Probably my last post

Hey Y'all!

Yes, it has been a week since I returned from my trip. Not everyone realizes that, and I haven't done a very good job of letting folks know. I have to tell you that it has been very difficult to write this last post. For almost a month, every day, I pushed myself as hard as I could, and it has been a greater effort than I anticipated to close out the trip. I've tried to start this blog post every day since my return -- and here it finally is.

The trip ended well. You already know how far we rode and drove, so I won't go into that very much. I made it -- with Bret's help, but I made it. Never in a million years would I have believed I could peddle a bicycle over 1000 miles. No one can ever take that away from me. Do you have any idea how that feels? With the help of so may people, I did something pretty much no one believed I could do.

We did make it on the Today show, sort of. Bret and I arrived on the set at a little after 4 a.m. and waited on line (we were the second and third to arrive). We stood next to Lenny, the 70+ year old gentleman who has attended every show for the last 13 years. He was great, and helped us get to know folks, including Meredith Vieira, who hugged me when she heard what we had done (and, yes, she is an awesome hugger). We weren't interviewed, but the camera crew liked us and what we were doing, so we got a lot of close-up camera time (I heard from friends all over the country who saw us). Importantly, there were several close-ups of our MS signs and shirts, so the issue got some play. In the end, that was what we wanted.

The drive home to Missouri was fast and fun. Bret and I traded off the drive. I have never been so happy to be home.

The lesson of this trip is that absolutely anyone can find something, anything, they believe they can not do, and they can do it. Take my advice -- find that thing for you and do it. Get lots of help. Make a plan and do it. Change your plan when you need to but get it done. Accept any and all help that is offered (especially the well wishes; they make a huge difference).

I want to thank everyone for everything you did. People all over this country and even around the world e-mailed their support. I heard people's stories. People told me what this trip meant to them. There were messages from folks with MS that so touched me -- any one of them would have made the whole trip worth it. People contributed thousands of dollars, every cent of which is going to the National MS Society, benefiting MS research, treatment and education. We made a difference, my friends. We made a difference to all kinds of people, and we made a big difference in my life. Jeez, I have a lot of thank you notes to write over the next few days.

So, thank you all. I hope this trip has meant the tiniest fraction to you of what it did to me. And, please, find your "impossible" think and start getting ready to do it, today.

- sean

Sean Spence
MS Advocate
www.MissouriToManhattan.com
seanspence@earthlink.net

From the road -- Waiting for the Today show

Hi Y'all!

Yes, it is totally hokey, but Bret and I have been waiting since about 4:30 this morning. We have our Missouri to Manhattan signs and shirts and are ready to talk to Meredith or Al or whomever about the ride and MS (a longshot, but it could happen!).

Two more hours to go. I'll let you know how it goes and will write more later in the morning if anything interesting happens.

Oh, by the way, Bret's mom sent an e-mail to the show, telling them about the trip and suggesting they look for us in the audience. Thanks, Bret's Mom!

Have an awesome morning.

- sean

Sean Spence
MS Advocate
www.MissouriToManhattan.com
seanspence@earthlink.net
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

The biking portion is done!

Hi Y'all!

Bret and I are in for the night. We drove quite a long way from Pennsylvania to New Jersey to make sure we are in New York in time for tomorrow's Today show. Then I biked until I ran out of shoulder. Tomorrow we'll drive to Rockefeller Center and make our last ditch effort to be on the Today show, at least in audience shots. We are working on the signs we will hold right now. Yes, I'll blog from the Today set tomorrow morning, no matter what the result.

All told, the trip breaks down to the following miles:

Distance biked (from the odomoter): 1063.23 miles
Distance driven: 450-460 miles
Total distance traveled: 1513.23 miles

I honestly can't begin to tell you how it feels to essentially be finished with this trip. I'll be thinking about it and will write a bit more on the subject over the next few days, during the drive home. And stay tuned to see how things turn out with tomorrow's Today show (or tune in to NBC and maybe you'll see us).

See ya!

- sean

Sean Spence
MS Advocate

www.MissouriToManhattan.com

seanspence@earthlink.net
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Tying Up Some Loose Ends

Hi Y'all!

I'll explain the picture to the left in just a bit. For now, suffice it to say that it represents the most beautiful sight in the world, a true Mecca.

