Michelle LeBlanc and Horse Farm Hundred 2013
Dr. Michelle LeBlanc, DVM, was one of the world leading
experts in the field of equine reproduction.
She passed in April of this year at the age of 58, following a battle
with ovarian cancer. Considering
thousands upon thousands of equine ovaries she examined in her career, it is
somewhat of life’s cruel irony that she had to succumb to the malady that originated
in her own ovary. Back in 1995 I had a
great privilege to meet Michelle, then a professor at the College of Veterinary
Medicine, University of Florida, and spend the following two years working with
her during my residency in theriogenology (clinical animal reproduction). During those two years I was learning from
her not only the art of veterinary profession as it pertains to animal
reproduction, but also the art of corresponding with the animal owners, not an
easy task particularly when you deal with “horse people”, as well as with veterinary
students. Her teaching style was
exemplary and unsurprisingly for a number of years her students voted her as
their “Teacher of the Year”.
Besides her trade mark heartfelt smile and communication
skills, I will remember her also for one story she shared with me. Some years before my joining the College,
there was an ongoing effort to raise funds necessary to build new Large Animal
Hospital facilities, primarily horse barns, as part of the Veterinary School
development. As part of those efforts,
Michelle represented the University and participated in one of the donor
dinners organized by a rich and well-connected family at the family’s farm in
the vicinity of Gainesville, home of the University of Florida. The wealth and glamour of the people
attending the dinner made otherwise outspoken Michelle feel like being “…the
only blue collar person there” that night.
That impression was furthered by the commotion that occurred at some
point later that evening. To make it
short: the Air Force One helicopter
landed bringing in the President of the United States! Under the circumstances it would be easy to
forget the purpose of the event, but that purpose was not forgotten as the
effort netted several millions of contribution dollars resulting in beautiful
horse barns that are standing today as part of the College of Veterinary
Medicine.
Learning in July of Michelle’s death, and learning about the
College of Veterinary Medicine bicycling club’s, called “Team VetMed”, decision
to dedicate this year’s ride to Michelle, I immediately decided to participate. Considering the timing, the distance, the
expense, and effort, it was critical that I had a full support from my wife,
who also knew Michelle from our “Florida days”.
The ride known as “Horse Farm Hundred” has been
traditionally held in the month of October since 1998. This year’s ride occurred on Sunday, October
20. Michelle was the Century’s original
rider and longtime supporter. The ride
originates and ends in Gainesville, Florida.
The map of this ride could be
accessed at: http://gccfla.org/maps/HFH13.pdf. My preparations for the ride were hindered by
a combination of rainy weather in my home area in the days preceding the ride, and
by other competing tasks so that I was feeling more of a tourist going to Florida
for vacation and less of a bicyclist preparing to ride a 100-mile bike
ride. The complexity of the endeavor
involving flying a bicycle to Florida was very similar to the endeavor of
flying bicycle to Europe couple of years ago, which I described in an earlier
blog (“My Tour of Banija”) and which therefore I am not going to repeat here. To summarize: flying a bicycle is not an easy
task, but it is doable.
As part of my giving back to the school, I offered and the
school accepted my offer to give a presentation on some aspects of the veterinary
work I do for public health. That was
also an opportunity to meet and greet some colleagues whom I had not seen since
“back then”. Because the presentation
was scheduled for Friday and ride for Sunday, I arrived in Gainesville on
Thursday evening. That way I wanted to
do some last-minute catching up by riding a few miles before the Sunday
ride.
Gainesville has seen quite some changes in terms of road
bicycling. For example, many major roads
now include dedicated bike lanes. That
includes Route 441, which on its way out South cuts through the Paynes Prairie,
the bottom of a lake that about century ago drained out through a sink
hole. Considering that the addition of
the bike lane to that road coincided with an increase of speed limit, from 55
to 65 miles per hour, I was not feeling compelled to try my luck by riding on
that road at that section – just a few feet from the cars speeding 70-80 miles
per hour. Nevertheless, I used a short
portion of the Route to get from my hotel to the Gainesville-Hawthorne Bike
Trail. As the name suggests, the trail
connects the town of Gainesville, with a small town of Hawthorne.
Entering the trail catapulted me almost instantly into
another world: the world of lush vegetation, deep shadows, and silence. Apart from a quite a few bicyclists I met on
the trail, squirrels, birds, and a single snake lying in the middle of the
trail, were about the only representatives of the local fauna. I did not see
any alligators though there were several spots where I would not be surprised
to see them. Never riding the trail
before made me feel that the trail was longer than the posted mileage signs
were telling me. All in all, I rode the
entire trail totaling 40 miles on Friday, and a shorter section of only 25
miles on Saturday.
The morning of the main ride was characterized by an
overcast, which resulted in somewhat chilly, but not too cold environment. Contrary to my experience with other century
rides that typically offer a window of time to the rider to decide when to
depart, in this ride all the riders departed at the same time, starting at
8:30. I joined the VetMed Team, which
was led by Dr. Charles Courtney, and we departed in the second half of the
crowd, but not before having our group photo taken.
The first miles were very easy, and in Florida terms,
generally downhill. For the entire duration of this introductory phase I was
wondering how exactly a total of over 3200 feet of vertical gain is going to be
achieved. Having worked and traveled extensively in the area before, I could attest
that there were no major hills. Let me
put it this way: I could not believe that 3200 feet could be netted just by
accumulating rather small variations in the land configuration. However, as my legs were telling me later on,
I believe I was wrong. Long stretches of
open road, which tended to imprint the sense of individual insignificance into
every rider, were the trade mark of the ride.
For miles and miles, roads would open, and while at first it seems that
you will never get to the other side behind the horizon, your brain would remind
you that you will, and that you will probably in the next 15 to 20
minutes. The ride is titled “Horse Farm
Hundred” for a reason. The reason are
countless horse farms that could be seen all around for as far as the eye could
see. During my residency, I learned that
the area south of Gainesville, in the general direction of Ocala, was
characterized by a greater presence of clay in the soil. That in itself was supporting the grass,
which in absence of clay would be removed by a grazing horse along with the
root so that the grass would not survive.
Sometime later into the ride, the Sun came up and suddenly
it was warm. Miles upon miles; another
turn to make, another horizon to reach; another slight, but prolonged, uphill
to conquer, and, another grazing horse to waive to. Two rest stops helped us stay alive. Food, and in particular, fluids were in
abundance, and at one of the stops seemingly ubiquitous Jo Ann Winn was making
sure that the Team had everything the Team needed. Yet, after all the fluids I consumed during
the ride, I ended up consuming almost another liter of ice-cold water immediately upon arrival at
the finish. It took me exactly six hours
net (6h 30min with three stops) to complete the ride. It was longer than I
hoped for, but better than I deserved considering the extent of my training for
the ride. The ride itself was a very
nice experience and so was the learning that the Team’s fundraiser for the
Michelle LeBlanc Memorial Scholarship exceeded all expectations. Michelle must
be smiling now.