R4WH 2009; Only 1 week left! :-(

We got to Columbus OH on Thursday after leaving Cincinnati in a storm. Thunder & lightening in the morning meant we had to drive a while before it was safe to bike. We still rode a couple of hours in the rain before it cleared & turned sunny in the afternoon.

On arriving, we went right to Cap City diner for a happy hour with the team & Columbus-based friends & family. The next morning, we all met at Christian's & biked a few blocks over to the OSU School of Medicine for a Global Health Day with speakers, food, etc.

This morning was our Solidarity ride. We had 2 routes of 20 & 40 miles. Great support & turnout with about 90 riders signing up to join us. This was a great turnout for a couple of reasons. There was a major charity walk & another bike event at the same time. Also, the weather was threatening, but held up & we stayed dry & enjoyed the rides.

Tonight we're being treated to a cookout at Clare's house. Tomorrow we leave for Athens, OH. Monday we'll cross into West Virginia & arrive in DC on Friday. I've only got 6 more riding days, plus 1 more support day & the DC Solidarity ride to go. It's hard to believe we've come so far & have so little time left together. On the other hand, it's been 2 months & I can't wait to see my wife, my kids, my family & friends again.

I promise more pics as we get into the Appalachians. --Steve

Through Indiana, Illinois & into Ohio!

R4WH has covered a lot of ground in the past days. After leaving St Louis, we spent only 1 night in Illinois. The next day's ride to Graysville, IN turned out to be 94 miles. A few hardy souls rode extra long to make it a true "century" ride. I figured on average, it was still over 100 miles a day x2. It was a good ride, mostly rolling hills & lush green scenery. My bike computer has died, so until I get a new one, I'm driving blind which makes it tough to know how far between stops or how well or how slowly I'm moving.
We stayed at the Rural Community Academy, a K-8 school here. R4WH has stayed here every year so far & the school goes all out for us. One of the kids met us at the intersection & rode in with us. They gave us a great homemade dinner complete with deserts & then provided breakfast as well. The kids here really follow our trip. When we walked in, the hall was full of student posters welcoming us. Upstairs, there is a US map that tracks our progress; evidently on a daily basis. In the morning, Ellen & Clare & Ryan & Rachel gave 2 presentations to K-3 & 4-8 respectively.

From here, we were off to Bloomington IN & Indiana University. Ben is from Indianapolis & told me that the state was totally flat. He lied! Lot's of rolling hills & a few steep ones this day just for kicks. When I asked him, he said that he never said that southern Indiana was flat. Oh, my bad, sorry Ben.

At IU, we stayed in student housing apts with beds, TV, kitchen, the works. AWESOME!! Yesterday we got to ride track bikes on the track where the 1979 movie "Breaking Away" was set & filmed. My support team was on for the day & the stated mileage was 125. We we due at Monica's parents' house, so we shortened the ride to about 115. The beginning of the day needed to be rerouted so the team hustled to stay ahead of the riders, not always easy. About 1/2 way, we ran into a glitch around a short bike path & needed to stop the riders mid cycle & reset the route from there. Unfortunately, a group of 5 eluded us & misread a marker. They wound up riding about 10 extra miles & totalled 127 for the day! So much for shortening the trip.

Here in Cincy, we've split into groups. Some are in the city staying with med students arranged by Leah. I'm with a group staying at Monica's parents' house. Mr & Mrs Foley treated the whole team to BBQ burgers & dogs for dinner & delicious ice cream for desert. Those of here even got to enjoy the hot tub & get our laundry done. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

Now I need to leave. We're off the Univ. of Cincinnati to talk to the medical students. Tomorrow we leave & bike to Columbus OH, the hub of R4WH. We stay there a few days then head into WV, the Appalachians & into DC in a week from Friday. Unbelievable. See you soon! -- Steve

Leaving MO, an unexpected century

The ride today was just awesome. Leaving St Louis we rode through the down & got a quick view of the arch. We then rode about 15 miles on a bike path that including crossing the Missippi into Illinois. On Rte 66 again, no less.

All these weeks, I've said we have yet to get the "perfect day;" warm, sunny, light winds, easy roads. Today was that day! One small blip really didn't make a difference. The day was noted as being 88 miles. While support was going up ahead to mark the route, they found that the directions didn't work & needed to figure out a new route on the fly. This added miles & brought us up to 107 total for the day. This now counts as my longest day biking so far. It just didn't feel like it.

Tomorrow is about 104 miles, so it'll be back-to-back centuries. If the day is as good as today was, I'll be smiling all the way.

An unplanned day off

Yesterday we were in Washington, MO. We stayed at the local YMCA, which was pretty comfortable. Hard floor & all. We agreed to wake up & be on the road at 7am today in order to bike 50 some miles to St. Louis & be there in time to speak to the medical students at noon.

We were up, dressed & ready. The lead van left to begin marking the route. Then we saw the lightening & heard the thunder. A few more minutes, another. Support team A decided to rack our bikes & drive 20 miles up the road & try again. While we were driving, the radio announced 1 of those "BEEP...BEEP...BEEP A severe thunderstorm alert has been issued..." things. We checked online & saw the storm coming our way. We decided to just drive to St. Loius & get there early.

