In Lexington, VA there is a cemetery that contains the tomb of one of the most brilliant generals of the Civil War. Whether his cause was "right" or "just" is immaterial - the bottom line is that General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson was one of the most intelligent and gifted military strategists of his or any other age. I only know this because it is contained in what my wife likes to call my "font of useless knowledge". As I rolled into Lexington, KY today imagine my delight at riding right past his tomb and the cemetery that bears his name. I also rode right through the middle of the Virginia Military Institute campus only moments later. For a former Civil War "enthusiast" it was a moment of heaven.
Now don't get me wrong, I am not one of those that likes to display the "Stars and Bars" (read my earlier blog posts about the "Bubbas" of Eastern Missouri) and I don't think we should go back to the tumultuous times that caused more American bloodshed than any other conflict our nation has endured. However, as a young man growing up in Georgia and later Texas, I was fascinated by what driving forces would cause a nation to rend itself apart pitting father against son and brother against brother. I read the book The Killer Angels a few years back and while it gave brilliant insight into the most famous of all the battles that horrible conflict, it didn't really shed much light on the rest of the story. But what constantly stands out is the brilliance, gallantry, honor and commitment of men such as Stonewall Jackson. Whether he agreed with the politicians or not, he was a consummate professional and brilliant at what he did.
Another person who I feel is utterly brilliant is my wife Amy. While she might not see it in herself, she is one of the most intelligent, witty and insightful people I know. I constantly find myself reflecting on what moment of sheer insanity must have gone through her head when she agreed to become my wife. How could someone so magnificently intelligent have made such a tactical blunder? But I'm glad she did for without her this Ride Across America could never have happened. Like a brilliant general she organized this trip, planned the logistics and made sure Connor's Army has continued to be provisioned throughout this campaign. Today she made one of her many brilliantly insightful comments that was so natural and made so much sense because it was so obvious. But it took Amy's perspective to see it clearly and her voicing of this simple truism made it all coalesce and brought me to tears - but more on that later.
Yesterday found us relaxing in Floyd, VA at the home of Jack and Ginny Russel. Two transplanted New Yorkers who are very close and dear friends of Amy's parents and whom Amy has known almost her entire life. They opened their home(s) to us as well as their pool and the children were in heaven. They also have two adorable dogs that gave William quite the fix and perhaps we won't hear "can we get a dog" for a while. They took care of us, fed us, allowed us to do laundry and made us feel as if we were part of their family for a brief 40 hour span. It was heaven and just what we have needed after so many days on the road. Of course, to get there I had to endure 114 miles of grueling climbing to get there. 'But the amazing dinner of clam fritters, corn on the cob and cucumber salad more than made up for it!
My day off saw me driving up to Blacksburg to replace my cycling shoes that were damaged as a result of my accident and also doing some much needed maintenance on Pearl. The folks at East Coasters Bike Shop were incredibly helpful and made sure I got a great deal on a pair of Shimano M087 mountain bike shoes. If you're ever riding the TransAm and find yourself in the Christiansburgh area needing bike work or supplies, go there!
Today dawned earlier than I had wanted it to. It has been getting more and more difficult to get myself out of bed and on the road in the mornings. All I really want to do is sleep for about twenty hours as my body is slowly breaking down from all of these 100+ mile rides. Today was to be another one of those rides.
But today I had two things motivating me to get going - the first was I was riding for the Sea Boys and Girls of Sunrise Day Camp. These are the eighth graders of the camp and they are the same age as my daughter Sarah. Usually Sarah joins me for the first 20 or so miles of my ride (well, she has since eastern Colorado) but today was going to be a brutal start as the ride started with over three hundred feet of elevation in the first 3/4 mile. She's still recovering from the mountain she climbed out of Damascus so we agreed she would join me after I got the major climbing done for the day. It was a shame she didn't start with me because only thirty minutes into the ride I hit the 3,000 mile mark for this cross country journey!!!! I would have loved to have shared this with her as she has been with me for so many momentous events on this ride (including my only crash to date).
But I was riding for my beloved Sunrisers so I told myself to suck it up and get going! But there was another reason for me to push harder today. At 2:00 I was to meet an eight-year-old boy who is battling cancer. He has neuroblastoma and we had set up a meeting through a member of the local press to meet with him at the Troutville Town Park today. I had to really try to push hard as it was 64 miles away from Floyd and I wanted to make sure I was there on time.
