Vince Schiano - peaceonabike

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 7, 2013April 29, 2016

It Was That Kind of Day

DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA

A chill in the air greeted us outside the Best Western hotel in Zion Crossroads, Virginia. Like yesterday, it would be a day for leg warmers and long fingered gloves. After breakfast we got our group assignments and mine was Jimmy Kondisko and Jae Slye along with our drivers, Liz Kaplan and Vince Schiano.

At our dedication circle I dedicated my ride to Joe Petrucelli.

Meg, Patti, Barry, Paul

We drove south on U.S. 15 and then to a very remote location out in the woods. We didn’t know much about our route except our mileage today was supposed to be 60 and Liz had said we would end about five miles north of Farmville. Shortly before we turned off toward our country start location, I saw a sign that said Farmville 21 miles. Seemed to me we had 60 miles to go 16. We could do this!

Jimmy, Jae, Barry

Even though we had cue sheets we weren’t sure which direction we were to head. A local drove up in his pickup truck. While Liz was asking directions I saw the gun. Well, guns, handguns, on the floor in his truck. Welcome to rural Virginia.

Weather Barn which is actually painted vinyl siding

Once oriented, we pushed off with confidence. In the first couple of miles we were greeted by a 3-legged dog chasing us. Then a 4-legged one. Then two 4-legged ones. Repeat (except for the 3-legged dog). It was that kind of day.

A Couple Miles of Gravel Logging Road

Early on Liz, at least figuratively, went off cue and directed us down a gravel logging road. Two miles on gravel. It was that kind of day.

A Chalked Turn for us to Follow

Liz decided to go ahead and “chalk” the turns. Well, one turn. A very nice smiley with a left arrow. It would be the only turn she chalked.

When we came to US 460 the turn wasn’t far but it was a major highway, fast traffic, and no shoulders. We all discussed how best to ride “protected” from the traffic. As we discussed our plan a convoy of at least 50 army vehicles came by. We were wearing “camo” jerseys and many vehicles saluted us with a friendly horn tap as they passed by.

Thumbs Up to the Military

At one intersection Liz and Vince were waiting and directed us to turn right and informed us of a trail ahead. The trail was the High Bridge Trail. We rode for a few miles on the gravel rail bed which was quite enjoyable although the wheels didn’t roll as freely as on pavement.

We reached the end and saw we were getting closer to Appomattox and farther from Farmville. We turned around and headed towards Farmville, just enjoying a day on the bike. As we approached Farmville we noticed an upside down smiley chalked on the road. Jimmy pointed out we had passed this way before. We laughed. And laughed some more. We had just ridden a figure eight. It was that kind of day.

Liz wasn’t happy. She knew we were way off course and was worried that she would be in trouble. Why? I don’t know. We were having an enjoyable day on the bike even if pointed in the wrong direction. But we enjoyed the ride no matter where we were headed.

Jimmy and Vince
One of these guys is going the wrong way

We rolled into Farmville and met Liz and Vince. Aware that we were under time constraints to get to Durham, we still wanted to ride our assigned distance to “do our part for the team.” At that point we had given up on actually finding our way to the real route. Jimmy and I wanted to push forward, on the rail trail, just for fun, and go over High Bridge, a high trestle on the old Southside Railroad (later Norfolk Southern).

We urged Vince to grab Jae’s bike, even though it had a women’s designed seat. We had fun with him as he struggled to control it and its areobars but he loved riding eight miles with us.

Soldier

Normally a “roadie” I was glad that we found this rail trail. I doubt that I would travel here to ride it and it was definitely worth doing.

Barry, Soldier, Jimmy

High Bridge could have been called Long Bridge. It was high. And long. At the west end we found some reenactors, presumably Confederate, and stopped and talked with them.

It was also very windy. But it was a beautiful sunny day and a great day on the bike. In all we had ridden 20 miles on gravel.

High Bridge

We followed the trail and met Liz and Jae in Rice, Va., and then drove to Durham. Running late all day, after a quick shower we went to Raleigh Times restaurant for a group dinner. We were the last ones to arrive. It was that kind of day.

Vince, the Rock Star

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.