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Updates from the Road

10/12/2005 Radio interview 12:15 EST
The Nonchalant Café Hour
89.1 WIDR FM
Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo, MI

to listen on the internet www.widr.org
10/13/2005 After a nice send-off in the lab, Mike left at noon. He went to Baltimore Penn Station and was told he was not allowed to take his bike on the train. Luckily he has good friends, and someone was able to pick him up and drive him to DC. He caught the train to Chicago just in the nick of time. This is going to be an adventure!
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10/17/2005 Mike is in Fort Wayne, Indiana, already! On Friday during the day he biked to Three Rivers, MI, and stayed overnight at the Sheraton. On Saturday, he rode to LaGrange, Indiana, and set-up his tent on the road! On Sunday, he woke up and rode 55-60 miles to Fort Wayne. He actually arrived there a day early! He has been traveling on the state roads. He said that the shoulders are pretty narrow in Michigan, but not bad in Indiana. Mike spent the day Monday in Fort Wayne resting and preparing for the next leg of the journey. He said the weather has been beautiful - no rain at all. It is a bit windy and chilly, but Mike said it's perfect biking weather when the wind is at your back. He feels great, except for sore knees, which is to be expected.
10/18/2005 Mike met Trish Plott for breakfast in Fort Wayne. Trish lost her mother to pancreatic cancer and has been a great help trying to organize media attention. You can read the story of her mother's last year, a very moving reminder of why Mike is undertaking this ride. Mike plans a full day of biking today, covering around 80 miles. He took Highway 14 into Ohio. He is expecting beautiful weather and wants to take advantage of it.
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10/18/2005 Mike called - he is camping tonight at Van Buren, OH. 90 miles today! Legs like jelly but he is doing great!!!
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10/19/2005 Mike said this was the worst day of biking so far. He was biking on Rt. 20, a major road with a very narrow shoulder, and trucks were passing within 3 ft. of him. He fought a sustained headwind the whole way and had 2 flat tires. He biked 55-60 miles, but it felt much longer than the 90 miles yesterday. He stayed at the Bellevue Inn and Suites, in Bellevue, OH, who kindly donated a night's lodging. When he arrived he got a cheeseburger and fries, and after a quick break, went back for a plate of spaghetti with a strawberry sundae for dessert. He is noticing that he is losing weight.
10/20/2005 Mike called at around 11:30am. He was taking a back road to Rt. 6, where he is hoping to find the bike trail which loops around the lake into Cleveland. So he is expecting an easier day of biking than yesterday, but is still fighting the headwind and travel is slow.
10/20/2005 Mike called again at 4:00pm. He was still 20 miles from Cleveland (about 2 hours of riding). He said that it was another very hard day of biking, headwind the whole way and very hilly. He said he would sleep good tonight.
10/21/2005 After a grueling day of biking, Mike finally arrived in Cleveland. He never was able to find the biketrail that goes around the lake into Cleveland. Instead, he found himself on a 6 lane highway biking in the dark!! He called Sandy Truax, his contact in Cleveland, who was able to direct him into the city. He didn't make it to his room until 7:00pm. He said where he is staying is a very, very nice place. The Glidden House donated one night's lodging to Mike's cause. They have plasma screen TV's in every room. I think that after the past couple of days, Mike deserves alittle luxury. He slept well and Sandy was due to pick him up at 11:00am and bring him over the to Cleveland Louis Stokes DVAMC, where he is scheduled to give a talk at 12:00pm.
10/21/2005 Mike's talk was a great success with a good showing. Afterwards he went sight seeing in Cleveland. He visited the Natural History Museum and the people there addressed him as Dr. Mullendore, which he enjoyed. He was able to stay a second night at The Glidden House, thanks to the generosity of the Monastra Foundation. Two nights under the same roof was a real treat for him.
10/22/2005 More information will follow, but Saturday night Mike called his friend and said that he hurt his knee biking into Hudson, OH. He had a 2 1/2 hr. bike ride planned into Hudson, with a reception at the Vertical Runner store (134 N. Main St., Hudson) at 2:15pm. Monica Lodge ended up having to pick him up mid-ride. He said he was going to make a decision yesterday as to whether he could continue (or what day he should set out again) because the pain was pretty bad. We haven't heard from him since Saturday night so we don't know what he decided. Maybe no news is good news? I certainly hope so!
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10/24/2005 Poor thing. He has a bad case of tendonitis. He ended up calling a friend, who picked him up in Hudson, OH and brought him home. His trip began and ended with the help of good friends and he made it as far as he did with all of the help of the new friends he made along the way. We want to thank everyone for all of their assistance in helping Mike raise awareness of pancreatic cancer. Stay tuned for a statement from Mike.
10/24/2005 so hello everyone. it is with a heavy heart and great sadness that i must stop the trip. on saturday as i was leaving cleveland and approaching hudson OH to stay with monica lodge i was pedaling up a hill and felt a pain developing in my right knee. i thought nothing of it and kept going, but it only intensified and was pretty painful within a mile of the initial event. I phoned monica to come and get me, and she did and i iced the knee all that night along with stretching with the hope that it would feel better in the morning. so sunday morning comes along and there is no improvement and instead of pushing it and making things worse i decided to call it. so it is something called IT Band tendonitits, the exact same thing that some of you know i have been dealing with for over a year on my left knee. i know the recovery period and what happens when you try to push it before it is ready, so it just isn't worth it to me to do more damage to my knee. I am however encouraged by what i did accomplish. i made it 400 + miles in a little over a week and met some great people who have been affected by PC, and my mentality towards my research is now different. People across the country are counting on us to find improvements and cures for this disease. I am in the baltimore area, and will be into work on Tuesday. My knee is still pretty painful, and I thank all of you most sincerely for all of your encouragement. Sorry if i let you down. See you tomorrow.

 

 

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