200-Mile Unicycle Ride for Charity – Story on Video

Posted on November 24, 2014 by UniDude

unicycle ride for charityIt’s official.

My unicycle ride for charity raised over $1600 – that we can definitely trace – from this website! So THANK YOU to all who followed my exploits and made donations! On behalf of HCC founders Bruce and Susan Keenan, I will add “YOU ROCK!!”

I just finished editing some videos – and will be adding them to the earlier posts I made as time goes by. so check back to this blog post and I’ll be providing links to complete blog posts with VIDEO that tell the whole story.

Below are the Video posts (completed ones with have a link to the edited post):

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Unicycle Ride Raises $2K – Some Thoughts

Posted on November 21, 2014 by UniDude

silver comet unicyclingWe did it!

Thanks to you, esteemed  donor . . . and to my lovely wife Brigitte, who stayed in touch with all her friends, family and colleagues during my 200-mile ride, we were together able to raise almost $2K for the Himalayan Children’s Charities (HCC)! This is a remarkable accomplishment . . . and I could not done it without ALL of you!!

While I was out there blowing out my knees and freezing my tushie off, I also had the comfort of knowing that it was all paying off with the help of you guys at home.

I am still working on the video editing, and should have the first of many video blogs up starting this weekend.  It’s slow going, however, since my body is still recovering and sometimes I just need to sit in front of the TV and do nothing . . .

Trail Stories

The 200-mile trek was not all pain, suffering and hardship.  There were many blissful moments as well, and these are the ones worth sharing.  Some memories in particular are precious to me, and these are the moments when riding on the trail through the woods and over creeks when . . .

  • The morning or afternoon fall sunlight was just right in the clear chill.  There was a cascade of golden color intermixed with deep shadows that fell through the trees and covered me and the fallen leaves and pine straw that lay haphazardly along the trail.
  • The magical blend of light, shadow and silence was punctuated only by the soft sound of a tire rolling over leaves, and bird calls and small animals running through the woods.
  • I was all alone in the woods, just me , my unicycle, and the trail, giving me the feeling that this was a gift from nature and the Almighty!  The cold and rain had apparently discouraged most adventurers, and I saw no cyclists at all on Monday and Tuesday (the 17th and 18th), and on Wednesday I only saw 5 cyclists all day . . . and only within 3 1/2 miles of the beginning of the trail in Smyrna!
  • I met a couple of hungry dogs at the GA-AL border and fed them a couple of peanut Cliff bars and juice I had.  One of the dogs in particular was noticeably shivering, so I held him a long time trying to warm him up.  After I felt he had recovered sufficiently, I let him go and moved on, but still worried a bit about them finding warm shelter that night in one of the nearby houses or farmhouses.  Regardless, those moments of holding that shivering dog will remain with me forever.
  • About every 3 miles or so I felt the need to take a rest for a few minutes.  When climbing back on my wheel and pushing off, I repeated the same whimsical expression each time . . . “I’m going to make it in style…!” (and I did :-)
  • The southern tip of the Appalachian mountains rose majestically north of the Chief Ladiga Trail as I rode through Alabama, reminding me why some folks say this is still God’s country.
  • Food never tasted so good, and a warm bed each night never felt so good as during this ride!

That’s it for today . . . Any and all comments and donations are appreciated!

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Day 7: V-DAY on the Trail!

Posted on November 19, 2014 by UniDude

VICTORY AT LAST!!

unicycle ride for charity

200-Mile Unicycle Ride

At 12:45 pm today I finished my unicycle ride for charity and limped into the Mavell Road Trailhead (on my unicycle) at the Zero mile marker of the Silver Comet Trail, having just ridden 20.5 miles from Dallas, GA, and 200.8 miles altogether!

My wife Soma showed up a few minutes later to give me a welcome-back hug, and deliver me back home where hot tea and  warm soup awaited my arrival . . . and also 2 fuzzy kitty cats who were totally UN-impressed with what had just transpired.

[NEWS FLASH: Bruce just wrote in to say that the ride raised over $1450 for HCC thus far!  Way to go ya'll!!  Keep spreading the word, though . . . they need $6K to break even!]

Sort of lost in all the excitement was the fact that I also completed another 1000 miles a year riding a unicycle for charity…the FOURTH year in a row since I started riding for HCC!

There is lots to share, much to talk about, and a whole lot of video editing to do in the next few days . . . I want to show you a few things I experienced along the way, and share all the good, funny, strange, and the few not-so-good events that happened over the last week.

