I got an email from Luke in Philadelphia. He just updated his webpage with some pics at our Philly event. He told me that I could share it with all of you - pretty cool kid. Check it out: Luke's Care Page.
Luke's mom gave me a bracelet that says "Sharing Hope." It has made a good addition to our road gear. Rally on Luke - we're riding for you!
~ Austin
Monday, July 17, 2006
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Leaving New York
Yesterday we took the day off and went to New York City. I will make sure to update everyone as soon as I am able. Currently, we are quickly tossing all of our belongings in the car and assembling the bikes so that we can make the trek to Washington, CT. As it so happens, this is the town where Tom's parents were married, and we are pretty excited about seeing the church where it all went down :)
Also, we've been making the news near DC with the help of Carsten and his family, and we are going to be putting the articles up on our news page soon. So . . . stay tuned.
~ Austin
Also, we've been making the news near DC with the help of Carsten and his family, and we are going to be putting the articles up on our news page soon. So . . . stay tuned.
~ Austin
Friday, July 14, 2006
New York: Two busy days
We've had a busy couple of days. Yesterday we started out by riding to Vineyard Vines from the Cos Cob Inn. When we got there, we got to meet a whole bunch of new people. Shep and Ian even called a storewide meeting so that we could give a little speech. I think it went pretty well. Dean had flown up, so she was able to tell a little bit more of Rally's story. We had Austin sing the whale song - with a guitar, which was a first, but it went pretty well - and a lot of people joined in the second time around. The staff there was great. There was this huge jar of change, dwarfing Chester's bag even, sitting on a stool in the room, and people kept on adding to it while we were there. What's more, Shep and Ian said that we shouldn't be pedaling for pennies; we should be pedaling for dollars, and they gave us a big check. Our Vineyard Vines visit turned out to be a lot of fun. We owe a big thanks to Joan for helping organize all our VV events.
Next, we rode from Vineyard Vines to the Outback Steakhouse in White Plains. One of the VV sales guys, Ross, volunteered to ride with us. We had some good hills, but we were rolling along at a decent pace - until suddenly, Ross's chain broke. It was a completely freak occurence, but we had a little time, so we decided to try to fix it. We had never had to fix a chain before, but we pulled out our chain-breaking tool, removed a link, and with only a little bit of trouble, put it back together. We decided Ross should stay in a low front gear, and he'll probably still need to have a bike shop take a look at it, but the fix worked. We even got some speed up after that - Austin hit 41.5, and I hit 43.1 - which is better than we've done since training. We have now fixed just about everything on a bike. We made it to Outback, where Dean, Ross and some other VV people helped do a little bit of setup.
At the Outback, we had three Rally kids: Kimberly, Danielle, and Spadicia. The kids were great. Kimberly and her twin Karen told us all about their dogs, including the two they should be getting in two days to celebrate the impending end of Kimberly's treatment. A lot of Vineyard Vines people were able to make it and rally around these kids with us, which made me and Austin feel great. We met one girl, Katie, who has been free of her cancer - osteogenic sarcoma, the same type that Spadicia had - for the past four years, and is about to go to college. This Outback event went very well, and the staff there really helped us make it great.
After Outback, we went to Maria Ferrari Children's Hospital to see some more kids. Spadicia had been treated there, and she told us to look out for one friend of hers, Madika. We did get to meet Madika, a Knicks fan who hopes to play basketball when she gets out, and we met Miles, who had just had a party celebrating his breakout from isolation. One boy, Sai, had a lot of fun riding around on one of the bikes. He rode to meet us on his tricycle, and our bike was a little big for him, but we were able to hold him up. Eventually, we had to go, but we had a great time. After one more quick stop, we went out to grab some dinner at Alive at Five, generously provided for by one of the VV girls, Erica, and then we came back to our hosts' home, the parents of another VV girl, Suzanne, to pass out.
We got to sleep in a little later today. We headed over to Richard's, a local VV retailer, at about 10, where we met Elizabeth, Taylor, and Lindsay. Richard's was a pretty cool place - pretty big, and it had a little stand for us. The new VV ties were put on display, and we talked to some people who gave us some donations. Right after that, we walked up the avenue, handing out whale hats and water bottles while asking random passersby for donations. We met some firemen raising money for Jerry's Fund, and we agreed that between our two groups, we'd try to get everyone's money. We were able to make a couple hundred bucks there - which proves, I think, that generosity is still fairly prevalent in the north.
