Shift 1 Riders

Highlights
Up at 3:00 after a restless night’s sleep in anticipation of what about to come. Dipped our tires in the Pacific Ocean with the Golden Gate Bridge as a backdrop. We were all excited about getting things started. Riding over the Golden Gate Bridge is pretty dramatic way to start a trip such as this. Do you know they lock the gates on the Golden Gate every night ‘til 5:00 in the morning? We know now!! As we stared hopelessly across the bridge, now trying to plan how we would make up our lost time, a bike rider appeared out of the fog from the other side, stopped, and pushed a big red button that said “TO OPEN GATE PUSH RED BUTTON.” So went the first hour in the dark as we navigated the many turns on the route. When the road opened up it was all fun as tailwinds provided us the needed push to get to Sacramento on time for a “Kick-Off” rally event at the state capital. We had a police escort—cool stuff. The rally was a powerful way to realize the importance of our trip. It’s about recognizing and bringing awareness to childhood cancer, the number one killer of children from disease in America.

There are 14 riders working three shifts. There is also a support crew of about ten who drive the sag wagons (vans) and set-up events we will be attending. There is also a film and photo crew.

Because of the event at the capital, we didn’t leave until after 4:00 pm, finally ate, and traveled our way to our next stage in Lovelock, NV, 240 miles away.

I’m feeling surprising well but the test begins tomorrow as our bodies attempt to adjust to the multiple long days.