Barbecue - that's what smelled so good!

Back before the Coast to the Coast and the WWP's Soldier Ride Lone Star State Challenge, I was talking up the trip to the owners of The City Cyclist bike shop on McCart Avenue in Fort Worth, to see if they would put up a poster for us in their shop. They agreed to do that, then took me to the back of the shop and showed me a Freedom Ryder handcycle that they had agreed to fix up and try to sell for one of their neighbors, another local businessman. The trike was in really nice shape and when I asked what they thought it would go for, they said they thought it was around $2000.00 when it was new, but that it was 5 or 6 years old now. I filed that away with the idea of maybe doing some fundraising and buying the bike. Ultimately I hoped to get one or two handcycles to take down and donate to the Physical Therapy department at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.

Jump ahead in time to about three weeks ago, when I wandered back into the City Cyclist and discovered the trike still hanging in their shop. I guess $4.00 per gallon gas was taking its toll-the shop was packed with new bikes, and it occurred to me that the handcycle was taking up a lot of room. I asked if they'd be willing to ask the owner what would be the least amount he would take for the trike if he knew I was buying it to hand over to battle-wounded veterans. A moment later I was being escorted next door to what has long been my family's favorite barbecue restaurant, Cousin's Barbecue.

The owner of the Freedom Ryder was Calvin Payne, who also owns several Cousin's restaurants around the DFW area. He wasn't in at the time, but his son took my information and told me he'd pass it to his mother and dad.

A few days later, I got a phone call from Calvin's wife Beverly asking for more information about my ideas for the bike. I told her about the Coast to the Coast and Rollaid and the Wounded Warrior Project. We talked about the guys down at BAMC and how glad some of them had been to get out of the hospital or the barracks for the day to go for a ride in the sun.

Beverly asked how much I had in mind to buy the bike for. I told her that any amount we agreed on, I'd have to raise, but that in consideration for a discounted price on the bike, I could offer space to print Cousin's logo on the upcoming Rollaid jerseys, as well as talk them up here on the blog. Beverly said she'd talk to Calvin and get back with me.

My phone rang a few minutes later and I spoke to Calvin himself. I gave him a shorter version of what I'd said to Beverly. I was gobsmacked a moment later when Calvin allowed that he'd be willing to donate the bike completely to Rollaid to take down to BAMC. Truly, I couldn't believe it. This guy had never met me, and here he was offering an expensive ride based on my say-so alone. I'm still in awe of the generosity of some people.

I made arrangements to pick up the bike at The City Cyclist on the following Monday. Calvin agreed to meet me beforehand at Cousin's to have a cup of coffee and chat. When I got there, Calvin and Beverly and a friend of theirs sat with me and chatted for over an hour. Walking in and meeting these complete strangers and talking with them felt exactly like walking into the house of your favorite aunt and uncle and sitting down at their kitchen table. I gave them a detailed description of our ride to Corpus Christi, including all the barbecue we'd eaten along the way (there was a lot) and talked about old times and old friends until it was time to go and get the bike. By then , they felt like old, dear friends.

Calvin agreed to have a picture taken with me and Mike from City Cyclist there in front of the shops - that's Calvin on the right, me in the middle and Mike on the left.

I think there might be another handbike in Rollaid's future, as well - maybe the guys at Brooke will be able to ride and train together instead of having to go out on their own.

Hand cycle bumpers reach the WWP

After going through 3 round of "proto typing" I sent of 2 versions to Rick to test and try at the next ride July 23 in NYC.

http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s289/pkhakes/Bikes/handcycle%20bumper/?start=all

Something smells great

Stay tuned to this channel for some exciting news (if you already know, don't spill the pinto beans)!

Roll Aid 2009 - Route planning.

Anyone got big ideas for the next tour? I'm thinking about starting the '09 ride from East of 35, maybe out by Cedar Hill, and rolling South, around Waco to Temple, skirting East of Austin, to San Marcos, New Braunfels and entering San Antonio from the East. Seems like there'd be a lot of good exposure, slightly better wind, fewer hills and different scenery. If we pick up a rider like Charlie, we can roll him up at Temple, I think.

Something roughly like this:

View Larger Map

Comments?

Woody Groton, Soldier Ride National Tour Director for the Wounded Warrior Project, has published his own blog.  Please put this site in your favorites and visit often, or you can just click the Soldier Ride Blog link anytime to the right of this post.

The address is:

http://wwpsoldierride.blogspot.com

Thank you for your support for the Wounded Warrior Project.  To read more about this organization, please visit www.woundedwarriorproject.org.

