Riding Down Pancreatic Cancer On Two Wheels

4th Annual Karen Petty Memorial Double Century Bike Ride Against Pancreatic Cancer

September 28th, 2013

Karen Petty - The reason we ride!

I hope this note finds you all well. Many of you who I write to today are dear friends of mine and some of you who support my ride are only bound to me by a common cause. That cause is our desire to end Pancreatic Cancer. I started the Karen Petty Double Century in 2010 in an effort to honor my lifelong friend Karen Petty, and to raise funds to defeat the disease that took her from us. For those of you who know Karen, you understand why I ride in her memory. Karen was loved by all who knew her. Her family adored her. I adore all of Karen’s family as brothers, sisters, and aunts, and uncles even though we share no blood relations. I grew up calling Karen “Auntie” and her husband “Uncle” Joe. As an only child, I didn’t have siblings. Karen’s own kids, Jason and Kerri, and her Nephew Billy were my brothers and sisters, and they are as important to me as if we were related by blood. I grew up with all of them, and always felt a part of their family. It only felt natural to do something “big” upon Karen’s passing, not only to honor Karen’s memory, but to show her family how much they all mean to me. This 200 mile, one day bike ride, which starts at Karen’s house in West Warwick, RI, to her Cabin in Thornton, NH, started as a deed I thought was honorable enough to memorialize Karen. I believe it has proven so over the past three years.

Since Karen’s passing I have become very involved in the Pancreatic Cancer community in Rhode Island, and on a national level. I have been part of a team that raised over $550,000 for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network in Rhode Island since 2010. The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network is the only organization out there that is attacking this disease comprehensively, and that is why they have my wholehearted support. This ride’s supporters have been a key component of that fundraising success. I feel we are making true progress in fighting this disease. This year Congress passed important legislation that will move Pancreatic Cancer research forward, and that is a direct result of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network’s work in Washington. Our continued support of this great organization will be the keystone of driving a stake in the heart of this disease.

Myself and Pete Washburn at the start of the 2011 ride

Through my affiliation with the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, I have lost another close friend to this disease. Pete Washburn and I became quick friends when he was fighting pancreatic cancer. I never thought the disease would beat his fighting spirit, but even the strong succumb to this scourge. Losing Pete has only renewed my resolve to defeat this disease. Pete was a great supporter of my ride, and I have enjoyed meeting many of his family members, and fighting this disease side by side with them. I ride with his memory near to my heart at all times.

The finish line in New Hampshire on year two

This will be my fourth time riding this annual ride. For the entire 200 miles this year, I will be accompanied by two great friends, Greg Anderson, who has ridden the ride with me twice, and Ed Hernaez who has completed the ride once in 2012. We also have a contingent of 100 mile riders. Newcomer Billy Fitts, Karen’s nephew and my lifelong friend will be tackling the ride. Billy is taking this challenge on after being off a bike for 20+ years. John Braica, a close friend of mine and Karen’s will ride the last 100 miles with us. Also my buddy Bill Fontaine and my father Leo Costantino (69 years young) will ride those last 100 miles with us as well. This diverse group of riders is a testament to how Karen positively influenced everyone she knew. Her positive attitude lives on in her friends and family’s drive to destroy the disease that took her. We are welcoming other riders, but bear in mind that this is a one way, unsupported ride, so if you do choose to make the trek, you will have to provide your own personal support vehicle. Thank you to all of the amazing people in advance for joining this fight with me. They are all true warriors, and I know we can ride this disease down to the ground together, all in Karen’s name. To support this year’s ride please follow the instructions below.

Please visit: 

http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/karenpettydoublecentury/bikeride




Sincerely Determined,


Eric Costantino
AKA Wacky Dad

My Singing, Superstar Daughter!

I just can't get enough of my daughter Abigail singing.  I found out today that she did a cover of the Adele song "Someone Like You" on SingWho.Com.  I am always blown away by Abby's ability to sing.  I can say undeniably that she did NOT get this from her father or mother (Mom might contest this, but don't let her fool you)! Here is Abby in action.  we don't have any fancy recording equipment, but Abby makes it sound great anyway!

http://singwho.com/watch/4943#!id=4943

Enjoy watching my beautiful and talented daughter, and please share on Facebook and Twitter.  Abby would love to go to the top of the charts!

A Proud Dad,

Wacky Dad

Welfare Drug Testing - Yea or Nay?

I'm wondering what some of my readers thoughts might be on the subject of welfare drug testing.  Do you think this is the answer to an over burdened welfare system, or is it a sure way to starve the children of this country's drug using welfare recipients.

I can lean toward the conservative side on some subjects, and that side of me likes this idea.  As a father I think about the children who will be affected by this law, and it scares me.  I'd love everyone to weigh in with a comment on this one!

Thanks!

Wacky Dad

Death By Burger!

What a great 4th of July!  We were lucky enough to head up to New Hampshire this past holiday weekend and do some camping with our neighbors and close friends, Jen and Ed and their kids.  We also met my old buddy Billy, and my "Uncle Joe" up there and had a fantastic time hanging with all of them.  I don't want to say too much about the trip itself, because that will be another blog post. Gotta reserve my stories!  What I do want to talk about now is last night's dinner.  

Road Trip!

Now over the years I believe that anyone who comes to this blog on a regular basis wants to read about the Jackass named Eric Costantino, AKA Wacky Dad.  When I first started my blog it was easy to come up with a Jackass story every day, but as the years go by, it isn't easy to pull a "wacky" stunt every few days for a blog post.  Sometimes I have to write about the mundane.  I appreciate you all sticking through the lean times, but I have a true Costantino moment to write home about this time.

