Danny’s Ride

Please take 30 seconds to submit Danny’s Ride for a story on ESPN’s Outside the Lines.  Here is the link:

http://sports.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation/otl?id=1550773

Thank You!

With two weeks to go in Danny’s incredible journey across country, we need your help!  Please nominate Danny for NBC’s Making A Difference.  The submission is on the right side of the page.  Just type in some quick information about Danny’s Ride including the purpose of raising money for cancer research and hit submit.  The entire process takes less than a minute.  To submit Danny’s Ride to Making A Difference Please Click Here:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10397946/

If you have any connections or a friend of a friend that has connections to anyone with national media, please send them Danny’s story and a link to our page.  We really want to try to get national attention for Danny’s story and cause before this trip is over.

Also, please forward a Danny’s Ride link to your friends and family.  With two weeks to go, let’s make a big push for the finish.  Please support Danny and help get his word out.

Thank you and God Bless.

Do You Know Any Other Programs or Segments That Would Be A Good Candidate To Do A Story On Danny’s Ride?

If so, please email me at Drew@DannysRide.org and we will post it like we have with Making A Difference.  We have 2 weeks to go until Charleston, so the time is now!  Thanks!

1,000 People
$30 Donation
$30,000 Closer To A Cure
Danny’s Ride has set a goal of raising $30,000 for cancer research by June 6th,2009.  This is a big goal but we have a big challenge – finding a cure for cancer.

Sponsors names will be presented on a certificate with the check for the total amount of money raised.

Please be one of 1,000 people who have had enough with the hurt and destruction cancer has caused.  Thank you.

FACT: Cancer is now the leading cause of death in the United States.

Miles: 81.08 Total
Biking Time: 6 Hours, 14 Minutes, 40 Seconds

Total Trip Miles to Date: 1,792.13

Flat Tires: 19
Drew: 15
Danny: 4

Today was one of the best biking days of the trip.  This says a lot considering how many terrific biking days we have had so far.  The day started as we climbed into the motor home at 6:00 a.m. and headed to the CBS affiliate in Monroe – KNOE.  As soon as Danny arrived, they put him right on the morning show for an interview.  The interview went fantastic!  The anchors asked terrific questions that led Danny right into all the details of the trip and Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

KNOE had even called the CBS affiliate in Shreveport, where Danny had interviewed on Tuesday, and had film which they showed while Danny answered some of the questions.  They could not have used Danny’s time any better.  We arrived around 6:15 and left around 6:45.  This allowed us to get an early start on the day.

The weather for the day was absolutely beautiful.  It was relatively cool for this time of year in Louisiana.  There were plenty of clouds with sun shinning through and a light breeze.  We could not have asked for a better day.  By 7:10, we were on the bike and heading east.  We continued on Highway 80 and were treated with light traffic and beautiful scenery.  We biked through heavily wooded areas with swamps on both side of the road at times.  We even saw our first live snake (which we accidentally ran over with our bikes because we didn’t see it in time).

About twelve miles into the ride, I got yet another flat tire.  We quickly changed the tire and continued on our way.

We did not stop for lunch until we were 53 miles into the day.  We stopped at the town of Tallulah.  It was a small town with some of the friendliest people.  Everywhere we went, we made a new friend.  While we were relaxing before getting back on the bike, Greg was stretching beside the motor home with his shirt off.  Two young women, Candice Collins and Pam Knight, pulled up in their car to make a donation.

It turns out, Candice saw Greg with his shirt off and pointed him out to Pam.  When Pam looked at Greg, she saw the motor home behind Greg and said, “Hey!  I saw them on TV this morning!”  So, they pulled the car over and each wrote very generous donations to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  THANK YOU CANDICE AND PAM!!!

A problem we were going to run into was Highway 80, which we were biking on, did not have a working bridge that we could cross.  In fact, the only bridge in the area was Interstate 20.  In both Louisiana and Mississippi, bicyclists are forbidden from riding on the interstate.  So, as we sat in the Popeye’s Chicken parking lot, I called the Louisiana Highway Patrol.

