Found something special in Buffalo today - a bicycle museum called Pedaling History! Carl, the owner let us go in and take the tour. We saw the original hobby horse, a floating bicycle, a Schwinn Black Phantom, a bike with a radio, and a bike with a sub machine gun made for WWII!
In the back of the museum, they were having a clinic for kids - "riding without training wheels." Kids everywhere, wheels rolling, and feet flying. I walked over to thank Carl for the museum visit, and almost got taken out by a rouge rider. Seeing her barreling my way, I jumped to the left . . . she went right . . . into a curb. Another kid slammed into a safetly barrel a few minutes later. Tom comments, "You can't learn to ride a bike without learning to fall."
After this, we did something funny. Rally Across America went to Canada. We checked out Niagra Falls and took a few pictures. Wow, that's a bunch of water.
Next stop was a party with the Pawelski family back in Buffalo. They had a daughter named Natalie who passed away 3 years ago from Neuroblastoma, and they contacted us after hearing about Rally Across America from the Hansons, who we met in Cape Cod.
The Pawelski's kids, Emily (9) and Eric (5), had been collecting pennies for the past few weeks, and they were excited to add to ever growing bag of change . . . which, by the way, doubled in size this evening . . .
When we got home to the Harvey's, Pete walked us out into the garage . . . 5 huge coffee cans full of pennies. It's impressive . . . and tomorrow, we're going to load 'em up, and hit the road searching for more.
~ Austin
Saturday, August 05, 2006
Friday, August 04, 2006
Buffalo and Beyond
The day started with an early morning wake up call at the Harvey's. Apparently the kids Savannah, Noah, and Grace were worried that we would over sleep. Savannah immediately walked down stairs and took Claire's "Dora the Explora" covers, and Noah began asking me and Tom if we wanted to play "Star Wars" on the PS2.
Soon everyone gathered in the kitchen for a family breakfast, and then we took off for the hospital. Roswell Park Cancer Institute is where Savannah is going to be treated when she turns 5 this fall, and this was the Harvey's first visit to the hospital.
Two news channels and a newspaper where at the hospital, and they interviewed us and the kids. Afterwards we took a tour of the facility with the child life staff, and then we headed back to the Harvey HQ.
At the home base, I played a quick round of "Shrek Super Slam" versus Noah while Savannah egged us on. Noah explained that Shek's power up was a "big green fart." So . . . let's just say we had a farting competition all afternoon. Noah thought it was hilarious.
At dinner we went to Andrea's parents house and had a cookout with their family and friends, and I ate a record amount of food: 8 buffalo wings, 3 slices of pizza, 5 shrimp, 1 strawberry shortcake, 2 handfulls of potato chips, some pretzels, 2 brownies, celery, 1 tub of blue cheese, 2 meatballs, and a coke . . . mmmmm . . . bring it on Noah. I've got this farting competition all wrapped up. ba ha ha
Tomorrow we're going to visit this local waterfall that is supposed to be famous . . . what will it be? Where will Rally Across America go next? Stay tuned to find out.
~ Austin
Soon everyone gathered in the kitchen for a family breakfast, and then we took off for the hospital. Roswell Park Cancer Institute is where Savannah is going to be treated when she turns 5 this fall, and this was the Harvey's first visit to the hospital.
Two news channels and a newspaper where at the hospital, and they interviewed us and the kids. Afterwards we took a tour of the facility with the child life staff, and then we headed back to the Harvey HQ.
At the home base, I played a quick round of "Shrek Super Slam" versus Noah while Savannah egged us on. Noah explained that Shek's power up was a "big green fart." So . . . let's just say we had a farting competition all afternoon. Noah thought it was hilarious.
At dinner we went to Andrea's parents house and had a cookout with their family and friends, and I ate a record amount of food: 8 buffalo wings, 3 slices of pizza, 5 shrimp, 1 strawberry shortcake, 2 handfulls of potato chips, some pretzels, 2 brownies, celery, 1 tub of blue cheese, 2 meatballs, and a coke . . . mmmmm . . . bring it on Noah. I've got this farting competition all wrapped up. ba ha ha
Tomorrow we're going to visit this local waterfall that is supposed to be famous . . . what will it be? Where will Rally Across America go next? Stay tuned to find out.
