• Starting Odometer Mileage: 374
• Ending Odometer Mileage:478
• Daily Progress:104

I am an expressive which means I talk and probably write too long.   I will try to put the more interesting information first.

Most importantly I today officially accept the fact that I am old.   On my road bike I would do the 100 miles in about 6 hours.  Miracle Go and I made it in about 11 hours.   Sure we stopped to drop off donation letters but we were slow, slow, slow.   I will blame it on the wind that never stopped blowing directly in my face.   Quick hits:

• Most Fun: Visiting my friends at Scotts.   Didn’t find or get around to everyone but they are NICE people – I miss each of you greatly.
• Most Unexpected:  About 4 miles away from Scotts a car honked at me.   I couldn’t figure out why since I was far away from home and everyone at Scotts was at work.   When I got to Scotts, Jason Lorenz said it was his wife Shelley.   “Belated Hi” Shelley.
• Nicest: I didn’t follow “Rob’s Rule #1: Fill all water bottles up every chance you get.”  I didn’t think to do this even though I was going into unknown lands.   I was about 15 miles outside of London (which at my slow speed translates to 1.5 hours) and ran out of water.   Not critical but when I arrived in London I was thirsty and wanted a Frostie in the worst way.  Couldn’t find a Wendy’s so I went to a ice cream stand.   They didn’t take credit cards so I turned from the window.   The lady behind me said wait a second and tried to order.   Turns out the Smoothie machine was broken so I went to a Speedway.   HOWEVER, three cheers for the lady that was so kind.   This is the America I know.
• It Figures: Why am I in Cedarville?   Because my map isn’t very accurate.   I thought I would be arriving in Spingfield.
• Worst Moment: Leaving my garage this morning in 33 degree weather.   I like temperatures 50 and above.
• The Truth: I got up early this morning, ate breakfast, watched my last NCIS show for awhile and went back to bed as I promised my wife.  The discussion went something like: Wife – “I wish you weren’t going”.  Rob – “I don’t really want to go out in the cold”.   Wife – “Why don’t you just stay home”.   Rob – “I could just hide in the basement and create daily events by searching the internet”.  Wife – “Quit whining and get out there so I can get some sleep”.   If you know me this conversation might not be 100% accurate.
• Most Valuable: The many friends that have come out to support me with donations, kind words, support, and belief.    I can’t THANK YOU ALL enough!
• Most important: Didn’t get lost yet.

That about wraps up tonight’s entry.   Wanted to make it more fun and have interesting pictures.   This is difficult when you are riding from 6:30 in the morning to 6:00 at night.   Thank goodness I was able to get off the bike to take to people.  Sitting down is not my favorite position now.

Speaking of pictures that I don’t have, several of you saw me today with a buzz haircut.   Advise to spouses everywhere, if you are doing something your spouse doesn’t want you to do, DON’T go to sleep the night before and expert her or him to do some mischief.

Cold Weather Riding

Warm Weather Riding

Well I got my wish – no rain.   Unfortunately Mother Nature is smarter than I and with the clear skies (no rain) there is also no blanket to keep the warm air around.   Miracle Go and I will be starting in 35 degree weather which is about 11 degrees colder than I care to ride in.  I was told many times to “be careful what you wish for” and I should have paid attention.

These two pictures were taken yesterday.   The picture on the left is not of a thug but someone that desperately wants to stay warm.   When the temperature get a little warmer then I will “ditch” a couple of layers and transform in a recognizable version of “The Scotts Kid”.

Looking forward to swinging by Scotts Miracle Gro to bid fond friends “adieu”, swinging through Marysville to request donations, and then looking for Route 42 which should swing me down toward Cincinnati and Louisville (my home town).  When I leave Marysville I will be in uncharted waters (for me on a bike).   Really looking forward to see how well I will do with just a compass.   As my wife knows I can be “directional” challenged.

Help me make this trip a success by enlisting others to spread the word that we are working together to end cancer in our lifetime one donation at a time!

Let’s GO!

• Starting Odometer Mileage: 374
• Donation Total: $8856.00

As you know the number one reason for my ride is to collect money for the greatest cancer fighting charity that I’ve come across.

You can make donations fun by betting your friends, family, and business colleagues on some aspect of my journey.   Examples might include:

Bet that “Rob”:

• Won’t make it past 1, 2, or 3 weeks.
• Will not be able to average 100 miles a day for a week or month.
• Will never make it to the West Coast?   West Coast and back?
• Will have at least one ride in the month of April where he does 150 miles.

The beauty of this strategy is you don’t have to donate a thing.   You just have to be on the right side of the bet.

Remember that a donation is greatly appreciated.  Getting your friends involved is every bit as important.

You can go to “TheScottsKid.com” site, click on the “Goal Tracking” link to see where we are along the journey to collect One Million dollars.   As of this morning I am proud to announce our total is $7,506.

Remember we have embarked on a journey with the express desire to collect 1 million dollars for the Pelotonia to end cancer in our lifetime.   Once you make a donation you job is only half finished.   Please find others that want to fight cancer as hard as we do and get them involved.   TOGETHER we can beat this awful disease.

Please feel free to access, print out, and distribute my donation to whomever you think might want to make a contribution or spread the word.

Pelotonia Donation Letter

All systems are “go”.   The last remaining task is packing.   Packing is difficult since once you leave you only have what you take – duh.   Planning for contingencies is critical and space is at a premium.   Expect to complete this task and load Miracle Go on Friday.   At this time everything will be charged, tested, packed, and documented.   Documented?

