Day 7: Norman to Blanchard

June 15, 2005

Since this day was only about 20 miles, the team decided to sleep in until 7 AM. The route always has us biking a short distance before our day off so that the team can take full advantage of the time to rest their bodies and to get the things done that need to be done. It's also funny that I would consider getting up at 7 AM sleeping in.

When we got up we found that they had provided breakfast and we all headed down to eat and take our time doing it. At 8 AM we were scheduled to address their youth camp. We all headed in their and didn't wait too long before all the kids, somewhere between 100 and 200 of them I'd guess, came in and sat down. Each day the camp starts with some stretches to some rocking Christian music and it wasn't too long before a lot of the team joined the kids. I had a lot of fun getting warmed up and the beat of the rhythm got me going. Then the kids all sang along to a one man band as he played some songs. The song included motions designed to warm up the kids some more. A few of us went out on the floor and started singing along and moving with them. I loved it.

With the singing and such over, the youth director called me up and I introduced our group a little bit. I turned the time over to Sam and he came up with a brilliant demonstration of cancer. He had a group of kids get together then divide in half, then divide in half again and so on until they were standing by themselves. He explained that this was cancer, that one cell went crazy and started dividing uncontrollably. I think the demonstration was ingenious and I think it got the message across. Next Brian got up and talked about bike safety. He showed off his scars and talked about how wearing his helmet has saved his life multiple times. The time was then turned back to me to answer questions.

I had asked them how many knew somebody with cancer. I'd say that more than 90% of the kids raised their hands. But the kids didn't ask any questions about cancer, they wanted to know about the bike ride. One little girl asked me if it was hard. I laughed, and the whole group laughed. I told her that it was, but because we rode for a good cause we were able to work hard to finish. One little boy asked me if we wore knee pads. I felt a little chagrined since we had just talked about how important it was to wear your safety equipment, but told him that we went too fast to wear knee pads. Also told him that we wear special shorts and that we wear gloves all the time as well. I think the kids could have asked questions for a good hour, but the director had some time limits so he asked some general questions and we wrapped it up. I really enjoyed talking with the children and I think that they were both excited and inspired about the bike ride.

We headed down the road and almost immediately found ourselves in a nasty headwind. The group stayed together as we headed down onto the dangerous interstate for a mile. Would have avoided it, but there were literally no other roads across the river for forty miles. Almost immediately after we got off the interstate, the wind picked up more and the team fractured as we each tried to find our own way against the wind. It was so bad that on one downhill stretch it was strong enough to stop me and even push me backwards with the gusts. Pedaled along as best I could and was able to make it into town. Fortunately, it was a relatively short ride. If it had been longer I don't know how we would have done it.

We crashed on the front lawn for a little bit then headed into the church. We were scheduled for a relay for life that night so the whole team took it easy. In the chapel I found a piano, but even better I found a great piano music book with a lot of classic songs. Played for a good hour and half or so.

At the relay, we were treated like royalty again. I think we were almost treated too well. When we arrived, people had food ready for us. In the program we were the featured guests of honor. What bothered me inside about it was that there were cancer survivors that I felt we were being treated better than. We were asked to give a 15 minute talk about ourselves, so Nick Bangia went up and talked a bit, then introduced me. I started with a little joke and then talked about how we had seen along our ride that cancer names were more than just names. That there was a touching story behind each one, and that as we pushed our bodies to the limits it was these stories and this cause that brought us to the finish line each day. Sam came up after me and also talked about his experiences. After the three of us talked we got a standing ovation from the crowd. The director of the relay then made some comments to the crowd about how special we were. When she told the crowd that we were raising $180,000 dollars for cancer there was an audible gasp. (A typical relay pulls in somewhat less than $5,000) Another ovation. They then presented us with bags filled with goodies. Each of the relay teams had contributed to the bag. One lady had made each of us custom sun visors. Again, overwhelming.

For the first lap, the cancer survivors typically walk by themselves holding a banner to kick it off. But they asked us to walk in front and the cancer survivors to walk just behind us. I didn't want to. I felt like they should be in front and we should be on the side applauding. But everybody kept insisting, including some of the survivors. So we relented, but I wasn't happy. What made it worse is that, as we walked, people lined the path and continuously applauded us. I felt horrible. I felt that we were being treated too well. I asked everybody in our group to step aside near the end of the lap and applaud the survivors. This seemed to be what everybody was already thinking so we did so.

After the first lap I continued to walk. It was about 7:30 or so at this point. I felt like our team should put in a good effort to keep walking so I vowed to walk as long as it was reasonable. The first few laps there was a good part of the team, but slowly the team went aside leaving me and a couple of my team mates. We talked and danced to the music they were playing. After a while it was just me, but Sam stepped in shortly thereafter. He had heard me and Stephen talk about religion the other day on the bikes and so we too started discussing religion and life. I thoroughly enjoyed our discussion, even eating a full dinner while walking. I felt like I got to know Sam better and likewise he got to know me better. Before I knew it it was after 10:30 and my legs, especially my knees, were really bothering me. At this point they stopped the relay and presented a little program about cancer and survivorship. At its conclusion the relay began again, but with bad weather approaching the team called it a night and headed home.