Not too easy in "Big Easy".

The CMAA Conference and Exposition in New Orleans was an outstanding opportunity to catch up with old friends and learn new things. Considering the city's reputation as the "Big Easy," there was an amazing amount of energy in the air. Managers were having fun, but they were also learning a lot.

The Manager of the Year event for 2004 Manager of the Year Larry Thompson was, as always, a special time, graced with old friends like the incomparable Ms. Sally Burns Rambo and newcomers to the industry. Thanks to the program's sponsors for making the evening possible. Equally special was an informal evening at the Acme Oyster House that we hosted with Victor Cornelius Menus for managers, vendors, and other industry friends. That informal evening went so well that you can look to us doing something similar in Hawaii next year.

My wife Penny and I also got an opportunity to meet some of the New Orleans locals, both in the company of club manager and vendor friends, and on our own. One of the more interesting highlights of the trip was our encounter with "Bicycle Michael."

Some explanation is necessary. I recently took up "serious" bicycling. I--as previously mentioned in this space--am a "vertically-challenged" athlete. Years ago, I took a header running on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. I ended up in the emergency room of George Washington University Medical Center getting my face stitched back together. In 20 years of running, I've dislocated shoulders, pulled muscles, and skinned knees too many times to count. Through it all, though, I've had a lot more great memories than injuries.

Finally, in the months leading up to my 53rd birthday in February, I decided that it was time to hang up my Brooks. Penny thought it was a rather innocuous decision on my part to take up bicycling. But she soon began to have doubts.

Right after I began riding, I was riding inches from the rear wheel of a friend's bike along a bike trail--a practice called drafting--when a rollerblader suddenly veered into the path of my friend. My right handlebar snagged a snow fence along the trail. The bike stopped and I didn't, with predictable results. Then, a couple of months later, I took a really hard turn on loose gravel and wound up with road rash and a smashed helmet.

Penny decided at that point that if she had any hope of protecting me from myself, it lay in riding with me. It wasn't by any means the first time we had worked out together. The two of us became friends training for a 10k race. Love, marriage, and baby Rachel followed. We completed five 5:30 a.m. boot camps together. Penny can kick my butt in sit-ups.

When we decided to try cycling, the commitment of time, energy, and money was cause for concern. Then "something" and "someone" came along that made it all worthwhile. The "something" was the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training (TNT). Since 1988, TNT has raised over $500 million to find cures for blood cancers. We are training to ride together in the "America's Most Beautiful Ride" century (100-mile) ride around Lake Tahoe in June. Our goal is to raise $8,000 together.

The "someone" is Josie, our honorary TNT teammate. Josie, who is five-years old, was diagnosed last April with acute lymphocytic leukemia, the number-one killer of children. When we met Josie at the TNT kickoff, we knew that all the hours of practice in the cold and the sore muscles and backsides were worth it if it brings Josie and the thousands of children and adults who are fighting blood cancers closer to a cure.

When we needed to travel to New Orleans, we decided to try and rent bikes to keep up our training. God and the Internet smiled on us and we discovered Bicycle Michael's, www.bicyclemichaels.com. Michael started his shop 21 years ago on the fringes of the French Quarter. Michael would be a hippie if there were still hippies. The funky shop is a cyclist's dream. Wheels hang from the ceiling and from a loft, where a fleet of rental cycles that he and co-conspirator Tim have built are stored. To get to the counter in the rear of the store you must navigate past Leonard, the resident dog. Michael and Tim couldn't have been more helpful, fitting road bikes for us and providing us with emergency saddle packs. When a group of New Yorkers, in town for the New Orleans Marathon the next day, came in to rent, Michael sat the bunch of us down on the floor with maps and traced out his favorite New Orleans routes.

Penny and I rode with the New Yorkers for awhile, then took off at a training pace, riding through Old New Orleans into City Park and down along the shoreline of Lake Pontchartrain. Coming back toward the French Quarter, we headed for the French Market, where we sat in a sidewalk cafe and grabbed lunch while listening to jazz. Road cyclists in full gear rated a second look ... even in New Orleans.

Later during our stay we hit a spinning class at the New Orleans Hilton health club, where the staff was very helpful and supportive. We were glad we had worked out during the week in New Orleans when we got back home and our weekend TNT training ride took us over almost 35 miles of hilly terrain. The two of us were sound asleep by 9:30 p.m.

Penny and I want to thank all of you who have contributed so far to our TNT fundraising effort. As I write this, we have raised 61 percent of our goal, and we're grateful to all of you for believing in us and supporting the cause of blood cancer research.

If you haven't had a chance to contribute yet and would like to, you can send a check made out to Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Team in Training, c/o Tom and Penny Finan, 146 South Gore Ave., St. Louis, MO 63119, or visit our website: www.active.com/donations/fundraise_public.cfm?key=TomandPennyFinan.