Meanwhile, I want to give a shout-out to a few people I met along the way who added much to my comfort and/or enjoyment of this experience.  So a big Thank You goes out to:

  • The Folks at Chew Chew Express - Off the SC Trail at the 9 mile marker for notifying their list and talking up the charity.
  • CPL. Lee Hurley – Paulding County Sherriff’s Office in Hiram, GA, who provided lots of encouragement and support.
  • Denis & Sharon Druker – Friendly visiting cyclists from Paddock Lake, WI, who I met at the Tara Drummond Trailhead.
  • Jay & Family – Owners/Managers at the Country Hearth Inn in Cedartown, GA.
  • Katy - The friendly Manager at the Country Hearth Inn in Piedmont, AL.
  • Shelly & Jazzy – Super-helpful Manager and her daughter at the Sunshine Inn in Dallas, GA.
  • Amy Scheid – The CFO at the Paulding County Chamber of Commerce who took pity on me and provided a ride to the hotel.
  • Merritt Shealy - My “Sherpa” who rode 40 miles in the cold hauling a zillion tons of stuff before deciding it wasn’t feasible to continue.  At least I got real help on the first blog post and video.
  • My Wife Soma and All Our Friends Who I will be thanking over and over for the next month or so . . .
  • To all those who made comments and gave donations during my ride who I’ve not yet had time to respond to, or publicize their contributions, and
  • To Many Others along the way who provided a smile or a kind word for a weary traveler.

 

 

 

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Day 6: A Sign From The Heavens?

Posted on November 18, 2014 by UniDude

Today was cold. And lots of mean, nasty hills. And I fell a couple of times. Ouch.

But your intrepid unicyclist pushed on in spite of all obstacles and is now resting comfortably in the Sunshine Inn in Dallas, GA.

So I’m not dead yet.

Sometimes I felt like it though, specially when I was resting beside  the trail, and 5 minutes later I see vultures circling above me.

That was a bit disconcerting. So I moved my arms and my legs just to make sure to let the vultures know that they would have a fight  on their hands if they came after me, expecting dinner.

And many thanks to Amy Scheid of the Paulding County Chamber of Commerce, who watched me tumble in exhausted and disoriented and offered to give me a ride to the hotel.  I figured that would take some of the mileage away from my goal of 200 miles, but I said yes anyway.  Tomorrow morning, Shelly from the Sunshine Inn also offered to give me a ride back to the Silver Comet Trail.  I will have her drop me off at the Tara Drummond Trailhead, which is 24.5 miles away from the beginning of the trail in Smyrna.

Since I’m currently sitting on 180 miles for the trip, that will put me over the top. Leaving tomorrow at 9 am; hope to arrive at the 0 mile marker by 1:00 pm.

And on the 7th day – upon arrival  I will rest. :-)

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Day 5 – Unicycle Ride & Dodging Bullets…

Posted on November 17, 2014 by UniDude

(Today I have access to the hotel computer, so I’m giving Soma a break on taking dictation…)

unicycle ride for charity

1000-Mile Project

I lucked out yesterday… I arrived in Piedmont, AL, and was safely in my hotel room when the rain started at around 12:45 pm Central time. One Bullet dodged.

Later I went to get some food and supplies, and was in bed with lights out at 9 pm.  It was raining heavily by then, and continued to pour all night.

This morning I awoke and checked my phone… a little after 8 am.  I roused myself out of bed, washed up, and got dressed and ready to go get breakfast.  It was then I noticed that it was still dark out and still raining.  I thought to myself “Gee, I wonder why Alabama weather is so strange!”

Turns out I was the strange one . . . there is a crack on the left side of my phone glass screen, and I saw the “3″ as an “8″. . . it was actually around 3 o’clock in the morning when I got up!!

Ooops! . . . got hit by a (rubber) bullet!

I Felt a bit embarrassed (especially knowing I’d have to blog about it!), I promptly jumped out of my clothes and back into bed for a few more hours….

The rain stopped shortly after sunrise, so the ride was nice enough… another bullet dodged, but another was soon incoming . . . it started getting colder and colder as the day went on!

As before, I made stops about every 3 miles to rest my sore crotch and catch my breath, and reached the GA-AL border around 1 pm CT (2 pm ET).  A couple of hours later I pulled into Cedartown, and was checked into my hotel by 4:30.

This is the same hotel where I burned my socks . . .  so I asked to see if they had a dryer I could use.  They didn’t.

I’m microwaving my wet clothes again . . . but this time I’m watching them very carefully!

