Ride Against Hunger

Day 5: Kirkwood Inn to Silver Springs, NV

Word of the Day: WIND

Today we rode 94 miles. That may sound like a lot to you. It does to me. But here's the deal. We started at Kirkwood Inn, a beautiful ski resort located up CA 88. We rode to the top of Carson Pass, about seven miles, and then started down the other side of the Sierra...and kept riding down hill for the next 40 miles into Carson City, NV. Not only that, we had a very strong wind directly at our backs that blew us all the way to our campsite located at Lahontan Reservoir. It was the easiest 94 miles any of us had ever done...and we were grateful after a very difficult day yesterday.

We are now into the second state of our cross country venture. When we saw the big "Welcome to Nevada" sign we let out a yell. Somehow the fact that we are in another state makes the trip seem more real...like we are really on our way. Now we will work our way across Nevada's Loneliest Highway in America (Route 50). It will be very different terrain than we have seen in California, but we look forward to experiencing the beauty of Nevada.

Some of you have been asking to see a map showing where we are stopping. Joe Ossmann's brother did a google map showing our various destinations. If you would like to take a look here are the sites:

In case anyone's interested, I typed Joe's itinerary into Google Maps. It only takes 25 destinations at a time, so there are three:

http://tinyurl.com/JoesBikeTrip1

http://tinyurl.com/JoesBikeTrip2

http://tinyurl.com/JoesBikeTrip3

Ride Against Hunger

Day 4: Pine Grove to Kirkwood

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Yes, that is snow...and yes...that is the three of us pointing at the 8000 feet (elevation) sign. Funny, I've been up hiway 88 before and never paid attention to those signs, but riding from 2300 feet to 8,000 feet was...well it was a real feat! We basically road up-hill for 50 miles. We left at 7 a.m. and arrived in Kirkwood at 4 p.m. Nine hours of pumping. Cannot tell you how relieved and pleased we were to ride into this beautiful ski resort where, by the way, people are still skiing since there is plenty of snow still on the ground. Tell the farmers there is a lot of water waiting up here for them!

The pleasant surprise of the day was that Tim Viall and his wife, Susan joined us for dinner last night. He wanted to "see us off" as we travel over Carson Pass today and then take the long plunge down into the State of Nevada. Today we are to ride nearly 90 miles to Silver Springs, Nevada.

The thought that just kept occurring to me yesterday was of the unbridled beauty of California. I am sure that we live in one of the most astoundingly beautiful places in the world. It also occurred to me that while one is suffering from hunger or any kind of deprivation, the world can start looking pretty ugly, pretty bleak. I pray for a world where every person and every family have the opportunity to experience the wonder and glory of God's creation

Ride Against Hunger

Riding Day 3

Stockton to Pine Grove, California

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Word of the Day: Disappointment!

Unfortunately, we lost two members of our team today. Tim Viall, Director of the Emergency Food Bank, took a bad spill and reinjured two cracked ribs from an accident two months ago. He made a valiant effort to go on with the ride, but was having trouble breathing and experienced a lot of pain. He therefore reluctantly decided not to continue on the ride. John Viall, Tim’s brother then decided that he also would not go forward with the ride.

The idea for the Ride Against Hunger came from a discussion with Tim over two years ago. Tim is terribly disappointed that he cannot continue, and I will also miss my good friend as we move forward. While leaving the effort was absolutely the smart thing for Tim to do, it may have been one of the hardest things he’s done for a long time. He feared that he would let many people down. We encouraged him to decide on the basis of what was the right thing to do for his health, not on the basis of who would be “let down.” We will miss Tim and John immensely.

So now, Joe Ossmann, Chuck Bohme and I will continue, Chuck plans to ride to Billings, Montana. We are trying to talk him into staying for the whole trip. Fortunately, Tim and his wife Susan will join us tomorrow night at the Kirkwood Inn for dinner and a toast.

The quick summary of the day was that we were sent off from Stockton in grand style with Mayor Ann Johnston hosting and sponsoring the Second Annual Mayor’s hike and Bike Event. Hundreds of riders and hikers moved around Stockton’s downtown neighborhoods. We were introduced and led out the ride…then headed out of town toward Pine Grove, CA, a town that is about a third of the way up the Sierra. It was a beautiful but hard day with miles of ever so slow climbing up long inclines. We are camped in a beautiful spot called Indian Grinding Rock State Historical Park. Two friends of the Ossmann’s blessed us with a wonderful chicken and rice dinner.

Tomorrow is one of the hardest days of the whole ride--50 miles, but almost all of it up hill. We will climb from 2300 feet elevation to 8000 feet. We are all rather anxious about the day.

Ride Against Hunger

Ride Against Hunger--Day 2

Mt. Diablo Camp Grounds to Stockton, CA

50 miles.

Word of the Day: Catholic Charities!

Today was the exact opposite of yesterday. Sunny, warm, and beautiful. And what made the day even better was a nice breeze to our backs blowing us into our destination, Stockton, California. The goal of this ride, in addition to arriving in Portland, Maine sometime around the first of August, is to raise funds to alleviate hunger. One of the agencies receiving the funds is Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Stockton.

So when we arrived in Stockton, we rode by the Catholic Charities office to say hi to the staff and to introduce the other riders. What a welcome we received!!! The picture above shows the five riders in front of the office with Elvira Ramirez, the Executive Director of the agency. As we left the patio area, the staff all gathered and clapped for us as we rode out of the parking lot. Made us feel as though the ride was really worth while, that it meant something to someone beside ourselves.

