Ari's Angels - Tuesday, June 19th (update)

Hi Folks,

The Angels are approaching Parkersburg WV as I write this. John Hardy and I will be heading into the mountains this evening. The two Bill’s have been doing the day runs and have come across the state of Ohio today. It’s a very hot and humid day so I’m sure they are shot. Luckily there are storms and cooler dryer weather on the horizon. If you’re into Geography John and I rode through Indiana last night and they started in Troy this morning on the west side of Columbus, cut southeast across the state through Athens to Parkersburg, WV. A wonderful thing happened this morning in London Ohio. Amy Curtis Kast and her family were at the time station to meet us and gave us a whole bag of goodies. . .and hugs. They made signs and were a very welcome sight for quite literally sore eyes. I’d like to tell you all that we are fine, in great shape with high spirits and anxious to dive into this last little 550 mile push home. For the most part that is true, however, due to our schedules we are physically and emotionally drained. There is an openness and even rawness to our team’s existence at this point that is hard to describe, but we are a team. . .and we will finish as a team. I think this is just as hard on our crew, if not harder. They are true heroes. My wife and brother are already en route to meet us in western Maryland tonight to provide some relief, and our friend Doug Slemmer is going to join us tomorrow late in the day to help us to the finish line.

Again, words cannot express the appreciation I have for these friends.

I can offer this advice to anyone standing on the high diving board of a life challenge. Jump. You will never know how far you can go if you don’t take the first step. Our marathon team, , ,and now this endurance team, are a perfect testimony to this. I know that it is human nature to place limits on our own capabilities. I have found consistently that whoever you are, those limits are set too low, and in most cases may not even exist at all. Be the change you want to see in the world. . .but more importantly – start the change you want to see within yourself. It’s okay to jump. You’ll never know if you can fly if you don’t take that first little step off the edge.

I’m looking forward to seeing you all soon. Thanks for keeping up with this blog. Thanks too to David Kennedy for attending to these entries and comments.

Proudly riding for a cure,
Steve
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