Pretty pimp huh?!
Justin Haines (a friend of Shannon, Kyle and I) and his Dad drove to Miami from Phoenix this morning so Justin could ride back into town with us. They started the drive at about 3ish. Is that incredible or what? Think about it for a minute. Justin drove 100 miles so he could ride his bike back into town and finish in the heat of the day. This blows me away. Guys, thanks for going the extra mile to meet us. Your support of POP's Ride is greatly appreciated!
We rode up a couple of hills to what the locals call, The Top of the World. We put mustard on these hills ahead of schedule and started our decent into Phoenix. Along the way we picked up another rider, Jordan - a friend of Casey and Jake's. Here is where the day took an amazing turn. Jordan, Casey and Jake told us they were going to take the lead and pull us into Phoenix. For those non-cyclists, to "pull" someone means they will ride in front of you. All of the riders between the "puller" exert less effort to go the same distance. What this means is Shannon, Kyle, myself and everyone behind those three would exert about 20% or more less energy to cover the same distance. These guys pulled us all morning and we were going 20+mph. This takes an incredible amount of endurance. THANK YOU. Because of them, we made every time cutoff we had set. We rode 78ish miles before lunch and arrived at the lunch spot about an hour earlier than the cutoff time. THIS WAS HUGE!!!!!!
Right before lunch, I had the honor of meeting my friend Angel Rea - a Mesa Police Officer - as he was on shift. Here are Angel and I posing for the camera. Good Times
Our Team riding through Tempe
At one point, Teresa Filleman and some of her friends from Southwest Bicycles joined us for a few miles. We had 13 riders making a statement down Shea Boulevard showing Phoenix Parkinson's Will Not Win. We stopped in a park to take this picture
One of the days top 5 moments. Kyle's son Isaac running to him across the QT parking lot. What a sweet moment. I didn't take a picture as I was to caught up in the moment. Here is Kyle's family cheering on their Dad and Team POP's.
At this stop, Dad and Shannon jumped on the Tandem and Carl got on his bike and we headed up Cave Creek Road to Carefree Highway. Normally, this uphill is tiring - especially in the afternoon heat. This time, it seemed like flat land to me. Then again, I got passed by Bolt, aka "Carl", at one point like I was standing still.
We had such a good day of riding, we had to wait at 7th St and Carefree HWY for about 45 minutes so we wouldn't get to the Bicycle Vibe early. We completed 117 miles, in less than 10 hours and stopped for lunch, six flats and who knows how many stop lights and stop signs. This is good time for us amateurs! Here we are getting ready to roll the final mile into the Vibe.
We arrived at the Vibe to a crowd of friends and family. Many more than I expected. Some drove up from Mesa just to welcome us back (Thanks Kathy). I am still a little shocked at how many people were there. Incredible. All we did was ride bike. Dad, Mom, Carl, Lisa (Carl's wife and I probably spelled her name wrong, sorry) all live with PD every day. They are the one's who need crowd's cheering them on. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the support it is awesome. But, don't forget the reason for The Ride. It is not about Shannon, Kyle and I - it is about Parkinson's.
Thanks to everyone who has helped and supported us so far. It has been an incredible experience and I am in awe of what you all have done to help make POP's Ride, our little bike ride, a success. Words can not describe how I feel.
Time for dinner with the family and a couple of good friends. Ciao'
Thank you Shane. Bolt
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