LIFE ACROSS AMERICA 2010

Today was an interesting day … the rain finally caught up with us and we rode in the rain for about 20 miles!  At the SAG stop I had the opportunity to meet of the the NY State Police’s finest … Trooper David Overhoff … he was nice enough to talk to us and take a “photo op” with us … as usual our greeting to each other was … “be safe, out there!”

It was a 95 mile day and even with the rain … I still managed a 17.8 mph average.   Most of the time I rode with Kiwi Rick … because my “energy tank” was on empty for most of the day.  After the 2nd SAG stop … I started feeling better and I tried to ride with the “fast bunch” but I just didn’t have it today … they dropped me like a hot potatoe … on one of the many, many hills we had to climb today … almost 4,000 feet of climb and then add in the “rain” … well … what an incredible riding day … then the rain cleared!

Blood Fact:  More than 4,5 million patients need blood transfusions each in the U.S. and Canada.

Wow! Another great cycling day … with 87 miles of beautiful riding weather after some early morning scares of rain and thunderstorms!

Today I was fortunate enough to once again ride with my buddy, Paul Maher, who was a “roomie” and rode with me and 65 other cyclists on the ABB Northern Tier ride in 2008.

Yes, it’s true … Paul is still as strong as ever and a great climber … I started out with Phil and Rick (OK) and it wasn’t too long before he caught up with us … it was a 19 mph average day for me and I couldn’t have done it without Paul’s help … we had a blast and it was just like old times … switching on and off and doing our best not to bonk!

I can’t believe we are in NY already (check out the NY state line pictures).  Once we cycled into Hamburg, we stopped for a chocolate and strawberry milkshake … I decided Paul deserved a break today … so I bought him a shake.

Later we went to the Comfort Inn, settled in and then Paul’s niece, a licensed massage therapist, came to the hotel and gave massages to the cyclists who decided to “sign up” … well, Adella and I decided we deserved a massage after 3297 miles … and … it was great!

Then Alex(my son) and his close friend, Leslie came to the hotel and visited with us for about 2 hours … we did our best to introduce them to most of our cycling buddies.

It was great to see everyone and we are looking forward to another 94 miler tomorrow from Hamburg to Canandiagua, NY.

We’ll let you know how it goes!  Only 7 days to go until Portsmouth, NH … but who’s counting?

A beautiful morning … lots of promises of rain … yet, since it’s a REST DAY … and we’re inside … no worries, mate!

A good night’s rest, plenty of sleep, and then I showered and walked down to partake of the hotel’s breakfast …

Now I’m back in the room, cleaning the bike and getting ready for our attendance at the blood drive today.

In reflection, it’s hard to believe we are already in Pennsylvania … it seems like only yesterday we were in St. Joseph, MO, visiting with the grandbabies, and Salt Lake City seems like “years ago” … and San Francisco is just a “hazy” memory.

Wow!  We are down to only 8 riding days left in Phase 1 … I’m really looking forward to the fun-filled, action-packed daily rides we have left in ABB’s bag of cycling tricks.

Our little cycling community has “molted” into an extended family and soon it will be just a faded memory of incredible people, amazing personalities, compassion understanding and service oriented folks who happen to be “cyclists” and love the “open road” on a great bicycle with the sun in your face, the wind at your backs and thousands of miles of open highway to conquer.

If you’ve never cycled on a long distance tour … you should try it sometime … it will change your life … because of the “real-time” experiences you will experience … there will be “hills” that will kick your butt, and downhills that will take your breath away.  Yet, you will be surrounded by “nature” and the majestic beauty of the land as the pedal your way across the great country of America.

It’s not the bike, it’s not the open highway, it’s not the scenery … it’s the “people” … yes, it’s the people you ride with (the characteristics and personalities of each one that you will never forget) … it’s also the “people”, the “locals” that you meet along the way … they are the “glue” that hold America together … each local community have their own personal heroes … those local folks who have given their all … to build that community and are trying to do everything in their power to serve God, their country, and their fellowman.

