Sean's Day 9 -- Stopping at my mom's house
Hi Y'all!
First, the ride update:
Miles ridden today: 46.30 miles (we had to stop early to make it to my mom's party on time)
Miles ridden, total: 445.09 miles
Today started in Murphysboro, IL. I was on the road by 7:30 and riding my backside off for a good bit of the morning. I also had several business calls to which I had to attend, and they really sucked up my time (gotta make a living, ya know?).
The road could not have been more perfect and I was able to haul it the whole way, averaging 12-14 mph or even better, pretty much the entire way. If only the entire trip were like that...
St. Joseph, MO friends, June & Jim Potts, sent me a lovely e-mail of support for this effort. They have contributed to the MS Society for this trip and have been so supportive, otherwise. It really touches my heart to get e-mails and blog posts from friends. Thanks, June & Jim.
I also received an e-mail from my Kansas City, MO friend Diana Kander. She was mostly just being supportive, but also asked me who my favorite cyclist is -- not something I had thought much about, to be honest. My initial response, in my head, was Peewee Herman -- no one has ever ridden a big red bicycle with such grace as Peewee. In a way, he is my inspiration for this ride, my inspiration for everything.
Really, though, I've never been a big sports fan (to put it mildly). The only cyclist I can name is Lance Armstrong (and he's pretty cool, except that he dumped my beloved Sheryl). There really is just one athlete who has played any role in my life or the way I view the world -- Steve Prefontaine, the long distance runner. My knowledge of him starts with the movie "Without Limits" (one of my top-ten favorite movies) and extends beyond to some outside reading. As you might guess, my love for him stems from his commitment to breaking all boundaries, even those set for him by his own body. My favorite line in the movie resulted from someone asking Prefontaine why he was such a good runner. Paraphrased, he said "because I work harder and because I can stand more pain than anyone I've ever met."
Prefontaine is a role model for me because he refused to let anyone, including himself, hold him back.
My ride today was from Murphysboro, IL to Harrisburg, IL. I could have ridden much further, but we had to get to my mom's house in time to shower and shave before the 5:30 party. So I stopped riding at 2:00. Tomorrow we'll have to backtrack to Harrisburg so no one will think I'm cheating the ride. Then we'll bike back to Kentucky and start making our way across the incredibly long state.
We may or may not be sticking to the plan and leaving tomorrow. At our party tonight, Dr. Jon Love (a long time friend of mine who may know just about everything in the world) checked out my bike and helped me understand that we have a pretty serious problem with the back wheel gears. We took it to his son, also named John, and the short story is that we are taking it to a professional bike repair guy tomorrow to replace the head. No clue how long this will take. Hopefully it will be done in time for me to get at least a few hours of riding in before dark.
Oh, and Mom's party in Madisonville, KY tonight was awesome. We had a lot of folks and brought in over $2500 from friends and family, all for the MS Society. And it was so much fun to see everybody, many of whom have known me since birth. This whole trip is a fantastic experience, but tonight, surrounded by so many people who are important to me, will always hold a special place in my heart. Thanks, Mom.
That's enough for now. I have an interview at 10:00 with the Madisonville, KY paper for a story about the ride, and we have to deal with the bike repairs (which may entail going to another town). I'll keep you posted as things develop.
Take care.
- sean
Sean Spence
MS Advocate
www.MissouriToManhattan.com
seanspence@earthlink.net
First, the ride update:
Miles ridden today: 46.30 miles (we had to stop early to make it to my mom's party on time)
Miles ridden, total: 445.09 miles
Today started in Murphysboro, IL. I was on the road by 7:30 and riding my backside off for a good bit of the morning. I also had several business calls to which I had to attend, and they really sucked up my time (gotta make a living, ya know?).
The road could not have been more perfect and I was able to haul it the whole way, averaging 12-14 mph or even better, pretty much the entire way. If only the entire trip were like that...
St. Joseph, MO friends, June & Jim Potts, sent me a lovely e-mail of support for this effort. They have contributed to the MS Society for this trip and have been so supportive, otherwise. It really touches my heart to get e-mails and blog posts from friends. Thanks, June & Jim.
I also received an e-mail from my Kansas City, MO friend Diana Kander. She was mostly just being supportive, but also asked me who my favorite cyclist is -- not something I had thought much about, to be honest. My initial response, in my head, was Peewee Herman -- no one has ever ridden a big red bicycle with such grace as Peewee. In a way, he is my inspiration for this ride, my inspiration for everything.
Really, though, I've never been a big sports fan (to put it mildly). The only cyclist I can name is Lance Armstrong (and he's pretty cool, except that he dumped my beloved Sheryl). There really is just one athlete who has played any role in my life or the way I view the world -- Steve Prefontaine, the long distance runner. My knowledge of him starts with the movie "Without Limits" (one of my top-ten favorite movies) and extends beyond to some outside reading. As you might guess, my love for him stems from his commitment to breaking all boundaries, even those set for him by his own body. My favorite line in the movie resulted from someone asking Prefontaine why he was such a good runner. Paraphrased, he said "because I work harder and because I can stand more pain than anyone I've ever met."
Prefontaine is a role model for me because he refused to let anyone, including himself, hold him back.
My ride today was from Murphysboro, IL to Harrisburg, IL. I could have ridden much further, but we had to get to my mom's house in time to shower and shave before the 5:30 party. So I stopped riding at 2:00. Tomorrow we'll have to backtrack to Harrisburg so no one will think I'm cheating the ride. Then we'll bike back to Kentucky and start making our way across the incredibly long state.
We may or may not be sticking to the plan and leaving tomorrow. At our party tonight, Dr. Jon Love (a long time friend of mine who may know just about everything in the world) checked out my bike and helped me understand that we have a pretty serious problem with the back wheel gears. We took it to his son, also named John, and the short story is that we are taking it to a professional bike repair guy tomorrow to replace the head. No clue how long this will take. Hopefully it will be done in time for me to get at least a few hours of riding in before dark.
Oh, and Mom's party in Madisonville, KY tonight was awesome. We had a lot of folks and brought in over $2500 from friends and family, all for the MS Society. And it was so much fun to see everybody, many of whom have known me since birth. This whole trip is a fantastic experience, but tonight, surrounded by so many people who are important to me, will always hold a special place in my heart. Thanks, Mom.
That's enough for now. I have an interview at 10:00 with the Madisonville, KY paper for a story about the ride, and we have to deal with the bike repairs (which may entail going to another town). I'll keep you posted as things develop.
Take care.
- sean
Sean Spence
MS Advocate
www.MissouriToManhattan.com
seanspence@earthlink.net
posted by Sean Spence at 9:18 PM
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