Sunday, Sept. 23rd

Sorry for the lapse in time since our last update but we have been steadily churning out the miles from destination to destination. Our morning departures have been a bit delayed due to media events directly resulting in arrival times much later into the evenings than anticipated. The route has proved to be a bit more treacherous than initially expected. The open shoulders of the first 10 days have all but disappeared. The populations surrounding the cities have increased, as has the traffic flow.

We got a late start to the day leaving Columbia, MO on our way to St Louis, MO. It was a nice ride but rather hilly and hot. Our resident Englishmen, Richard got lost in the scenic offerings of the area and put in an extra ten miles for good measure. It was the first glitch but nothing severe, more amusing than anything. We were just happy to find him pedaling on the right side of the road, which was comforting. Upon our arrival to St Louis we were given a lights and sirens escort by a ladder truck to the St Louis Children’s Hospital where we met with Dr. Leonard a pediatric oncologist and neurosurgeon. Dr. Leonard took us for a quick tour of the facilities and discussed the limitations of funding for pediatric cancers as a whole. Tired and hungry we made it to the firehouse, showered and walked to a local restaurant. A solid 6 hours of shut-eye proved to be just what the doctor ordered before we set out the next day. Many thanks to the guys at Stations 11 and 28 for the facilities and support.

Departing St Louis we embarked on our longest day yet requiring us to cover 300 miles of highway leading into Louisville, KY. This epic ride started as each day has. Eat, drink, and pedal! The day offered many rolling hills and hit temperatures over 100 degrees. Randy and Kevin both hit the century mark as the other guys pushed the limits on ascending and descending speeds to make sure we made our mark. After a long day we arrived at the fire station at the stroke of midnight, ordered a few pizzas, cleaned ourselves up a bit and hit the hay for a well deserved 5 hours of sleep.

The following morning we awoke to a great breakfast provided by the guys at the Company 5 firehouse, made some adjustments to our bikes, and set out for a visit to the Kosiar Children’s Hospital escorted by the ladder company. At the hospital we met with media and were given the grand tour by the hospital PR manager, thanks Kari. During our visit we met two children and their parents afflicted with Neuroblastoma. One child was a mere 6 months old. He was a precious boy full of smiles and giggles doing extremely well only days out from surgery. The other child was a beautiful princess named Sydney going through tandem stem cell transplants. She too was full of smiles, and fully engaged in an episode of the Wiggles. Her parents were wonderful! They displayed the fortitude required to defeat this horrid disease and had a bond between them which was very strong.

After leaving the Children’s Hospital we made our way to Lexington, KY. The day was full of near misses with rotting carcasses and debris lining the roadside and resulted in 3 blowouts slowing progress a bit but not stopping us in our tracks. Fortunately we arrived unscathed and to our delight were given 8 complimentary rooms at the downtown Radisson, which was a bit more luxurious than the cramped RV and back of the bike trailer we have become accustomed to (thanks to Heather Hart). At the hotel, we were met by two wonderful women, Kathy and Jeanne. They have been following our journey for some time now and gave us a much needed jolt of enthusiasm and motivation.
This morning we arrived at the Station 1 firehouse and were met with an overwhelming media response. Following some interviews and bike maintenance the guys at Station 1 treated us to a wonderful spaghetti lunch and prepared us for the long road ahead.

We now have a long journey ahead as we have to be in Roanoke Wednesday morning. We are about 300 miles away. So far this has been an uphill and windy road. We’ll let you know how the road turns out.

Love you all, see you soon.