Because of the whole Today show thing I explained yesterday, Bret and I are going to drive toward New York City and I'm going to bike in as far as I safely can (and we are still in the middle of that heat wave -- the temperature should be over 80 all afternopn), then we'll go in the rest of the way. In the end, we will have made a trip of around 1600 miles, and I will have biked close to 1100 of it. Most folks didn't think this was possible. I was talking to Bret last night about some thoughts I have -- is it important that I've ridden pretty far on a bicycle? No, not even a little bit (outside the context of my life).

To me, the important point of this ride continues to be that anyone can do a lot more than they think they can (or, more importantly, more than others think they can). If I can do this ride, then a heck of a lot of folks who think they can't, actually can. And anyone can find ways to be better, to do more than they think they can, or than others think they can.

Okay, enough soapbox. Thanks for indulging me.

The last few days of riding have included some pretty hard-core night riding, and that is pretty much what I wanted to share with you.

Night riding can either be extremely cool or it can be very difficult. It is cool when the terrain is flat (like it was the first night in Ohio). Man, that first night was great, for the most part (until it got very cold, sometime between 2:30 and 4:30 a.m.). It was the flattest portion of the entire journey, so it was safe to go fast and I could cruise along at a pretty good clip.

At one point, when I was getting a little desperate for a stop, I stumbled onto a small local bar called "Bada Bing by the River." As I parked my bike beside the building, the first thing I heard through the wall was "Rock Star," the current top-10 Nickelback hit and the bain of Bret's existance (because every rock station seems to play it every five minutes or so). Inside the bar, I found 20-30 locals, all of whom seemed to know each other, ranging in age from 21 to 60. It was the kind of place I don't get to go to very often. The music was pretty hard-core for the first 20 minutes or so I was there (I stuck around for about an hour), with "Rock Star" being the softest thing I heard; after that, there was "Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown" to Toby Keith. And, of course, they played "Rock Star" a second time in the span of an hour or less, before I left.

Jeez, there were some drunk people at this place. I watched two guys (older) get carried out. Everyone was friendly and I had a few conversations. Mostly, I was struck by the comraderie of the local crowd. It was kind of fun to be on the periphery, if only for a short time. At one point there was a lot of shouting from one end of the bar to the other, "Hey, this guy's riding his bike over a thousand miles!" They said they were glad I was drinking soda, so as to avoid a DWB.

Later, around four in the morning, I found myself at a gas station somewhere in Ohio. I ended up talking to a guy in his 60's who has been trained by the Red Cross to do post-flood cleanup and recovery. He'd just returned from helping in northern Ohio (apparently he goes all over the country). He obviously needed to get some things off his chest and he unloaded a bit about his experiences looking for missing people, post-flood. Just in the last week, he'd found a five-year-old boy wedged in a wall, caught there in the flood. Sorry to be so shocking, but you can imagine how it might feel to hear this story, in pretty graphic detail, at an Ohio gas station at 4:00 in the morning after biking 50 miles or so. People have a need to unload their burdens; for this guy, I was one of the places (perhaps one of many places, perhaps not) where he could do that.

Speaking of gas stations, the picture above -- the most beautiful sight ever -- is of the 24-hour gas station I found at about 2:00 a.m. Tuesday morning, after riding 30 miles in the dark (about five miles before Ebensburg, PA). Let me tell you, there is nothing more beautiful in the world than a 24-hour gas station after that kind of ride. Remember how I said that night-riding on flat territory is pretty cool? Well, night-riding on hilly or mountainous territory is not. Everything is slower -- uphill because that's always slower and downhill because going too fast when you can only see about 15 feet in front of you is not very smart. My entire Monday-Tuesday ride was incredibly hilly and curvy. It was safe, but hard, hard, hard. You may not believe this, but my riding day was roughly 17 hours from the time I started until the time I stopped (including short breaks and meals) and I only made it 62 miles because the terrain was such a killer.

For example, when I pulled into the Sheetz gas station around 2:00 a.m., I told the lady at the counter that I'd just been up the two largest hills I'd ever seen in my life. She asked if I'd come from the West on Highway 22 and I said yes. "Honey, those aren't hills. Those are mountains. Penn and Chicory. Trucks have trouble getting up those things."

One was over a mile up and the other was over two miles. Ugh. And going down was almost as difficult as going up because I had to ride the breaks so hard or I would have been going 50 miles an hour. To reiterate, nightriding is fun when the terrain is flat, otherwise, be ready for a long night.