After all is said and done … it’s the individuals and their personalities that leave an everlasting “impression” on your soul … and … that alone is worth it … worth all the adversities, the challenges, and the “ups and downs” of the cross country challenge. A chance to win the prize, the prize of being able to say … “I did it … I never quit,  and I have the pictures and the memories to prove it!”  Wow!  What a positive impact it will make on you, on your relationships, and it will change your life forever!

And that doesn’t even take into consideration all the incredible “blood donors” that I’ve had the opportunity to meet and to personally shake their hands and say “thank you”  … in an effort to let them know without a shadow of a doubt, that “Giving Blood, Saves Lives!”  To give them a real life example of what they have always known in their hearts … “that they are giving blood for someone out there, somewhere, who sometime will need a second chance at life!”  

So once again … thank you to all the donors I’ve met, and to all the donors that I will yet meet, on this nation-wide blood drive this summer as “Life Across America 2010″ drives from city to city to take the opportunity of meeting some of the most compassionate, generous, giving people in America.  Donors …you are amazing!

What an incredible day in the Erie County Blood Bank … we had a blast!  There were so many “donors” to greet and thank … it was really an honor and a privilege to say hi to all of you:  Mary Walters, Jerru Kowalski, Jill Gryskevicz, Kristen Currier and her amazing children (Mason, Jackson and Elizabeth), Gina and Simone Welsch, Jane Maybir and Mitch Miller, Roy Luke (DJ from WCTL 106.3), Bonnie Rafferty … and the Rafferty clan of Coury, Carl, David and Chris Bowersox … who all came out to donate in support of Henry Rafferty who was injured in a severe auto accident a week and a half ago and has used 19+ units so far.

Also there to donate was: Dan Heher, John Dubeck, Samantha Helsley and Paul Ditrick (a 55 gallon donor who was donating apheresis today)

Thank you to the “lab”  staff who took the time out of their busy day to take pictures with us:  Debby, Ann, Paula, Diane, Christine, Pam, and Dan.

Check out the photos of Facebook … and if you don’t already know it was a great day and we are so grateful to the Erie, PA., for the overwhelming support for Henry Rafferty.  (to Bonnie and Henry … hang in there … we are praying for your healthy and speedy recovery, to the donors … you continue to amaze me with your compassion and giving spirits.

Tomorrow we ride from Erie to Hamburg, NY … talk to you then!

What a day!  103 miles from Youngstown, OH to Erie, PA., ending with a 17.5 mph average … and I burned approximately 5900 calories … a great diet plan … eat all you want and still lose weight … sounds like a good deal to me!

It was really beautiful country and cycling with some incredible people and great cyclists … it’s hard to believe that we are in Pennsylvania already.

I want to say “thank you” to Shawn … his quick thinking kept both of us upright and safe … thanks buddy!

To my cycling buddy, Kiwi Rick (New Zealand), you are one amazing competitor … I honestly don’t know how you keep that “smiley face”  upright on those hills, especially when your heart is jumping out of your chest and your legs are feeling wooden!

Tomorrow is a REST DAY and we will be staying at the Day’s Inn … cleaning the clothes and the bicycles … and … getting ready for an incredible day tomorrow with Dan D and the Community Blood Bank of NW PA & West NY … they have some amazing things planned and an incredible blood drive in the works at a local hospital. (We’ll let you know how it goes!)

Thanks to Dan and the staff at CBB of NW PA and WNY!  Talk to you tomorrow.

Another incredible day!  93 miles at a 16.5 mph average … not an easy ride … lot of rollers and hills … yet the toughest part of the day was the very “ROUGH” roads we were riding on … oops, I’m not supposed to complain about Ohio’s roads.

I rode with several cyclists today at various times … I chased and caught up with Phil, Wild Thing Rob, Oklahoma Rick, and Kevin for awhile,  yet with so many hills and Rob in one of those “nobody can catch me” moods … they dropped me on the hills after a few miles and I ended up riding with Robb(Boston) and Lester(CA) for most of the day, yet, we seemed to be staying close behind them … then once safely into town we stopped at the “Dairy Cream” for a milkshake.  Ummm Goood!