After explaining what we were doing and why, I told her where we were headed.  “Where are you right now?” she asked.  When I told her, she said, “Oh, we are right next door.  I’ll come out and talk with you.”

So I hung up the phone as I walked around the restaurant I found it was located right next to the Highway Patrol office.  We talked for a couple minutes in person and she said the highway patrol would be happy to provide an escort across the Mississippi River into the state of Mississippi.  We were thrilled and biked another 15 miles before a Highway Patrol car pulled behind us with its lights on.

With the Highway Patrol officer following us and Ken boxing us in from the front, we cautiously biked on Interstate 20.  It was past 4:30 on a Friday afternoon and as you can imagine, people wanted to get home after a long week!  Despite the traffic rush, when drivers saw “Cancer Survivor Biking Across America” on the motor home, we got many supportive honks and waves.  The Louisiana State Patrol guided us across the Mississippi River and we had a beautiful view of the river overflowing its banks.  The State Patrol officer took us to the first exit in Mississippi where we came to a stop at the Mississippi Welcome Center.

Now, we had another another problem.  We still had to get to Highway 80.  Highway 80 did not pick up right on the other side of the Mississippi River.  It was still nearly 5 miles away from where we were.  So, the Louisiana Highway Patrol called the Mississippi State Police and within minutes they were at the Welcome Center to guide us further down Interstate 20.  Vicksburg Police Officers Charles Higgins and Chris Tankesly came to escort us down the busy interstate.

We were exhausted from nearly 80 miles of biking in the sun and had little energy left so our pace, by this point, had dropped considerably.  We expected Officer Higgins and Tankesly to follow behind us in the right lane as the Louisiana Highway Patrol did.  However, the Mississippi Police Car blocked the entire interstate!  By now it was 5:30 on a FRIDAY!  There were hills that slowed us down to 5 mph at times.  After just minutes, vehicles were backed up as far as the eye could see.  So, we kept pedaling.  The officers were extremely professional and had obviously done this before because they knew exactly what to do.  They stayed behind us driving in the middle of the interstate and would speed ahead to stop on ramps as we approached.

As you can imagine, the backup on the interstate continued to grow.  We biked for nearly five miles, which took us approximately twenty-five minutes.  By the time we arrived at our exit, it was around 5:45 p.m. (did I mention Friday evening?).  As we turned onto the exit and cars were allowed to drive past us, there were many honks and gestures that might not have been of the supportive nature.

In fact, one of my favorites was a pickup truck that as it drove by gaining speed, a young man was clapping his hands out of the window.  I thought he was genuinely being supportive of our trip and our mission.  Just before I lifted my arm to wave and thank him, he made a gesture to demonstrate his feelings for his delay.  We had to laugh.  We could only imagine their frustration.

We biked right off the exit to a beautiful new La Quinta hotel.  After hearing Danny’s story, they donated two rooms for the night.  Thank you to La Quinta!  We are taking tomorrow off to rest.  We have covered a lot of miles in the past six days and it is time to listen to our bodies and rest.  We will be back on the bikes Sunday morning.

To view the pictures from today, please click here. The pictures are well worth viewing!

1,000 People
$30 Donation
$30,000 Closer To A Cure
Danny’s Ride has set a goal of raising $30,000 for cancer research by June 6th,2009.  This is a big goal but we have a big challenge – finding a cure for cancer.

Sponsors names will be presented on a certificate with the check for the total amount of money raised.

Please be one of 1,000 people who have had enough with the hurt and destruction cancer has caused.  Thank you.

FACT: Cancer is now the leading cause of death in the United States.

Miles: 35.00 Total
Biking Time: 3 Hours, 11 Minutes, 26 Seconds

Total Trip Miles to Date: 1,711.05

Flat Tires: 18
Drew: 14
Danny: 4

Thank you for the recent posts on Danny’s Ride!  They have caused us to smile, laugh and pedal harder for the east coast!  It is such a boost to read the posts.

We were greeted in the morning with the son of one of our Danny’s Ride donors – Greg Rosenberg.  Greg and I grew up three houses down from each other.  The only way we would accept his mother’s donation was to first get in writing that her youngest son could join us for a portion of the trip.  Only when she agreed, we accepted her donation.

