Archive for the ‘Riders’ Blog’ Category

From Kevin’s blog:

After the Red Carpet treatment that we received in Bloomington in was time to get back on the road. We have to say thanks to everyone who took time out of their schedules to make our stay an amazing 4th of July experience.

Today was a 51 mile day into Champaign and its apparent that the weather’s getting warmer. Fortunately, the day ended in a well shaded park and then everyone beat feet to the hotel. We had an extremely nice reception outside the hotel with live music.  Of special interest today was meeting Arthur Leenerman at one of the water stops.  Arthur is a survivor of the USS Indianapolis, so it was an honor.

Tomorrow, we depart Illinois for Indiana. We can count down one more state on our trek.

If you haven’t checked out Kevin Sullivan’s blog, you should. It’s packed with great photos like this one – Marc Esposito and Kevin, wearing old Army helmets in front of a restored 1950s era Jeep. (Canton, IL – July 3)

Hello All,

Thanks for all the great posts. I have not been good about updating this blog (hmm, this is my first posting), but I will make an effort to get some material down here for the next few weeks.

Thanks to everyone who has come out to see us as we pass through. Meeting the people that make this country great has really made this ride the amazing experience that it is. The people of this nation have rolled out the welcome mats and made us all feel welcome, whether we were there for a lunch, a water stop, or an overnight stay.

I thank you all.

Today’s ride was 85 miles from Ft Madison to Canton, Illinois. Once again, we met great Americans along the way.

Tomorrow we head off from Canton to Pekin on which will be our shortest riding day of the trip (26 miles). Then on the 4th, we are into Bloomington for all the 4th of July events.

Keep praying for us and we look forward to meeting more of you as we head east.

Van

After a long, warm week in the not so flat flatlands of Nebraska, we were all pretty excited about a rest day in Lincoln. A warm welcome from the community, including state senators, a proclamation from the mayor, a tour of Memorial stadium, and a Saltdogs baseball game, made possible with the great support of the kind people of State Farm, were very appreciated. Five weeks in and four to go, this ride has continued to be a very memorable experience. The motivation and determination that is being shared and spread is inspiring to be a part of.

83 miles to Shenandoah, Iowa tomorrow, our 6th state of the ride. Where does the time go? As the days and miles behind us add up, friendships built and growing, it is crazy to think we’re more than halfway and steadily closing in on the Atlantic.

I can never thank everyone enough; all the smiles and cheers in every city and town are so heart-warming and keep the spirits flying high. From amusing to sarcastic, to emotional, every moment of this ride is just a fantastic experience in seeing America for what it is. To be out in the open wind, even if it’s blowing in my face for 10 hours every day, really gives me a chance to see the diversity and realness of what it means to be American, and I am thankful to every single person who has made it possible for me to experience life and freedom in this absolutely amazing way.

From Kevin Sullivan’s blog, “We had a visitor on our ride today!!!”

That’s Marc and Chad showing off a gift from one of the many State Farm agents they’ve met along the route.

I have been away from the blog for a little while now.

We have had some tough days. Like the 110 mile day up hill where I fell over because I couldn’t stand after getting off my bike.

Today we had a major mile stone. We crossed the Continental Divide. From now on the majority of the ride will be down hill! We will just ignore the mountains on the east coast.

What a day! Ha ha – it was worth saying twice. Since we all defied hills all week, they decided to allow us an opportunity to go above and beyond. Cold rain and a headwind kept us company through the morning as we climbed out of Utah and into Colorado. Thanks to the kind people of La Sal for some warm food for lunch and some coffee and hot chocolate to keep the spirits up. The group is really coming together pretty well and we are just tearing these states up. Thanks again for all the support and cheers and donations. This is continuing to be a very remarkable experience.

Another beautiful day in Nevada. I was pretty happy to get out of those hills and into the sunshine.

We had amazing support the last two days from the people of Nevada, including some hospitality from the governor and Fallon’s mayor, a highway patrol escort, and dinner at the American Legion.

Early morning tomorrow to kick off our first century ride day, with 110 miles on what they call the “loneliest highway in the world” to keep us company for a while.

Thank you to all who support us on this journey; the smiles, honks, waves, cheers, and the emails and comments are pleasant reminders of the type of people this country consists of that caused us to do the things that we have done and still do. It is a real honor to be a part of this ride.

It’s been a week since I left home to meet up with this group of strangers to embark on this adventure across America. Even in this short time, it has been nice to see the developing relationships between the riders and supporters that has begun to turn us into a team.

Through the towns and cities, and across the fields and hills of California, the visual diversity and community support have been remarkable, leaving me with growing excitement for the upcoming weeks and miles. From school children, business owners, and local residents, to law enforcement officers, politicians, and veterans, the waves, smiles and cheers have been heart warming and the cause of many smiles.

Most have enjoyed our two-day rest stop in Tahoe, which allowed time to clean some clothes, make some adjustments on our bikes, and even squeak in a little snowy swim in the lake at four in the morning for a few of us. Looking out the window at the snow falling, there is some apprehension in the air about tomorrow’s ride, but between the amazing World Team staff and State Farm support crew, I’m sure things will work out just fine.

Today was our major climb day. It was a real challenge for most of the riders to make it up the 7,000-foot climb. Due to the weather we had to pick all the riders up off the road and move to Tahoe. If not we would have been stuck in Kirkwood with a foot of snow for the next few days.

 

 

San Fransisco to Napa. It was an amazing 1st day. I have ridden farther and harder, but I have never been in the saddle this long.

I am grateful to all those that came out to support us, especially to those that fed us. Without them I couldn’t have ridden for more than an hour. 8 hours on a bike today and the whole trip was 12 hours…WOW!

What a great day! It is amazing that this is happening! Not only is ride itself something to be marveled at, but I am truly lucky to be in the company of heroes.

Thank you all for making this happen.

Here is my ride around SF. You can see where I turned around because I forgot my helmet. This is also my 1st ride on my Bruce Gordon.

We all arrived safely in San Francisco last night. I attempted to ride up one of the monster hills here in the city unsuccessfully. After making it 3/4ths of the way up my wheel began to spin out and I tumbled back.