The route today showed occasional flashes of tranquility, nature and a sense of the nostalgia that defines Route 66. But that was just foreshadowing of things to come and, for now, we travelled on somewhat busy roads, braced against the morning chill, and got to the hotel after sunset. And the wind! We were buffeted all day by unrelenting wind. Navigation maps were not necessary, as the route always seemed to be directly into the wind.
We arrived at home to discover that three of us were missing shoes. We looked everywhere – EVERYWHERE – but found no trace. This was so odd, and we started to imagine the worst – theft, fetishists, subterfuge from our sister team now cycling on the West Coast – no theory was too extreme. Then, after most had gone to bed, all three pairs of shoes materialized in a box. This mystery is unsolved.
A word about our sponsors: many people have helped to make this trip a reality, including TerraTrike, Bike Labs, GFB, and The Meal Bars.com. I want to focus on TerraTrike for a moment, as something special is happening. For context, three-wheeled bikes and ebikes have a unique value for people living with parkinson’s: they offer stability when balance issues develop, comfort when dystonia causes pain and hinders motion, and the assurance that unexpected exhaustion will not leave you stranded. When two wheels are not enough anymore, three wheels is a better option than zero. So, it was with great excitement that TerraTrikes decided to support our team with several loans of some of their best trikes to use over the complete journey. That would have been enough, but it was only the beginning. With the trikes came Marshall and Scott, two guys that have done everything they could think of or were asked to do to help our team get started on this grand effort. Our first day in particular would have gone quite differently if not for their involvement.
Better still, Marshall intends to remain with the team for over a week. He is no ordinary person. There is only one Marshall in this world and we need more. To begin with, he is an elite athlete of the highest order in all forms of endurance sport. He has competed with the greats and set many world records for feats of endurance on a bike, many of which were authenticated and chronicled by the folks at Guinness. One still stands today. To this, add a character of deep compassion, an infectious love and knowledge of cycling, and an unteachable natural instinct to help and support people who need it. He is proving to be the secret to our success.
Even better, we have him for another week.
