K2K - peaceonabike

April 14, 2013April 29, 2016

Seven Mile Bridge

KEY WEST, FLORIDA

With a day to relax in Key West before heading home, I awoke to a beautiful day with nothing planned. Some of my teammates from the Key to Keys ride were flying home while others were sleeping in from a late night on the town. Still others had family members join them in Key West.

Me? I had my bike.

I started with no real plan. I began by riding back to the buoy that marks the Southernmost Point of the Continental United States and seeing many “Southernmost” landmarks including hotel, hotel on the beach, furniture store, and hockey rink.

I passed the Key West AIDS Memorial. I don’t like to think of “them” vs. “us” but it makes me wonder why no Cancer Memorial. I’m not suggesting less be done for AIDS but more needs to be done for cancer.

I left headed north – the only way one could head, and rode. As I rode I got to thinking about the Seven Mile Bridge which many teammates got to ride yesterday but we survivors, did not. And I rode.

The ride was a combination of shoulder on US 1, bike lane on US 1, and bike path separate from US 1. From the original highway which featured separate one lane bridges, many of the bridges are fully intact and are designated for riding down the middle and fishing from the sides. This is part of the Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail.

I had pictured mile after mile of bridges but most of the highway through the keys is actually on land. The big exception being the Seven Mile Bridge.

Not all bridges are intact

I knew it was near mile 50 and wasn’t concerned about riding 50 miles. But I was unsupported and to ride 50 north would require 100 miles total. I wasn’t sure how my body would react to the distance. Or the winds.

Railroad Bridge, then Highway Bridge, then Ruins

As I rode farther north, I decided that I would turn around at noon unless I was on the bridge. At noon I was a couple miles short. I lied. I kept going.

Just short of the bridge I stopped at a campground/gas station/food store. I bought a water and Gatorade but the water was too much to fit in my bottle. In the store I explained that I was coming back and wanted to leave my half-full water behind the counter and the woman offered to keep it in the Snapple cooler instead. So cool. Off I rode.

I rode across the Seven Mile Bridge greatly enjoying the trip. It seemed to be littered with GU packages and sponges and I thought damn cyclists. We have to do a better job and not drop our energy packets when empty.

I touched the sign to Marathon Keys then turned around and rode back. Stopping at the food store to pick up my water one woman wanted to know how many miles I had ridden. I wasn’t displaying mileage so I showed her the buttons to push on my Garmin so she could see it — but not tell me. I didn’t want to know. I was just enjoying the ride.

I also found out that the litter on the bridge was from yesterday’s seven mile race across the bridge. Damn runners.

I had a bit of a headwind riding the first 60 miles and was able to ride the final 44 miles at more than 20 mph. Tailwind. Nice. Real nice.

Pigeon Key

I felt good except for too much sun. Each day on the trip began with applying SPF 50 sunscreen and then halfway through I was always able to reapply at the team car. With no support today I only applied before I left. But the legs felt good. And I can cross the Seven Mile Bridge off my bucket list.

Florida Keys on Dwellable

April 10, 2013April 29, 2016

Noseeums

SAINT MARYS, GEORGIA

Today I rode with Craig Babst and Paul Lemle. Alex Wright was our driver so I was hoping for good things from him.

L-R: Craig, Barry, Paul, Alex

In our dedication circle I dedicated the day to Abigail “Happy Abby” Bolenbaugh, a soon to be six year old who recently celebrated her five year Cancerversary.

Meg Shipman inking my legs

Too early to get ready to ride, we jumped in the Suburban and headed to Richmond Hill, Georgia, to ride our portion of today’s route. Forgetfulness would plague me today. We were in a parking lot with a CVS and just ready to roll out. Then I remembered I didn’t have on my heart rate monitor. Except that I was wearing it.

Barry, somewhere in Georgia

No longer using cue sheets we simply followed our instructions to ride on US 17. I don’t like 17 in Virginia, I didn’t like it in South Carolina, and I didn’t like it in Georgia.

Alex Wright

The morning was quite pleasant with temperatures near 70. Expected to reach the low 80s I was an hour into the ride when I remembered that I had forgotten to apply Chamois Butt’r.

US 17 is a four lane road but in this section it wasn’t heavily traveled. Craig, Paul, and I had been riding in a pace lane, loosely, and Alex was following blocking one lane of traffic for us. With no traffic behind I told the guys to keep pedaling and I’d catch up. I dropped back to the “team car” and told Alex I had forgotten to use Chamois Butt’r.