That's enought writing for now (perhaps too much at once). I'm going to send some fundraising e-mails right now, trying to get some more money in for the MS Society. Then Brett and I will figure out our driving and riding schedule. Tomorrow we'll try to make our appearance at the Today show and then start heading home.

See ya!

- sean

Sean Spence

MS Advocate

www.MissouriToManhattan.com

seanspence@earthlink.net

So many things to report -- here are a few

Hi Y'all!

I'm back with an Internet connection. All kinds of things have happened; I'll talk about some of them now and get to others in the next few days.

First, here's the distance update:

Distance biked (from the odomoter): 1018.59 miles
Distance driven: 255-265 miles
Total traveled: 1273.59 miles

We've ended up having a couple of long stretches of road that just didn't seem safe for me to bike. West Virginia and the beginning of southern Pennsylvania were horrible -- so windy, hilly, and no shoulder for the most part. We're also going to end up driving a big chunk tomorrow because we've had a timing issue arise.

Here's what is going on. Something I haven't talked about very much lately is that my pipe-dream for this trip is to be on Today with co-host Meredith Vieira (whose husband has MS). I've sent several letters, with no response. So plan B is to be on the front row of the outside set and try to get an impromptu interview (we'll have signs and at least try to get a little on-camera time). I know it is all kind of dorky, but can you think of a better way to hilight MS to the nation? Plus, it would be kinda fun.

Anyway, we had the trip scheduled so that we could make it all or part of the way to New York by late Thursday night, and then go to the show set Friday morning. Now, it turns out that Bruce Springsteen will be performing an outdoor concert as part of the show. Yes, it would be cool to be there for that. But when they have a concert, they set up the outdoor set very differently, at it will offer no possibility that we might get a good camera shot or an interview.

So we're cutting a day from the schedule, driving a little more, and making sure to be there so we can try to be on the show Thursday morning. Got it? Silly, but also potentially helpful in meeting our goal of bringing attention to MS (remember, long-shots are a core value of this trip).

That tells you what will happen in the next few days. I'm going to bed right now, but I'll write some more, early in the morning. I'm really looking forward to telling you about my night-riding adventures and a few other things.

Thanks for sticking with us. The trip is about to come to a close, and it has meant a great deal to have so many folks around the country paying attention. Tomorrow, I'll also include some e-mails I've received from others with MS. I hope you'll get as much from them as I have.

- sean

Sean Spence
MS Advocate
www.MissouriToManhattan.com
seanspence@earthlink.net

From the road -- Stuck in New Alexandria, PA

Hi Y'all!

There is much to report, but minimal Internet access for me has posed a problem (not all of us on this trip can wile away the hours at connected coffee shops).

I do want to report, though, that I'm stuck in New Alexandria, PA. I lost my shoulder a little over a mile back and the traffic is fast and heavy. I walked the bike for the mile, but it kept getting worse. So I've stopped at a place called Skunk Bottom Mud Bog. Not sure what it is, but they have a shady parking lot so, for now, it is officially my favorite place in the world.

Bret should be here in 20 minutes or so. I'll hang out until then, maybe grab some dinner, and then get back on the road. I had a late start and pretty big hills on today's route, so it will be a late night to make sure we get to New York by Thursday night.

See ya!

- sean

Sean Spence
MS Advocate
http://www.missouritomanhattan.com/
seanspence@earthlink.net
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Day 21: Where's Seton Hall?

I'm at the American Coffee Shop in Greensburg, PA. The map shows Seton Hall University is in town somewhere, but I was unable to find it in my search for Internet access. I saw one sign that pointed me toward Seton Hall, but as I followed the road it became clear it was not leading me to the university. I'm not sure how a university could hide in a town this small, but Seton Hall has done it.

Sean is back to daytime riding, which is a big relief for all of us concerned about his safety. New York seems so close to me, but he seems to think it's still far away. I guess that's difference between biking 1,500 miles and driving it.

Sean deserves all of our support during these last 500 miles, so if you haven't posted before, please leave a comment and let Sean know how much you're inspired by the effort of a nonathletic, not-in-shape man riding his bike for a great cause. The comments we've gotten so far have been great.

No Internet Access

Hi Y'all!

I have some fun things to report, but can't get on the Internet at our hotel here in Mounds, WV. So I'll backtrack a bit when I write tomorrow.

Tonight I'll be getting on the road about midnight and riding until noon or so, into Pennsylvania and then on to the Big Apple!