First MS 150

I thought I might take a minute to post a short blurb about my first MS 150. It was a great ride, and I enjoyed meeting Nieves, whom many of you have had the pleasure of riding with. It was a great couple of days. Through Nieves experiences, I learned much more about the Wounded Warrior Project, and its extensive reach into the lives of these soldiers. What a great organization.

Ride Report:

Day 1 – It turned out to be 84 miles (personal best distance for me) instead of 75 (I guess that is a frequent occurrence with these rides, but I didn’t know it). I was riding with Nieves from the Wounded Warrior Project, who is a great guy. We started Day 1 at 7:30am and rolled in at 4:45pm. I was pretty beat at the end, and the sun had taken its toll. Day 1 was nice and flat with hardly any hills, yet we had about a 20-25 mph headwind for the first 35 miles (which made the last of the ride quite nice).

Day 2 – (76 miles) I latched onto some pace lines with some of my team members. It made a huge difference in speed and enabled me to save some energy while covering some good ground. I was able to skip some rest stops and only stop to fill the bottles. I started Day 2 (yesterday) and my butt hurt like heck. I guess you finally get used to it and just deal with it. I had taken some asprin and rubbed biofreeze all over my legs, which helped a little. I started at 7am and arrived at ‘lunch’, the 30 mile point, at 9:10am. I was then feeling pretty good. I ended up finishing at 12:30ish pm. The terrain was anything but flat. It was rolling hills the entire way. Again, again this was news to me! It sucked, but at the end I think I had accepted the hills and just took them slowly and pedaled like crazy on the downhills to make up time. While I had caught different pacelines throughout the day, I ended up with 2 other guys for the last 10 miles, and we took turns pulling and averaged about 18-19mph to the end. It was a great finish in Sundance Square, and my wife surprised me by inviting all of our siblings and their families to the post ride festivities. It was pretty emotional and overwhelming at some points because of how amazing all of the volunteers were, and overall it was an excellent ride. I'll post some pics in the coming days.

Southlake independence ride weekend

A new road ride is coming to the metroplex, it supports the independence fund, This is a group that is similar to the WWP. I am helping them with support and some local information.

It is not just a 1 day ride. On Friday night there is a concert that you entrance fee will get you into staring Gary Sinise, and I have heard there may be a few bigger country stars. The ride will have Apache escort and will have many wounded vets leading it off. http://www.southlakeindependenceweekend.com/

If you watch the video you will see, Kevin and Charlie will hopefully they be at this ride as well. (does anyone have their contact information?)

Also if you know of a company or high roller who would like to be a sponsor and help stage the event they need your help. Just follow the link at the top of their page. They need some seed money.

Steak Night at the VFW = Good Eating.

Last Saturday, the Barlows, the Montgomerys and the Hills headed out to the Benbrook VFW Post 10429 to try out the much-vaunted Steak Night fundraiser.

They stage this on the 1st and 3rd Saturday night, every month. True to form, none of us thought to commemorate the event with photography, so you'll simply have to take my word for it. I've attached a stock photo to set the mood...

The Barlows and we arrived simultaneously around 7, found beers at the bar and ordered up our meat. Cliff and Erica arrived later, after the the VFW had stopped serving (at 8 pm). I blame myself for not checking in with Cliff earlier. I imagine that had I called earlier, they might have made it in time to eat. As it was, the VFW was cleaning up when they got there so we eventually made our way to Pulido's #2 on US 377 for more beer and continued munching while the Montgomerys finally got their dinner.

Before that though, chow time at the VFW was a lot of fun, with a good-sized friendly crowd and very creditable food. For your $11 you get a solid 16 oz. ribeye cooked to order, a big ol' baked potato, rolls, salad, desert and iced tea. For a buck more, you can get sauteed shrooms and onions for your meat - I heartily recommend this tasty option.

All the usual fixings are there for your salad and spud, and they cook your meat to order, bring it to the table for you and clear your plates. Given that it tastes great and helps out a worthy cause, I'm gonna call Steak Night one of the best dinner deals in town.

Post Commander Jim Noble and Vice Commander Don Rogers spent plenty of time with us, asking about the Coast to the Coast, and Don's wife made it a point to tease Cliff till he blushed - took about 7.2 seconds.

I recommend that next time we plan a ride, we have at least one dinner meeting down at the VFW. DOn Rogers has asked me to put together a short program for an upcoming VFW meeting to share the experiences from the Coast to the Coast with the membership at large, so I'll be working on that. More as it develops.

For the record, a gas-drilling operation will have the place closed down for 120 days in the near future. Be sure to call before going out there to eat, to make sure they're open for business.

