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Windy, the Goddess Bearer of Wind.... October 7, 2008Leave a comment ;)
She truly is the Goddess of Wind. It is an apt name for my little bear hitchhiker. Ever since she came aboard, I have had the wind at my back; twenty knots on the 29th and again today. This is GOOD! In the past few days I was able to catch up on a bunch of personal stuff that has needed my attention since I have been on the road. I took some time to attend the Chickasaw Festival in Tishomingo, OK and also was granted the opportunity to ride a float in the festival parade. Half of the fun was taking pictures of those that took pictures of me. Some of the pictures are fantastic! I will add those to the end of my photos from today! A bunch of us gathered at Pro Bike this morning and slammed down a hearty breakfast at the restaurant next door to John's shop. I was surprised when every major TV station in OKC rolled into the parking lot just prior to our scheduled departure time. It is great to get the word out and I am grateful to the local stations for making the effort to cover this story. I hope some students in the area can pick up the blog and it makes a difference for them. As is usually the case, I failed to get a single picture of the media stuff. To my route coordinator Jay Roman in South Dakota, my humble apologies for dropping the ball! ;o) I scampered out of OKC like a scolded pup, with about 10 friends in tow! It is quite the challenge to pedal through a city, but I think we picked a great route. We left the bike shop on 63rd and wound around the southern portion of Lake Hefner before picking up Wilshire Blvd through Nichols Hills. From there it was a straight shot to the east side of the city before heading south to pick up the 23rd toward Hwy 177. We shed a few of our fellow riders as we headed eastward. John and Andy had to head back to open the bike shop, but three folks remained, Derrick, Tony and Leslie as we made our way to Shawnee and points south. The wind was FANTASTIC! Thank goodness I waited a day to let the stormy weather and southerly winds pass. Today the winds were howling out of the northwest and made our ride incredibly pleasant. Nothing like a flat road on a river bottom that points southeast with the wind at your back! We sailed into Shawnee just after 1200 pm and took a rest on the south side of town. From there it was a straight shot down Hwy 177 toward Ada. Tony and Derrick stayed with me all the way down to Asher, before they turned back and met their support van from Edmond (Derrick's wife, Ann). The shoulder of the highway was the cleanest I have pedaled to date. Nice and wide to boot! From Asher I had another 21 miles to Ada before I met up with Casey and Eugene from the East Central University Cycling Club. We rode the last few miles into Ada together (They had to battle that nasty headwind just to meet me. What fortitude!) When I arrived in Ada, more folks from the cycling club were there to meet us and we all traveled to the Chickasaw Nation Headquarters together. There is an awesome sculpture in front of the building and I just had to take some pictures. From there we headed over to East Central University where I gave a presentation to the local community. We finished up around 8 pm, pedaled through the darkness to dinner and I eventually ended up in the guest room of Eugene and his family. All told it was a fabulous day! Long, but fabulous. It was so nice to get back on the road, especially with friends to share the journey. We all need to step back once and a while and take care of business, but it is the challenge we find in life that keeps us going everyday. Sometimes we lose sight of the things that motivate us and we can get caught up in the day to day doldrums and we can't fill our sails. I feel alive and energized when I have something that captures my attention and makes me put forth my best effort. There have been days when I would wake up with nothing to do and I felt lost and confused. This ride has given me a purpose and a passion that I was lacking in recent months. I hope that my enthusiasm is infectious and that others benefit from what I am trying to accomplish. If what I am doing changes the life of just one student, then it will have been worth it. This is my payback to the people that invested their time in me and helped me find success in my life. To them, my thanks... More Images: ;)
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14 Comments
Nov 4, 2008 7:28 pm - Meredith Gebhart wrote : DEAR MR.HERRINGTON, I'M REALLY ENJOY LOOKING AT YOUR WEBSIGHT.I HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT TIME RIDING ACROSS THE U.S I REALLY HOPE YOU TAKE LOT'S OF PICTURES
Oct 9, 2008 7:26 am - Carol Keel wrote : John, as always it was good to see you Lunch/Annual Mtg./Festival and hear of your latest adventures. I'm excited that the Holy Spirit has put a plan and adventure on your heart that helps inspires so many people across this great land! Keep up the good work! I thought of you when I read these scriptures... These verses are quoted from the The Every Day Bible... Proverbs 16: v1 People make plans in their hearts. But only the Lord can make those plans come true. v3 Depend on the Lord in whatever you do, then your plans will succeed. v4 The Lord makes everything work the way he wants it. MAY GOD RICHLY BLESS YOU IN YOUR TRAVELS!
