Brought to you courtesy, of the Red White and Blue!

I had to title this post in honor of one our favorite songs to sing as a group while riding.  If it isn’t already posted, there should be one of us singing this song on our YouTube channel soon! Not to mention, it is Independence Day!!!

I’ll recap our ride into E-town last Thursday and what happened over a few rest days.

On Thursday we woke up to a 45 mile ride into Elizabethtown. It was tough to leave Rough River behind (I’ve been wanting to go out on the boat allll summer!), but knowing we had friends/family waiting ahead for us was more than enough motivation. I found it interesting that as a child I used to think the drive to the lake was so long and always found my self asking my parents the infamous “Are we there yet?!?!”. Today was different because it was only a 45mile ride and therefore one of our “short” days on the bike. Haha. About 20 miles into the ride we approached the Hardin Co. line so Cameron, Justin, and I posed for a picture as we talked about how amazing it was that we have ridden from the Pacific Ocean to home. I think we all have begun to realize that the trip is winding down and are really trying to soak it all in. With 23 miles left my mom dropped off Austin Howell (friend, former fellow Etown baseball player, fellow Hilltopper) to join us on our ride in. It was nice to share stories and see how supportive he was of what we’re doing. At the 14 mile mark we met Cameron’s family and 11-year old family friend Matthew Coolidge, who rode in with us from there. We took it nice and easy (about 11mph) from Four Corners to Elizabethtown, enjoying the camaraderie by swapping stories and singing various songs. As we approached the city limits a police escort picked us up and led us into town on one of the main roads. I think a lot of people really took notice of what we were doing as we rode in on 62- I know I got a few texts from friends who saw us making the final ride in!
One of the most special moments of the day (and this trip) was stopping by my grandfather’s grave. It was right along our route into town so we stopped to take a look for a few minutes. After locating the grave and gathering everyone around I tried to say a little something explaining how he was the inspiration for the cause and how appreciative of all those who have contributed to the cause. Without other riders who were passionate about making a difference, amazing support from friends/family, and financial support from sponsors/donors this ride would have never happened. Seeing how much it has grown and what an impact it has had is a true testament to how blessed we are to have such amazing people in our lives. As I tried to explain this to those gathered round I got a bit choked up, but I think it was one of those things that was just understood. A year ago this ride was just a glimmer of hope. Today it was reality.
Our last 3 miles into town Cameron’s sister Olivia joined us on her mountain bike. Seeing them ride together and share that experience together was very cool. We were greeted by 30-40 people at Pritchard Community Center in Elizabethtown as we finished up the days ride. Family, friends, awesome signs, and big surprises (Wade’s girlfriend Kaylee drove down from Michigan and was hiding in our support trailer! =P) awaited us. That evening we got haircuts, had a nice cookout at my house, and then went up to the Radcliff City Pool to enjoy a pool party and some of my grandmother’s homemade peach ice cream.

Friday-
Mitch, Wade, and I woke up around 730 to go do an interview on 98.3 WQXE’s morning show. Cameron met us there (since he stayed at his house) and Chaz and Justin were MIA. I guess they had partied too hard in Glendale at Justin’s house the night before and just couldn’t make it . We spent a few minutes talking about our cause and promoting our event at Best Buy to be held later that day and then went back home. Our event at Best Buy was from 11-1…..the radio station was there with live coverage from 11-12 and Best Buy donated a big screen TV for a giveaway. By selling chances on the TV and getting Best Buy employees to volunteer we were able to raise over $5200! We donated the money from that event to the Greater KY/ Southern IN chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association to be used for local services. I would guess that over 200 people came in and out to visit with the riders, enjoy some great food, and to take a shot at winning the 42″ TV. Fraternities brothers, friends, and family from all across the state showed up to make this an awesome event that provided great motivation for us to finish this ride strong.

