute by moving complete strangers cars from Wellesley to Bourne and then another from Bourne to P-Town so their logistics could work for the weekend. She even transported an injured rider, his bike and bags to P-Town when he could not continue after crashing on Saturday. Heidi is feeling well and this PMC weekend really is satisfying in our push for a cure for cancer. Thank you so much for the donations and encouragement you provide us. All our best, Heidi and Michael Coburn

PMC Count down

Well we are dealing with some challenges as we lead up to the Aug 7&8 Pan Massachusetts Challenge http://www.pmc.org/ . My mom is in the hospital and coming home today. She had some stomach pain and she is supposed to be our babysitter next weekend. We are ready to ride our borrowed tandem (pictured above) when the time comes. 5,000 riders will roll out with the tip of Cape Cod as their destination.

July 12, 2010

Heidi, Connor and I went out for a short training ride on the Schwinn Duo-Sport Tandem. We need to get a picture taken and posted. I will work on that. We gained our balance pretty quickly and I think Heidi will get comfortable in no time. Connor on the other hand really only sees a bike as utilitarian and a means to get to swim practice and back home.

Staycation July 5-10

Well, I am just taking a week off of work with no plans. OK I will watch the Tour de France for 2 hours everyday and try to ride everyother day. It is 92 degrees right now and I am heading out for Connor's baseball practice.

It looks like Heidi and I may be riding a tandem bike in the PMC event. She has a sinus infection and bronchitis which is causing her to lose valuable training time. I have a bike available to me from a friend in the bike club. I have promised not to go over 35 mph on the downhills if possible. We will be closer after this event or divorced.

Should be fun.

Coburn Family 2010

PMC Fundraising...Done!

A huge thanks goes out to all who supported us in our 3rd year of fundraising for the Pan Massachusetts Challenge. We are now within our goal as we are also donating to close the gap and Nestlé will match the donation dollar for dollar. Our combined totals will be over $9,000 when all is said and done. We so appreciate the generosity. This brings our three year fundraising total to $34,000!

On August 7 & 8 we will ride 163 miles over two days with 5,000 other riders. It is a great event.

On other news, we spent Memorial Day weekend in Chicago with Michael's family and had fun at the pool, playing Texas Hold'em and the adult boys went and raced high speed indoor go karts which was a lot of fun. We took a family picture which was much more pain free than prior years. The bummer was it was our first family picture since my dad died.

Ready for summer. Once Memorial Day weekend hits it seems like a crime that the kids are still in school.

PMC 2010 Here we come 163 miles, 2 days $8,400 raised for research!

Heidi after completing the Big Sur 9 miler last weekend

When my wife, Heidi, was diagnosed with Carcinoid cancer 2 1/2 years ago, I was very open with the process to all I knew, that's what I do. In return, you have all been so supportive of my family and me. Time for an update. Heidi still has cancer in her liver (20+ tumors). There are, at present, no great cures for this cancer. She is currently receiving monthy chemo-therapy type injections of Sandostatin, a drug from Novartis, which have shown to slow the growth or even shrink the tumors in some patients. Heidi's last scan of the liver showed that of the three largest of these tumors, two stayed the same size and one had shrunk by 2 mm in diameter. This was after a previous period of some growth being noted. That is great news!

On the positive front, Heidi is feeling great and has no ill effects from the treatment. Our kids (age 13, 11 and 10) don't spend their days thinking about their mom's health. We have not given cancer any power over our day-to-day lives. Heidi is amazingly strong and even supported another woman through her battle with cervical cancer recently. She just finished walking 9 miles of the Big Sur Marathon course last weekend in Northern California. Now our focus turns to training to ride our third Pan Massachusetts Challenge on August 7 & 8th across Massachusetts. This year we will take on the two day full version of the ride for a total of 163 miles. This is our main way to fight this cancer. Raise funds specifically targeted at finding a cure via the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, one of the top institutions in the country. I invite you to help us both reach our fundraising targets which totals $8,400 between us! The generousity we have seen in the past is amazing and we would welcome any support you could give this year. So far, in our prior two years of riding we have raised nearly $25,000. These funds are specifically spent on Carcinoid Cancer research, there is no other place we can make such a direct impact. 100% of donated gifts go directly to the research, no administrative costs.

If you know of someone who would like to support us, please forward them this link.

How to give:

Michael & Heidi - click the link:
Click on +Sponsor more than one rider with one donation
then click + Search by Name...
My name should already be populated and you add Heidi's by using her gift ID of HC0036 or her name and fill in the amounts.
We both have a committment of $4,200 each so splitting your contribution would be of most benefit!
If you do need it our gift IDs are HC0036 and MC0320.

Here is the link:
https://www.pmc.org/egifts/default.asp?Add=MC0320




Thanks you so much for your continued support,

Michael & Heidi Coburn

So long Snow!

We have had very wintery weather here for two solid weeks. Now it is melting and Isabelle and I made a snowman today.