Rain, good for flowers, bad for biking

Notables from today:

• Late start due to broken bike. (if you are familiar with the Oregon trail video game, then you would understand us when we say that this was an instance in which the music played ... "waa waa")
• Heavy rain. Riding in the rain is a challenge - especially in bicycle shorts. As you can imagine, the seat becomes water logged. It was like riding in a diaper. ugg ...
• Many animal sightings (alive and deceased). note: the deceased appeared to have been lost to tragic accidents involving motor vehicles.
• Rope swing / fire ant adventure in middle of nowhere. Don't ask ... the bullet point is more exciting than the story (although Austin getting stung by fire ants through his shorts was notable)
• Flat tire.
• 62 mile total ride.
• Safe arrival at the Johnson's home in Florence Alabama
• Dinner
• Paul shaving his leg(s).

Tomorrow we're on our way to Birmingham (over 100 miles). We'll meet up with our host family and meet up with Nicole and Claire, the rest of our crew.

~ Paul, Kelly, and Austin

St. Judes and a Mississippi Strawberry

After picking Kelly up from the Rowletts along with a car full of "goody bags" for the kids, the Rally Team reconvened at breakfast at the Sillses ...

(us with Tyler Sells before his mom took him to school)

We got lost on the way to the hospital due to confusing instructions and a confused navigator (Austin), but we still got to the hospital on time to conduct our first event for some of the patients at St. Jude's. A few kids showed up and we met with them and their families, sang songs (kind of), wore whale hats ...

... and handed out goody bags. It was an amazing experience for us, after months of planning and fundraising, getting to finally interact with the people whom we are ultimately intending to help with this whole concept.

We were given a special tour of St. Jude's Children's Hospital, joined by Kelly's parents who drove all the way from Minnesota, and were amazed at the whole operation. We learned a great deal about the history of the hospital and how they do the amazing things that they do for their patients and their families each day.

We made it back to the Sills' home, packed up the car (with a lot of help), and at 2:15pm central time, we began our bike trip: Austin, Kelly and Paul on bikes, and the Hibbard parents in support cars. 66 miles later, after a minor accident and a few strategic stops on the way ....

(our first state line, Austin is checking to make sure it is the right one)

We arrived at the outskirts of Corinth, Mississippi a little after 8:00pm. We carted in the rest of the way, checked in to our hotel and went out for a post-ride meal.

I'm tired, my legs are sore, and my knee kind of hurts, but I'm more ready than I've ever been in my life to go to Florence, Alabama.

~ Paul

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Today I fell off my bike...

(a not so sweet stawberry)

However, on the sunny-side, I did not break any bones or endure any serious injuries! Additionally, now I have the battle wounds worthy of a "serious rider." After a short car trip, while the boys continued biking, I hopped back on the bike and completed the ride into Corinth. The best part (probably the only good part) of my injuries was the complementary, sympathy dessert from our waitress at dinner! All in all it was wonderful day, with an amazing visit with the children at St. Jude's.

~ Kelly

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We secured our first "on the road" donation today at a Mapco. The guy was sitting in his truck while fueling up, and he asked us how far we were riding. We told him about the ride, and he told us we were crazy. But then he pulled out five dollars and thanked us.

.. and then my rear derailer cable busted at 63 miles. This is currently preventing me from changing gears. ... we'll troubleshoot with our tools in the morning before we head towards Alabama.

~ Austin

Day 1: Memphis

We (Kelly, Austin and Paul) got everything packed up and left Nashville today at around 3:00pm. We arrived in Memphis ...

(we had to ask this guy for directions)

... about 3 and a half hours later (by car, not by bike) at the home of the Sills, where we also met with the Rowletts. These wonderful people fed us and provided anything else we needed. They helped us get the goody bags ready for the kids at the hospital tomorrow and we (Austin and Paul) installed speed/mileage computers on Kelly's and my bikes and tied up some other loose ends.

(Paul, Austin, and Kelly)

Clare is feeling a little under the weather and will now be meeting up with us Sunday night in Birmingham instead of tonight in Memphis. As she gathers her strength, the three of us will be tag-teaming it to a currently undisclosed location that will hopefully be about halfway between Memphis and Florence, Alabama - feel free to call us RIGHT AWAY if you have lodging available...

Despite a few minor mishaps, including an accidentally severed bike computer cord (which was skillfully fixed by Austin) and my bike's death-defying leap from the top of Austin's car to the ground right beside the car on a short trip between driveways (either I did not secure it properly or it was trying to start the ride early), we've had no major setbacks at this time.

(Paul getting last minute safety tips from his Mom)

Lewis and Clark would have taken bikes if their route had been paved.

Stay tuned ...

~ Paul and the Rally team

September Comeback!

As many of you already know, September is childhood cancer awareness month ...

... the perfect time to leave a job, or skip a bunch of classes, or cancel every other possible commitment to get on a bicycle and tell people about something that is really really important!!

We're only doing a short ride ... a meager 1,000 miles combined riding in 10 days, but we've already raised over $12,000 ... and we have a this idea that people will be excited to hear about three crazy cyclists deciding to ride for the kids ...

The three of us that are riding consist of me (Austin from last year), Paul (a pro-trumpet player turned substitute teacher), and Kelly (a sophomore Vanderbilt student who is also a real life hero and cancer survivor!)

The core support team is Claire Olson and Nicole Shopshire, and we're also expecting key back up support from Kelly's mom and dad and my mom. They are going to follow along with the team for a few days and help us spread the word!

So stay tuned .. pictures to come. We'll be reporting from Memphis tomorrow night where we will start the tour with a trip to one of the greatest research hospitals in the world.

~ Austin