Saturday-

Led most of the riders down to Bowling Green for a much needed work day on our fraternity house. Fire caulking, re-wiring, moving monster radiators/ boilers/ pipes, and cleaning were just a few of the things we accomplished.  In the midst of our work day the riders went over to 930AM WKCT to do a small interview for the morning show on Monday.  After getting back to the house and knocking a few more things off the “to-do” list it was time to head back to E-town to prepare for the ride ahead.  I am looking forward to getting back down to BG to help on the house after the ride is over- it has so much potential but not nearly enough man power.  Besides, it provided time for my Dad to teach me some cool stuff .

Sunday-

We started out from the Schwinn Shop in E-town at about 8:30.  Our posse of friends and family waved goodbye as we pedaled off- only 12 days remaining until we hit the Atlantic.  Today was a very special ride, though.  Besides being the 4th of July and riding on routes that I used to train on, we had some awesome people join us.  Chaz’s father (Dr. V as we call him) hopped on his 1940′s road bike rocking some khaki shorts, tall white socks, and a pocket tee……pretty much looking like a boss!  Haha.  It was cool to have him join and I know Chaz really enjoyed sharing 31 miles on the bike with his Dad.  Also, our past fraternity adviser, Bob Anderegg, joined us for those first 31 miles.  Riding in honor of his mother, Mary Fran, who has Alzheimer’s, he had raised pledges in the amount of $10/mile.  After the first stop (11 miles in) we made some phone calls, Twitter updates, and Facebook posts showing what Bob was doing in an effort to gain some more support.  Some friends came through and offered up a total of $100 per mile for every mile Bob rode after those first 11, but the trick was we weren’t allowed to tell him!  Wade and I spent a lot of time at the back of the pack encouraging Bob and telling him every half a mile that he had raised another $5 for Alzheimer’s!  His goal for the day was to ride 20 miles.  My goal for him was 25.  He proved all of us wrong and made it to the 31 mile mark before calling it quits.  Bob’s riding alone raised $2300 today and really inspired me to go after these donations to meet our goal for the trip.  I know a year ago if I had been riding the bike he had, I never would have made it 30 miles.  That just goes to show when you do something for a cause, have unselfish motives, and rely on the Lord’s strength you can do anything.  Austin joined us again for the ride (all 47 miles!) and my friend/ fellow co-worker from the pool last summer, Alex Burgess, came out 9 miles into the ride (after sleeping in a bit!) and finished the rest of the day with us.  After winning her age group in a triathlon a few months ago without much experience on the bike I know it was good training ride for her.

One of the funniest moments of the ride yesterday was at the end, and yours truly provided the entertainment!  First off you have to understand- Austin rides a HUGE mountain bike.  After riding a road bike for 6 weeks straight it seemed like fun to want to hop on his bike and take it for a spin, so Cameron and I both took Austin’s bike for about a 10-12 mile portion of the ride yesterday while Austin tried out the good ‘ole road bikes.  I had the bike for the last 12 miles of the trip and had a blast riding on it….off-roading, running over aluminum cans, etc.  But the EPIC moment came at the day’s in.  Chaz and I were coasting down a hill into McD’s parking lot in Springfield when the opportunity presented itself.  He was making the turn just before me when I saw a shortcut to the truck so I could finish before him.  There was a small downhill leading into a ditch, up a little embankment, and then a curb between me and the trailer. I decided to take this route to cut off some time and get some true use out of Austin’s mountain bike.  As I rode down the bank and into the ditch I realized it was full of mud.  Before I knew it the front tire of the mountain bike was stuck halfway in the ground and I went flying over the handlebars and did a face-first dive into the mud!  What a sight it was!  Several of the people in our group saw me, and for those who didn’t it was pretty obvious I had gone “mudding”.  Hahaha.  After using McDonald’s spicket around back I cleaned up and we used a $50 gift card given to us so graciously by Larry and Vicki Schmidt after they won it at our Best Buy event on Friday.  By the time all of us had ordered our food, 11 cents remained on the gift card.  Thank you Larry and Vicki- it was the perfect amount!  Vicki- I will still buy you coffee from there after the trip is over =P

We packed up and drove down the road a few miles to Cameron’s fraternity brothers’ farm to stay the night tonight.  Tomorrow we head to Berea!

Happy 4th of July!

Pressing On,

Tyler

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