As many of my readers, family, and friends know I am a big eater.  I derive serious happiness from a great dinner and a glass of wine or a beer.  Last night we decided to head out to the Woodstock Inn in Woodstock, NH for dinner.  With kids and all, we had a party of 19 people.  Just a little background on the Woodstock Inn.  We've been going there for an awful long time at this point, and we love the site brewed Ales and Lagers that they showcase.  I went there with the intention of getting a light dinner and 2 or 3 beers.    I almost made it!  I sat down and initially picked out a Chicken Cobb salad and ordered a nice hoppy IPA.  All was well until the waitress lingered for a couple of milliseconds too long.  I re-opened the menu.  That is when I saw this.

Yup, The Double Death By Burger!

I don't know how I missed it the first time, but it definitely had my attention riveted now.  I yelled over to my buddy Ed who was at another table.  "Did you see the Death By Burger?"  He nodded yes.  Long story short we both ended up ordering the thing.  I often underestimate things.  This was one of those times.  I kind of poo-pooed the whole thing.  How bad can it be?  It might be 36 oz of beef, but that's before they cook it.  All manner of bullshit to convince myself that this thing was gonna be a cake walk.  Hell I thought I'd down the thing, score my t-shirt, and walk away with a full tummy and a smiley face.  I just never considered the consequences of what I was doing.  I should know better, Ed had taken me to a place called Luxe Burger for my birthday this past January.  Ed, Myself, and my old buddy Billy plowed through Luxe Burger's challenge, and we all finished it. Admittedly it was very tough, but we all brought home the t-shirt and were able to conquer.

Luxe Burger!

Maybe I was cocky.  I don't know.  I decided to take a walk down to Woodstock's wall of shame where they post the photos of all the other idiots who take on the challenge.  It took my breath away.  The first thing I noticed was the sheer size of the burger.  It was truly MONUMENTAL!  Then I noticed how many folks were on the wall of shame as opposed to the wall of fame.  It wasn't pretty.  There were at least 3 failures to one success.  Oh shit I thought.  What did I get myself into?  I waited with bated breath.  Here is what I got myself into!

That is a full sized plate.  Look at my wife's expression in the background!

It was gigantic.  The bread was extremely heavy, and the burgers were very dense.  This was serious stuff.  I was scared to be honest with you.  I was with 18 of the people that I love most, and I considered the fact that I might fail.  I really didn't think I was going to make it, and I was going to fail in front of all of these people I love.  I know this sounds stupid to all of you.  I hate to lose and I love a challenge.  It doesn't matter what the challenge is.  If I'm in it, I'm in it to win, or to conquer.  In my little mind this burger challenge was no different.  I was going to be pissed if I couldn't get through it.  I started.  I plowed through as fast as I could taking small sips of my drink as I went.  I got through half.  Ed was eating his at the same time.  He was moving along well too, but I could tell he was hurting.  I was too.  I just continued to eat, even after it hurt.  The burger was charred a little, and it started to really make me feel kind of sick after a while.  I kept going.  I had doubts at about 2/3rd's of the way through, but I just said F*&% it and kept going.  Ed threw in the towel, but he didn't have as much at stake here.  I had all of these friends and family watching me.  My daughters were standing over my shoulder cheering me on.  Next thing I knew the WHOLE restaurant was cheering me on!  It really would have been a fun moment if I hadn't felt like yacking on my plate!  I actually finished the damned thing.  I didn't yack it up, and I actually went for a swim after we finished, and didn't sink, or get a cramp!

The T-Shirt Back

What's the moral of the story?  Well there really isn't one.  I'm still an idiot, capable of sincerely idiotic acts.  I'm still "Wacky Dad".  I've still got it!  That's it.  I have reaffirmed my status as one of the premier morons in the dad blogger world, and I'm damned proud of it.  To all of my fellow dad bloggers out there I'd like to throw down the gauntlet.  Head up to the Woodstock Inn and take the challenge.  If you win, you might be able to enter the Wacky Club!

Bon Appetit!


Wacky Dad

Summer Vacation With Goldfish Puffs!

With the kids home for summer vacation it seems like they eat about twice as much as normal.  Maybe it's all of the pool parties, and summer activities, but I swear that these kids are like little piranha's! 

Mia, Half Child, Half Piranha!

On a recent shopping trip we ran across a new product, Goldfish Puffs at Target. They sounded interesting so we grabbed a couple of bags, as well as a couple of the traditional Goldfish that my kids love.  For all of you that need gluten free snacks, it is good to know that these are a great go-to snack for your kids.  I happened to have all of my daughters with me when we were at the store, so we ended up getting two bags of the Goldfish Puffs and two bags of the regular Goldfish Snacks.  I never get out of the store easy when shopping with all of the girls!

We grabbed 2 flavors, Mega Cheese and Cheddar Bacon

We didn't waste any time digging into our new snacks.  It was lunchtime when we got home.  We decided to do a little taste test, comparing the old to the new.  The puffs were definitely a welcome change for my two older girls Abby and Ailey, Mia on the other hand is smitten with the pizza flavored traditional Goldfish Snacks.

A minding numbing array of Goldfish Snacks!

We ate our Goldfish out of hand, but also implanted them in our turkey wraps.  Definitely happy bellies all around, including Dad!

That's something you don't see every day!

After lunch we headed over to the neighbors pool for a fun afternoon of swimming and relaxing.  I'm not sure if all of those Goldfish we took with us swam into the pool filter, but most of them disappeared by the end of the day!  There were even some adult hands in the snack bag.

I'm glad we found this new snack before the summer!  Click Here for more info on this new Goldfish product!

Happy Summer and Happy Snacking,


Wacky Dad