Greg showed up around 9:00 a.m. this morning at our hotel.  He had one quite a bit of traveling to join us.  He flew from San Diego to Houston yesterday and took a Greyhound bus to Shreveport and another Greyhound bus to Ruston.  Apparently, Greg met an individual claiming to be a former guest on the Jerry Springer Show.  I forgot to ask if Greg got an autograph or picture with him.  My gut tells me no.

Greg is a much needed addition to our crew and will be with us until June 7th.  He will help with the daily tasks of making contacts for interviews, creating itnerary and talking to people about The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  Needless to say, Greg will be very busy the next ten days or so.  We are glad to have him on board!

We left the hotel around 11:00 a.m. and took it slow today.  Yesterday was a very long day and our bodies were worn down.  We were in desperate need of a day with short miles and today seemed to be the perfect opportunity for just that.  We biked to Monroe and met Ken at Wal-Mart.  Danny picked up some medicine at the pharmacy.  We then ran errands which included UPS and the bike store.  Since we were unable to take our bikes into the bike shop in Dallas, we used this opportunity to give them a checkup.

We finished the night at The Warehouse restaurant.  The Warehouse came highly recommended by the employees of the bike store.  It was well worthy of the recomendation and made up for the lunch we missed.  We found a hotel – Super 8, relaxed and prepared for an 80-mile ride in the morning.

Danny will be doing an interview on the local CBS affiliate in Monroe for their morning show.  He has to be at the studio at 6:00 with the interview to take place around 6:30 and we will be on the road after that.

1,000 People
$30 Donation
$30,000 Closer To A Cure
Danny’s Ride has set a goal of raising $30,000 for cancer research by June 6th,2009.  This is a big goal but we have a big challenge – finding a cure for cancer.

Sponsors names will be presented on a certificate with the check for the total amount of money raised.

Please be one of 1,000 people who have had enough with the hurt and destruction cancer has caused.  Thank you.

FACT: Cancer is now the leading cause of death in the United States.

Miles: 83.51 Total
Biking Time: 7 Hours, 24 Minutes, 27 Seconds

Total Trip Miles to Date: 1,686.05
Flat Tires: 18
Drew: 14
Danny: 4

We got up early and it was a good thing we did.  As I got my bike out of the motor home around 6:20 a.m., I found my back tire flat.  It was a little low when I had finished biking last night and I had filled it with air before putting it away for the night.  So, I took the tire off and discovered a small wire hair sticking out.  I took it out and checked the rest of my tire.  Danny helped change the tire as I received a call from the CBS affiliate in Shreveport.

We planned on meeting the reporter, Liz, from the CBS station across the street at the Iron Skillet.  We arrived there shortly after 7:00 a.m.  Liz was extremely professional and made Danny feel more comfortable than he had ever felt during any interview he has given.  Which is saying a lot because Danny has given a ton of interviews!  In fact, Danny’s interview went so well, he called the station manager to complement her on the great work.

While Danny was interviewing with CBS, I received a call from ABC requesting to interview Danny around 9:30.  Then as Danny finished with the interview with CBS, I received a call from Melody Brumble with the Shreveport Times newspaper.  She wanted to do an interview with Danny for the newspaper and planned on meeting us at the Iron Skillet for breakfast.  She arrived a couple minutes later and Danny sat down to talk with her as Ken and I started in on the buffet.

As I put together my first plate at the buffet, I began talking to an employee of the restaurant, Sandra Smith.  I told Sandra Danny’s story, background on the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and the goal of 1,000 people donating $30.00 to end cancer.  I could tell by talking with her that fighting cancer held a special place in her heart.

After eating with Ken for ten minutes, Sandra came back to our table and handed me $30.00.  “Here.  This is my donation,” she said as she handed me the money.  Both Ken and I were thrilled.  We took a picture of Sandra, our waitress and another waitress at the restaurant.  We thanked Sandra several times for her donation.  Sandra – your picture will be up tomorrow.  We are working to transfer it from a different camera.  Thank you again!!

