Pedal 4 Hope

Sorry this post has taken a while to publish.  Since the boys arrived home, it has been a roller coaster.  It just seemed like yesterday that we had the Send Off party.  The welcome home celebration was a wonderful time with family and friends.  The sharing of stories and laughter was heartwarming. ” Miles of Smiles” is the motto that the boys have adopted from Mike an acquaintance that greeted them on the road. Thank you to Patty and Agusto, neighbors of Rick’s parents who set up a Pedal 4 Hope donation can at work and raised over 70.00 for the cause.  Thank you also to the Yates family, remember the video where Ryan about knocked out their daughter when they surprised him in Round Rock, Texas.  They set up a donation box at their house so that any visitor could donate.  The outpouring of support has been the driving force of this journey to fight cancer.  We are pretty sure that we have raised more than $10,000.00, but we are waiting for an update from the City of Hope to post the actual amount.

After the welcome home celebration, Ryan was busy packing to move to Washington State University, in Pullman, WA.  He had 3 days to do laundry, pack and visit with friends one last time.  Packing for all seasons is different for a Southern Californian.  We were off again early Wednesday morning.  After 22 hours of driving, we arrived at Rogers Hall on campus.  Kaela, our interior designer, helped Ryan organize his room as we stocked him up with eating supplies and photos of friends and family. With the unwanted reality of needing to return home ourselves, Rick, Kaela and I reluctantly had to drive away Saturday evening as we waved goodbye to Ryan. It was the hardest thing we have had to do.

It is now official, today, Monday, August 22nd, is Ryan’s first day of his university experience.  Ryan, we wish you the best and know that you will be successful at anything you put your mind to do.  We are proud of you in every way possible and look forward to hearing the stories you will have to share about this new chapter in your life.

More photos in the photo gallery of the Welcome Home.

Wake up today was suppose to be 7:00am, but ended up being 7:45 with a take off time of 8:15.  Without a substantial breakfast, since I woke up too late, we hit the road with half a bowl of cereal in my stomach.  Unfortunately just as we started pedaling, the rain decided to start too.  Each drop hit the skin with a painful force but we had no choice but to continue in order to make our deadline of 1pm at Cocoa Beach Pier.  Our friend Gerry had arranged for media to be at the pier which meant we needed to get there on time.  We pedaled in the rain for 25 miles and were drenched, as if we jumped into a pool with our clothes on.  We stopped at a gas station to use a restroom since the rain has that effect and waited under the awning for it to lighten up.  While there, Rick De La Torre from home called to let us know that he also contacted several media sources to share the Big Splash Down at Cocoa Beach Pier.  We actually were mentioned in the Morning News on a local TV station.

After the rain let up, we continued on for 100 yards where Dad got ANOTHER FLAT TIRE!  A huge piece of glass pierced the center of the tire tread.  If he would just watch where he was going, he would not have so many flat tires.  As I was riding behind him, I could hear the sssst and see the spray of water coming from the hole off the wet tire.  It was the quickest flat we ever changed, knowing we had a timeline.  The last day wouldn’t have been complete without one final flat tire. After fixing the tire, Dad said, “If I get another flat between here and Cocoa Beach, I am walking the rest of the way!”  Thank goodness for him, there were no more flats.

Knowing that the end was so close, our pace quickened and we were moving faster than we had gone before.  Like the rental horse knowing it is close to the stables.  Gerry drove out to meet us before we entered the city of Cocoa and let us know that things were set and ready for our arrival.  His caring and goodness is appreciated tremendously.

We were then passed by Mom and Kaela in their rental car as Kaela videotaped and took pictures.

The moment we had been waiting for finally arrived, as we entered the Cocoa Beach Pier.  Jerry had posted signs and balloons to greet us. The smooth sands and clear waters were welcoming.  We were also greeted by Brit Kennerly, the reporter for Florida Today and Malcolm Denmark the photographer.   We also met several people who were interested in what we were doing . It was a pleasure meeting Sonja and Jami who also donated to the ride.  Kim, Marly, Pierce and Wendy were also very supportive and we enjoyed talking with them as well.  There were several other people we met, but I did not get everyone’s names.  Thank you to everyone who stopped by to greet as at the end of our journey.

It is unbelievable that we are done with the ride.  It seems just like yesterday when we left on June 25th.

We didn’t get up too early, but we had to make sure to get over to the Comfort Inn, a sister hotel of the La Hacienda,  by 9:00am before the complimentary breakfast ended. It was raining when I stepped outside of the room to cross the street for breakfast.  I stopped to think how I was going to stay as dry as possible, so I ran dodging raindrops.  There was rain, thunder, and plenty of wind.  After a while, Dad went out to check the weather and met a man named Mike from Tahoe.  Mike was on a road trip with his kids Lindy and Aiden and was excited about our trip.  It was still raining as we headed back to the La Hacienda to pack our things.  Suddenly there was a knock at the door and to our surprise Jerry,  and Sweet Pea “his bird” came to visit.  Dad had met Jerry the night before when he was checking into the hotel. Jerry was very excited about helping the cause.  He shared many ideas and was contacting radio stations, newspapers, and hotels to see if they could help. He left to make some phone calls and we continued to pack.  There was another knock at the door.  We thought it was Jerry, but it was Mike, Lindy and Aiden and their dog JP coming to wish us good luck and donate to our cause.  We really enjoyed meeting and visiting with you.  We are glad that you found JP and that she is safe and sound. Jerry returned and it was like a party in the hotel room with six of us, a dog and a bird. What a memorable moment.

We finally were able to take off around noon after the rained cleared up and saying our goodbyes.  On the way we pedaled through a city named Tavares, where we saw a funny billboard (see photo).  We continued down the road until we were flagged down by a man parked on the side of the road.  We didn’t know what to expect, but when we road over to meet him, he was very supportive and interested in our ride.  His name was Mike too.  As it turns out, he road a similar trip starting from Florida last year and was very understanding of everything we have been through.  He asked us how we would describe the ride and we could not put our feelings or thoughts into words.  Seeing our struggle, he jumped in and shared his outlook from his journey which was “It’s not the miles, it’s the smiles” from meeting so many wonderful people.  We definitely adopted his perspective.

Not knowing where we would end up tonight, we continued riding until we felt that we had knocked off enough to make tomorrow manageable since it will be our last day.  This put us in Union Park.  We stayed at the Days Inn and were greeted by Frances who helped us get our room.  After a quick swim, we went across the street to Mellow Mushrooms for delicious food and a game of trivia. Even though we didn’t win, we both left with smiles and full stomachs.  After showering up we both laid down to sleep but the anticipation of our final day of riding made it difficult to fall asleep.  Fortunately our exhaustion set in and we found the back of our eyelids.