VFW visit, and a hearty thanks

When could we meet at the VFW for a steak dinner? I know we owe them at least a stop by and a big thanks, and I think I finally have some time. I could also deliver some equipment I still have. I wish we could thank all the Vfw's that helped along the way, but we can start with our starting place.

Cheers to Richardson Bike Mart

And props to Barlows for finding a way of educating the owner on what Soldier Ride is all about at last Saturday's club ride. (It was the buttkicking WWP Jersey that got his attention, wasn't it?)

RBM has apparently donated the sum of $500 to WWP/Soldier Ride. Thanks, guys!


So, Barlows - was this your first club ride, then? How'd it go?

Starting the plan for next year

For next year's effort, I think I'd like to either change the name of the blog, or move the blog to a new site, and call it Roll Aid or something similar.

I had to deal with a bit confusion from strangers who weren't clear on the differences between us and the Soldier Ride. Additionally, I don't want us pulling traffic from the WWP site and I don't want to lose traffic that should be here going to WWP and not finding the info they want, so I think a clear separation is in order.

Once the planning starts getting locked down, I'd also like to put up a bulletin board, so that multiple threads planning different aspects of the thing don't get buried or lost.

Comments/questions/objections?

Soldier Ride obliterates goal for Lone Star State Challenge

That's us standing next to the Larrymobile in the background there.

For those of you who don't care to read the fine print - the goal for the Lone Star State Challenge was $15,000.oo.

What they made - with our help - was $30,000.00.

The letter is addressed to me because of the donation my company made, but that donation would not have happened without each of you making the Coast to the Coast a real goal, and not some fantasy.

This letter should have been written to each one of you.

Yep Yep...

I'm here. What's up Truman? I've been checking in often and reading about all of your wonderful experiences. You guys took some amazing pictures. I think the last statement you wrote on the below post about the knee pain has really caused me to change my perspective on riding my bike. I have knee pain as well, however, I've not thought of it in as positive a manner as you described. I appreciate that thought.

I just signed up for the Sam's Club MS 150. Anyone in? I may only make it the first day although I am going to ride pretty hard for this next month to try to get in good shape.

Speaking of which, What's up with this wind?!? It seems that every time we have a nice day, it is accompanied with high winds.

Paging CRDean...

Where'd you go, buddy - are you just swamped at work, or what?

Riding home yesterday...

Into a headwind I'd qualify as "stiff",

I caught myself grinning and thinking, "Man, this would be pretty bad if there were hills and I was full of El Tapatio tortillas and tacos, but otherwise this doesn't suck."

I find myself occasionally being grateful for the knee pain, too - it reminds me that I still have knees.

The end is near, but will never be fogotten

Well we are in Corpus now, and I wish I was as poetic and as good a wordsmith as my memories want me to be, oh well.

Today was one of the best so far as I am concerned, it had a great start, and inspiring middle, and a restful end. What a way to begin the close of an awesome trip.

This morning we woke up at the dove hut, all before dawn? Not sure how that happened but I guess we were all looking forward to a great day. Priscilla had left fruit, juice, and left over brisket and bread for us. So we had a good breakfast to get us going and get the camp packed up and cleaned up. At 8 Priscilla came rolling into camp with ken in tow to take us to meet the WWP at veterans memorial park in Beeville. The Ride was to meet at 9am and start at 10am. But when we got there at 9 only the police and the VFW were there. The WWP was running a little late, but no surprise when you consider all the warriors had done the day before. Shortly after we arrived the corvette club of Corpus Christi arrived and announced that they would be escorting us to Portland, the planned end of the days journey by bike. All were vets and many had their Vettes painted in veteran themes, they all looked assume.

A little after 10 the warriors arrived, with expectation written on their faces, and most roaring to go. All except Kevin who was not feeling well, but insisted on at least riding out of the park to respect those who came to honor him? So a couple of us got him some ice for his head and helped him get into his hand cycle, ready to ride. All the others were quickly readied and with salutes from the VFW, and with police and corvette escort we began our planned 45 mile ride about 1.5 hours late. Kevin’s planned ride out of the park then stop quickly changed to “a little further” so he could get past the horded of screaming kids at a local elementary school, talk about courage, persistence and pride, he was truly amazing. But what was even more so, was how those kids cheers boosted all their moral and insistence on going on, even Kevin, suffering as he must have been road on through town and out the other side, where reluctantly, and after being sick again, was convinced to dismount his bike and take a ride in the van.