As I finished my breakfast, one of the waitress came over to our table.  “What’s your name?” she asked.  “Drew,” I replied surprised at the question.

“Oh, we thought you were Neil Armstrong,” she replied.  “His name is Drew!” she yelled back to the other waitresses.  After some thinking, I realized she meant Lance Armstrong.  Now that is a first!

When Danny finished his interview, he grabbed breakfast.  When he was finished, we went to pay at the register.  Sandra was working the register and told us the breakfast was on her.  Not only had she become one of our 1,000 donors, she paid for our breakfast.  Thank you so much Sandra.  We can’t tell you how much we enjoyed meeting and talking with you today.

We got on the road around 9:30 and biked nearly 10 miles before stopping to interview with the ABC affiliate in Shreveport.  Tre, was the reporter, and he did a terrific job.  He even gave us his number and told us to call him if we had any problems or questions.

After the interview, we again hit the road with no real destination in mind other than heading east on Highway 80.  At nearly 3:30, we stopped at a Huddle House for lunch.  We were only 36 miles into the day and it was slow moving due to the high traffic in and around the Shreveport area and the tight shoulder on Highway 80.  The shoulder forced both Danny and me to be more focused on where we were biking as we were much closer to the traffic as it sped by.

Inside the Huddle House, we told our waitress what we were doing.  She then told all the customers about our story – all four of them.  They were regulars and were extremely friendly to us newcomers.  Everyone in the small towns we have passed so far, have been extremely friendly and interested in our trip.

One of the men in the Huddle House grew up in Columbia, South Carolina.  He spent 20 years in the Air Force and now was a truck driver.  He told us the Ruston, Louisiana was 40 miles from where we were.  We decided this would be a good place to aim for.  The only problem was the time.  It was getting to be late in the afternoon and we risked the problem of running out of daylight.  We decided to shoot for Ruston and see how it went.

As we continued on Highway 80, the shoulder all but disappeared.  We were forced to bike in the traffic.  We were blessed with good, cautious drivers.  We had no real close calls other than a couple dogs chasing after us.  The highway goes through small towns and we have seen more barking and chasing dogs than we wish.

We arrived in Ruston just as the sun was setting.  We were exhausted and had travelled 83.5 miles.  We called Ken and gave him the address of the gas station we had pulled into.  He came and picked us up.  We got a room at the Sleep Inn in Ruston and enjoyed watching the close Lakers – Nuggets Game 5 on tv before going to sleep.

Miles: 54.25 Total
Biking Time: 4 Hours, 14 Minutes, 50 Seconds

Total Trip Miles to Date: 1,602.54
Flat Tires: 17
Drew: 13
Danny: 4

We started the day by Danny and I walking next door to a breakfast buffet.  We walk into a virtually empty crowd and chose a table close to the buffet and next to men.  As we start talking about our trip, we learn that one of the men has lost several relatives to cancer.  They were smokers and refused to give up the deadly habit.  As he talked, he had to stop and wipe his eyes.  It was clear just how much finding a cure for cancer was to him.

As the two men walked out, they paid for our bill and wished us the best of luck.  We were amazed at the kindness of complete strangers.  Danny and I finished breakfast, walked back to the hotel to pack and leave.  Ken drove us to where we had finished biking yesterday and dropped us off.  We would be biking 40 miles on Interstate 20 to the town of Wascom, Texas and find a hotel.  This would be the last we will be riding on interstates for the remainder of our trip.  All of the states we travel to on our way to Charleston, do not allow bicyclists to be on the interstate even if they are biking clear across country!

The weather was cool with heavy cloud cover and a 40% chance of rain.  We enjoyed the wide shoulders that Texas offered.  Even with vehicles traveling at access of 70 mph, the wide shoulder gave us plenty of room to safely bike.  Twenty miles into the ride, we pulled off at a Chevron gas station and called Ken.  Danny had forgotten to take some medicine in the morning and wanted to make sure he took it.  As we waited for Ken to arrive, we talked with a gasoline truck driver.  He had two family members fall victim to cancer.  He loved hearing Danny’s story and wished us the best of luck on the trip.

