Richmond Events and a Video Update

Today began when we rolled into the CBS 6 station at 6:30 AM. We had a brief interview there, though it was far too early. I struggled to keep my eyes open as the reporter - who is either used to being up this early or had about six cups of coffee (maybe both) - fired questions at us. It went pretty well; we spent a couple minutes talking up the Outback event and answering questions about our ride. With that out of the way, we headed back to our home base to get the goody bags ready for our hospital event.

The hospital visit was great. Every kid we met was very interactive; the younger kids poured through the goody bags while the older ones just hung out with us for a little while. We had a lot of fun, but eventually 10:30 rolled around and we had to get to our Outback event. We were almost a little late because we had some trouble getting our car, but finally we made it out to the restaurant.

There we met Connor. Here in Richmond we rode in honor of three kids, Harrison, Connor, and Sarah. Sarah couldn't make it because she was feeling well enough to actually go to the beach, and Harrison was getting his last treatment up at Sloan in New York. We wish they could have been there, but we got some time to hang out with Harry earlier, and we certainly hope Sarah had a good time. Connor and his family made it, and we had a lot of fun meeting them. Connor just finished up his treatment in March, and his family was great, giving us a donation from the foundation they just started up, Connor's Heroes. The rain may have slowed things down a little bit, but we still had a good fundraiser.

After saying 'bye to everyone who came to the fundraiser and to the Outback staff who volunteered, we headed to Franco's, a store on Broad Street which carries Vineyard Vines. The staff was nice; they offered us coffee and took a few pictures. After that, we headed back to home base to get a little more work done. Tomorrow we should head to Fredericksburg, where we ride for Owen, and the next day we'll be in DC. Hopefully this flooding stops by then!

TOM BRUISE UPDATE: After spreading around my entire upper leg and down to my calf, Tom Bruise has finally started to fade. Nick made a short, one minute video which includes footage from the night after I fell and the next morning. You need Quicktime 7 to view it. Plus, they've got a rough trailer for the documentary - it looks pretty cool, and it should be up in the next day or two, so stay tuned!

~ Tom