- sean

Sean Spence
MS Advocate
www.MissouriToManhattan.com
seanspence@earthlink.net
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Day 20: Night Rider...back to disc golf... old business

Sean rode throughout the night without a hitch and with a few fun stories. He's done more than 70 miles along Ohio State Route 7 since he left last night at around 9 p.m. EST. He's been sleeping for about an hour now (he's a heavy sleeper so if you want me to draw anything on his face shoot me an e-mail in the next couple of hours). I would have posted sooner, but I wanted to post a photo I took of Ohio's smallest church and since my computer crashed a couple of months again and I lost iPhoto I've been unable to upload digital photos and trying to download other picture services has been frustrating. My Mac and I don't get along sometimes.

But, back to Sean. We're in the aptly named Moundsville, WV. My cell phone has no signal, but Sean's is fine (but don't call him until 5 p.m. EST because of the sleeping). I scouted the route we plan to take into Pennsylvania and Sean's going to have his first real test of the hills. But the road, 250, looks safe and the bad hills only last for 15 miles before he turns into Pennsylvania and things flatten out for at least a little bit. His spirit is still strong and his night riding strategy is off to a good start.

As for me, I finally got back to some disc golf yesterday. The course was called the Mountwood Monster and it was in a state park somewhere in the West Virginia Hills. The first two holes were everything a disc golfer dreams of with tight shots and huge elevation changes. The remaining holes were decent, but kind of a let down after the glory of the first two holes. They were flat and all required a low, mostly straight shot. Further distracting me were the gravel tees. My driving style requires me to take 5 steps, which I couldn't do without slipping on the tiny pebbles, so I had to play from the grass, which was slick, too. Cement really makes for the best tees. The course was also poorly marked so I never knew where the next hole was, which slowed down my game and prevented me from getting into any sort of rhythm.

I've been meaning to blog about a couple of things the last week but they've slipped my mind when I'm typing. One: long time readers of the blog will recollect Sean trying some PowerGel per my request. Sean bought the banana flavor and found it most displeasing. I told him I'd try one just to be fair. Finally, earlier this week, we found the PowerGel again, but I got the vanilla flavor. It tasted just like cake icing! Sean later tried some vanilla and found it tolerable as well.

Two: Driving through the hills in Kentucky I saw some road sides that said "Fallen Rock." I understood that to mean the rocks had already fallen and were not a threat. I wasn't sure why I needed to know that probably decades ago a few rocks had fallen. Driving through Ohio, though, similar yellow diamond signs read "Falling Rock." This did concern me, as I was unsure if this meant I was going to have to drive on the highway like Han Solo drives through an asteroid belt. The present tense "falling," turned out to be inaccurate, though, as no boulders tumbled my way. Perhaps a sign should read "The threat of falling rocks is ahead" for the sake of accuracy, however, not for the sake brevity.

Three: A couple of restaurants we drove by in Ohio advertised "legal drinks." I wondered if that meant I could get absinthe at other bars. Sean asked a local and he suggested it meant they didn't serve hooch-- aka Moonshine.

From the road -- Riding since 4:30

Hi Y'all!

We got my headlight battery fully charged last night and I was on the road by a little before 4:30 this morning. Night riding is pretty cool. No traffic. Great temperature. And I don't sleep much, anyway (4-5 hours a night, usually), so it is working out pretty well. Unless some new problem arises, we've solved the "too hot to ride" problem.

Bret dropped me off and went back to the hotel to sleep (he is much smarter than I am). He's being very cool about the whole trip and is doing everything he can to make sure we succeed. He has turned out to be a perfect bike trip partner.

Bret's birthday was the day before yesterday, by the way. He is 24 now, almost able to rent a car with full priveleges. Almost old enough to run for Congress (look out Kenny Hulshof!).

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that we were pulled over this morning because it was so early and we crossed the yellow line a bit. I was all set to fake appendicitis or an in-car bee swarm, but we explained to the officer what we were doing (there were actually three police cars who stopped to check out these two shady characters) and he let us go eithout even checking our ID's. I can't help but wonder what would have happened if we'd been a couple of black kids instead of the two whitest men in America.

My headlight battery has been charging while I've been taking a break. Should be good for another two or three hours, until daylight; so I'll get back on the road now.

Take care!

- sean

Sean Spence
MS Advocate

www.MissouriToManhattan.com

seanspence@earthlink.net
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T