Wednesday, 2Jun2010, Santa Rosa, CA
Hi Everyone,
I must say we are definitely on the countdown now … only 3 days to go … until the start date of Life Across America 2010 (this is being done in conjunction with America by Bicycle’s “Cross Country Challenge 2010″, a special thanks to Doug T. and Bill for their help.
Also a big expression of gratitude to FABC and ABC who have supported us from the beginning.
To Rand at Aria Velo … thank you for what you have done to make sure Adella had an incredible LOOK bicycle to ride across America this summer.
Wow, it’s sure been a busy week … trying to get all the last minute things done. Every time I turn around … there’s something else to do! (Does that sound familiar?)
On Monday, 31May … I rode with our SRCC friends … I ended up with 63 miles. Then I went to the Trek Store to recalibrate the shifting on my bike … new cables always “stretch” a little and have to be tweaked.
On Tuesday, 1June … lots more on the “honey-do” list and making sure the things on the check list were done!
We also had a very nice “farewell” breakfast with our Friendly Friday cycling group … what a great bunch of incredible people!
While there, I was able to distribute the 2nd order of LAA 2010 jerseys to those who attended the breakfast.
Also to drop off the jerseys to Aria Velo and the Trek Store while running around.
Thanks to Brett and John at the Trek store for all their help … Brett surprised us by asking us to sign the LAA 2010 jersey for him because he wants to frame it and put it up in the store. What an absolute honor!
On Tuesday night we were updating our website and finding some pictures from our previous Cross-Country bicycle rides: 1995 Ability Across California, 1996 Life Across America, 1997 Five Points of Life, and 2008 Life Across America.
What an amazing walk down memory lane for me … a picture with Lance Armstrong in Texas, lots of amazing donors pictures at blood centers throughout the U.S.A.
Before I forget it … I would to tell John (LAA 2010 webmaster) how much I appreciate his handiwork on the new and improved LAA 2010 website … he has done an amazing job on it, redesigning it, making it more user-friendly for blood centers and visitors alike.
What can I say? Let me try by saying a great big “thank you” to a young man who is very talented and does an amazing job in such a short period of time … one week! Thank you, John!
On Wednesday, 2 June … we rode with Janice, Mike, Charlie, Jackie, David, Carole, George, Ken, Adella, and Bob … just to name a few … and we did 51 miles today … what a beautiful day in Sonoma County, a great day for a bike ride.
We had a lot of fun and it was incredible to see all the cyclists with their Life Across America 2010 jerseys all in a line … pedaling up the highways together and we even let Janice talk us into pedaling up Covey … the percentage of this short yet mighty hill was an eye-opener for all of our … “old bones”.
Guess-estimates said it starts at 17-18% and mellows out to 13-15% grade … either way it got our hearts pumping. Not a long hill … yet … long enough!
Wednesday, today, was a b/d celebration for my honey bunch of many years … we went to the SR Sonoma Taco Shop to celebrate.
And we want to say “thank you” to Sammy and Aida … who do an incredible job of making everyone feel right at home!
A cute story happened while we were there … a little girl about 2 years old was sitting at the table next to us … and … her parents and grandparents were speaking a language that we didn’t recognize so Adella asked them where they were from?
They said Norway … so they were speaking Norwegian … and … every time the little girl looked at our table and looked and me she started laughing with the cutest little laugh while pointing at me … so I waved at her and said “hi” … her mother was embarrassed by all her commotion and explained that she was excited to see my “mustache”. One thing led to another and Adella made friends with their table.
So I got the bright idea of calling Carole because I knew her husband John spoke Norwegian … and when he came on the phone I asked him to speak to the grandfather, a complete stranger, in Norwegian and he did!
The entire table really enjoyed listening to the conversation in Norwegian.
Thank you John for being a good sport and helping us make some new Norwegian friends tonight … you are amazing!
Well here we are full circle … back to the real point of this post … only 3 days to go!
Lots of packing and repacking to look forward to over the next couple of days, last minute checks on the bicycles, on the computer, the laptop, the website, and receiving lots of last minute emails from ABC blood centers and those amazing ABC employers in D.C. who are helping to co-ordinate this entire summer.
Thank you, Matt, Abbey, Lauren, Julia and the rest of the gang!
To Jeff and the “In the Telling” film crew thank you for the amazing jobs you are doing in the “telling” the amazing stories of blood recipients … keep up the good work!
Don’t forget to use our website as LAA 2010 “central” and visit our Facebook account “Give Blood” by clicking on the link, and take time to check out the pictures Adella just added last night.
She will do this daily on Facebook, uploading our pictures of rides, stops at the blood centers, donors we meet, ABC highlights and interesting stories.
Talk to you soon,
Larry F. “Giving Blood is the one GIFT that truly comes from your heart!”