First Georgia Training Ride

Hills are hard - especially going up. Rode with Austin, Reid, and Mitch today, and we found some good ones. Austin even decided one was good enough to do three times. No heart attacks, so I suppose it all worked out. We rushed back and managed to beat the rain. A good ride I'd say.

~ Tom

Amelia in Baltimore

Today we found out about a really cool little girl in Baltimore. Her name is Amelia, and she was diagnosed with Leukemia when she was 4. She is now 6 and a half, and she is in the final stages of her treatment. The doctors plan on having all of her treatments completed in 28 days! We're gonna make a special stop at Sinai Hospital to meet all of Amelia's doctors and friends when we ride through Baltimore on July 6. Apparently, everyone at the hosptial thinks Amelia is a "hoot" - I can't wait to find out for myself!

These are some pictures that Amelia's mom sent us. In the second picture, you can see how her face was swollen from treatment.

~ Austin

Kyleigh in Boston

In Boston we are riding in honor of a little girl named Kyleigh. She was diagnosed with a Wilms Tumor, a type of cancer found in the kidney,in January 2006 at the age of 2 1/2. She will be going through treatments at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute this summer.



I spoke with her mom Angela today, and she said that when she shared our website with Kyleigh, Kyleigh got so excited that she wanted to come ride with us! Sounds good to me. By the time we get to Boston we might be ready for a relief rider! Kyleigh, stay strong and keep training - we're on our way!

~ Austin

Night Riding like Batman

The sun went down yesterday before I had time to ride. With excitement, I decided to brave the night. I grabbed my most reflective jersey, put a rear blinker on my seat post, a light on my handle bars, and headed out the door. The streets were quiet and well lit until I got to Percy Warner park.

As I rode into the wooded entrance of the park, I felt like I was Batman flying toward the entrance of the bat cave. My light illuminated the one lane road, and my blinding speed caused the trees that lined the path to blur together. As I approached the downhill, I dropped in my handlebars to get under then wind. Then out of nowhere . . .

It was a quick blow - like a half-hearted sucker punch. Something hit my shoulder. I had just been attacked by a kamikaze bat. He flew right into my shoulder! Awesome story huh?

~Austin

For Gear Heads

I went to Atlanta this weekend to pick up all of our equipment from Roswell Bicycles. The guys at the shop had warned me that it was like a big candy store, but I don't think that I was adequately prepared. They hooked us up with almost everything that we'll need during the tour.

Here is a list for our equipment:

2 Giant OCR1 Bicycles
2 sets of aerobars
2 equipment pouches
2 pairs of cycling shoes
2 helmets
2 rear view mirrors
2 cycling computers
2 head lights
2 rear blinkers
2 heart rate monitors
2 pairs of glasses
1 pump
3 spare tubes
1 tube of chamois cream
4 water bottles
4 pairs of socks
4 pairs of cycling shorts
5 shirts
1 gear cleaning brush
1 universal tool
3 Cone wrenches
1 spoke wrench
1 chain tool
1 awesome folding repair stand

We're still gonna need a few spare parts, but overall it's a gear head's pardise in our dorm room!

~ Austin