Thursday, October 1, 2009

News from Hallstead

I left Hallstead at about 6am this morning. All other volunteers were enjoying some well deserved sleep at the time. All riders were accounted for. The last two riders to leave Hallstead were Bill and Mark Olsen. Three riders decided to pack it in at Hallstead. I gave a ride to Mike Sturgill to nearby Binghamton, where he took a bus to NYC. All is well with Mike, he had no physical issues, the weather was the major factor in his decision to call it quits. Alan Gosart was woken up at 5am, but he too decided he would not continue. Jerry Phelps also called it a day. He will be taking a ride with Ron and Barbara to Lamar. There he will be picked up.

Most of the riders had already left before it started to rain at about 4:30am. It was chilly and wet this morning, a really bad combo. Riders who left before 3am might have escaped some of that. Despite the bad weather and tons of climbing, the vast majority of riders were in really good spirits, and we did our best to motivate them. In the "high spirits" category one of the top contenders is Vincent Muoneke, always smiling, along with Dan Clinkinbeard (aka "I'm lovin' it!").

Some riders had mechanical issues. Henrique Caldas broke his chain on the first day, but thanks to a spare link donated by Michelle Dulieu, he was able to move on. Henrique is riding with fellow Brazilian Rogerio Bernardes. They were one of the last riders in yesterday (early today), but after a couple hours of sleep they were back on the road. Michelle was our last rider in at 1:55am. However, she just took a shower, had some food and was off again.

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