Day 4
We Did It!
Day 4
We Did It!
With all of the excitement from yesterday's ride and culminating with an outlandishly playful Prom dance, I didn't get much sleep last night. Kind of just lay there resting in my tent or was I spinning? Usually someone in a nearby tent ends up giggling uncontrollably for half the night. The requisite sound of rough snoring is expectant. The sound of our food supply truck's refrigeration generator can keep one up at all hours. Ditto early crew risers who wake up around 4 AM. Is it any wonder I didn't sleep? However, just resting still for seven hours does count. My doctor says so.
Well, I'm up and at it and promptly arrive at Bike repair at 6 AM to replace the missing spoke from my front wheel. I have much respect for these two bike techs who have abundantly donated their time to repair our bikes from pit stops to camp each day. As I get my spoke replaced I'm thinking I should be helping my tent partner Rick Spaulding, our exceptional photographer, pack our tent. We had planned to send stories and digital photos each day, but with my fingers becoming too numb to type and Rick's prolific output of photos to download becoming overwhelming, we decided we needed the rest instead. Besides we were still covering action up until 9 or 10 PM anyway. Rick's the best tent partner and a true buddy. I'm grateful we have this opportunity to share with you our journey.
Today's weather was gorgeous-74 degrees up until noon. We had to be at camp
by 1:00 PM to prepare for closing ceremony. I arrived at Pit Stop One to a
vision of familiar characters from the Wizard of Oz, only a bit twisted. You had
Jennifer Weiler, pit one manager, as Dorothy Parton in all her… er… glory. The rest of the ride was as easy as following a yellow brick road-flat
terrain, plenty of water and snacks, plus pure sunshine. I arrived at the final
pit stop/lunch holding area right near Prom Center in Oakdale at 11:15 AM to
cheers and hugs. Today's distance totaled 51.8 miles. To recap our mileage each
day from my perspective [each bike computer's mileage is a little off] here
goes: Day One - 98.6 miles; Day Two - 90 Miles; Day Three - 97.6 Miles; and Day
Four - 51.8 Miles. Total Miles of 2003 Minnesota Red Ribbon Ride - 338 Miles.
Closing Ceremony
After a savory lunch of tuna salad and fruit, many riders poised for group
pictures and hung out sharing their stories of pain, sweat, endurance, tears and
laughter. We had done it. More importantly, the MN Red Ribbon Ride had been
successfully launched. To think that just 300 people raised over $380,000! It's
impressive indeed!
At 1:15 PM we lined up for our brief ride into the Prom Center parking lot
for the official ceremony. The waiting became tediously long and increasingly
hot while wearing our nifty gold colored long sleeve jerseys. They were
generously donated to each rider courtesy of Mall of America, but today's hot weather
made us want to make tank tops out of them. Closing ceremony started at 2:10
PM with Kari Johnson, our magnificent ride director, facilitating. All crew
members were thanked as they rushed through the center aisle to rousing cheers
and water bottle squirts from us riders and audience. Noelle Walker was thanked
for her tremendous day by day ride coverage of the ride with her camera crew.
Her response, "I'll be back to ride next year." Positive Peddler/MAP Positive
Link coordinator Steve Wolfgram, who injured his leg during the second day of
the ride, was honored as the last rider to come in as he emotionally hobbled
in a cast to cheers and hugs while pushing his bike. Johnson concluded with a
few closing remarks of thank you's and by 2:20 PM the ceremony had ended. Just
ten minutes in length!
Final Thoughts
I, for one, am proud of what we accomplished with the MN Red Ribbon Ride.
Despite low ridership, we managed to raise $380,000- an impressive figure for
this humble ride. After participating in four previous AIDS rides, my ride
involvement this year was the most rewarding for me, both personally with coaching
and training ride leadership and financially with fundraising. I've come away
feeling truly riveted about what the power of a community's actions can do. The
amazing amount of overhead expense that has been cut from this year's ride
will show that we can make this ride be all it can be. The recipients
desperately need our financial support. When we can not only keep them alive and
prosperous but truly change and empower ourselves in the process, we need to keep
riding on that yellow brick road. Be a part of that change and get involved with
us next year. Though it's indeed difficult, it's still definitely fun and most
importantly, worthwhile. Ride on!
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