Cal's Angels WAR of Wheels

Today was an awesome ride for two awesome kids in Erin and Chase…Erin came to our hotel last night in Danville with her parents. That was a tearjerker for me. To hear her story of getting osteosarcoma at the age of eight during the pandemic and battling that nasty disease that ultimately led to a prosthetic femur was just too much for me!!! Erin had multiple close calls but none more so than her reaction to the “standard protocol for osteosarcoma”. The crazy thing is the standard protocol for osteosarcoma has been the same since 1970!!!! WTH!!! We have modern medicine that was able to save Erin as an antidote to her bad reaction to the “standard protocol” but we are still dealing with the treatment plan designed in 1970. It’s disheartening. Quite frankly, it is disgusting that we do not have enough funding to improve the standard protocol. No disrespect to the pharmaceutical companies, but if there was more money in improving the outcomes, my general feeling is the standard protocol wo...

Michael and John…We rode for both of you today. It was a beautiful sunny and crisp morning with a really solid crew of Cal’s riders. John, we know that you were looking down from heaven and Michael, we are hoping God does not have plans to bring you into his arms for years to come. It was an honor to ride for both of you today even though I crashed on some black gravel that looked like asphalt and became kind of an unfortunate distraction for the group. I got talked into going to urgent care in Danville vs finishing the remaining 20 miles of the ride and as it turned out, I did not have many options as I cracked my bike frame in the process. At the end of the day, I am a bit beat up with a bent pinky and a swollen/bruised thumb but I am determined to use one of the extra bikes Cal’s has brought, so I can finish the Cal’s Angels ride in your honor.   John…I never met you but when we talked about your story this morning, I was floored by your faith in God. Your acceptance of you...

Molly…Today we rode 90 miles in frigid temperatures and hellacious headwinds. We were all bundled up with everything we packed for the trip and most of us were still cold. The effective temperature at our riding pace was 11° for the first few hours and the American flags decorating the country roads were absolutely pinned because of the 25 mile an hour winds! We decided to ride as a group today so no one would suffer through stiff winds on their own. We recognize that the suffering we put ourselves through today and over the last week does not measure to the pain and suffering that you and your fellow pediatric cancer patients have faced. I am humbled by your resilience. I am not sure I could fight as long as hard as you did, if it had any resemblance to the suffering that we’ve managed through over the last week. Molly…I will tell you that outside of doing our best to ride in your honor, was when we visited Riley Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis. We met with the doctors doing resea...

On day 8 we rode for Megan Sporny, who just passed in June of this year! She faced a long three year battle with cancer that stripped her of her physical capabilities due to paralysis…Her story is a powerful and emotional story of a young woman who faced an incredibly challenging battle with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG). Megan's remarkable journey serves as an inspirational reminder of the strength of the human spirit and the importance of supporting cancer research. Today was a very difficult ride. We rode over 105 miles and climbed more than 2,600’ of the rolling landscape of southern Ohio and Indiana. That puts our 7 day total at 620 miles and nearly 40,000’ of elevation. However, the data doesn’t tell the whole story…we faced a sneaky elevation day as there were very few hills but an obvious steady eddy incline, which was made worse by the rain, the cold and a 15-20 mph headwind for the entire ride. The entire team of 23 riders were hurting, but we had to ride for Me...

Today is a very well deserved rest day! It was great to see the Cal’s Angels crew down at breakfast this morning. A couple cups of coffee, some breakfast potatoes with bacon and eggs really really hit the spot. Man oh man are we putting down the food along this journey! A huge shout out to Jeff, Scott, Milupa, Vytas, Ryan and Joe…it was an incredible experience to spend a week with you fighting the good fight to raise awareness for pediatric cancer. I look forward to finishing this ride with you on Friday the 3rd. I knocked out some email after breakfast and had the absolute pleasure of eating lunch with my good friend, Larry Orwin, who was gracious enough to drive five hours, round-trip from Cleveland to Columbus. It was good to see Larry and connect on family, friends, and fitness. Of course, Larry ran 12 miles today and hit 110 for the week! He ranked as one of the top 10 ultra marathoners in his age group (60-65) and in a couple weeks he is shooting for a world record of more than ...

For those that feel compelled to donate to the pediatric cancer research… https://charity.pledgeit.org/WOWV Liv…we rode 81 miles and ~2,500’ of elevation in your memory. I have to admit, we are all grateful for your day because while today’s ride was tough out of the gate…we faced rain, wet roads and cool temps with two big climbs of 13% and 14% right at the start. There was silver lining in that we were able to get 90% of the hard stuff out of the way over the first 30 miles and then it was like you guided us downhill for the last 50 miles and you were kind enough to blow on our backs which is allowed the group to finish together for the first time over the last six days. I’m sure you saw it from heaven, but riding through Amish country was beautiful and we got to see a handful of Amish folks leading their horse and buggies down the country roads. Their beards are something else and the land mines the horses left us created a bit of an obstacle course 🤣.  We had a wonderful lunch...