Thursday, July 25th- Westfield to Watertown

We are fortunate to have 4 webteam members on Team Oz this year. All four checked in with a report today.
and Edie Kalweit has been a St. Joan of Arcer for 25 years now. Now that her children are grown, there is time to participate more fully in activities taking place at St. Joan's.	Bridget Gaeleigh became a SJA parishioner in the fall of 2000. Bridget lives with her two cats in Richfield. During the day she assumes the role of a business/techie in corporate america, but at night she's obsessed with satellite tv medical shows, working out, reading, listening to music and doing fun stuff with friends and family.	Michael Reinbold is a professional photographer and banquet caterer with an extensive theatre background in acting, writing, and directing. He loves all aspects of the arts, staying fit, and helping and inspiring people. A passionate believer in St. Joan of Arc's mission of social justice, Michael is a continuing AIDS Ride participant, Grace House volunteer cook, mass reader, and Joan of Arc choir member. He looks forward to web reporting and photographing for the website.
and Rick Spaulding is a photographer specializing in digital photography for the theater and works for National Camera Exchange. He is also an antique dealer and eBay afficianado who enjoys collecting marbles but his true joys in life are his two boys and his beautiful wife, Tinia.

A Peanut Butter Cookie
Today was personally challenging for me. Many parts of my body rebelled at the constant and repetitive use they were getting. I did manage to finish the third of three days where we biked around 100 miles per day. During the day today I often thought I wouldn't make it, though.

There was a family giving away homemade peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies shortly after our 3rd Pit Stop. I had a peanut butter one, and I do think it fueled me for the remainder of the ride. I've included a couple of photos of that stop. Thanks much to that family. There's also a photo of "Marty" on her Harley. A beloved member of the safety team who helps us through busy intersections.

edie

Most Scenic Day
Today we had strong headwinds most of the day but the route was gorgeous. We passed through an Amish area. I love the beautifully maintained farms with their endless gardens and fields of hand-stacked wheat. Winding roads and rolling hills were the order of the day. I think Day 4 is the most scenic of the entire ride. I saw a pair of Whooping Cranes too far away to get a decent photo. I also came across an old broken down house with some cows out front that some one named the Honeymoon Lodge. If any of you are interested, I’ll try to get some lodging info for ya!

There were Popsicle stands, cookie stands and my favorite roadside spectator was a beautiful Basset Hound. He looked keenly interested in what we were doing. You can tell by his expression!

The most scenic pit stop award would have to go to the fireman’s park in Pardeeville. You can see the great view of the Pardeeville Curling Club with the “Hula Girls”, Lisa and Kristine.

After lunch I fell in with a group of riders that took us all the way to camp. It really helped cut down our time heading into those strong south winds. You can see our victory picture taken at the end of the day. We were very happy to be at camp to say the least!!

The entertainment tonight was fantastic!! They were a funky R&B group called Phat Phunktion.

I’m off to bed. A mere 88 miles tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Rick

Thursday, Day 4
Another beautiful day - warm breezy, cloudy - some rain in the afternoon. We had some rain last night after everyone had bedded down. Seems like camp gets quieter earlier every night - by 9:30 PM you could hear a pin drop in the tent area.

Our pit today is 83 miles into the route. The pit crew does an outstanding job encouraging and cheering the riders. They put on themes - a couple of days ago it was Mardi Gras - the crew dressed up, set up a fortune telling booth complete with Miss Cleo, and featured Hurricane Gatorade drinks.

Today is Spa Day at Pit 4. Our pit crew is giving riders cucumber facials, has an aromatherapy area set up, and are giving manicures - very important to buff up the nail polish jobs done at one of the other pits. Where else but on the AIDSRide would you see hundreds of men getting their nails done? The drink of the day is black martini Gatorade!

Medically we are seen as every other day. We hand out a lot of painkillers, ice packs and Band-Aids. I’ve become an expert at filling syringes with saline from an IV bag for flushing out dusty eyes.

It’s been great to see all the other Team Oz members - the riders as they come in, the crew working sweep, food services, medical and safety. Dick Voss is normally the first Oz rider into a pit. Unfortunately, when the largest crush of riders come in is when I get the busiest. So I’m not able to spend a lot of time greeting my other teammates.

Well, we are over half-way done and still doing fantastic!!

Bridget

Michael's Day 4
It drizzled last night. We were thinking we would get rain today but thank God it only sprinkled somewhat in the afternoon. I rode out at 6:50 AM looking forward to a glorious ride from Westfield to Watertown. Unfortunately we encountered substantial head winds through out the day--the most difficult ride I've personally ever experienced. Consequently, I'm exhausted but riding as an HIV Positive Peddler I've received such heart warming support from the many riders, I feel nothing but blessed.

Today's ride includes the glorious town of Pardeeville located in Pit two. Breathtaking lakes and bird watching are arresting images to behold. It was after the lunch stop that the winds kicked into gear and remained until Pit Five. The last trek to camp sailed by nicely. One delightful surprise occurred when I came into camp at 5:10 PM. Madison's 10:00 PM News interviewed Joe Ede, a 19 AIDS Ride participant (that's right folks, he's completed 19 rides since 1997) and myself. We shared our stories and thoughts about the future of the AIDS Ride Events. I will be reporting about this soon. Gotta get some sleep!

Michael Reinbold