They day quickly became hot, and the long flat road let a head wind push against the warriors and use, but all road on. Some fast, and some at a nice steady pace. I can’t imagine how those n hand cycles and recumbent suffered the heat not more than a few inches off the baking blacktop, chip sealed roads. But they all kept driving on. After about 10 miles the line was stopped for lunch, sandwiches, chips and Gatorade for most. A few, Matt and Adrian for 2 didn’t want to eat for fear of cramping, they just drank. After lunch it was agreed to officially brake the group into the A and B groups to let the faster group hopefully finish the ride, the rest would ride until ~2 and them be picked up to make sure we got to the finish where another reception was waiting. But at 2 most wanted to keep riding, and in fact they went on to close to 3:30 before all but being forcefully loaded into the trucks and vans for the ride to finish into Portland. I had stayed with the hand cycles and for a second day they had gone 25 miles, truly inspiring. We were then escorted to within 1 mile of the finish. There they were off loaded and back on the bikes so they could proudly ride in to there welcome on their own power.

The turn out at Yummies in Portland was a sight to see. Hundreds of people waiving flags, the VFW had 1 giant flag they vets were proudly holding along the rode, and all the colors from each force on display. The FVW band was playing, and everyone was cheering. Once situated they played the national anthem, and each services song. Matt confided in me it brought tears to his eyes, and that he was embarrassed, but several of us told him we were also brought to tears by our pride, and emotions over what it means to us to hear it and see these warriors being honored. Once the formalities were over the warriors were inundated with visitors, well-wishers, and admirers, a truly proud American moment. After that is was free ice cream and packing of the vehicles for the end of our day. The WWP off the NAS Corpus Christi, Steve, Dave and Cliff to Dave’s Aunts, and Dad, Lari, Larry, and I off to our respective hotels for the night and a good night sleep…..Well after Steve, Dave, Cliff, Dad and I went down town for some great Mexican food, all crammed In my little truck. ….

I know this experience, these new friends, and old will never be forgotten. I look forward to tomorrows public ride, and an end to this adventure, but I know this will not end my memories, or renewed feeling to help these wounded warriors, it has so far been an unparalleled experience, and I already look forward to doing it again.. .

Of Heroes, Warriors, and Road Angels.

Nieves, his dad, and his home town VFW





Today was to be one of the best days for me yet, and one of the toughest for the rest. Thursday we woke up at the Holiday Inn in San Antonio after spending a great evening meeting most of the wounded warriors, and getting a chance to hear some of their stories. We went to Rudy’s for BBQ, beer, and stories, a great night, but today was much better. We were up early and loaded for the truck ride onto base and the Brook Army Medical center. There we were privileged to meet the rest of the heroes, and had the chance to help them get into their bikes and really see for the 1st time their resolve. I had the distinct opportunity to meet Matt Lammers and Adrian Garcia, 2 amputees who were going to ride hand cycles for their 1st time. I helped Matt get into his and figure out how to attach is left mechanical arm to the “peddle” and physically attach him to his chair. From there we rode to the Center for the Intrepid, for an official send off for the days ride. There we saw several dozen other wounded vets, and many well wishers as we took official photos and began the soldiers 25 mile ride. From there we rode to the Alamo where kids, regular folks, the police, and the press have these guys a heroes welcome.

Adrian getting ready

Welcome at the Alamo
Send off at the center for the intrepid
Ryan makes the climb
Kevin pushing the hill flying old glory proudly





I followed behind Matt and Adrian the whole 25 miles taking with them about how they got there, what this day meant to them, and generally riding in Aw of them both. It was a slow roll of about 7.5MPH average, but by far the best riding so far, for me. These 2 and all the others truly amazed me with their spirit, persistence, and presence. Their overall attitude could be seen, felt and seen. I cannot describe my emotions and feelings, I can only hope you will some day get the opportunity to meet these heroes or others like them. Trust me it is more than time well spent. Knowing it was Matt 1st real day out of the hospital for a day of recreation on his own power was awesome to see, you could truly see relief and enjoyment in his face as he moved that bike down the rode. He told me this was the 1st time he felt like he used to when he would get in a pick-up game of some sort, that feeling when your sports face kicks in and the bad seems to melt away for a time. He said how cool it was to see the outdoors, hear the birds, and smell the flowers while out on his own. I believed him when he said he fell in love with cycling, something he never would have considered on his own, nor known if not for the wounded warrior project. At the end of the ride we was hot, sweaty, tired, but looking forward to the next days 25 miles.



Matt and Ken relax with some suport after the ride.