Rolling on US 17, he reached for the tube. I extended my hand. He squeezed. Nothing came out. “Uh, Alex” I said, “You need to first remove the foil from under the cap.”

Alex removed the cap, then the foil, and replaced the cap. Reaching out the window he squeezed a sliver of Butt’r on my finger. I looked at him. “Dude, I need a dollop. A dollop” Alex then squeezed out a blob of the stuff on my fingers. I thanked him and rode ahead.

Now what? I was rolling down the highway about 50 meters behind Craig and Paul with a dollop of Chamois Butt’r in my hand. This would be harder than I expected. But I got out of the saddle and was able to apply it to the chamois and keep rolling.

Catching Craig and Paul they asked where I went. “Chamois Butt’r,” I said.

Barry, Paul, Craig

Alex had looked at the route and found a longer but safer alternative. Thankfully. Our first turn was at Mile 25 near South Newport. We first passed The World’s Smallest Church* and then I asked the group to stop. We did and offered up The World’s Biggest Prayer for Meg Shipman’s friend, Kristen.

Once we were off US 17 we could ride more freely. Out in the country I was shocked to see a runner approaching us. It was that remote. But I reached for a Key to Keys card and rode over to his side of the road. I held the card for him to reach and made a perfect hand off. This was that start of something big.

We had business cards about the ride and we were challenged to hand them out. And I took it to a new level. It was easy for me because I believed in the mission. On this day I saw a woman on the side of the road and I stopped and handed her a card and told her what we were doing. And so I would all the way to Key West.

We had a nice ride in to Darien, Georgia, riding on moss covered streets, passing beautiful houses and mileage signs including one to Key West.

Almost Equidistant between Key West and Upyours WV
(There is no Upyours, WV)

Hoping aboard our magic transporter we were taken to Saint Marys, Georgia, which was my first day arriving well before dinner. Saint Marys is a quaint town located on the Cumberland Island National Seashore. It begged of exploration by bike, of which I had time, but I found the one washing machine next door in a small store. I opted to wash clothes instead. I’m sure my teammates were thankful.

The evening dinner was Brunswick Stew presented by a local cycling club. One of the riders warned us to eat towards the picnic area or else the “noseeums” would eat us up. Tiny gnats, biting midges, impossible to see but you could sure feel them. The evening was beautiful but one didn’t want to spend time outside.

Vince presenting a new Gnome to Patti Jackson

I was very pleased that my cousins, whom I had only met online before, Brad and Mindy Lawmaster, drove in from Jacksonville to meet me. I was touched and honored.

L-R with the Lawmaster Family
Hannah, Sam, Mindy, Emma, Brad, Jack, Barry

Next door in a bar the owner made it Karaoke night. It was a throw down of talent between Vince Schiano and Rob Keleher. Everyone else sang for fun but these two sang for keeps. I was explaining to one of the patrons and pointing out each person and why they had no reason to smile or laugh. Everyone’s lives had been changed by cancer but here we were, one group, laughing like we may not have laughed in years.

___
*There are a number of small churches in the U.S. that claim the title of Smallest Church in the World,

April 8, 2013April 29, 2016

Duke Cancer Center

MYRTLE BEACH, SOUTH CAROLINA

It was a comfortable 60 degrees and getting warmer. A great day to ride. No warmers would be necessary today. I dedicated my ride to my friend Elaine B.

I was in Group 1 with Meg Shipman, Jae Slye, Paul Lemle, and Chris Zahlis. Except for Chris, all were cancer survivors but Chris may be the biggest survivor of all since he lost his 10 year old son, Dominic, to cancer five years ago. Unthinkable pain for a parent.

Barry, Chris, Jae, Meg, Paul

Arriving in Durham, we parked one mile away so we could at least give the appearance that we had biked in from somewhere. We did. Dunkin’ Donuts. We rode in from Dunkin’ Donuts.

Inside Relaxation Room at Duke

We were to visit the Duke Cancer Center. But this organization was not about giving hope to patients. This ride was loosely “modeled” after the Spokes of Hope ride from Indianapolis to Washington DC/Baltimore in 2012, but was more about relationships. With hospitals.

We were given a tour of the facility. We saw a relaxation room. And a store of wigs for chemo patients. Met hospital administrators. Yippee. But at the end Duke arranged for us to meet some patients and the organization warned us not to take any pictures due to HIPPA. Of course, the law applies to medical providers releasing patient information, not a bunch of cyclists. We called B.S.

The day at Duke spoiled a day of riding. Not that we didn’t have enjoyable riding. We did. We just weren’t able to complete our 50 miles which we were supposed to do.

