Whirlwind of a Day

Our itinerary today had 5 stops!

First Stop: Vineyard Vines. This morning we visited the headquarters of one of our wonderful sponsors, Vineyard Vines, in Stamford, CT. We were excited to tell them about our ride over breakfast, and we had a whale-y good time! We are so thankful for all of their support and look forward to doing a ride with them on Martha's Vineyard next summer. Then it was back to New York City - by car, since the team biked from NYC to Stamford the day before - for 2 hospital visits and a tour of a lab.

Second Stop: Visit the kids at Columbia University Medical Center. After successfully navigating the streets of NYC, we made it to Columbia to visit the kids at the oncology clinic. We were able to give out 55 goody bags to the kids there. They were all excited to hear about the Rally Foundation and see all the fun things from our sponsors, like Vineyard Vines hats and Aflac ducks. Third Stop: Irving Cancer Research Center at Columbia University. I'm pretty sure that no one has ever taken a bicycle into the childhood cancer research lab at Columbia, and it's probably against some OSHA guideline, but we definitely did it any way. We met with Dr. Adolfo Ferrando, a Rally Research Grant recipient, who is researching leukemia. He gave us a great tour of the lab and explained all about his research.

Fourth Stop: Visit the kids at NYU Medical Center. By the time we made it to the pediatric oncology clinic at NYU, it was getting pretty late in the day and there weren't too many people there, but we were able to hand out some goody bags, and I'm sure that the kids tomorrow will be very excited to get the goody bags too! Then it was time to load the bike back up and get everyone back in the car (for the 4th time today!) and drive to Staten Island. We left at the start of rush hour, just as it was starting to rain,but that just meant that we got to enjoy some more people watching before we left NYC!

Fifth Stop: Maddon family in Staten Island. The 2006 RAA team stayed with Rally Kid Zachary's family 3 years ago soon after he was diagnosed with leukemia. Now, Zachary has finished chemo and is doing great! We have had a great evening of eating and playing with the Maddon family and will be sad to leave them in the morning!

Now we are off to sleep because we have a full day ahead of us tomorrow. A few hours of riding followed by an 8 hour fundraiser!

Rally On!

Claire, Magan, Michael, and Jai

Meet NYC Rally Kid Zachary!

Zachary is a sweet and loving boy who was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) on November 15, 2005. He has been in remission since early December 2005 and has taken chemotherapy daily for the past 3.5 years, in addition to enduring numerous bone marrow aspirations, lumbar punctures and blood transfusions. He never complains and is brave and wise beyond his years.

In July of 2006, his family had the distinct honor of hosting the Rally Across America team during their ride through NYC. Zachary started school in September 2006 and although he is frequently absent, he very much enjoys his time there when he is able to attend, Some of Zachary's favorite things are riding his ATV, Pokemon, Digimon, Dinosaurs and spending time with his brother Jonathan and sister Lauren.

Zachary and his family are confident that once Zachary's cancer is cured his leukemia journey will be just another snapshot in a miraculous life. The cure rate of Zachary's cancer jumped from 40% to75% in two decades due to the generosity of our predecessors who supported pediatric cancer research, but a 75% cure rate is not good enough. Please consider making a donation to help find a 100% cure!

Greenwich Expedition

Ahhhhh Yes! Sunday Morning and its time to leave Manhattan, New York and head toward Greenwich, Connecticut. Here we come! But first we made a stop at one of the zillion deli's in New York, conveniently located across the street of our host's home. A few bagels, some juice, & muffins made our breakfast complete. So its on the road again!






As we escaped the Sunday morning traffic...wait?! Sunday Morning Traffic? We hear the famous JLo was shooting a movie scene in Manhattan, probably the cause for the gridlock. After finding a suitable place to begin our cycle into Connecticut like three conquistadors on a mission, Find La Quinta! *Cue Spanish Guitar*




Traveling through historic sections and the rolling hills of this new area, it was very apparent we weren't in Kansas anymore..or um NY. We've landed in Greenwich. The small boutiques, shops, timeless homes and small lakes with boat docks provided beautiful scenery as we trekked towards our destination. Such gorgeous weather and scenery definitely had us in high spirits.
We cleared the long distance enthusiastically.

