Day 2 - Video Blog - Ending in Carbondale, IL

Stopping in Carbondale, IL for the night. Lots of wind made for a slow ride today. Had an interview with the local town tribune newspaper, and meeting lots of cool people!

Day 2 - Morning Video Blog from Allen

Channel 4 News Coverage and Y 98.1 Radio Interview

Here is the channel 4 News story in case you missed it!



And here is a link to the radio interview Allen did this morning with the Phillips and Company morning show on Y 98.1 fm!

Allen's First Day (Video Blog Included)

Well, today was Allen's first day! We had a pretty exciting send off. At the last minute this morning, as we were waiting for a few more friends to arrive, he did a on-air phone interview with Y 98.1 radio. Then a few minutes later, Channel 4 News showed up and did an interview with him and followed us down to Koch Road where he set off to cross the JB bridge (Jefferson Barracks bridge). He rode 63 miles, and they finally stopped off in Chester, IL. His video blog is below.

Day 1 - Video Blog - Cycling through Illinois

This is a short clip from yesterday, just had some problems getting uploaded!

Packing Everything But the Kitchen Sink

Lately this blog of ours seems to be turning into this blog of mine..lol. But, Allen's not much of a typer. But he's planning on video blogging via his phone during his trip and uploading them here to this blog. And then I'll probably also still be posting occasionally during his trip.

Allen is starting to pack for his trip and I'm sitting here going over trip logistics. I'm starting to get a little nervous. About missing Allen while's gone, about the girls missing Daddy while he's gone, about all the little things that could go wrong (knock on wood). But, at the same time I'm really excited for Allen. For now I am on a hunt for an affordable gortex jacket. Those babies aren't cheap, $300 on average! Way out of our budget! But their essential...so I'm off to hunt on ebay! $30 gortex jacket, here I come!

Rain Rain Go Away!

Some of our friends were kind enough to throw a rummage sale fundraiser this morning, which we took part in. Unfortunately the weather did NOT cooperate, and it was chilly and rainy and wet all morning. So despite waking up at the crack of dawn, battling the wind and rain, and one very giant box of free donuts, we only had a small handful of customers.

But, we raised a fair amount of money for Allen's trip thanks to several generous people who came by to shop. And, our new friend Crystal, who also has Friedreich's Ataxia, came by all the way from High Ridge after reading the newspaper article, to meet Allen and support our sale! She and Allen talked for a long time and exchanged information and talked about possibly going cycling together after he returns from his trip. She's actually the first person Allen has met personally that has Friedreich's! We're looking forward to talking to her again soon.

All in all, it was pretty fun, despite the unruly weather and lack of customers. We relaxed and had fun with our friends, and gorged ourselves on donuts. :)

We're considering having another fundraiser rummage/garage sale soon. We are also going to be planning a poker tournament and some other fundraisers after Allen leaves on his trip. We still have a long way to go towards our goal of $10,000 raised for Disabled Athletes Sports Association. But I have faith we'll get there, eventually...and hopefully before Allen finishes! So, make sure you subscribe to this blog so we can keep you posted on our upcoming poker tournament and other fundraisers!

- Andrea

Creve Coeur Mystery Bike Tour 2010

We had a great turnout at the Creve Coeur Mystery Bike Tour! We were a little nervous with this being our and DASA's first bicycle tour event, and we only had a small handful of riders who registered in advance, despite the blood, sweat and tears we all put in to promoting it for the last several months. But many of our cyclist friends assured us that a lot of people don't register in advance for this type of event, as they'd rather wait and see what the weather will be like, etc. So, we kept our fingers crossed! They were right. We had lots of riders and blew through nearly every t-shirt (free with registration). We even had a few random people riding or walking elsewhere in the park, who just came up and gave donations!

We were fortunate enough to have one of Allen's friend's, Derwood Tinny, who works at a local medical equipment shop (and who helped Allen get his new wheelchair recently) help us out bigtime with some last minute premium radio air time. His company had a commercial for the event professionally recorded and aired all day Saturday on 97.1. In addition, Derwood discussed Allen's trip in detail with the morning show radio host during his interview!

Creative Mobility was on site with their adaptive sports equipment and cycles, and had a solid crowd all day. Tim, from Sunset Cycles (Allen's bike shop) was on site offering free bike tech support and Children's Hospital's Safety Stop was on site doing free helmet fittings.

I had Ella's helmet fitted and also bought Chloe a helmet, since we couldn't find it at the last minute. The helmet was only $8 and it's awesome! It looks really cool, and it's much better quality than any we might find at Wall-Mart or Target for $15, much less $8. I wish I would have had more cash on me because Ella's helmet was really a little too big and it's old and a bit faded from the sun, and I would have gladly spent $8 for another one. And I think she was a bit envious once she saw the helmet Chloe got.

Al Swacker showed up with his band, Devil Baby Freak Show, just as the ride was wrapping up and played an awesome set live in the parking lot. There was one little boy who was maybe only three years old. He was completely transfixed by the band. I think he and his family were actually leaving the Lake House Restaurant and walking to their car, but he just stopped dead in his tracks and stared at the band, and then he started rocking out, jumping around and dancing. He would freeze every time a song ended and stand perfectly still. And as soon as the first strum of the guitar hit for the next riff, he would go crazy again. He had everyone cracking up. I think he ended up staying for almost the entire set, with his grandma and mom just watching him (along with everyone else, including us!) He even made a debut on stage, and the lead singer(who tap dances while she sings!) stepped aside to let him have a few moments in the spotlight. I made Allen record a bit of it with his phone video camera, so I'll have to try and get him to upload the video before he leaves on Wednesday and share it with all of you!

All in all the event was a big success. A BIG THANKS to all of our volunteers who did an awesome job! We couldn't have done it without the help of all of you.

- Andrea

About the Trip

I plan to hand cycle from St. Louis, Missouri through Washington D.C. to the East coast. I'll have an assistant who will be driving ahead in a support vehicle, and I will then meet up with them at specific meeting points throughout the day. I hope to keep my friends, family and supporters updated during my trip via blog and using Google Tracker & Google Maps to track my progress live throughout the trip. I'll be posting a link to the Google Map very soon!

My departure date is April 28th, 2010 - next week! I'm estimating the trip will take approximately two months. My goal is not speed but to complete the trip while promoting awareness for my disease whenever possible while also raising funds for DASA scholarships.

We are using maps purchased from Adventure Cycling for the great majority of the trip. We will be following our own route from St. Louis, Missouri to Murphysboro, IL, and then the TransAmerica bicycle route from Murphysboro, IL to Richmond, VA. The route then switches to follow the Atlantic Coast bicycle route from Richmond, VA to Washington D.C., and then continuing on to the coast.

Click here to see a google map of the trip route.