At the hotel I had the opportunity to spread the word about Life Across America with Jim Bowser, videographer for WKBN27 1st News, FOX youngstown, 33myYTV, WYTV, www.wkbn.ccom, www.foxyoungstown.com

And later we talked to Pat Conley and Janet Rogers, reporters from 21WFMJ (NBC) … a special “thank you” to Janet who is a blood donor!

Tomorrow we will be riding from Youngstown, OH to Erie, PA … 104 miles.

I’m tired … talk to you later.

Another great riding day … although another 104 miles and lots of rollers with some 15% hills.

All I did today was concentrate on making it to each SAG stop … 1st one at 30 miles and the 2nd one at 75 miles and then bringing it home … the average was a little better today … 17.5 mph.

I rode with Phil, Rick, John, Kevin, and Joy until the 2nd SAG stop and then the hills took over and were relentless.

I am tired now and I think I’ll go to bed early … since we have another 90 miler tomorrow from Wooster to Youngstown.

Talk to you later or tomorrow.

Wow, what a day!  It’s started out early … I woke up at 4:00 a.m., packing and then breakfast at 5:30 and we loaded at 6:30 a.m.

105.5 miles with a 17.2 average.  Today Adella rode at her own pace and I rode the 1st 50 miles with Phil, Rick, John and Kevin.

After the 1st SAG I was contacted by Channel 2 News and Channel 7 News (out of Dayton, OH) which were contacted by the Community Blood Center on behalf of Life Across America.

Tony and Wade had a lot of “well wishers” from his company at the 50 mile mark to cheer them on and even his brother and lots of friends were there.  Channel 2 news showed up and interviewed Tony and took a lot of pictures of the “Ohio State Buckeyes”  tail gate party that was in effect.

I was interviewed there and then rode on … a few miles up the road … Channel 7 news contacted me and Steve Baker … took some footage of myself and other ABB riders and then followed up with an interview about Giving Blood and Life Across America 2010.

In St Paris I stopped and took a picture with the Chief of Police, JR Pence, Jr., who was nice enough to talk to Rick and I for a few minutes.

From there on … I rode with Kiwi Rick for quite a while … then we were joined by Scott and we rode together to the 2nd SAG.  At the 2nd SAG we were joined by Kevin … and … we rode the final 30 miles into Marysville together.

On the way into town we were running out of water so we stopped at a small store and I bought a gallon of water which I shared with George, Kevin, Scott and Rick.

When we finally cycled into Marysville … we were looking for an ice cream place … and … Scott said that God had brought him to a new ice cream store named, Farmhouse Ice Cream Parlor right on the main drag.

It is owned by Bill and Janet Howard … and … we met Cathy, and Jack while we were there.  We asked if they were open and they said no not yet, however they said that their air conditioning was broken and couldn’t be  fixed for a week … so they offered us free ice cream as a gesture of kindness and hospitality.  Yes … we did gladly accept their ice cream!

After that we decided that if a little ice cream was good then … more would be better … so we went to the Dairy Queen to buy a milkshake. (I’m pretty sure “addicted” to DQ might be an appropriate term here.)

At the DQ we might two very nice ladies … Cathy R and Diane … who asked us why we were riding so far and in such hot weather … their question led to a discussion about the nation-wide blood drive, Life Across America 2010, and I gave them a LAA 2010 business card and thanked them for donating blood.

After Cathy left … we talked to Diane and she let us take a picture with her next to her USPS truck, she told me that her friend, Neil/Neal? had been donating blood for a long time … so I asked her to tell him “thank you” for me.

Then we rode to the Holiday Inn Express and helped unload the luggage … Adella arrived later and said she had ridden about 7 miles extra because she had made a wrong turn somewhere.

Later at the hotel I received a very nice email from Cathy R … thanking us for sharing our story with her.

ABC updates:  Lots of contact now with blood centers … confirming our schedule and our stops.

• A quick note to thank Sher P and her staff … they did an amazing job to make sure that the news stations were apprised of the nation-wide blood drive Life Across America.
• We are in touch with New York Blood Center … and … everything is working out for our appearance there. (thanks Keith)
• Thanks to Jen and Abbey for all the followup phone calls and emails to the blood centers … it is much appreciated.
• I’ll talk to you later or tomorrow since we have another 102 mile day tomorrow from Marysville to Wooster.