When Ken arrived, Danny took the medicine and we got back on the bikes.  Before making it out of the Chevron parking lot, we noticed the sky directly behind the gas station.  It was black with fast moving rain clouds.  We quickly turned around and headed directly for the motor home.  We put our bikes in and decided it would be a perfect time to grab lunch and wait out the storm.

So, we headed to an Applebees two miles down the street.  As we drove, the rain started coming down.  It rained softly at first but grew harder the closer we came to Applebees.  When we parked, we each ran into the restaurant.  When we made it inside, we were wet but not soaked.  We sat down and ate.  We kept a close on out the windows on the weather.  It appeared the storm was quick moving.  When we finished, Danny and I started to walk outside to check the weather as Ken went to the bathroom.  An employee of Applebees stopped to ask about the Leukemia and Lymphoma logo on our Danny’s Ride shirt.  I explained to her Danny’s story and the purpose of our trip.

At this point, Danny came back inside the restaurant.  We learned that her husband had been diagnosed at the age of 21 with lymphoma and at the point of his diagnosis, it was already too late.  He passed away when their son was only 14 months old.  Danny told her about all of the research the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society does to find a cure for cancer.  Ken gave her a card and she told us she would go on to make a donation.

When we went back outside, the rain had stopped.  We headed back to the Chevron and started biking.  Eighteen miles later, we were in Wascom, Texas.  It was a beautiful town and we were looking forward to grabbing dinner and a hotel room.  Only problem was that Wascom did not see much tourism.  In fact, it saw none.  It didn’t have any hotels.  So, we kept pedaling down Highway 80 East.  Two miles later, we came to the Louisiana state line!  What a huge accomplishment it was to bike across the entire state of Texas.  Ken brought the motor home to a stop just short of the state line and we took pictures. 

In order to get a picture of all three of us together with the sign, Danny asked a woman walking into the drive in liquor store across the street to take the picture.  She introduced herself as Diane and happily agreed.  To get us to smile before taking the picture, instead of saying, “Say Cheese!” she said, “Say Whiskey!”  It worked.  We smiled.

We biked a couple miles further and stopped at a gas station/restaurant.  From there, we found a hotel 4 miles down the road and made several calls to line up interviews with the Shreveport newspaper and television for the morning.  We took a look at the restaurant’s buffet and decided this would be a great place to have dinner.  We loaded up on the food.  During one of my return trips to the buffet, a man said, “You must be over half way by now.”

“We are,” I replied.  “We have come 14 or 15 hundred miles and have under a thousand to go.  It has been an unbelievable trip so far.”  I smiled and headed back to our table.

When it was time to pay the bill, our waitress informed us it had been already paid by an anonmous person.  We were again amazed at the pure generosity of a complete stranger.  Danny and I got back on our bike and road to Motel 6.  As Danny checked in, I checked my tires and found my back tire a little low.  I used the large pump from the motor home to put more air in it before putting it away.  We learned that they did not have internet, so I wasn’t able to post the blog until the next morning.

1,000 People
$30 Donation
$30,000 Closer To A Cure
Danny’s Ride has set a goal of raising $30,000 for cancer research by June 6th,2009.  This is a big goal but we have a big challenge – finding a cure for cancer.

Sponsors names will be presented on a certificate with the check for the total amount of money raised.

Please be one of 1,000 people who have had enough with the hurt and destruction cancer has caused.  Thank you.

FACT: Cancer is now the leading cause of death in the United States.

Miles: 104.42 Total
Biking Time: 8 Hours, 15 Minutes, 23 Seconds

Total Trip Miles to Date: 1,548.29
Flat Tires: 17
Drew: 13
Danny: 4

We were on the bikes around 7:00 a.m.  It was a beautiful Memorial Day – low temperatures by Texas standards, a slight wind at our backs and plenty of sun.  Danny said he felt better than he felt all trip.  Our goal was to reach Tyler, Texas, which was 71.5 miles from our hotel in Corsicana.