After that, we went around to run a few errands - deposit our donations, mail a few things, and get Austin a new phone charger. The bank and the post office were easy to find, and other than having a little trouble trying to find a place selling the right phone charger, the afternoon went pretty quickly. We made it back to Suzanne's parents, who told us we could stay another night and ordered us some pizza. After another long day, we should have a little time off to do some sightseeing.
~ Tom
Next, we rode from Vineyard Vines to the Outback Steakhouse in White Plains. One of the VV sales guys, Ross, volunteered to ride with us. We had some good hills, but we were rolling along at a decent pace - until suddenly, Ross's chain broke. It was a completely freak occurence, but we had a little time, so we decided to try to fix it. We had never had to fix a chain before, but we pulled out our chain-breaking tool, removed a link, and with only a little bit of trouble, put it back together. We decided Ross should stay in a low front gear, and he'll probably still need to have a bike shop take a look at it, but the fix worked. We even got some speed up after that - Austin hit 41.5, and I hit 43.1 - which is better than we've done since training. We have now fixed just about everything on a bike. We made it to Outback, where Dean, Ross and some other VV people helped do a little bit of setup.
At the Outback, we had three Rally kids: Kimberly, Danielle, and Spadicia. The kids were great. Kimberly and her twin Karen told us all about their dogs, including the two they should be getting in two days to celebrate the impending end of Kimberly's treatment. A lot of Vineyard Vines people were able to make it and rally around these kids with us, which made me and Austin feel great. We met one girl, Katie, who has been free of her cancer - osteogenic sarcoma, the same type that Spadicia had - for the past four years, and is about to go to college. This Outback event went very well, and the staff there really helped us make it great.
After Outback, we went to Maria Ferrari Children's Hospital to see some more kids. Spadicia had been treated there, and she told us to look out for one friend of hers, Madika. We did get to meet Madika, a Knicks fan who hopes to play basketball when she gets out, and we met Miles, who had just had a party celebrating his breakout from isolation. One boy, Sai, had a lot of fun riding around on one of the bikes. He rode to meet us on his tricycle, and our bike was a little big for him, but we were able to hold him up. Eventually, we had to go, but we had a great time. After one more quick stop, we went out to grab some dinner at Alive at Five, generously provided for by one of the VV girls, Erica, and then we came back to our hosts' home, the parents of another VV girl, Suzanne, to pass out.
We got to sleep in a little later today. We headed over to Richard's, a local VV retailer, at about 10, where we met Elizabeth, Taylor, and Lindsay. Richard's was a pretty cool place - pretty big, and it had a little stand for us. The new VV ties were put on display, and we talked to some people who gave us some donations. Right after that, we walked up the avenue, handing out whale hats and water bottles while asking random passersby for donations. We met some firemen raising money for Jerry's Fund, and we agreed that between our two groups, we'd try to get everyone's money. We were able to make a couple hundred bucks there - which proves, I think, that generosity is still fairly prevalent in the north.
After that, we went around to run a few errands - deposit our donations, mail a few things, and get Austin a new phone charger. The bank and the post office were easy to find, and other than having a little trouble trying to find a place selling the right phone charger, the afternoon went pretty quickly. We made it back to Suzanne's parents, who told us we could stay another night and ordered us some pizza. After another long day, we should have a little time off to do some sightseeing.
~ Tom
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Sloan, MickeyD's, and VV
Today we headed into New York. At first, some heavy cloud cover obscured the view, but after we crossed the Brooklyn Bridge, the city skyline finally reared into view, and we got to hear Austin say, "Oh, wow." I guess New York's pretty impressive.
We made our way to Sloan Kettering with one of our bicycles and several boxes of goodies. The latter we left with the volunteers, but we brought the bike into the playroom to give a presentation to some of the kids. This was a little different from what we normally do, but it went pretty well. The kids ranged in age from four to eleven, and most of them have bikes of their own. They asked us all kinds of questions, and afterwards a bunch of them had their pictures taken with us. Apparently the last visitors were the Yankees, and before that they saw the Mets, so Austin and I were in pretty good company. We were having a lot of fun. Since quite a few of our kids have been treated at Sloan Kettering, I was looking forward to finally seeing it, and they didn't disappoint.
After the presentation, we went around to some of the in-patient rooms for a few more visits. We posed for a few more pictures, even signing a couple, and had a good time talking with some of the kids. After we finished, we headed back to the playroom, where the kids were having some ice cream (Apparently, the volunteers have to eat ice cream quite a bit. I sympathized as best I could. With a mouth full of ice cream). After signing a couple more pictures, we headed out.
