We began today by going off to Spokes, etc. to go ride with Carsten and some other local people. The guys at Spokes were great - one Spokesman led us out on the Mt. Vernon Bike Trail. We pedaled along at a fairly decent pace, letting Carsten and his dad lead the pack. The trail has a great view of the Potomac, and we went out to a bend right by the airport. After that, we turned around and headed back. After thanking everyone for coming - and getting Carsten to sell them what we didn't raffle off the day before - we grabbed a quick lunch and got directions to Baltimore. We went back up the Mt. Vernon Bike Trail into the city and rode around to meet up with the chase car. Finally, we finished up riding, threw the bikes up on top of the car, and drove up to New Jersey for the 4th. In a few days, we'll be back on the road.
~ Tom
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Friday, June 30, 2006
Washington, DC: Fundraisers and Whale Families
Today we had a fundraiser in honor of Carolyn and Carsten, two kids in DC. The people at Outback were fabulous as usual, and tomorrow we are going to continue the events by having a special ride with Carsten in Alexandria with a local bike shop, Spokes, Etc. We are hoping to round up a bunch of folks for the ride - we're gonna ride 10 miles along the Potomac. After that, Tom and I are going to finish up and ride into Baltimore. We calculated 47 miles, but knowing us, we could have miscalculated :) You'll all just have to check back tomorrow.
We went to Georgetown Hospital this afternoon as well, and we got to see several more kids. They made us sing the "Whale Song" again, and I got to teach a few kids in the waiting room some tricks on the piano. Wish we had more time to visit with some of the people we talked to today, but we passed out lots of our cards so that everyone can email us as we pedal north.
As we were driving back to our host family, we got stuck in rush hour traffic, and we took the opportunity to pass out some whale hats and flyers to the surrounding cars - the response was priceles. Almost everyone was excited to take a hat and say hi. The only exception was a lady who said, "I don't need a whale. I already have a whole family of them." (we weren't really sure what she meant, but it sure did sound funny). ha ha - and that's a rap for today. more tomorrow.
~ Austin
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Doings in DC
Today we started out by visiting the DC federal relations office of Austin's and my alma mater, Vanderbilt. Before today, I wouldn't have been able to tell you why Vandy needs a federal relations office, but it seems like they do a lot. Anyway, we got some pens and some guitar picks from the curb center as well as a list of contacts for the trip. Next we went to the office of U.S. Representative Jo Bonner, who sat down and talked with us for a little while about the need for research. He was an interesting guy and seemed pretty receptive to our talk. Finally, after stopping by one more office on the Hill, we headed to Children's National to visit the kids.
Since we were running late, we met up with some of our volunteers and threw the goody bags together as quickly as possible, then ran up to the lobby to meet the child life specialist. She was great, taking us around to see the kids - most of whom seemed to enjoy seeing us, laughing at the whale dance and whale song. We ended up leaving and came back to Chris's house, where his parents had prepared a great meal for us. Now we'll all try to sleep and get ready for our events tomorrow. It should be a lot of fun.
~ Tom
Since we were running late, we met up with some of our volunteers and threw the goody bags together as quickly as possible, then ran up to the lobby to meet the child life specialist. She was great, taking us around to see the kids - most of whom seemed to enjoy seeing us, laughing at the whale dance and whale song. We ended up leaving and came back to Chris's house, where his parents had prepared a great meal for us. Now we'll all try to sleep and get ready for our events tomorrow. It should be a lot of fun.
~ Tom
The Documentary Trailer!!
Nick just posted the unofficial trailer for the documentary. You can view it here. It looks awesome. I can't wait to see the official one.
Like "Tom Bruise", you'll need Quicktime 7 to view it.
So you have the trailer and Tom Bruise on their media page now. Check them out!
~ Tom
Like "Tom Bruise", you'll need Quicktime 7 to view it.
So you have the trailer and Tom Bruise on their media page now. Check them out!
~ Tom
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
122 miles to DC
Today was possibly the most exhausting day yet. We woke up at 5:30 so that we could beat the traffic out of Richmond. By mid morning we realized that we were a few hours ahead of schedule, and we ended up taveling 57 miles to Fredricksberg (where we had planned on spending the night) by 10:30 in the morning.
