We were joined during dinner by tonight's Faces of MS Champion, Keith Johnson. I was going to try and put it into words, but Todd Malone spelled it out as well as I ever could have. I step aside and let him take over as blog author for a moment:
"It is after dinner now, and we just heard from another MS champion, Keith Johnson. He and his wife shared his experience as a physically active man (mountain biker, kayaker, racket ball player) and president and CEO of a local bank, being diagnosed with MS two years ago. He shared his inspiration from what we were doing on the TdK, and told of his frustration of not being able to do what he used to. Fortunately, he still finds ways to get the "fire in the belly" to get out and keep plugging away. He is a member of the board of the local MS Chapter Office, and his financial expertise is going a long way to ensure great stewardship with the resources generated by the different fund-raisers held each year. Knowing that he is there to push the local chapter to greater excellence is one more reason for WHY I RIDE. "
Thanks Todd. One thing to add: Keith said one thing I found very inspiring. He was talking about how he handles his MS, and said:
10% of life are the things that happen to you, and 90% is how you react to it.
I forgot to mention earlier that we were also met at lunch by a reporter and photographer from the Brandenburg newspaper.
That brings our newspaper tally at 3 for 2008: Lewis County Herald in Vanceburg, the Maysville Ledger-Independent, and now the Brandenburg News Standard. Thanks to Jorena Faulkner and the photographer (whose name I didn’t get- sorry) for taking time out of their day to cover our story.
The team just reached Rough River State Resort Park after a rainy day in Central Kentucky. It's nice to know we have a little bit of time this evening to dry out and relax prior to the 128 mile Super-Century tomorrow.
Here is a video of the team crossing the Ohio River from Mauckport, In. to Brandenburg, Ky. This was the third Ohio River crossing, and ends the Indiana portion of the TdK.
We have arrived in Hardinsburg, KY, site of the 3rd rest stop today.
Since about 30 minutes after we left lunch, the riders have been dealing with a constant rain. At one point, Todd Malone came off the top of a hill with a front flat. He and I changed his tube in the rain, which wasn’t the most pleasant experience.
After a brief stop to fill water bottles, etc, they pushed on to finish the day. There’s only 14 miles left for the day.
Team TdK would like to thank the management and crew of the Dairy Queen in Brandenburg, KY for their welcome and treatment of our group during the lunch stop today. We were greeted by the sign out front welcoming us, and the manager comped out entire meal! We were also met by a majority of Phil Patterson's family, who made the arrangements with the restaurant. Thank you to them for doing that for us.
Here are some pics from this morning:
Here is our top notch SAG team in action at a SAG stop.
Check out the welcome Jan John sees as she approaches lunch.
Here is the team at Dairy Queen in Brandenburg at lunch.
The team has arrived at the first rest stop of the day in New Middletown, Indiana. The highlight of the first 25 miles today was the climb up and over Blunt Knob (part of the Floyds Knobs system in Southern Indiana). The climb is almost two miles long with an elevation gain of 550 ft. and was the last major climb for the entire TdK. This climb is followed by a gentle 10 miles into New Middletown, where we take a rest stop at a Marathon station before rolling towards the Ohio River, Brandenburg, and lunch.
The team hit the road again this morning around 8:25AM, which for once is on schedule! Everyone is ready to go after their day off yesterday.
So what does one do on a day off after four days of riding?
Here’s a sampling of what the team did yesterday: Massages, cut grass, slept in, hung out with family, treadmill time, stretching, work (?), bike cleaning, TV, sauna time.
After an unexpected full day off the bikes, the team gets geared up and ready for the second half of the Tour de Kentucky. Despite the postponement of the Recovery Ride yesterday, we are still going to start the day from Buckhead's on the River in Jeffersonville, IN (This will be the first touch of Indiana- State #5). From there we travel west along the Ohio River through New Albany to the southern half of Floyds Knobs. After a climb up and over the Knobs the terrain generally rolls downhill for 30 miles to the Ohio River bridge back into Kentucky and Brandenburg. After lunch there, we turn southwest through rolling hills to Rough River State Park. This day will be a good day for the riders to get the kinks back out of their legs after a full day of rest, and should get them ready for the Super-Century ride on day 6. The weather forecast for Day 5: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 8am. High near 67. East wind (Tailwind) between 6 and 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
