ALS Fact: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved several drugs for ALS that may prolong survival, reduce the rate of decline, or help manage symptoms. But there’s currently no known treatment that stops or reverses the progression of ALS. (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)
The past several days have been packed with last minute details. It was great on Saturday to start picking up some of the out of towners as it was finally beginning to feel real. This ride was going to happen!!!
Dolly headed to Gloucester late morning to pick up Anne and Al Miller who had arrived in Boston and spent a few fun days exploring. Doug headed to the airport to pick up two Alpha Delta fraternity brothers, Paunch, aka Jim Venezia and then Scott Goland, one of our veteran LGs (logistics guys). Paunch had also arrived in Boston a few days earlier and he and his wife did the tourist gig. We hear Kathy is a power tourist and Paunch was along for the ride. Kathy flew home to Cincinnati and Paunch joined our crew. Dolly, Al and Anne headed to Newburyport where Tom at Riverside Cycles had hooked them up with incredible bike rentals, fully equipped with electronic shifters, disc brakes, shock absorbers on the handle bars and 1x drivetrains. Anne readily admitted that these bikes were well beyond their paygrade and Dolly readily admitted that she was experiencing some heavy duty bike envy. Once home, we took a short spin through the beautiful town of Topsfield and the Historic District of Meredith Farm and River Road. After a short walk to Hood Pond with Benny, we headed to Newburyport to dinner and to celebrate Charlie’s 19th birthday.
Sunday morning, the excitement was building. JJ was driving in from the DC area and Dave and Maryanne Foster had already arrived in Portland to spend the night with their son and daughter in law - Doug and Tiernan. Meg graciously arrived to pick up our dog Benny for the next several days. We owe her big time!!! Everyone who was driving from the Topsfield area was asked to gather by 12:00noon and we hoped to be on the road by 12:30pm. We worked like a well oiled machine as Steve Lopez and Mary Adamik arrived early, weighted down with incredible signage for the ride supplied by ALS One. Thank you Ashley Corbin and Jen DiMartino! Margaret McCarthy arrived shortly thereafter driving Jason’s huge truck which would become a wonderful blessing to the LG crew. (Thank you Jason…) Jim Jorling made sure to note that he arrived early, despite predictions of dreadful traffic on the Mass Pike, followed by George Hall, Ben Nutter, and Bruce and Weezie. Luggage was flying, packed coolers were loaded and bikes were everywhere…inside cars, secured to bike racks and packed into the bed of the truck. It was truly a sight to behold and we were on the road by 12:20!!! The only mishap was Weezie lost her keys on the road in the process however they were quickly recovered by our neighbor Andrew Spofford after a quick sos text. We were so efficient, we ended up arriving in Oxford a bit earlier than expected.
David and Claire Behrens welcomed us into their beautiful lake front home. Soon all the others arrive, Dave and Maryanne Foster, Tiernan and Doug Foster, Shannon deForest and her siblings, Kevin Grey, Kimberly Donohue and Kevin's family. Our other hosts, Nick and Suzanne Leighton who also have a home across the lake arrived shortly thereafter with Ron Weyland and his family. The house was packed, the food was flowing, stories were shared and our community was coming together!
After a delicious meal, thank you David and Claire, ½ of the crew loaded up in cars and drove about 25 minutes down the road to Nick and Suzanne’s home. The plan initially had been for us to boat back and forth, which would have been a lot quicker however it was very cold and windy and smarter heads prevailed. We had a few laughs about the enormity of Nick and Suzanne’s home and the jungle themed room that would be Anne and Al’s accommodations for the night. We won’t tell you what Suzanne and Dolly witnessed from the hallway but suffice it to say, Al was quite graceful and limber! Can’t wait to see him on the bike in the morning. Ben, George and Charlie settled down in the first level for the night and I’m not sure which of the 15 bedrooms Scott and JJ ended up in but I trust they were comfortable and we will be able to find them in the morning.
As we were settling in for the night, Nick and Suzanne’s neighbor, Brenda arrived with her dog. We were told that Brenda’s brother died last year of ALS at the age of 62 after a 6 year battle. She wanted to meet us and give us a donation for the ride. Such a special encounter. Thank you Brenda.
We will be up early and plan to be back at the Behrens home by 9:15am. A reporter from News Center Maine, Katie Delaney has asked to meet us at David and Claire’s home and wants to film our start! What a great way to meet our goal of increasing awareness.
We are so incredibly blessed by the fundraising to date as we passed our initial goal of $30K today!!! Thank you to everyone who is supporting us either financially or with emotional support and prayers!