A world away
The starting line seems like a world away. Yet this picture right before the start is only 8 days old.
Leapfrog support
The great thing about leapfrog support, used during the day, is that the car can pass the running rider and wait with the new rider. Here is Patrick getting some support from our wonderful Emily.
Just how hard is it?
See for yourselves. Please think about our runners as they make the final dash for Mt Airy, which they have to reach before 10:00 am EST Monday morning. If they make it, and they WILL, the race is won.
We in the crew are humbled by their extraordinary courage.
How about the Tour de France
Now this is Denis talking. It has been kind of busy, because even though the boys are biking, the crew is working all the time,
But Marc and Patrick wanted to let you know that, as of about the middle of time station 38, the boys have biked 2234 miles.
What does that mean: it is the length of the Tour de France and Il Giro d’Italia.
The boys went that far in 6 days and 6 hours. How come the pros take twice as long to go around France? Oh, I know, they sleep at night.
Our objective is to have one boy on the saddle 24/24, and each minute off the bike costs so much to them as they have to pedal through.
Patrick put it this way right crossing the Mississipi, where I wanted to take a picture: ”we do not have a minute to spare”.
And off he was. Executive decision. Go my boy !!
Indiana and 52 hours left!
The team is in Indiana now! The terrain has not been easy to navigate because of all the hills they have to climb. It’s just a taste of what is to come, West Virginia is even worse!
The excellent news in all of this is that Marc and Patrick are predicted to make it to Annapolis at 5 am on Monday, and the cutoff is 3pm! That is a full 8 hours to spare, they’ve been doing awesome!
From Missouri to Illinois
The team has recently crossed into Illinois! Here are some of their favorite fun facts:
- Denis: The world’s first Skyscraper was built in Chicago, 1885.
- Rosemary: The highest point in Illinois is Charles Mound at 1235 feet above sea level, but we don’t have to go there. Hooray!
- Jeanne: The slogan of 105.9, the classic rock radio station in Chicago: ‘Of all the radio stations in Chicago…we’re one of them.’ Fabulous, isn’t it.
- Marie: Illinois has more units of government than any other state (i.e., city, county, township, etc.). Over six thousand. One contributing reason may be the township governments, which are generally six miles square. Luckily our team is better organized.
- Lisette: In Mount Pulaski, Illinois, it is illegal for boys (and only boys) to hurl snowballs at trees. Girls are allowed to do that however, so watch out!
- Stephanie: The Illinois state dance is square dancing, time to start learning!
- Marc: Illinois has 102 counties, and boy, we must have gone through all of them.
- Patrick: Metropolis, the home of Superman really exists in Southern Illinois. Hopefully his powers will help the riders as they go through his state!
- Emily: The world’s largest cookie and cracker factory, where Nabisco made 16 billion Oreo cookies in 1995, is located in Chicago. We need some of those at this point!
- Gabriel: Des Plaines is home to the first McDonald’s. If only we could go!
Crossing the Mississippi
Last night, I, Gabriel, was able to work in the Rav 4. It was a first for me and I hope it won’t be my last. It’s a lot of fun to just stay up all night, make Gatorade, dump ice, take ensure, grab olives and watch the rider at the same time. All in all a great experience in the back of the Rav4.
This morning, we were in Washington not D.C, I wish… No we were in Washington Missouri, home of the river lands migratory bird sanctuary. Weird thing is, you can barely see any birds. We made another cut off time station about 6 hours ago and beat it by 2 hours so we’re golden. We are now going towards Effingham, Illinois, and we will probably be there in an hour.
