Quotes from Daily Emails

One of the tasks each team member is supposed to perform as part of their day is to communicate with their "Virtual Cyclists". These are friends, family or co-workers that are following our ride via these daily emails.

Each evening, I intend to post some samples from some of the rider's daily emails to their virtual cyclists. Here are some from tonight:

Kent Lee:
I started the morning helping my fellow teammates getting their bikes ready to roll and as I pumping up David Graeser back tire it blew. Luckily he wasn’t around to see my “error” so I quickly fixed it for him. He thanked me for pumping up his tires.

I saw one dead snake which is how I like them. I thought it was 18 inches but someone else said it was maybe 12 inches. Oh well, its dead.

The funniest for the day was at our second SAG stop. We heard this noise coming up the road and it an old red junkie tow-truck bragging behind it an old Datsun 240Z with no driver side door. The front wheels (one tire) were up on the lift and the back left brake drum was bragging on the ground( no tire). I believe this was absolutely acceptable for the moment. All of us just stood and observe this car being bragged up the hill.

Phil Patterson:
We only had one mishap and that happened to me on a set of rough railroad crossings. We were worned that the crossing was bad and we should walk but I decided I could easily ride over them. But I guess I should have walked cause my bike slid out from under me at a slow speed which only hurt my pride. We were quickly on our way and the event was forgotten soon there after.

Todd Malone:
My roommate for the week is Kent Lee, a two time veteran of the "Little 500" up in Bloomington, Indiana. His rode in '75 and coached in '76, well before the movie Breaking Away was filmed, and it was on a cinder running track, so you can bet that he was not doing it to be cool. He was a knucklehead then, and is joining this knuckleheaded author on another big journey. At least were are going somewhere this time.

Day 1 Riding Video

Here is a quickly edited video with highlights from some of the Day 1 ride.

Snack Boy and Dad take on the Tour De Kentucky

Bill and Steven Piepmeyer are blogging their TdK experience for their friends and family.
If you would like to read the tale from a little different perspective (a Dad and his 10 year old taking on the TdK from a tandem bike), visit their blog at http://snack-boy.blogspot.com

Jenny Wiley Park

We have arrived at Jenny Wiley State Park. Everyone is thankful for 67 great miles with no incidents or injuries. 

We will have more to report after showers and dinner. 

Pictures and video coming soon!

Lunch

The team has arrived at the Seasons Inn for lunch.  Thus far, everything has gone to plan.  The weather has been perfect, traffic has been kind, and roads have been smooth.

Part of the fun of the first two days are always the sights and sounds of Eastern Kentucky.  Today is no exception. 

On the road down from Breaks into Kentucky, we passed a restaurant called the “Road Kill Café”.  No telling what their specialty is.   Near the second rest stop, a tow truck was driving down the road towing a vehicle.  Nothing unusual about that, right?  Well…the vehicle being towed lacked something vehicles should have to move- a wheel.  An older Nissan or Datsun was being towed without a back left wheel or tire, which caused the car to be essentially dragged down the road with metal scraping pavement. 

After lunch, we have a short 10 mile stint to Jenny Wiley State Park.  Looking forward to getting there and getting some of these pictures and videos posted.

First SAG Stop

The first segment of the 2008 TdK is in the books, and went off without incident.  It turned out to be a beautiful morning to ride, with cool temperatures and not a raindrop in sight.

We couldn’t get out of Breaks Interstate Park without a minor mishap.  Kent Lee was filling tires and managed to pull the valve stem from David Graeser’s back tire.  So the flat tire count hit 1 before the first pedal was turned.  Hopefully we got that out of the way and will have an incident free day.

We are now in Pikeville, and the day is warming up fast.  There’s hardly a cloud in the sky.  Should be a great day the rest of the way.

Day 1 Preview

The plan for Day 1 is to depart Breaks Interstate Park around 8:30AM. Bill Turner will lead the team down the mountains on a 8 mile 1,100 foot descent down to the town of Elkhorn City.
The day is punctuated by 4 significant climbs before smoothing out for a realtively flat last 20 miles.
The weather forecast for Saturday is for a cool start to the day, with a temperature of 55 around the start. Tha day should warm fast, with a high of 72. Winds are projected to be out of the Northwest (headwind!) at 5 mph. Looks like no rain in the forecast though!
Thanks for your support and thoughts today as we start the ride. Please pray for the safety of all involved, and for all those battling MS.