When I started this “project” several months ago I thought getting ready would be easy.   Now 3 months into the “getting ready” phase it has become clear that there is a lot that I still don’t know.

“MG”, my bike Miracle Go, is my most pressing need.   Since she will be carrying me and about 80 pounds of gear, she has to be tough, durable, balanced, and ready to go.

This weekend I spend about 4 hours at Baer Wheels working with the owner Dave to optimize my bike’s configuration to ensure that the desired toughness, durability, balance and “go” were all considered.   Dave patiently went through every question and helped me plan for a successful ride.   THANKS Dave!

My big MG decision was to go on and order front saddle bags.   Don’t really need the extra capacity but I found a bike with all the weight on the back wheel just felt wrong.   The new bags will be in the end of this month and then MG should be fully operational.

The next priority is to ensure that everything needed and maybe needed is packed.   Sets of clothes, toiletries, spare bike parts, tubes, tires, flashlight, tent, rope, sleeping bag, miniature pillow, and emergency food stores are all in my “to go” stack.   Need to get the final saddle bags delivered to figure out where everything will go so I can find it when packed and keep it dry in the rain.

While the route is still suspect (will aim for south and west and see where the respective day takes me) MG and my provisions are getting locked down nicely.

Launch is set for April 30th rain or shine and that is just 37 days and a wake up away!   Anxious to get started.

If you’ve been following my posts you’ll recognize that I haven’t mentioned my boys and herein that lack is addressed.

John, Joe, and Nick have all been with me for 30 years, on average, (my how time flies) and provided so much joy and happiness that I can’t begin to tell the story.  For introductions:

– First picture is son Nick, and adored grandchildren Logan and Vi (short for Violet)

– Second picture is oldest son John and our “too small to be a real dog” Shupe

– Last picture is Joe who will be married to a beautiful lady, Mandie, shortly after                 my journey across the country with their adopted son Dwight.

While I bought Miracle Go, the bike that will help me cross the country, the boys gave me a lot of the gear that will be needed for the trip for Christmas. Tents, sleeping mats. head lamp, water bladder and other goodies were all provided making my trip much more comfortable.

Everyone has important “things” in their lives but I can tell you that nothing is more important than family and the love I share with them is deep and forever.

Several weeks I introduced you to the youngest Jedi in the universe, Logan.   It is my pleasure to now introduce you to the other half of this dynamic duo, Princess Vi.   Vi (Violet) is the cutest little doll baby I have ever met.   Admittedly I haven’t seen her in the recent past which is a situation I want to rectify in the near future.   My earlier meeting with her and stories told since confirm that her super power is to bring joy into the heart of everyone she touches.

She’s my girl just as Logan’s my boy.   My thoughts, best wishes, never ending love, and desire to see them soon and often will never change.

When I talk to people about riding anywhere from 25 to 100 miles on a bike folks often say they could never go that far on a bike.   If you ask the bike riders about what the hardest thing to do is it isn’t riding the bike but asking family and friends for donations.   I will echo this sentiment.   Ever year the bike riders sign up to ride in the Pelotonia and commit to collect up to $5000.   Each biker is personally responsible for collecting the promised funds and if they don’t the money is charged to their credit cards.  Yet asking for donations (the fear of rejection?) is really hard!

Thanks to all of your out there that contribute to this great charity with the focus to end Cancer’s evil reign in our lifetime.   The reality is that many of the bike riders return year after year which makes the Pelotonia such a success.   This would be impossible without the wonderful response from family and friends -THANKS!

The longer I live the more important friends become . . .

This isn’t a great picture of the Pelotonia halfway point at Gambier but I am not going to dwell on the picture itself.   The important thing is what the picture contains.   For those of you that work at Scotts, if you look at the picture really closely, you will see that it is a picture of Jason and his wife Shelley.    I believe this was the second Pelotonia in which I entered.   This was Jason and Shelley’s first.

It was a hot day and they hadn’t been able to prepare for the race like they wanted.   As I recall they got to this point in about 8 hours.   The tenacity to stay on a bike for 8 hours and cross the halfway point lets you know how dedicated these two are to finish what they start.

Jason has proven to be a good friend over the years.   He noticed that I was struggling to get my blog going.   He asked a couple of questions, agreed with Shelley to buy my domain (I was being cheap) and thus “TheScottsKid.com” was born.   Since then Jason has offered suggestions on how to make the site better and explained some of the finer points that my pointed head couldn’t comprehend.