I was having trouble remembering where everything will be placed.   A diagram that will be close at hand.   It will be used so I don’t have to search through multiple saddlebags to get an item.

My “strong” desire for good weather apparently will be delivered by mother nature.    Looks like the first two days will be sunny with warm temperatures!

MG (Miracle Go) and I had just started on our training ride yesterday.   I was thinking about America (not sure why) and it dawned on me that America is not just land, but also the people that live there and their attitudes.

While on a 2-mile stretch of County Road 59, I saw a mom and little girl on each side of the road.  They were picking up litter to help keep American beautiful.   Two things struck me.  First, the wonderful example that these mothers were providing to their little girls.  They weren’t worried about “whos fault it was” or “getting recognition for doing a good thing”, they were focused on doing something nice to make a small piece of America all it should be – beautiful.   The second thing that crossed my mind is how shallow and careless some people can be disregarding common courtesy of taking care of the environment.   I counted seven, 30 gallon trash bags filled with litter that these caring people picked up.

As I passed mothers and daughters on my bike I thanked them and saw in the eyes of the little girls the future of America.    We are good!

So what do you do when you’re out on the road, far from civilization, and books and electronic reading devices are expected to be too heavy or energy draining?

Why you take poems and historical document printouts with you to read, think about and memorize.

I have 8 or so such documents including “Paul Revere’s Ride” and the “Constitution” to occupy my spare time.   Will let you know how this works out.

I was visiting a number of organizations in the local area to request Pelotonia donations. I happened to stop by the Cardington Yutaka Technologies location.  As I was walking into Yutaka, I noticed a Red Cross truck and decided to donate blood after I made my Pelotonia pitch.

This brought back memories of a dear St. Xavier High School friend Brother Julius – the chemistry professor.   After a chem lab he handed me a Red Cross pin with the number 23 inscribed.   He asked me if I knew how long it took to get to the 23 gallon mark and bet me I couldn’t hit that number.   I took the challenge only to learn that at the 6 pints a year rate (max donation rate) that it would 30.6 years to match his accomplishment.   Here I am at 63 years old, with 129 pints donated, and a deficit of 55 pints.  To match Brother Julius it will still take over 9 years at the maximum donation rate.

Lesson, never think you’re smarter than a chemistry professor!

A dear friend, retired several months ago, seemed a bit disconcerted when I wished him a “happy retirement”.  Confused by the unexpected reaction, we discussed what “retirement” means.   He thought I was saying that the excitement of his life is over while what I was trying to say is “now you can seek a new path to fulfillment”.

As we “grow up” we usually have a families, houses, cars, and other living expenses that need attention.   Face it, for most of our lives we are financially dependent on the jobs we hold.   Retirement, with proper planning, means financial independence.  For me that means that I “can” find myself  and my place in the world.

While it’s hard to admit I don’t have a clue as to what I do next, I am anxious to get started.  My point is that you don’t retire from something, you retire to something.  The fun is figuring it out.

Let the FUN, and learning, begin!

I never whine (although my wife will argue the point) but I have to admit that waking up this morning to snow is not the type of weather that will excite me about starting my trip out West in 10 days.   Someone please bring me Spring!

Status Report:

1. Transportation (“B”) – Took MG (Miracle Go) out yesterday.   She performed like a “beast”.  Found out that the compass on my handlebars always points straight ahead.   Apparently my speed/mileage (Cat’s Eye) mechanism has a magnet in it.   Problem fixed by gluing a hiker’s compass on the front storage bag tray.   Switched out the leather band that clipped my feet to the bike pedals.   The old band only allowed 50% of my foot to rest on the pedal which caused that part of my foot to hurt.   Will try new system out later this week.   Front headlight vibrated out of position.   It is now glued to the frame.

2. Packing (“C”) – Currently in the 3rd iteration of packing.   Trying to balance weight and packing by “subject” so I can find things easily.   With 4 saddle bags and 1 handlebar this is harder than you might think.   The other problem is I go back and forth on what exactly to pack.   May have to pack winter clothes which is NOT desirable.  No grade change expected until everything gets packed and loaded the day before.

3. Maintenance (“A”) – The beauty of this category is I “think” I have everything needed to be autonomous.   I will only discover a mistake out on the road when cursing is sure to begin.

4. Rob Goodwin (“C+”) – Have a good attitude but given the weather I am well behind in the training I planned to do.   Currently riding my bike 1.5 hours in the morning and 1.5 hours in the evening.  This equates to about 45 miles a day which is well below my target of 100 miles a day.   Hopefully this weekend, when we are supposed to have good weather, I can start getting some good mileage under my belt.  I also started to visit cities and towns around my Candlewood neighborhood to determine the types of organizations that may wish to support the Pelotonia.   These “types” of organizations will be targeted on my trip.   Chambers of Commerce and Veterans organization seem very interested.

4. Donors (“A+”) – Well deserved grade goes to this group of superheros.   I probably sent out 100 letters and have collected $6,405 and pledges for future funding.   This is WELL above any expectations I had at this point.   Please remember to continue to talk the Pelotonia up to others that who may also wish to join the fight against cancer.   In the next 100 days my hope is to collect $1M and this can only be accomplished if lots of people take up the cause.   There are also a number of veteran’s groups and my Candlewood neighborhood that are going to host an event or meet to vote on making a contribution – THANKS TO ALL OF YOU!

BEST OF DAYS to one and all.   Please remember to wish for warmer weather.   We are due a good period of good weather and it makes bike riding much more pleasurable and my daily posts more upbeat!