Forty miles into the trip, we stopped at a vegetable stand on the side of Highway 31.  The owner, David McMichael, was there but showed us an Honor Box that people put money into when he wasn’t there.  David offered both Danny and I Gatorade, slices of watermelon, peaches and plums.  The fruit and vegetables were delicious.  We learned that David had a great paying job selling houses but was laid off several months ago when a new boss came in and refused for David to be making more than he did.  David’s brother has owned and run a vegetable stand for several years and David thought he would try as well.

Danny and I enjoyed talking with David so much that we didn’t want to leave.  We ended up staying for over forty minutes.  When we asked David what we owed him, he said nothing.  It was on him.  We thanked him and got back on our bikes.  Around 11:45, we stopped at a Subway with Ken for lunch.  We were over fifty miles into the ride and feelin good.  Over lunch, Danny brought up biking to the next town.  We were only twenty miles from Tyler.  We planned to bike to Tyler and see what how we felt.

When we arrived at Tyler, there was no question that Danny and I wanted to go on.  We stopped in the motor home for fifteen minutes to relax and drink a Gatorade.  Then, we got back on the bike and continued on to Kilgore.  Just outside Tyler, we saw identical vegetable stand signs to the ones we had see David display to attract  customers leading up to his stand.  As we slowed down, the owner motioned us over.  It turns out, it was David’s brother Dale.  David had called Dale to let him know we were headed his way.

He gave both Danny and myself an ice cold bottled water and gave us each an entire cantelope.  We called Ken and when Ken arrived, Dale brought a cantelope to Ken as well.  We talked for a half hour with Dale.  We learned that Dale had been doing this for six or seven years and his wife operated a stand as well.  Dale’s nephew, Blake Gideon, played this past season as a true freshman on the the University of Texas football team.  Again, we were amazed at the hospitality and kindness of a complete stranger.

Danny and I continued on.  It was such a beautiful Memorial Day.  We stopped to catch our breath and grab some water right near a gas station on Highway 31 about fifteen miles from Kilgore.  As we did, we heard the loud siren of a fire truck and looked as it rushed right passed us.  We continued talking and within five minutes, got back on our bikes.  We biked another mile and a half before we came upon an accident.

As we approached the accident, a car slowly passed us and pulled onto the shoulder near the accident.  An sweet-looking elderly woman with gray hair got out of the car.  Her eyes were fixed on the car off on the side of the two-lane highway.  She started crying histarically and began to run to the car.  A police officer stopped her with a bare hug.  As we passed, we could hear the officer telling her, “You don’t want to go over there.  You don’t want to go over there,”  The wife stood there in the officers arms crying.  It was one of the worst things I have seen in a long time.

As we walked our bikes passed the wrecked car, a body lay right in front of it with a white sheet over it.  Danny asked another police officer if he was going to make it.  He wasn’t said the cop.  As we continued to walk down passed other cars that had stopped, we learned that it was a one-car accident.  The driver lost control of the car, hit a mailbox, flipped the car and rolled it several times before landing in the ditch of the opposite side.

We got back on our bikes and kept heading to Kilgore.  It put in to perspective just how close each of us are to turning our world’s upside down.  This man, probably a grandfather, was driving along, enjoying a beautiful Memorial Day.  He may have taken his eyes off the road for a second, the car might have malfunctioned or something may have jumped in front of his car, either way, he loses control of his car and is never able to regain it.  Now, his family’s world is shattered on Memorial Day.

I could not stop thinking about it as we continued to Kilgore.  We finished the day at 104.42 miles.  It was the longest ride we have done this trip.  Danny’s all time record was set when he was 37, is 191.4 miles!

We will be doing a light day tomorrow with just around 50 miles.  Well, I guess that is a light day after doing over 100 the day before!  Pictures will be posted during the day.  Sorry for not having them right now.

We were in the motor home driving back to Laguna Park by around 6:30 a.m and were on our bikes by almost 8:00 a.m.  It was a beautiful start to the day.  The roads were flat, the clouds were thick and the breeze was refreshing.  We crossed over a large bridge that took us over a beautiful lake.  It was a great start to the day.

