Bad news; good news edition

Managing ALS takes a multidisciplinary approach, which allows people with ALS to receive care from professionals with different areas of expertise.

Today started out with an early morning rain followed by a magnificent rainbow! I knew I was taking another rest day but Charlie planned to ride. As we busily loaded the cars, Charlie realized he could not locate his biking shoes. Since his pedals require cleats to clip into, this was going to be problematic. Charlie joined the Luggage Guys support vehicle and our morning mission was to find a bike shop that was open that would sell mountain bike shoes. The fab 4 of Gio, Steve, Dave and Rod took off as planned from Wampsville and we hoped that Charlie would be able to join them at the lunch stop. Rumor has it that they were successful in mastering a paceline and were flying for miles.

While driving to the lunch stop, Charlie and I completed a Google search and as luck would have it, found this wonderful bike shop in New Hartford, NY called Dick Sonne's Cycles. We called right at 10:00am as they opened and we were only 12 miles away! Steve, the new owner was fabulous and set us up with everything we needed to get Charlie back into the saddle. We would highly recommend this bike shop to anyone in the area.

We made it to the lunch stop with plenty of time to spare before the guys rolled in. They said the ride was perfect, sunny skies and smooth sailing. The lunch stop was a lovely park in Little Falls called Rotary Park and met all of our requirements for a good stop and more! Keeping an eye to the sky, Steve cajoled the riders back into the saddle as quickly as he could knowing that they "were burning daylight" as the rain clouds were moving in.

Steve's prediction was right and the skies opened up about 5 miles into the 20 mile ride to the terminus. (A new word for me that I learned from the Luggage Guys!!! ) They made it safe, sound and soggy.

Once everyone arrived at the Holiday Inn in Johnston, we had our own little "Who's on First" skit with the front desk crew. Doug and I had checked in first and they gave us room #319. Our room then became the luggage depository for everyone to come and retrieve their bags. When Foz tried to check in, they gave him #319. He knew we were all settled in the room as he was just in our room picking up his luggage so he told the clerks that this room was already taken by another member of his group. They told him to kick us out. Foz responded, that someone was already in the shower and someone was lying in the bed in room #319 and he wasn't going to kick us out and asked for another room to which they replied again, that we were in the wrong room and we needed to move out, despite them giving us the key to room #319. Foz politely asked if he could have the room number for Doug McIlvaine since they were saying we were in his room and they told him, that hotel policy prevented them from telling him the room number of another guest! It really was a bit comical... Foz eventually called Doug to the front desk, had Doug check in again... and when he received the keys, he proceeded to turn them over to Foz for room 321!!! You've got to have a sense of humor sometimes!

Steve has been diligently keeping all of our bikes in working order but his has had a persistent issue with his brakes that he couldn't seem to fix. I was able to locate a bike shop right down the street from our hotel who was willing to look at Steve's bike as soon as he arrived. He ended up needing a new set of disc brake pads and realignment of his front cassette. We're happy he got this fixed before the Berkshires.

In more good news, I had two incredible friends reach out to me this morning. One friend Venmoed me money for our ice cream and wine fund! Boy was that a hit with the guys and the wine was quickly purchased by the Luggage Guys. Another dear friend who is a passionate cyclist and incredibly supportive of our family on this ALS journey sent a very moving text. Despite just recently being medically cleared to ride, she made a commitment about a month ago that she would complete 1000 training miles on her own since she couldn't be with us on this journey. She completed this personal goal yesterday while carrying a photo of me in her pocket. She then shared our story of the Oxford to Boxford ride with some people she met on the road and received a donation for Team Hope.

Dinner tonight was at a local Italian restaurant and Gio treated us all! Thank you Gio. The weather for tomorrow looks iffy with 80% chance of rain in the afternoon. Looks like they will need to pedal fast again tomorrow. I will be off the bike indefinitely or at least until I am able to walk without significant pain. I am realizing that I don't want to risk hurting the other riders by being inconsistent, especially around stopping and starting where the pain gets intense. I also know that this journey is so much bigger than riding the miles. An experience of a lifetime that I truly will never forget. Thank you for supporting us and cheering us own. We are grateful!