I’m not looking forward to tomorrow – a unicycle ride in 20-degree weather is not fun, although I’m more worried about the shrinking and expanding metal and materials in my cycle, and a possible breakdown. The BIG news, however, is that I will cross the 1000 mile mark for the year (once I get past Rockmart)!!

Mileage update: 100.4 miles from Smyrna to Anniston.  Since leaving Anniston, I’ve logged about 47 miles.

Total mileage on the trip to date:  147.4.

Total mileage for 2014 to date:  980 (est.)

Keep your fingers crossed that all goes as scheduled . . . if so I will arrive at the zero mile marker at Marvell Road in Smyna at 1 pm on Wednesday!  SO looking forward to seeing everyone and finally giving my body a rest!

Pls share – xxoooxxxooo

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Day 4: Reaching the end of the road

Posted on November 16, 2014 by UniDude

Greetings from Piedmont Alabama.

I left my hotel in Jacksonville, AL,  this morning at 8:00 local time and reached the end of Chief  Ladiga Trail, 1 hour later.

Yahoo!! 1/2 way home.

The total distance from Smyrna, GA to Aniston , AL on both the Silver Comet and Chief Ladiga Trail is 94.4 miles.  Adding 6 more miles for distance travel to hotels and back brings the total to 100.4 miles.

In Piedmont, the Country Hearth Inn,   is a place where I stayed before last year.  It’s nice and comfortable and not too fancy (Note: I’m back to drying my clothes using the micro wave again. It was nice having an actual dryer at the last hotel I stayed in).

Because I got here before noon today I thought about going the rest of the way to Cedartown, but that would put me over 50 miles in one day and my body is not able to take that right now.

So I am choosing to have 2 short rides in a row: 25 miles today and the same miles tomorrow.

Taking it easy, eating well, watching movies.

Back to the salt mines tomorrow.

Thanks for your continuous donations and comments. I look forward sharing my videos with you soon.

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Day 3: Burn Socks and Unicycle Riding

Posted on November 15, 2014 by UniDude

One lesson I learned since Merritt left and I had to carry my own load, is that I have to wash clothes everyday since I have only 2 pair of everything.  The hotel in Cedartown did not have a washer/dryer so I got creative and used the microwave.

After several microwave sessions the shirts and underwear came out fine.  The socks were also fine but still a little damp. This morning I did one more microwave session with the socks. Then went to the bathroom while they were “cooking” . . .

The smell of popcorn filled the air. When I opened the microwave I discovered two burnt socks, one of them had burning embers begging to be doused. Needless to say they were not good anymore so I threw them away. I still have two pair of socks left anyway.

I then rode 41 miles to my new destination:  Jacksonville, Alabama. Along the way I stopped at the Georgia-Alabama border,  then rode another 13 miles to Piedmont, AL where I stopped in to see Mr. Holder & the Gang at the Eubanks Welcome Center to catch up on all the local gossip and bad jokes. I ate my lunch, got a refill of water and Powerade and headed SW along the Chief Ladiga Trail.

There is a whole lot more to tell, I have more great video footage below. Meanwhile, it’s late, time for sleep. More tomorrow.


 

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Day 2: Solo Unicycle Ride to Cedartown

Posted on November 14, 2014 by UniDude

Greetings all, and Thank You so much for your wonderful e-mails and continued donations.

I made it to Cedartown from Rockmart, a distance of about 15 miles over the hilliest section of the trail.  I’m staying at the County Heart Inn; it’s really great. (Of course anything would be great after a grueling ride).

Tomorrow I go to Alabama where the Chief Ladiga Trail starts, and will hopefully end up in Jacksonville, Alabama about 33 miles west of Cedartown.  It will be a long ride but I should get a good rest tonight.

Thanks again for your well wishes and donations, and please leave a comment after the blog post and video if you like. Talk to you tomorrow.


 

 

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Unicycle Ride: Change of Plans!

Posted on November 14, 2014 by UniDude

unicycle ride for charity

1000-Mile Project

I’m sorry to say, but this will be my last blog post for a while… Merritt has decided that hauling that heavy trailer is too much for him to haul for 200 miles, so he’s headed back to Smyrna today.

This also means that I must – due to lack of space in my backpack – give up my computer and a few other precious items as I travel forward. Hopefully my wife Soma will be able to post a few updates for me in the meantime, since I’ll be in touch with her by phone.

Sorry I don’t have a smart phone yet.. woulda come in handy. Oh well. See ya’ll on the flip side!

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Day 1: Unicycle Ride For Charity

Posted on November 14, 2014 by UniDude

Finally go this thing edited and uploaded!

 

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