Twenty miles into the ride, we stopped at a gas station in Hillsboro.  I checked my tires and found the back one needed a little air.  As I took off the cap, I heard all the air come bursting out of the tire.  When I took off the tire, the small stem came with it.  I told Danny to go ahead while I changed the tire.  I went through several tubes before I found one that would hold air.  I checked three to four times the inside and outside of the tire to make sure there wasn’t anything that would be puncturing the tire.  There wasn’t.

I was extremely careful to make sure the tube was not being twisted so it must have been I was pinching the tire as I put it back in.  Eventually with Ken’s help, I got the tire inflated and was back on the road.  I noticed that Highway 22 which we were staying on to Corsicana, took a hard left turn without much notice.  I immediately called Danny to make sure he had made the turn.  He was biking and couldn’t hear his phone.

So, I continued biking.  Fifteen minutes later, Danny called back.  It turns out, he already knew he had biked almost 18 miles in the wrong direction.  Because he was using his new replacement phone, he did not have any of our phone numbers.  I called Ken and told him about Danny’s situation.  He said he would go immediately to pick him up.

Meanwhile, I met up with  Charlene Collins.  Charlene was a bandmate and high school classmate of Danny’s.  She had seen Danny on TV last night and drove two hours to see Danny!  From the little time I had to talk with Charlene, I quickly see that she is a terrific person with a big heart.

She headed back to meet with Danny as Ken had dropped him off where Highway 22 turned.  I continued biking and twenty minutes later, it was raining.  I called Ken and within minutes he was there to pick me up.  Ten minutes later, the rain let up slightly and I hit the road again.  Not long after biking, the clouds parted and the sun came out.  It warmed up in a hurry and was a welcome change to the rain.

We met in Corsicana and ate at Whataburger.  The cashier had seen Danny on TV last night as well!  He was quickly becoming a celebrity in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.  We then went down the street to a bakery that Charlene had highly recommended.  It was delicious!  Both Danny and I ate a slice of apple pie.  After hearing Danny’s story, the cashier at the bakery purchased our slices of pie for us.  Thank you!

We went down the street and checked into the Comfort Inn.  The front desk clerk, Gene Zellar, gave us a rate of $54.99 and when we came back in, he was on the phone with the hotel manager, Shashi Naik.  The two then donated a room to us for the ride.  Thank you Gene and Shashi!  We really, really appreciate it.  It is a beautiful room.

We are going to get a good night sleep and hit the road again tomorrow!

1,000 People
$30 Donation
$30,000 Closer To A Cure
Danny’s Ride has set a goal of raising $30,000 for cancer research by June 6th,2009.  This is a big goal but we have a big challenge – finding a cure for cancer.

Sponsors names will be presented on a certificate with the check for the total amount of money raised.

Please be one of 1,000 people who have had enough with the hurt and destruction cancer has caused.  Thank you.

FACT: Cancer is now the leading cause of death in the United States.

We all did our best to sleep in and met for breakfast at 8:50 in the hotel lobby.  The night’s sleep had helped but we were still exhausted from the trip.  We called from breakfast and scheduled a rental car to pick us up.  We decided to go into downtown Dallas to see the city and finish by eating dinner at one of Danny’s favorite places to eat when he used to live in the Ft. Worth area – Trail Dust.

In the early afternoon, we took the rental car to downtown Dallas.  Just before leaving, we received a phone call from Becky Daniel.  We met Becky in Weatherford, Texas on our way out to San Diego and have been in contact with her ever since.  She is truly one of the kindest people we have ever met and were thrilled with the idea of her joining us for dinner.

When we arrived in Dallas we went straight to the old book depository where John F. Kennedy was assassinated.  When we arrived, it looked a lot like a movie set.  Tourists were taking pictures on both sides of the road and the grassy knoll looked much smaller than I expected.  We went inside and went up to the famous 6th floor.  We viewed through glass the window that Oswald shot Kennedy through.

It was amazing to look out a window just a few feet from Oswald’s window and try to imagine what he was thinking and what he saw before he pulled the trigger. The museum was full of Kennedy facts and information about his election, presidency and assassination.