It dawned on me this morning that “true friends” aren’t necessarily the ones that you hang with or see a lot.  True friends are those that see a person in trouble and without a second thought fix the problem.   THANKS Jason and Shelley!

Every story has heroes and this story is no different.   Wanted to take a moment to thank these Superheros for supporting my Pelotonia endeavors over the last 7 years.  Without their support this trip wouldn’t have been attempted.

Each of you will always have a special place in my heart.  I and countless cancer survivors owe you a great deal for continuing to back cancer into smaller and smaller corners.

My SUPER Supporters:

1. Romaine                                                                    12. Virginia Ryan
2. Dave and Camille                                                     13. My sons John, Joseph, and Nick
3. Dave and Katie                                                         14. Mark and Sharon
4. Bob and Vicki                                                            15. Tim and Kelly
5. Uncle Paul and Aunt Alyce                                     16. Uncle Dick and Marcia
6. Tom and Ann                                                             17. Rien and Karen
7. Satish                                                                           18. Bob and Debbie
8.  Ben and Joyce                                                           19. Rob and Lisa Phillips
9.  Pat and Wendy                                                         20. Neil and Patty
10.  Scott H.                                                                       21. Sha’ Mara
11. Tom, Robie, Dana, Erin, Reed, & Eric                    22. Mark S.

AGAIN WE RIDE!!!

Finally my big weekend arrived . . . I picked up the bike that will take to the Pacific Ocean and back.   You are looking at my “Gunnar Grand Tour” bike.   Figuring that we will be together for the better part of 3 months my challenge was to come up with a name that would suit her good looks.

The perfect name came to me last night, “Miracle Go”.   This is an obvious play on the Scotts Miracle Gro company and the perfect foil for The Scotts Kid.   Just be aware that I don’t like long names.   So in the future I will probably morph Miracle Go into “MG” or “Go”.   Any preferences?

I also took MG out for out maiden voyage earlier this afternoon.   Remember me telling you that the guy at Baer Wheels knew what he was talking about?  Well he came through with recommending and outfitting this bike – Thanks David!

The bike is extremely smooth is all respects, looks good, and performs spectacularly.   Admittedly I wasn’t out all that long (15 miles worth) but I can already tell we are going to have a lot of good miles between us.

een trying to think of a name for weeks and it finally hit me last night.   Ain’t she a beaut

My mother was a beautiful and gracious lady that raised three boys and three girls.   In truth, she was a very special lady.   Her accomplishments included raising her kids, becoming indispensable as an Executive Secretary at the University of Louisville, bringing her condo association back from the brink of disaster, supporting many charitable organizations, and supporting causes to help those less fortunate than herself.

The sad truth is I never really sat down and listened to my mom to find out all she did to make the world a better place.   Sad that you don’t really get to know someone “special” until they are gone.

Cancer was the culprit.  My mom died of a brain tumor in November several years ago.  Before her death I rode in the Pelotonia because it was “fun”.   I watched other riders carry names of loved ones written on their arms and legs, pinned on their shirts, and on banners by the side of the road as we rode past – I didn’t get it.

This changed when cancer took my beloved mom.  Now it is personal and cancer must be stopped.

I would greatly appreciate your donation, no matter how small, because I know that together cancer has met its match.   Now is the time for cancer to realize that we’ve taken its nonsense long enough and it is going to be stopped.

Working together we are strong

The Ride to End Cancer

I will mention one name and if you don’t recognize it that you may not understand what I am talking about, John Wayne.    John Wayne was an actor that played the hero in many movies especially those of the cowboy ilk.   He believed that American was filled with heroes.   He believed that Americans stood shoulder-to-shoulder to fight for freedom and for what is morally right.   He believed that America was strengthened by having many ethic backgrounds, religions, and viewpoints.   While Americans are free to argue the finer points of law or religion among themselves, these same people would band together to fight anyone that tried to divide America.

Together Americans can accomplish miracles!

The Ride to End Cancer

You may not know this but The Scotts Kid is related to the famous, “youngest Jedi Master in the universe”, Logan Goodwin.   In this rare photo young Logan is in front of class teaching Padawan “soon to be Jedi warriors” the meaning of the force.

Unfortunately I was unable to get a picture of Logan’s younger sister, the beautiful and talented Princess Violet – stay tuned!