Tomorrow we will be "featured riders" in the Mayor's Hike and Bike event here in Stockton. We are not sure what featured riders means, but we are thrilled to be a part of this event which also raises funds for hunger alleviation. We ride about 50 miles again tomorrow, but we will end the day at about 4000 feet above where we are tonight. For the next three days we will be riding mostly up hill over the Sierra Mountain Range.

Ride Against Hunger

Ride Against Hunger--Day 2

Day One: Rain!!!

Riding Day One. May 27, 2010

San Francisco to Mt. Diablo Camp Site.

Word of the Day—RAIN!!!

In 2007, Cindy and I had the privilege of travelling to Tanzania, Africa. On a very rainy day, we were told that in their country, rain is always welcomed because it means good luck. I kept trying to remind myself of that today as the rain poured down on our opening day trek from San Francisco to the base of Mt. Diablo where we are camping tonight. This is Good Luck...this is Good Luck...this is Good Luck???

We did the traditional wheel dip in the Pacific Ocean this morning. The picture shows the five riders, fists in the air full of excitement, expectation, and yes…fear. Can I do this? Will I fall and get hurt? Will I make it all the way to Portland, Maine? Will I get bored, too tired? Will I feel like quitting? All these and many more questions raced through my mind as we took our first few pedals up through Golden Gate Park.

Let me quickly introduce you to the other riders. I will share more about them as the ride continues. For now, the five riders are Tim Viall, Director of the Stockton Emergency Food Bank (red jacket), John Viall, his younger brother, red poncho) and Chuck Boehme, Tim and John’s friend from days lived in the State of Washington. The guy with the green helmet cover (who is receiving a lot of teasing about a very high dork factor) is Joe Ossmann. Joe and his wife Kathy are the owners of the motor home we are “camping” in this summer. They are good friends from Sacramento. I am the one with the orange and black jacket on.

After riding in driving rain through San Francisco and most of Oakland, we caught just a glimpse of blue sky, and by the end of the day, we had stripped off our rain gear and began to enjoy a beautiful afternoon.

So, some of the questions were answered. We can make it..at least for one day. We do like each other. We have to be much more attentive to starting out with clear written directions. (We spend a lot of time today in “committee meetings” trying to figure out which way to go next. But by the end of the day, we all arrived safely at our campsite, and we were very pleased to have our ride actually under way and the first day “in the books” as they say.

One more thing. This morning as we were riding through San Francisco in the driving rain, a man (I think he was homeless…but don’t know for sure) was standing out on a street corner yelling loudly. Could not quite capture what he was saying, but it got me to thinking about the fact that here we were feeling all brave and adventuresome on our Gortex jackets and fancy equipment while there are literally thousands of our brothers and sisters who face those same elements every day without the luxury of “good equipment.” So today, I invite you to consider, not what we did in the rain today, but what poor and homeless families do in the rain, and snow, and heat every day of the year.

Today's the Day

Today is zero day. We leave about noon today for San Francisco where the five riders will meet for dinner. Tomorrow morning we will gather near the Great Highway of San Francisco, dip our rear wheels in the Pacific Ocean, and begin our ride through the City and out to the Mount Diablo area where we will camp for the night.

This morning, Tim Viall, Director of the Stockton Emergency Food Bank, and I were invited to be on a local Fox40 t.v. show. They asked me to bring my bike and talk about the ride. We were able to lift of the reality that there are children in our communities today who will not have the nutrition they need to live healthy lives. And shame on us for letting that happen. I pray that this ride will enable us to focus each day on what we can do to make sure that there is food on every table.

By the way, yesterday, the Stockton Record (newspaper in Stockton) did a very nice piece on the ride that included a fairly large picture of Tim and me on a recent ride. I will try to include the link for that article.

The picture today is of our support team...Cindy Fowler and Kathy Ossmann. If the ride is hard, their job is even harder. We are blessed and grateful to have their presence, support and encouragement along the way.

Tomorrow...Riding Day ONE!!!

Two Days Before the Ride Against Hunger

Welcome Friends:

Today is Tuesday, May 25, 2010. Two days from now five old guys like me will dip our wheels in the Pacific Ocean, and start our trek across the U.S. Thanks for joining the ride. This is my first attempt at blogging, so who knows whether anyone will ever see this. My intent with this blog is to share with friends and family what it's like to ride across the United States on a bicycle. Each day I will post a few pictures and try to describe what happened during the day--good, bad, boring or exciting. I'll try to keep it brief so you can check in and not take hours to catch up.

You see from the header that this is a Ride Against Hunger. Two of my passions come together in this ride. First, to call attention to the fact that there are still way too many people who simply do not have enough food to eat to stay healthy. In this Central Valley of California that supplies over a quarter of the table goods found on tables across America, families are suffering from hunger and food insecurity. I will be sharing some reflections on this reality on this blog.

The other passion is being on my bike. I genuinely enjoy biking...and traveling by bicycle is just great fun and true adventure. So the blog will also record what days pedaling a bike feel like.

I'm posting a few pictures from a "shake-down" ride we did a few weeks ago. I'll use the pictures to describe a bit about how we will do the logistics.

Again, welcome to the ride. Get out your bike and ride along!