On a gorgeous day our other groups rode by the U.S.S. North Carolina and took a ferry across the sound. Those were routes I would have preferred but I knew, if done right, our real mission was to bring hope to patients. Today I got to do that if only briefly.

Samantha, Paul, Meg, Chris, Kristy, Jae, Barry, Laura

Although disappointed that I could not ride more today, I was honored and humbled to have spent part of my day off the bike visiting patients at the Duke Medical Center. I can bike anytime. This was a special day.

We finally were “wheels down” in the early afternoon. As we rode we twice discovered the cue sheets weren’t that good. Sometimes they told us to go left when it should have been right. After twice going the wrong way we came to an intersection. Cue sheet right. Barry left.

My group challenged me but I told them to look at the sun. Key Wets was east and south. The cue sheet said to go west. That did not make sense. Although they started into the sun, eventually they turned around and followed me. We sort of blew up the cue sheets after that.

The group activity and dinner was at a firehouse in Myrtle Beach which we missed because we spent so much time at Duke. Three days in a row late for dinner. Once we arrived at our hotel, last, we went to Outback Steakhouse.

Campbell University
Chris, Barry, Meg, Paul, Jae

And at night in the hotel lobby as I was doing referee assigning, I was up so late that the night manager opened the restaurant for me to get some breakfast.

Photo Credits: Matt Brown (for most but I claim credit for the bike on top of the van photo)

April 6, 2013April 29, 2016

Stranger on the Road

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA

I began the day in Baltimore where we rode to Race Pace Bicycles on Key Highway. After a light breakfast of bagels we had a dedication circle on the sidewalk. I dedicated my ride to Jake The Hero Grecco.

Although the ride was billed as biking to Key West, in reality we would drive 3/4 of the way to Key West and bike one fourth of the way. We were formed into four groups with each group riding 1/4th of the day’s mileage. We rode over to the Inner Harbor where Groups 2, 3, and 4 would be transported to their starting locations. My group, Group 2 did the segment from Washington DC to Nokesville, Virginia.

Barry (L); Robert Della Vecchia (R)

We were transported by staff members Abby Ramirez and Vince Schiano. My riding group included Patti Jackson, John Beck, and Rob Keleher.

My group, Group 2, began in NE Washington, D.C. in front of a Catholic church. Two nuns came out and posed for our sendoff photo. We then followed the Metropolitan Branch Trail to Union Station, through and past the Mall and across the Memorial Bridge into Virginia.

Barry, Rob, Nun 1, Nun 2, John, Patti
Credit: Vince Schiano

On the Virginia side we rode up the Mount Vernon Trail to the Custis Trail and connected with the Washington and Old Dominion Trail out to the Virginia suburbs. In Vienna we stopped at Nottoway Park for a lunch of bagels. And peanut butter.

On the Mount Vernon Trail by the Memorial Bridge
Just out for a Saturday run

It was an uneventful but beautiful ride. It was sunny but the temperature struggled to reach 60 degrees. The day would be a day without cues because this was my domain. I have ridden every inch of this route many times and it was fun to just ride without worrying about turns.

Potomac River, Virginia side, looking at Memorial Bridge,
Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument

On the run in to Nokesville on Kettle Run Road, I caught a rider. I asked her how far she was going (a set up question to be sure) and she said “not far” or “just down this road.” Of course when she asked how far I was riding I told her “Key West” (always a good conversation starter).

Jan Roberts Stover

A brief discussion ensued. As we talked and I told her my name she told me my friends, Marty Cox and Acacia Ellis have talked about me. Small world.

John Beck on the Custis Trail
Cramping forced him to be shuttled

My team was astounded that I ran into a cyclist who knew who I was. They were astounded even more when arriving at Nokesville Park even the dog knew me. That was easily explainable since my son, Andrew, brought some items that I wanted to take with me but had forgotten. But Maggie was one that could not ride with us.

Barry, John, Rob, Patti

There’s also a story of the Gnome that traveled the world for years with Patti and somehow got smashed but that’s for Vince to tell.

Gnome. Before and After

We went to the restaurant, Positively 4th Street, in Charlottesville for dinner before driving to the hotel at Zions Crossroads.

At 11:00 p.m. I was visited by friends Scott and Margaret Scudamore for desert at the IHOP next door. At midnight it would be a late night but that was normal for me since it was the beginning of soccer season and, even on this trip, I had to burn the midnight oil to get the games assigned so the kids have refs.