Now, as we have ridden through Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, DC, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and now New York, a steady flow of leftover goodies has slowly accumulated in the chase car. So, right after we left the hospital, Austin decided to call up the Ronald McDonald House here, only a few blocks away. After a quick explanation, we were told they would love to have our extra toys. And thus we set off - with assorted knickknacks at our sides. When we got there, most of the kids were in treatment, but we got to hang out with a few of them. We left the remaining goodies to distribute as they saw fit. Something tells me that the New York City Ronald McDonald House will resound to the sound of bubble gum popping and plush ducks saying, "Aflac. Aflac. AFLAAAAC!!!" Fortunately, perhaps, the bandanas and whale hats don't make quite as much noise :)
Anyway, with our events more or less finished, we quickly drove by Central Park and then headed back to Zachary's family. We hung out with them for a little while - I can now tell you that Pikachu is the evolve of Pichu and that Rychu is the evolve of Pikachu, and I could even tell you what that means - before packing up again. After eating some more ziti and saying our goodbyes, we headed out to the Vineyard Vines headquarters, where we finally had a chance to meet all these people we've been hearing from. They were great, and we'll get to spend a little more time with them tomorrow. They put us up in a nearby inn whence we will ride tomorrow. The next couple of days should be fun.
~ Tom
We made our way to Sloan Kettering with one of our bicycles and several boxes of goodies. The latter we left with the volunteers, but we brought the bike into the playroom to give a presentation to some of the kids. This was a little different from what we normally do, but it went pretty well. The kids ranged in age from four to eleven, and most of them have bikes of their own. They asked us all kinds of questions, and afterwards a bunch of them had their pictures taken with us. Apparently the last visitors were the Yankees, and before that they saw the Mets, so Austin and I were in pretty good company. We were having a lot of fun. Since quite a few of our kids have been treated at Sloan Kettering, I was looking forward to finally seeing it, and they didn't disappoint.
After the presentation, we went around to some of the in-patient rooms for a few more visits. We posed for a few more pictures, even signing a couple, and had a good time talking with some of the kids. After we finished, we headed back to the playroom, where the kids were having some ice cream (Apparently, the volunteers have to eat ice cream quite a bit. I sympathized as best I could. With a mouth full of ice cream). After signing a couple more pictures, we headed out.
Now, as we have ridden through Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, DC, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and now New York, a steady flow of leftover goodies has slowly accumulated in the chase car. So, right after we left the hospital, Austin decided to call up the Ronald McDonald House here, only a few blocks away. After a quick explanation, we were told they would love to have our extra toys. And thus we set off - with assorted knickknacks at our sides. When we got there, most of the kids were in treatment, but we got to hang out with a few of them. We left the remaining goodies to distribute as they saw fit. Something tells me that the New York City Ronald McDonald House will resound to the sound of bubble gum popping and plush ducks saying, "Aflac. Aflac. AFLAAAAC!!!" Fortunately, perhaps, the bandanas and whale hats don't make quite as much noise :)
Anyway, with our events more or less finished, we quickly drove by Central Park and then headed back to Zachary's family. We hung out with them for a little while - I can now tell you that Pikachu is the evolve of Pichu and that Rychu is the evolve of Pikachu, and I could even tell you what that means - before packing up again. After eating some more ziti and saying our goodbyes, we headed out to the Vineyard Vines headquarters, where we finally had a chance to meet all these people we've been hearing from. They were great, and we'll get to spend a little more time with them tomorrow. They put us up in a nearby inn whence we will ride tomorrow. The next couple of days should be fun.
~ Tom
Famous Cake in the Big Apple
We got to New York last night just in time for a big Italian dinner with the Maddon family. We had chicken parmesian, pasta, and an awesome salad followed by this enormous cake! The Maddon's little boy, Zachary, is 4 and has leukemia, and we he is one of the kids we are riding in honor of in New York.
When Zachary's mother Emma, who is originally from Italy told her family about our ride, her aunt prepared this cake as a welcoming gift. It is known as "My Aunt's famous Italian Cake" . . . I had two huge peices and slept like a baby :) A great experience.
Today we are going into Manhattan to visit the kids at Sloan Kettering, and we are going to have to take the support car despite several recommendations to avoid driving in the city at all cost . . . (this conflicts with our policy of getting the kids goodie bags at all cost :)
I'm a little anxious about going into such a big town . . . I've never been before, and from what I hear, it is much larger than Tiger, GA.
~ Austin
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