We did just that. We would definitely have been caught in the storm if we tried to ride. When we got here, the school was ready for us so we unloaded & took cover. The weather didn't stop us from finding a great breakfast spot for some & a Starbucks for others.

In the afternoon, a group went to see Star Trek. Really good! Don't worry Margie, I'll see it again with you when I get home. Just chilling now & waiting for dinner. Tonight we plan to bike over to see the Arch even though it'll be closed so we can't go up.

Tomorrow's weather sounds much better so we should be back on our bikes & heading towards Illinois.

From Kansas City KS to Jefferson City MO

Ok, just a short up date today. Clare, our CEO, came back from a short trip home & brought her dog, Toby, with her. Toby put on his rider's jersey & attended the KC event with us. He also travels in the van & keeps us company at the rest stops.

The ride out of KC was a mixed bag. First, we all went 10 miles out of the way when we missed the very 1st turn. Then the ride was really nice as it went through some nice residential areas & then over some pretty park roads. I was only riding to lunch since I was scheduled to go ahead & do a lecture. Sometime after the 1st rest stop, I got a flat. A really cool flat, the coolest flat I've ever had. I ran over a nail that went through my tire, through the tube, hit the rim & bent 90 degrees. It nailed the tube to the tire. End of tire. Monica arrived in the support van & helped change the tire. I was back on the road & completed about 68 miles that day before racking my bike & heading to the event.

Today we rode 78 miles & arrived in Jefferson City MO. Jeff City is the Capital of Missouri, btw.

Tomorrow we're heading to Washington MO. I'm on support with Team E so won't be biking. It's hard to believe how close we're getting. Two weeks from Friday we arrive in DC! Stay tuned. --- Steve

We've reached Missouri!

The rest of our support day was mostly uneventful. Except that Rachel got chased by a dog that ran in front of her & made her crash. A few minor scrapes & bruises but thankfully she's OK. Kansas stopped being flat & became greener & rolling hills. We found a beautiful field where our cold gear actually fit in, sorta. Can you see me now?
That day & the next we rode through several small towns including Gypsum, KS. The highway is the main street. There are a dozen buildings, several are closed. There's always a bar, a post office & a hardware store. One town had a sporting goods store, as long as all you needed were guns.

Late that day we crossed the 2000 mile point of our journey.

On Saturday we rode into Topeka. On the way in I passed this guy.

I also passed the Gale house. Notice that the house seems much newer than the date on the sign. The house has probably been rebuilt. Tornado, maybe? Coincidence, Maybe? Ralph & Mary, no Dorothy.

We stayed at the Mennonite church & gave a lecture there on Sunday morning before their service. They were very nice people & had several great questions about the issues we presented. Those of us that stayed to talk got in the van & met the rest of the riders at lunch. A minor miscalculation meant that the ride was about 10 miles shorter than expected & so I only rode about 35 miles yesterday.

Today we had a major global health event at U. of Kansas Medical Campus. We heard from the medical director from Village Health Works directly about his experiences in Burundi & the work that VHW is doing there. We're staying at the fitness center here & the staff has been amazing to us. Walk 2 blocks & you're in MO. Great cajun bar/restaurant for dinner last night & journal club this afternoon.

In the next week, we roll through Missouri, Illinois & Indiana & arrive in Ohio next Tuesday. Talk to along the way! - Steve

Day 30 Lyons KS to Herington KS

Today I'm on support & currently waiting for the riders at our 1st rest stop. I've completed my 1st 4 day consecutive stretch of riding. Before now, the days between support have been broken up by events or days off. In the last 4 days, I rode 300 miles. The 1st 3, I've already written about. The 4th day was 96 miles from Ness City to Lyons KS. As usual, the day began with cold & wind. I once saw somebody write about RAGBRAI in Iowa: "The scenery is always changing. Sometimes the corn is on the left; sometimes the corn is on the right." I think that what corn is to Iowa, wind is to Kansas. It seems there's always wind. Sometimes it's from the left, sometimes from the right & sometimes straight on. I'm sure that it can manage to come from behind, but we haven't seen it.

Here's a pic of the ubiqitous tumble weed. I wanted to get a video of them blowing across our road at some ridiculous speed. But I would've had to stage it with some help & that was just too much to think about while we were riding & fighting the wind.
Fortunately the last 2 days, the weather has gotten better as the days go on. The wind has died down to be even pleasant & the sun has warmed us nicely. Yesterday support team D even arranged our last rest stop at a DQ where we all enjoyed some sweet deliciousness.

We stayed at the high school. High schools are good since we always get showers & occasionally laundry. The best is when we can use the home ec room for meals. This morning support team E (my team!) made pancakes (a R4WH 2009 1st) that we a perfect start to the day. The day began as usual for Kansas.... cloudy, windy & grey. Even a little drizzle. My hope is that the weather improves & the riders have a more enjoyable afternoon as we arrive in Herington.

A bunch of us will be going to the middle school there after lunch to give a lecture . Then, Christina will take a few people to the airport about 2hours from Herington so they can head out for a couple of weddings in Ohio. Branden's girlfriend, Katie, has been with us for a week & she's also heading home today.

We've crossed the 1/2 way mark for dates & distance by now. We're all looking forward to Kansas City this weekend & our next major event there. Stay tuned. --Steve