Today's report from my Ride for Make-A-Wish Foundation of Nebraska
Started at 7:30 am in Lincoln and finished at 6:00 pm in Grand Island!
Covered 99 miles, 12.8 mph ave speed, 30.5 - max speed
Covered 99 miles, 12.8 mph ave speed, 30.5 - max speed
Riding time - 7 hrs, 43 minutes
Wind - out of the SSW, so hindered a bit all day long.
"Hurt/Help" Wind scale - -1.0.
The "Hurt/Help" Wind Scale is my way of saying "this is how much the wind hurt/helped me over the course of the day". It can Hurt me up to a -5, or help me up to a +5.
About today:
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| Sydney, Megan and Kevin |
(I am writing on July 1) Yesterday was absolutely amazing! I think I felt every emotion in the book at some point. It started out with one of the neatest experiences of the entire trip, making a dream wish come true for my niece, Sydney. On June 30, my sag drivers were Megan (my daughter), Kevin (my brother) and his daughter, Sydney (who is going to be an 8th grader this fall).
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| radio station on 3800 Cornhusker Hwy |
I stayed overnight with Kevin and his wife, Irene, on Wednesday night. So, that evening we were planning things out for the next day. I mentioned that I had an interview at the KFRX (106.3) radio station at 7:00 am with some guy named Matt on his morning show. Sydney's eyes opened wide and she said, "YOU are going to meet Matt Mc-KAY?" I said, "I guess. Have you heard of him?" All she could do was nod her head up and down with this star-struck look on her face. That's when I learned that Sydney just happened to be one of Matt's most devoted fans in the city of Lincoln. I also learned that Matt just happened to be a rather good looking young man according to most of the young women in the city of Lincoln. I said, "Well, do you want to come along to the interview?" More speechless head nodding. So, all three of my sag drivers came into the production room where Matt and his sidekick, Lindsey, do the morning show. It was really cool to see them at work, and they were super friendly! The interview went well and then we took some pictures afterward.
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| Sydney, Matt, Lindsey, Mike, Missy and Peyton |
As a side note, I figure that with this picture I earned at least 5000 "favorite uncle" points in less then 30 minutes with Sydney. (-:) I was delighted to be able to create this experience for Sydney. Kevin and Megan thought it was pretty cool as well.
Well, I took off out of town from there while my drivers switched vehicles, snapped a pic of the Lancaster county courthouse, bought some groceries and then caught up with me just west of Seward. While in Seward I had the chance to visit briefly with Joel Endorf, a friend from a prior congregation. It was great to see you Joel!
When my drivers caught up with me west of Seward, I stopped for resupply. While we were doing I got to meet another guy out for a bike ride.
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| Mike and Steve |
His name was Steve DeBoer. He lives in Denver and was on his way to Omaha to see his mom. We thought it was pretty cool of him to stop and say hi. He also said he wanted to make a donation to MAW. Neat! (-:)
And just for the record, if any of you think I spent a lot of money on my bike, well Steve spent even MORE on his!
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| Harry and Mike |
It was a long, tough, hot ride to York! My friend Harry Eckerson met me a few miles east of town and rode with me all the way to Aurora, where he lives. That was SOOOO very helpful! By the time we reached Hampton it was starting to get seriously hot. It really takes it out of a person to ride in this kind of heat!
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| starting to sizzle!! |
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| what's left of a center pivot... |
There had been a tornado in the Hampton area about 10 days earlier. There was not too much evidence left, but this bit was pretty dramatic, a center pivot crumpled up just east of town. Wow!!
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| Harry, Wenda, Mike and Phoebe |
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| Kevin, Harry and Mike |
When we reached Aurora, we went to Espressions, a coffee/ice cream shop on the town square. It was a MUCH needed and very refreshing break!! Expressions is owned by Harry and Wenda Eckerson. Phoebe, their daughter, works with them. While there I was greeted by Tony and Linda Hoegh, Mike Peard, Doug and Loree Moss, Karen Wall, Don and Norma Troester and Tim Troester. Wow!! It was so nice to see all of you! Thank you for taking the time to stop in. I also met up with my friend Kevin McReynolds. He is the pastor in Central City and at Aurora. He and his wife, Amy, were my very first host family, waaaaaaaaaay back on June 1. Kevin rode with me all the way to GI. It was very nice to have someone to visit and ride with. Partway there, we were also met by Brian Cook.
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| Jewelie Cook, Doug Wilson, Brian Cook and Mike |
I was SOOO thankful for all the folks who were waiting for me at the courthouse, sweating in the sun and the 105 degree heat!!! Thank you my friends! Many of you were there when I left 30 days ago and your presence meant more to me than I can ever explain. I'm just going to put some random pictures in now. I may put some names down, but those of you who are from here in GI will know many of the folks.
Thank you again SO much to each and everyone of you!!!!!
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| The crowd at the courthouse |
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| Sydney and Megan joining them |
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| Mike trying frantically to think of something profound and moving to say! |
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| Cory Schutte, who helped me BIG time on June 25!! |
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| Kevin McReynolds |
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| Lorry Dinkelman, Megan, Linda Reiser and Char, my wife. |
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| Vanessa, Emily and Cory Schutte talking with Mike |
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| Mike and Char, Diane Meier (one of the 4 Biker Babes), Brennen Probasco | , |
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| My niece, Jenna. It was HOT when I arrived at the courthouse (crowd in the background)!!! |
Thank-yous for today:
Too many to name, but especially EVERYONE who came out to welcome me home regardless of the heat and nasty sun blasting on you all.
Thank you for your friendship!
Bible verses dealing with Jesus and “wishes”. A WISH…
Jesus’ wish for us to serve others as He has served us – John 13:1-7; Matthew 20:20-28
Quote of the Day:
"Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime. Teach a man to cycle and he will realize fishing is stupid and boring." - Desmond Tutu
“Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live.” - Mark Twain
Closing thoughts for the day:
I'm going to do one more update, statistics and such, either tomorrow or the next day. After that I'll just leave this blog out there in blog-land as part of history. I hope that anyone who finds it will be uplifted and inspired in some way or another to consider the gifts and experience with which God has blessed them, and then ask themselves how they can use these to serve/benefit others. That's where the "sweet spot" is in life as far as I'm concerned. It looks like I'll end up raising close to $25,000 for MAW. I am excited for the blessings that will bring into the lives of the children (and their families) whose wishes will be granted through generosity of so many caring people!
In addition to being a possible source of inspiration, this blog is, in my opinion at least, a record of an incredible adventure, as well as a tribute to so many who helped me along the way. It is an example of taking the steps to make a dream (thought up in March 2010) into a reality! It was not easy, but it was certainly worth it!! I cannot take all the credit though as I certainly did not do it alone. I may've been the one pedaling the bike, but dozens and dozens of people gave me the help, encouragement and support I needed to complete this journey (host homes, sag drivers, MAW people and many, many others!). Thank you again for everything!
I'll return with stats in the next day or two...
Who cares??? Woo Hoo!!!
