TREXLERTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA
This place is cool. This place is fun.
For the third straight year I joined Spokes of Hope (their sixth straight year) in Trexlertown. The core of the group traveled to T-Town from Indianapolis. The rest of us just sort of filtered in from elsewhere.
Cindi Hart said there would be a clinic at 5:00 p.m. for the kids. I arrived at 4:30 p.m., and upon not finding anyone inside the gate, just went across the street to the Rodale Park and rode for a bit. When I returned I went to the track and everyone was already riding so I joined in. It wasn’t a clinic, at least for me, but some fun riding on the velodrome.
We cleared the track as the event riders started to filter in. Monica Johnson-Null and her boys went across the street to the park and I joined them.
As the event neared I was surprised to see many organizations were set up inside, including many cancer groups. The Lehigh Valley Pediatric Cancer group was there as was St. Baldricks.
I didn’t get to watch any of the races and was preparing to line up to ride on the track when I heard my name called. My cousins, Stacey and Gary Gravina had come over from Phillipsburg, New Jersey so we talked briefly before they got to go to the stands and see the elimination race (one of my favorites).
We were announced at taking a victory lap over cancer although we took two. We made our way to the infield where our featured survivor was a 16 year old boy with brain cancer. He had lost speech and his ability to walk but now can was riding a trike.
He took the podium as his triumph over cancer and the crowd cheered. It is a great night to celebrate.
And a final note. The final race was the 100-lap pro-men’s Madison, always a fun event. And the finale was an awesome fireworks (“pyromusical”) display – I think the best I have ever seen.