Another good riding day … 75 miles from Indianapolis to Richmond.   Mostly level, flat riding with a few hills.  Adella and I started out with Kevin, Phil and Kiwi Rick … yet … we decided to stop and see the Hoosiers Gym, so had to let them go.

One amazing stop we made today was in Knightstown at the “Hoosier Community Gym” where the movie, “Hoosiers”, was filmed.

We met Reid Brennan and Mike who are caretakers at the gym.

Reid actually went to school there and played basketball in the gym during his early years.  He gave us a tour of the gym, locker rooms and a historical background about how the movie was filmed, etc. (Check out the Facebook pictures)

After we left there … Adella and I caught up with Robb and Lester and rode with them until Big John and Oklahoma Rick came along and then we rode with them for awhile until Adella ran out of steam! (at a 22-23 mph paceline, that’s understandable)

Pretty soon Lester and Robb came back up to us and I was pulling for awhile … then Robb decided to pick it up and I decided to ride with them … make was he flying, especially on the pulls up the “hills” … in fact, we caught back up with Rick and Big John … but only because I think they had stopped for some reason.  We then rode the rest of the way into Richmond together!

Once we arrived in Richmond we first stopped at Wendy’s for a bite to eat. (And took our bicycles into the restaurant with us … the manager questioned it at first and then said OK … however this was the first time he had seen that, in his 26 years of the business.)

Then I received a call from Adella saying there were people at the hotel looking for us!

So when I made it to the hotel … we were met at the hotel by employees of the Community Blood Center-Richmond, Indiana … Tracy and Andrew, Sher, Melinda and then later we met Amy and other staff over at the blood drive.

Also Steve Roger … a reporter from Pal-Item.com, Richmond, Indiana, newspaper, http://www.pal-item.com/ was there taking some photos of us for the newspaper.  (Thanks Steve!)

At the hotel we took a few pictures and then we rode our bicycles about a mile over to the blood drive at the Richmond Blood Center at 4450 Garwood Placed, it was great to meet the staff who greeted us as rode up to the blood center.

As soon as we arrived at the blood drive, there was a donor named Angie who was leaving … yet, took the time to talk to us and take a picture with us.

After a gracious greeting, we were given the opportunity to meet the donors.

One of our first donors that we met, since he had just finished giving blood, was Rich Lemming (who had recently moved to Seymour, Indiana, yet had driven all the way back up here to donate).  The staff thought that was great because I was from the Seymour area.

Fred Obermyer who was donating today, was there with his wife, Peggy, who was also retired law enforcement.  It was great fun talking to her about LE and saying “thank you”  to Fred for donating blood.

And another donor, ??, was their with her daughter, I thanked them and  her daughter said that she would like to donate when she’s old enough.

We are now back at the hotel, loaded with lots of goodies from CBC-Richmond, IND,  for the other ABB cyclists on our trip to Maryville, Ohio, tomorrow.

A special thanks to Sher and her staff for the incredible “gifts” they gave us … you are an amazing, compassionate, giving group of people and we want to thank you for all you do!  (Thanks Sher … great job!)

We’ll probably see them tomorrow along the route … probably somewhere near the 1st SAG … since she said the media wanted to interview us and take some photos.

So until then or later this evening …

What a great rest day!  We were able to “sleep in” and then we were picked up by the Indiana Blood Center van by Pete Lux … who transported us and our bicycles to 3450 N. Meridian … and … we were able to visit with blood donors and IBC staff.

Yes Abbey it’s true they have an amazing group of staff at IBC … Adella and I had a lot of fun and really enjoyed talking to and “thanking” the donors who were present … I took the opportunity as a blood recipient to individually shake hands, thank each donor, and if they didn’t object … we took a picture with them.

Then CEO Byron B … took us into a staff meeting and introduced us and gave us the opportunity to speak to the tele-donor recruitment staff … that was a lot of fun … and they had some great questions about “why” we would be cycling across America?  When we finished we did a group picture with lots of hugs and handshakes as we said our goodbyes.