Dave, Steve, Cliff, Lari, Dad and another wounded warrior Nevis Rodriguez broke off after about 12 miles and headed out for Beeville, what was to be a 106 mile day for them. I caught them at about the 50 mile mark, and along with Mr. Aycock (Lari’s dad) followed them to about the 70 mile mark. There Dave suggested I become and advance party and took off for parts unknown, well sort of. I arrived in Beeville at about 5:30pm where I called Pricilla Stuart, out won Road Angel. Lari had contacted her a few week prior about our camping at her RV park, which she promptly said no to, as she had no restroom facilities, but she asked why. Which is where Lari kicked in her salesmanship, and the angel in Pricilla came out. Lari explained the purpose of our trip, and immediately Pricilla offered her dove lease area, explaining it was way back in her pasture and not much but a field with electricity and a bathroom. Not sure what to expect I called her when I pulled up to the RV park, she came right over in a mini van and instructed I follow her, that her son Gordon would be “the gate guy.” Not sure what she meant I followed her about ½ mile to the 1st gate, in we went, crossing about another ½ mile of goat pasture until we hit gate 2, here we went into another pasture filled with Brahma cows and new calf’s, we again crossed near ½ mile of pasture where we arrived at the 3rd gate, this one reviled a small lake, surrounded with ¼ horses, with a small hut in an enclosed fence around it. She proclaimed this is where we would call home for the night. When we pulled up I met Ken her hired hand who was working on the final touch to the clean up they had pulled off all week. Apparently the dove hunters left the place a wreck, and they had to work all week to clean it up, get it mowed, and get fire wood in place for us…. They offered to help me get the camp ready for our weary riders who were still about 2 ½ hours out. I found everyone’s tents in the back of the truck and off they went helping me set up 4 tents and 1 hammock. None of which any of them had seen the like of before. We found level ground removed limbs and twigs and got them all up and ready. Then she showed me her real welcome, brisket, potato salad, macaroni salad, beans, bread, fruit drinks, etc etc, etc. And she would hear non of taking anything for any of it. I got to hear all bout her late mother and father and how they came to own the ranch and keep it going, a truly proud family with a great heritage.



Pircilla, and Ken serve Steve some great food


The dove hut

Dave "Truman" listens to the tail of the nut and the bass


At ~ 9:30 12 hours from the start of their days the riders called and said they were at the exit, at this point Pricilla brought her big farm truck with a 15ft enclosed trailer out and off we went to meet the riders. We meet them at 181 and 351 along with Nevis’s family. She loaded the bikes in the trailer, and the riders in her van and off we went back to the camp. Well after Dave asked if we could ride there, I just smiled and told him to get in the truck, no way a 700X28 time would make it. Once at the camp the food came out, the beer I had picked up along the way was un-capped and refreshments ensued. Pricilla was truly a road angel, and we couldn’t have asked for more, even leaving a cooler with juice and fruit for morning. She sat and visited by the fire for an hour or so then left us to finish the beer, clean up ourselves, and get some sleep. Lari and her dad headed to their hotel and we crashed after a short time. BTW Pricilla said she would charge us a dollar a night but waive it if we came back next year, and we hope to take her up on that. There is no way we could repay her kindness.

Today was truly about helping others, we had a small chance to help and see the help given to some great heroes, and we were helped by one road angel. Although I didn’t get the miles of the others I feel truly blessed to have had today.

Here's the news video from Corpus Christi

KIIITV

Here are some local news coverage of the Solider Ride, and more about the WWP from SA and CC. I hope to get some of the blogs I started complete and up soon, and get some of the photos organized.

http://www.caller.com/news/2008/mar/16/wounded-warriors/

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/military/stories/MYSA031408.01B.WoundedSoldiers.372a84d.html

All over but the pictures...

Roll Aid '08 is now behind us. Along the way we lost a few riders, picked up a few more and made some friends that I hope will be lifelong.

We'll be updating this blog with some of the better pics - I took almost two hundred, but it sure didn't make me any better a photographer than I was when I left.

The pics of the guys you see cranking handcycles - those don't belong to them, they're loaners from the Wounded Warrior Project. My understanding is that these guys stationed down at Brooke Army Medical Center don't have a handbike to ride or train on. I know of a nice one for sale in Ft Worth. My plan is to get a rock bottom price the owner will take for it and then raise money to buy it and take it down and give it to the guys at BAMC, or to the BAMC PT department if it has to go that way.


I hope Joe from Joe's Pro Bikes in San Antonio will be willing to do the maintenance that'll be required when Joe Dirt slams it into another Grand Am.

Pics forthcoming when I get them up at a host.