When we finished, we grabbed lunch at a Subway.  We walked back and took pictures of the grassy knoll and outside of the building.  As we were walking back to the rental car, I received a voice message from CBS11 in Dallas and Ft. Worth.  They wanted to schedule an interview with Danny for tomorrow!  It was such a relief to get at least one interview in such a large city that would reach so many people.

It was just the shot of energy that the three of us needed.  We called CBS11 and scheduled the interview for tomorrow.  With time to kill before dinner, we ran to Best Buy to get a replacement for the GPS that had broken.  We pulled in to Trail Dust around 5:00.

At 5:30, Becky arrived.  We sat and talked about the trip and Becky’s husband and family.  It was such a great feeling to relax with someone like Becky.  She is such a down to earth sweet person that you feel comfortable the moment you are in her presence.

After a half hour of talking, Ken’s friends arrived – Leanna and Mike.  Leanna was a teacher at the school Ken was a principal at.  Leanna met a good-looking pilot for American Airlines who swept her off her feet and took her away from Charleston to Dallas.  Leanna and Ken stayed in contact ever since.  We had a great time talking to Leanna.  She has a tremendous personality and kept the night exciting.

Mike was fascinating to listen to as well.  He is now a retired pilot who has not flown since he retired several years ago.  We could tell just by talking to him for a couple minutes that he was a very brilliant person.  It was enjoyable to listen to him tell stories and give advice to someone who wants to fly planes.  I have relatives who have their pilots licenses and would LOVE to get mine.  Mike was more than willing to offer his advice, which I greatly appreciate and soaked in like a sponge.

When we ordered, Danny and I went with the 50-ounce steak.  The waiter told us he had only seen one person eat it and several competitive eaters try.  This made both of us nervous but we went ahead with the challenge anyways.

After we ordered, the 2-man band started up.  They played some terrific music including Folsom Prison Blues and the chicken song.  People were dancing on the dance floor and having a great time.  A group from the Special Olympics was there and was having a blast.  It was fun to watch them enjoy themselves so much.  They showed everyone what it means to truly have fun.

When everyone’s food arrived, Danny’s and mine still needed an additional ten minutes of cooking.  I wonder why?!  When our food arrived, it was the largest piece of meat I have ever seen.  It was as intimidating as it was big.  We dug in right away.  With Danny and I being so competitive, we kept stealing glances at each other’s plate.  I was out to an early lead by Danny showed no sign of slowing.

As I got to the point where I knew I was going to finish it, I started talking more and eating less.  Danny, however, was focused on his meat.  We ended up finishing right about the same time.  It was a delicious portion of meat.  Danny even ate his side of cole slaw while I ate half of my cold mashed potatoes.  When desert came around, we figured we had not had enough to clog the arteries so we decided we would top of the meal.  I ordered a strawberry cheesecake while Danny ordered strawberry shortcake.

When we finished with dessert, we were stuffed.  Everyone, including our server, was amazed that between Danny and I, we put down 100 ounces of steak.  Leanna and Mike picked up the meal.  Thank you so much Leanna and Mike!  We can’t tell you how much we appreciate it!

Danny finished the night by speaking to everyone at Trail Dust with the permission of the 2-man band.  They allowed him to take the microphone and tell everyone about the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (www.llls.org) and our trip.  He got a huge round of applause when he finished.  It was a brave thing for him to do and reminded me of Phoenix when he started telling everyone in our packed tram about our trip.

Before leaving, Danny and I took turns going down an enormous slide from the second floor to the first.  Danny went first and slid on the ground further than I had seen anyone slide, even almost taking out people in the process.

I went next and gave high fives to kids on the way down.  It was a great way to cap one of the best nights of the trip.  Thank you to Becky for being such terrific company and to Leanna and Mike for the great company and meal.

The next day we ran errands, Danny interviewed with CBS 11 which covers both Dallas and Ft. Worth and visited Billy Bobs – the world’s largest honky tonk before returning to La Quinta to prepare for eight straight days of biking.  We are getting up around 5:30 a.m. and driving back to Laguna Park to hit the trail again.