We made a big stop in Fredricksberg to see a 4 year old boy named Owen who has neuroblastoma. We got together with his family for lunch, and we got Owen a goodie bag - he loved the Aflac duck :) We'll get his pic up on our website soon . . .
After our visit, we called an emergency meeting and decided to change our schedule. Instead of staying the night in Fredricksberg, we wanted to go all the way to DC even though it would put us at over 120 miles for the day.
We weighed our options, and we decided to go for it even though it would surpase our longest ride by almost 40 miles. We reasoned that arriving in DC a night early would give us more time to plan our DC events and thus raise more money - it was a no brainer.
We got back on the bikes and headed towards the Capitol. At 100 miles we were wiped out, and we had to start eating plain honey to get enough sugar in our bodies to make it the rest of the way. After 7.5 hours of riding, we had covered 122 miles, and we were in DC. We layed out on the gound beside the reflection pool leading up to the Washington Monument and took it all in. Tomorrow we are going to Children's National Medical Center - can't wait to see the kids.
~ Austin
We made a big stop in Fredricksberg to see a 4 year old boy named Owen who has neuroblastoma. We got together with his family for lunch, and we got Owen a goodie bag - he loved the Aflac duck :) We'll get his pic up on our website soon . . .
After our visit, we called an emergency meeting and decided to change our schedule. Instead of staying the night in Fredricksberg, we wanted to go all the way to DC even though it would put us at over 120 miles for the day.
We weighed our options, and we decided to go for it even though it would surpase our longest ride by almost 40 miles. We reasoned that arriving in DC a night early would give us more time to plan our DC events and thus raise more money - it was a no brainer.
We got back on the bikes and headed towards the Capitol. At 100 miles we were wiped out, and we had to start eating plain honey to get enough sugar in our bodies to make it the rest of the way. After 7.5 hours of riding, we had covered 122 miles, and we were in DC. We layed out on the gound beside the reflection pool leading up to the Washington Monument and took it all in. Tomorrow we are going to Children's National Medical Center - can't wait to see the kids.
~ Austin
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
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
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
Richmond!!
We just got up about 30 minutes ago (it's 6:00 now) so that we can do an on air interview with news channel 6 this morning in Richmond. After that, we are visiting VCU at 9:00, and then going to Outback for our fundraiser at 11:30. We have three kids in Richmond that we are riding in honor of: Harrison, Connor, and Sarah.
- a good day to raise money for research! Wish us luck.
~ Austin
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Riding to Richmond
Today we made sure to leave early so that we could get to church in West Point. We probably didn't have to leave quite so early since the distance ended up being a little under 25 miles instead of the 40 we'd estimated when eyeballing the map. But it worked out for the best, because when we pulled up in front of First Baptist Church, Lynne, the pastor's wife, saw us riding by. She came out to greet us and welcomed us to their church, and we met her husband Randy. It turns out that both of their kids are cyclists - one is training for a triathlon, and the other goes everywhere on his bike out in California. Anyway, the service was great, focusing on joy, and at the end we were introduced to the congregation. Several people stopped to say hi to us before we left.
We said goodbye to the Williamses and headed on to Richmond. The ride was fairly uneventful; we had the usual turning around as someone in the party decided another route would be better. We did get to meet another cyclist training for a triathlon who pointed us onto the road to Richmond. After talking with him for a couple of miles, we finally got going the right way. We hit a little bit of rain coming in, but we made it to the city. We arrived to stay with the Stricklers, a very nice family who gave us a big meal and the chance to get a little work done. Tomorrow we'll do the usual pre-event canvasing and then hopefully we'll have a good day Tuesday.
~ Tom
We said goodbye to the Williamses and headed on to Richmond. The ride was fairly uneventful; we had the usual turning around as someone in the party decided another route would be better. We did get to meet another cyclist training for a triathlon who pointed us onto the road to Richmond. After talking with him for a couple of miles, we finally got going the right way. We hit a little bit of rain coming in, but we made it to the city. We arrived to stay with the Stricklers, a very nice family who gave us a big meal and the chance to get a little work done. Tomorrow we'll do the usual pre-event canvasing and then hopefully we'll have a good day Tuesday.
~ Tom
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)