Day 3

After a fabulously restful evening in a comfortable bed, I felt refreshed and alive as I woke up, only to remember that many other riders and crew had slept in their tents. Ah, that Catholic guilt. Well, what do you expect, I'm in a nunnery. Assisi Heights, however remains, by all accounts from both riders and crew, the ideal place to spend overnight for our Red Ribbon riders. The hospitality and graciousness of our hosts made us truly feel welcomed and the place is enriched with incredible history.

a picnic lunch on a beautiful day

Today is Red Day, the day we honor all people who have died from AIDS, by wearing something bright red. And for some it's also an excuse to get a little outrageous with expressing your inner drag queen. Some wear bright red skirts. If you're a man this can be both daring and transforming. If you leave your shirt on, people think you look, perhaps, well, sorta cute; if you take your shirt off, your skirt becomes a kilt and your suddenly Charlton Heston! I repeat the word perhaps. What's noteworthy is that Red Day has held the distinction as the day that consistently has had relatively flat terrain and beautiful tail winds. Today was no exception - gorgeous, sunny and practically wind free. Unfortunately many riders were so tired from yesterday's unbearable weather and hilly terrain that they hardly noticed the difference. Interestingly by the end of yesterday, many riders said they would not return to ride. At the end of today, the consensus was that riders would indeed return.

Sunday Mass hostess Echo Thoren with bubbles	Do hashbrowns and eggs work for bikers?

We traveled 18 miles to Pit Stop One at Oronoco Grace Lutheran Church. We encountered Ruby's Diner-think 1950s Grease meets the 1970s sitcom Alice. And who was Ruby but that irrepressible Pit Manager Jennifer Weiler herself. Looking like a  1950s knock out complete with a superb bouffant hairdo, pink satin jacket and tight black Capri's, she called you "toots," and carried a tray with tall malt glasses filled with wet sponges. Her services involved placing a fake tattoo of your choice on your body. Vinyl records hanging from strings and crew members dressed as Grease slickers provided a yummy atmosphere. Mel and Alice also showed up. Pure righteous fun, indeed.

Today's weather was just perfection at a consistent 78 degrees. We arrived at Pit Stop Two in Bellechester to be greeted by jovial crew members Echo Thoren and Joyce Mundahl. As smooth as this day progressed, one has to abundantly thank the two men who ran Erik's bike repair crew. Imagine, only two men handled bike repair for this entire four day ride!

Lunch rocked at Covered Bridge Park in Zumbrota with crew members dressed as famous boxes of cereal-Trix, Fruit Loops and Captain Crunch. Pit Stop Four, found in Kenyon Wanamingo Middle High School had the crew energetically performing their little ditty, a self-penned rap song about butt balm and ride endurance. By the time I almost reached camp, I had my first encounter with bike repair. This breezy ride came to an end with one steep hill. As I peddled determinedly upward, a spoke popped from my front wheel. Its clanking noises rattled my wheel as I finished at the top. I had to remove this obtrusive bugger and impatiently tried to yank it from its track but was in dire need of pair of pliers. No such luck with the sweep truck that rode by but bless his heart, Jason Fenske (MN Fighting AIDS on bikes vice chair and sweep manager) came to the rescue by expertly feeding the busted spoke slowly out of its track, eventually removing it. I made it into camp at Northfield High School at 5:15 PM.

Announcements

• The ride's run down was quite long tonight but worthy because it honored those wonderful pit crew managers and road crew people along with the countless behind the scenes people we never hear about. We rode a total of 97.6 miles today. The riders experienced few and minor problems today, but for the motor crew it was definitely another story. Comedian/Road crew member Matthew Feeney said it best: "The road crew is the first ones up; the last ones in and suffers the most casualties." Our Team Oz road crew member Marty Danielson ripped up her knee from an accident and had to be hospitalized. And Feeney ripped his pants and got duct taped by a First Aid member. The only problem, he quipped, was that he wasn't wearing any underwear. Ouch! Another of Feeney's great stories occurred when a rider breaking couldn't get out of his clipped cleats and screamed "catch me" as he slid by Feeney. As this mountain of large comedian caught him, they both ended up toppling over each other.
  

  The crew is honored at the evenings announcement session.

• Kari "Hammer" Johnson wrapped in shiny silver mylar blanket material that even included a cleverly fashioned mylar bra, all placed over her gold colored red ribbon T-shirt, announced honorary accolades to a number of people: Road Crew Coach Eddy Fabian and Camp Crew Coach Kyle Schmidt were recognized for their tireless efforts in managing road and camp crew. Prom Catering was mentioned for their fantastic culinary delights and the two operators announced that they would donate space, food and a band for next January's recruitment party for the 2004 Red Ribbon Ride. Erik's bike shop provided just two bike repair techs who donated their services. Rider Coach Captain Randy Koback was recognized for his efforts of managing rider coaches. Training ride leaders included Joe Ede, Barry Lau, Jean Rice and yours truly, Michael Reinbold.
• Lorraine Teal from Minnesota AIDS Project (a ride recipient), spoke about the organization's efforts to prevent legislators from cutting HIV prevention from its current mandate. She introduced its Positive Link coordinators and riders Andy Ansell and Steve Wolfgram. Jim Mauer(former SJA Peace and Justice Minister, right) from Clare Housing, who raised over $10,000 as a rider himself, announced 31 housing units for the HIV community at Northeast Central Avenue in Minneapolis with plans to break ground possibly this Fall. Ryan Brunson from African  American AIDS Task Force talked about its origins that began in 1995.
• Others honored for their efforts included: Judy Gorman for First Aid management, Kyle for massage, Scott Hyde for camp services, Jennifer Radnich for marking the route, Denise McCabe for checkup signage, Jason Fenske for sweep managing, Angela and Mike Mickelson for water and ice supplies, Kent Lindner and Lee Hauge for snacks on pit stops,  Josh Hauser for trash pickup and Pit stop managers Jennifer Weiler-pit one; Carter Abraham-pit two; Judy Gozinski-lunch pit three; Bobbie Reidlinger-pit four; and Scooter Snyder-pit five.
• WCCO's Noelle Walker was mentioned for her enormous efforts in covering the ride as a rider while being filmed. Her crew was mentioned for accidentally running over her bike. She did get a replacement bike borrowed from Erik's Bike Shop. Finally Jennifer Schneider was tearfully honored by Hammer for tireless administrative efforts. Schneider turned the honorary tables back to Hammer whom the audience of riders and crews gave a thunderous well deserved standing ovation for her enormous contributions as operating ride director.

To conclude the evening we created a Prom. I will let Rick's photos speak for themselves. As you can see we had a wild time.

At the Prom...

Michael Reinbold, a continuing web reporter, freelances as a writer and banquet caterer. A passionate believer in SJA's mission of social justice and collaborative ministry, Michael is an SJA Choir member, mass reader, Team Oz AIDS rider and Grace House volunteer cook. With an extensive background in theater, photography and fundraising, he relishes all aspects of the arts, staying fit and inspiring and working with people.

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.

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