Oct 8, 2008 5:36 pm - Tesla wrote : Hey John! My Name is Tesla, I was In Mrs. Medcalf's 7th hour class. the Indian Girl to your left in the pic. Just wanted to say thank you for comming to our class! you really are an inspiration & had an inpact on what you said today. When you were talking about setting high goals for yourself, & your always challenging yourself to do something. like riding your bike. that is so cool & drivin of you to ride your bike across the country. It made me really think alot about what i could do in my life to set new challenges & go to the next level. It really had an impact on not just my day, but life. just wanted to let you know that your touching lives everywhere you go. keep up the good work you do! thanks for everything! -Tesla Wolfe 7th Hour Mrs. Medcalf's Student Ada High School a href "http://tinypic.com" target "_blank" img src "http://i33.tinypic.com/2h37w5u.jpg" border "0" alt "Image and video hosting by TinyPic" /a
Oct 8, 2008 3:00 pm - Lucie D wrote : Boomer Sooner! It was fun finding the link and video interviews on the OKC news station that covered your stop, from today's NASA News Summary, it was like a little piece of home for this Okie girl. I'm so glad you were able to spend time with folks in Oklahoma. It's a beautiful, clean state with warm friendly people, but of course, you knew that already. I appreciate your words about being inspired. Best of luck on the rest of your journey!
Oct 8, 2008 2:42 pm - Sonya Williams wrote : Hey John, this is wonderful what you are doing and I'm so happy to see you will be stopping at the explorer schools. Hang in there, your friend Sonya at NASA.
Oct 8, 2008 12:27 pm - Ryan McMahan wrote : Hey John, I just wanted to say once again, thank you very much for coming to speak here at ECU! Everyone that I have talked to today really enjoyed your speech. I personally think it's really incredible what your doing! It's tough to put into words, but riding down main street with you I was totally blown away by the fact you had been to space, and your current journey across America. After your speech however, I was really touched, and even more impressed by your enthusiasm and drive towards motivating and encouraging the youth of tomorrow to aim high. I really admire and respect you for that. Keep up the great work! ~Ryan
Oct 8, 2008 10:31 am - Derrick Seys wrote : John, What a day for sure. How about this for your ability to insprire. Tony, Lesli and I were going to leave you after 18 miles, but I think we were enjoying the comapny and wind so much, we just had to ride more. I think it was the talk about your decision to just go ride actross the country. It simply took a little determination and the decision to do it. A nice fun 75 miles, and always a pleasure to ride with you again. There was coverage on News 5 and 9 last night.
Oct 8, 2008 9:34 am - Elizabeth wrote : I am so glad the ride is going great. Reading your blog this morning woke me up! Thanks!!
Oct 8, 2008 9:12 am - Name McFerran wrote : Thank you very much for coming to our school. We really enjoyed your visit. It taught us many things about space that we did not know. Thanks again, Paislee, Aaron, J.J., Nicole, Justin, Chelsie, and Mrs. Mc
Oct 8, 2008 8:26 am - your lil sis wrote : What great pictures! It's great to see you back on the road...and was that a Hook 'em Horns sign I saw in the crowd? My thanks to that sweet girl! ;- Being from a family of OU fans this coming weekend is always fun for me! I love my Oklahoma family, but I love my Horns too! Hook 'em LBB! xoxo ls
Oct 8, 2008 8:01 am - K.C. King wrote : Hey John, this is K.C. a.k.a. Casey King. I just wanted to say that it was a great honor to ride with you into Ada yesterday, and I very much enjoyed your presentation at ECU last night. You’re a cool dude, and I look forward to riding with you some more this Thursday. May the wind always be at your back!
Oct 7, 2008 9:57 pm - Brad Woods wrote : John, I just wanted to tell you again, thank you for being able to stop be East Central this evening. You gave me an inspiration in my life that I truly need. Hearing your brief story about your life has given me much of the motivation I've been looking for. I may even start to follow in your footsteps. I believe I share many of the same feeling and outlooks in life as you. I've always had that feeling that I can't be trapped in an office my whole life, my strongest skills are in Math and Science, I have a love for aviation, and have been considering joining a branch of the military after college I may look into the navy now . I hope to find a way to keep in touch with you for few years, because you may turn out to play a big part in my life. Thank You!!! Brad Woods p.s. I hope for friends launch on Nov 14th goes well. Thats actually my birthday that day.
Oct 7, 2008 9:27 pm - Sandy McMahan wrote : It was such a pleasure tonight at ECU, Ada OK, hearing/seeing your adventures! You are truely an amazing and inspirational person. It was great getting to meet you 'again' after 5 years! May God be with you throughout the rest of your trip~ Add a comment: |
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DEAR MR.HERRINGTON, I'M REALLY ENJOY LOOKING AT YOUR WEBSIGHT.I HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT TIME RIDING ACROSS THE U.S I REALLY HOPE YOU TAKE LOT'S OF PICTURES