However, when the family joined me in Catawba (which is where Sarah would be riding with me) I had already had to stop twice for mechanical problems and I was beat - emotionally, physically, mentally, mechanically, ecumenically. I sat down on the ground and told my wife that I wasn't sure I could go on - today, tomorrow, at all. I was really that beat. It has been getting harder and harder to push up these hills and to get out of bed in the morning. But I looked up at Sarah who was decked out in her cycling clothes and in the process of making me a peanut butter and honey sandwich and I knew I had to go on. There were kids her age depending on me - and a little boy only twenty miles away who wanted to meet me. So I did the mechanical repair, prepped Sarah's bike and off we went. And it was a joy! Riding behind my daughter reminded me to enjoy the ride and to experience every moment of it for what it was.
Before I knew it we were in Troutville, we had found the park, and we met the lady who had set up the meeting for us. After answering some questions and giving her some of our story Amy and the boys showed up and as we all chatted Elijah and his family arrived. We really didn't know what to expect with Elijah or what he was interested in but last night Amy and I created what William called a "goody box". I took the boxy my new shoes had come in and we placed inside a Sunrise Day Camp water bottle, t-shirt, wrist band and one of my (new and unused) cycling jerseys which I had signed. William added to that one of the Home Depot wood kits that Jack had given him as he left this morning. As I gave the box to Elijah I asked him if he liked to ride his bike. He opened up the box and looked at the jersey and I leaned down and told him, "I know this doesn't fit you now, but you WILL get better and you'll get bigger and you can wear it when you ride your bike." And I know he will.
Elijah and his young brother Mason are two amazing little boys, much like my own two children. There parents are two young people in their late twenties who are struggling to meet the costs of the expenses for Elijah's treatment and they are doing there best in an economy that is less than perfect. For them, a camp like Sunrise would be the perfect way for them to make sure their little boys can have a summer like other children. And that's where our talk turned to as the afternoon wore on - how this little corner of Virginia, which has had its own rash of children suddenly fighting this heinous disease, could use a place like Sunrise, a place where children could go and just be kids. A place where they could play with others like themselves and so they could network and create a supportive community. I told them I would help them get in touch with Michele Vernon, the Executive Director of the Sunrise Camps and from there who knows.
And this is when Amy leaned over to me and said, "even if you don't raise another dollar from your ride, if your being here and talking about Sunrise can help get them motivated to start a camp like that here, then you will have done something very special for these kids." And the waterworks came! Don't get me wrong, I would still love to raise the funds to send more children to Sunrise. I think unless you have experienced the indefatigable joy those children exude you can't know what it means to get there. I hope I can reach at least half of my goal. And yet, across the country I have talked to folks about how incredible Sunrise is and I've handed out brochures and I've talked to papers. And maybe, just maybe, if another place can be created where kids fighting this deadly disease can go to feel safe and where the parents can send them without worrying about one more thing to pay for, then maybe I have found the reason for all of this. The reason for the 115+ heat, the 110+ mile days, the long climbs, the crashes, the mechanicals, the exhaustion, being chased by dogs and forced off of the road by land yachts pulling SUV's. All that will become worth it.
In the play Our Town, Emily asks the Stage Manager, "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it?" To which he replies, "No. Poets and saints maybe...they do some." Well, I'm not a poet and I'm not a saint but one thing I do vow to do is to live every moment of the next 600 miles. I owe it to the kids of Sunrise and to the Elijahs of the world.
And today's report;
FFR - 2 deer, 4 raccoons, 6 possums, 2 turtles, 8 birds of indeterminate species, 8 UFO's
RRL - 1 bag of dog food (really? feed those animals!), 1 small Swiss Army knife - the kind that goes on a key ring (I appropriated it and added it to the other tools from the journey).
Stay well and I'll update more from the road!
For another perspective on our journey check out Amy's blog at http://www.crosscountrymama.blogspot.com//
To help us get the kids to Sunrise go to https://www.wizevents.com/register/register_add.php?sessid=1809&id=1056
Check out our website at http://www.connorsarmy.org/
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