We Made It.



Time to unload, unwind, and celebrate with...Yes, exactly what you think we'd celebrate with...Gourmet PB&J! After a small collaboration, still teaming with excitement, another ride was in order. Thus, Michael found a 25-mile back country route that was an absolute shocker once we departed.




The second trail we chose to take on today, unknowingly, began with almost 11 miles of steep hills. Actually hills is an understatement. These were "mini-mountains". Almost every road was named "Something-Hill", one was even called "Burying Hill"! After climbing a few, we understood and scanned the area for bike remains but only found faded tombstones. But as we persevered thru the tough beginning, it paid off because the scenery was excellent. Beautiful lush fields, voluminous cedar trees, rolling pastures, luxurious...and i mean grand estates were at every turn and curve. Indeed it was quite a paradox of a ride. The most beautiful views and the most difficult ride yet!!
But we did it!!





Wheeewww... right in time to miss a short storm. A little celebration dance we loaded up the car quick and headed back to the base. FOOOOOODDDD. A quick shower, burgers at the diner a stone throw away, and a few preparations for tomorrow concluded our evening.

Rally On!
Michael, Jai, Magan, and Claire

A Taste of New York

Well, I'm delighted to inform everyone that today the Rally Team was working off of 8+ beautiful sleeping hours...more than the first 2 nights combined! I don't know if it was the additional sleep or the fast-paced streets of NYC, but the Team seemed to be in a trance today, but we were still extremely productive.

(Rally Across America team with Helen, Volunteer Manager at the Ronald McDonald House)

Our day was filled with delicious NY bagels, a traditional NY deli experience, the beginning of a beautiful relationship with the Ronald McDonald House, 30 miles in the bustling Central Park, an authentic Thai meal which was quite tasty and might I add that the Team was excited to make a transition from Chick-fil-A...to top everything off we joined one of Claire's high school friends for some delicious dessert at the esteemed Magnolia Bakery...it was Magan's favorite meal of the day.


We are now off to sleep with an attempt to gain another great night's sleep, hopefully we will be bragging tomorrow about 8+ hours. We will be in route to Greenwich, CT tomorrow morning, so we will touch base with all of you later tomorrow. Happy reading and thanks for all of your support as we rally for childhood cancer research!

Rally On,
Magan, Michael, Jai, and Claire

New York Time

We started off with an early morning radio interview on Raleigh's WQDR 94.7, which was broadcasting live from Chick-fil-A. After some delicious Chick-fil-A biscuits, we told their Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area listeners about Rally Across America, and then we were off to the hospital.

The kids at NC Children's Hospital were curious about the bicycle and spandex-clad cyclists, but they were all excited about the goody bags filled with fun stuff from our sponsors - vineyard vines and Aflac. We gave out 35 goody bags to the kids there fighting childhood cancer, and then we were off to lunch!


Bob, founder of PAC2, and Jane from St. Baldrick's took us to a great lunch at a local Chapel Hill favorite. Sweet potato french fries...sweet! Then it was time to hit the road for New York City!


Our 9 hour drive turned into a much longer one since we hit the south side of DC at 4:55pm on a Friday afternoon.....that explains this late night post..... NYC is a challenging place to drive, but it's even more challenging when you have 3 bikes on the back of your SUV and you can't see out the rear-view mirror due to all of the stuff in the car! Living in Atlanta has given us a good training for driving in traffic with crazy drivers, but Michael did an exceptional job of navigating the Friday night crowd in NYC. We all swear that Michael was a taxi cab driver in a former life.


After a late-night bite of New York pizza, we returned to our host home to blog and are hoping to get to sleep soon! Rally Across America has a great way of bringing people back together - it is amazing who you will call to ask for donations or to ask if they can host you. Tonight we are staying with family friends of Magan's whom she hasn't seen in 15 years!

Tomorrow we have a more relaxed day planned, and we're looking forward to visiting the NYC Ronald McDonald House.

Rally On!
Magan, Michael, Jai, and Claire