~ Austin
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Traveling Torches and Interstate Adventures
Today we said goodbye to Rochester and headed off to Buffalo. The Owenses were great hosts, and we had a great time during our visit there, visiting the hospital and meeting Dillon's family. We left early in an effort to beat the heat, but the day was overcast with intermittent sprinkles, so the heat never really got that bad. But we still wanted to make it to the Anchor Bar in time for lunch.
The riding wasn't bad. With no big hills, we managed to make it most of the way with relative ease. Then, about 20 miles east of Buffalo, we saw a runner carrying a torch. We had to stop and talk with him. It turned out he was a member of World Harmony Run and doing his stage of their relay. He took a picture with us and let us hold the torch, which has been held by Mother Teresa, Pope John Paul II, and Nelson Mandela, among others.
Having been suitably pumped up by this experience, we continued on toward Buffalo. Unfortunately, it seems that NY-33 runs into I-90. Before we knew it, we'd turned onto the interstate. Worse, the shoulder was lacking, so we had to keep riding for a couple minutes before we could pull off to the side. Finally, we found a place to stop. About a minute later, a truck from the New York state DOT pulled up behind us. AJ, one of the drivers, asked us what we were doing. We explained that we weren't from the area, and then he told us that some people evidently watch the cameras lining the interstate, so when they saw two guys on bicycles riding down the highway, they called in AJ and his partner to see what was going on. We had to put the bikes up on the car and get off the interstate. On the plus side, everyone was pretty nice about it. After we got off, we took our bikes down again, checked our maps, and kept riding to the Anchor Bar. Anyway, that's the story of the first (and last) time we got on the interstate.
Right after we pulled into the Anchor Bar, home of the Buffalo wing, a man in a pretty nice car pulled up. He told us his name was Ivano, and evidently he's the restaurant's owner. Then he told us to take a picture with the car and send it to him so he could put it up on the wall. So soon, hopefully, we'll make it up there with a host of other celebrities. After taking a picture, we went in to eat some wings. The original is pretty good.
After lunch, we left to meet up with Savanah, the girl we're riding in honor of here in Buffalo, and her family, where we're staying tonight. They took us out for some dinner, and tomorrow we'll head to the hospital.
~ Tom
The riding wasn't bad. With no big hills, we managed to make it most of the way with relative ease. Then, about 20 miles east of Buffalo, we saw a runner carrying a torch. We had to stop and talk with him. It turned out he was a member of World Harmony Run and doing his stage of their relay. He took a picture with us and let us hold the torch, which has been held by Mother Teresa, Pope John Paul II, and Nelson Mandela, among others.
Having been suitably pumped up by this experience, we continued on toward Buffalo. Unfortunately, it seems that NY-33 runs into I-90. Before we knew it, we'd turned onto the interstate. Worse, the shoulder was lacking, so we had to keep riding for a couple minutes before we could pull off to the side. Finally, we found a place to stop. About a minute later, a truck from the New York state DOT pulled up behind us. AJ, one of the drivers, asked us what we were doing. We explained that we weren't from the area, and then he told us that some people evidently watch the cameras lining the interstate, so when they saw two guys on bicycles riding down the highway, they called in AJ and his partner to see what was going on. We had to put the bikes up on the car and get off the interstate. On the plus side, everyone was pretty nice about it. After we got off, we took our bikes down again, checked our maps, and kept riding to the Anchor Bar. Anyway, that's the story of the first (and last) time we got on the interstate.
Right after we pulled into the Anchor Bar, home of the Buffalo wing, a man in a pretty nice car pulled up. He told us his name was Ivano, and evidently he's the restaurant's owner. Then he told us to take a picture with the car and send it to him so he could put it up on the wall. So soon, hopefully, we'll make it up there with a host of other celebrities. After taking a picture, we went in to eat some wings. The original is pretty good.
After lunch, we left to meet up with Savanah, the girl we're riding in honor of here in Buffalo, and her family, where we're staying tonight. They took us out for some dinner, and tomorrow we'll head to the hospital.