After that, Channel 59 Fox News … reporter/photographer Jamie and Noel (an intern) came in to interview us and do a local news piece, as we talked to the blood donors, a husband (Chris) and his wife who were donating at the same time … this is a newscast which we are looking forward to seeing and then sharing the Fox 59 news link with the ABC members.

Later we met with Byron, B, Tyler Rice, Dan Waxman, Michael Parejko, Mark Beltz and Pete L gave us a “drive by” scenic tour of the Governor’s mansions on our way to lunch.

Adella and I took lots of pictures which should be uploaded to Facebook later this evening. (Enjoy seeing the “faces” of some amazing donors and the incredible IBC staff who take care of them when they come in to donate blood.)

We even stopped in downtown to take a picture of the War Memorial at the center square … my connection is my grandfather, who fought with the Indiana 66th Infantry Regiment in the Civil War.

Indianapolis is an amazing, growing, lively city where the “night life” just starts to come alive at sunset … lots of incredible war memorials and interesting buildings that have some amazing history to them!

We had a blast and want to thank Indiana Blood Center for their gracious hospitality.

To Bob Wise … I didn’t meet Dawn (she was on vacation) however I did get a picture of your name and Perry’s name on the Team FPOL cycling jersey which was in a frame on the lobby wall.

Tomorrow is another 75 miles to Richmond, Indiana … we’ll talk to you later.

It was a great day … only 65 miles and through some very scenic and gorgeous countryside … it was foggy this morning when we started … yet after the long night of thunderstorms and heavy rain, we were very happy that it wasn’t pouring!

Adella had a tough start when the room key would not work .. so she went to the front desk and their “master key” wouldn’t work either … and her bicycle was still in the room … so they called maintenance and he was there in a few minutes and everything worked out OK.  We were loaded and on our way.

She was feeling good today and we decided to try to catch up the the first group of cyclists.  It took us awhile yet by working together we were able to catch up with Phil, Tony, Wade, Fran, Kiwi Rick, Mark, George and Joe.

We were then able to relax a bit and give us a chance to “recover” from the chase.

The rest of the day was awesome … we rode together and then stopped at the “Roark” Custom Metal Fabrication factory where they make “ROARK” bicycles.  We were given a tour of the factory by Charles “Ted” Roark, President of the company, it was very interesting to see how their bicyles were fabricated and assembled. (check out the pictures on the album on Facebook)

We then rode our bicycles over to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and after sharing the Life Across America nation wide blood drive and what we and our ABB cyclemates were doing … we had the opportunity to take our pictures with Rick Phillips, Security Supervisor with 34 years of experience in law enforcement and the offical Brickyard 400  Pace Vehicle.  (check out the pix on Facebook)

After that we rode together over to the Major Stanley Velodrome and all of us cyclists had a blast pretending that we were more than “wannabes” on the banked track!  It was awesome! (I’m sure my son, Aaron, will remember his day on the Velodrome in 1996)

I was very proud of Adella … even though at first she was very apprehensive about riding on the Velodrome … she did it anyway and found out that it was a lot of fun and I was able to watch her self-esteem and self-confidence grow by leaps and bounds as she became bolder and bolder!

Finally we finished our 65 mile ride by cycling into downtown along the canal area … it was a very pretty ride.

Adella had one of her best days yet … 16.8 mph average and her most enjoyable part of the ride was when she was able to ride with and paceline behind Phil (one of our strongest and classiest cyclist on this tour) … and she was in cycling heaven!

ABC update:

• I received an email from Marsha S., in Bethelem, PA., letting me know that she was putting the final touches on our scheduled visit there.
• I rec’d an email from Betty B., in Pensacola, FL, letting us know that Pensacola has some incredible things planned for our 17Aug10 visit there.
• I received a phone call from Danny at Indianapolis Blood Center … confirming the time 9:45 a.m. pick up time for the blood drive tomorrow.

After route rap and mechanic’s hour … we all went to eat dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory in downtown … it was very good although they were very packed!

Talk to you tomorrow on our rest day.