~ Tom
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Dillon in Rochester!
Dillon is our little guy in Rochester. When he was three, he was diagnosed with Stage III Wilms Tumor, and he immediately started aggressive treatment. He endured 9 rounds of triple dose chemotherapy, 14 sessions or radiation and countless blood transfusions. He is currently waiting to go in for his last CT scan to determine if his cancer is in remission.
Dillon's mom told us that he enjoys anything with wheels. So we are hoping that he likes bikes. We are going to meet him today at Stong Children's Hospital. She also said that his favorite movie is "Homeward Bound." I imagine that his favorite character is Champ . . . because it takes one to know one.
~ Austin
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
New Shipment in Rochester
We officially landed in Rochester, NY and we were getting ready for our visit at Strong Children's Hospital . . . when . . . while going through our shipment of goodie bags for the kids . . . we found a surprise. Vineyard Vines must be playing some kind of trick on us. Witness this:
Vineyard Vines box: closed
Vineyard Vines box: opened
Vineyard Vines box: something appearing
Hurray, A girl!!
She introduced herself as Claire and said she would be on the support crew for a few weeks. Imagine that! Works for us - we could use a well-kempt team member. Having managed to successfully ship herself in a box, we are convinced that Claire is on top of things . . . a fundraising extraordinaire. Fans, worry no more we are now the Fantastic Four . . . Rallying for a Cure!
(Tom, looking for another girl)
~ AustinMonday, July 31, 2006
Music to our Ears (and Legs)
Today we left the Syracuse area to head to the Rochester area. We left at about 9 in the morning, but maybe we should have left even earlier. As the day wore on, the asphalt started radiating all that heat, and Austin and I both getting flats didn't really help. However, we did get to see a couple of things - one time a deer ran across a nearby field, keeping pace with our bikes until it reached some woods - and Nick strapped the speaker to the roof, so we had a sound system behind us.
We've been talking about doing this for awhile now. When our bikes aren't on top of the car, we have a couple spare bungees, so Nick was able to secure the little PA speaker we take with us for events to the bike rack, and between a power converter and an audio cable, it worked out pretty well. Finally, we got to listen to some music as we rode. It was a lot of fun, and the construction crews we passed gave us some thumbs up as we passed, so I guess they liked it, too.
~ Tom
We've been talking about doing this for awhile now. When our bikes aren't on top of the car, we have a couple spare bungees, so Nick was able to secure the little PA speaker we take with us for events to the bike rack, and between a power converter and an audio cable, it worked out pretty well. Finally, we got to listen to some music as we rode. It was a lot of fun, and the construction crews we passed gave us some thumbs up as we passed, so I guess they liked it, too.
~ Tom
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Greasy 'Stache
Just cleaned out the car, organized our granola bars . . . and degreased the bikes, after which we realized that bike grease does wonders for man's upper lip:
Nick had the idea, but Tom wasn't man enough to try. Perhaps he was intimidated by the thought of having your sniffer so close to such strong chemicals. Perhaps I was just a little too stupid to think better of it. So with my greasy 'stache in place, we mounted up and pedaled on:
A few miles later, some folks flagged us down to donate. We stopped and accepted. I then explained our mission, completely forgetting about my faux facial hair. Me and my greasy 'stache were just ramblin' on. Nick and Tom got a kick out of it - making fun of me relentlessly afterward, "Those people probably thought you were nuts!"
Whatever . . . I bet they thought it was real.
~ Austin
Nick had the idea, but Tom wasn't man enough to try. Perhaps he was intimidated by the thought of having your sniffer so close to such strong chemicals. Perhaps I was just a little too stupid to think better of it. So with my greasy 'stache in place, we mounted up and pedaled on:
A few miles later, some folks flagged us down to donate. We stopped and accepted. I then explained our mission, completely forgetting about my faux facial hair. Me and my greasy 'stache were just ramblin' on. Nick and Tom got a kick out of it - making fun of me relentlessly afterward, "Those people probably thought you were nuts!"
Whatever . . . I bet they thought it was real.
~ Austin
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