Day 5- Fayetteville to Lancaster

We began today's ride from the WalMart parking lot near Fayetteville, and as we were about to ride off, Dan Millisock (aka Dan the Video Man) came over to me and thrust his phone at me and said "It's Big I105 FM in Lancaster, they want to talk with you." So we did an impromptu radio interview with Big I105 (Murf and Casey) and listened to it from the Penske trucks. Did my best to psych everyone up for the 60 mile ride from Fayetteville to York, and then across the Susquehanna River into Lancaster County. At that point we would do an assembly at Park Elementary School in Columbia and then ride on through downtown Lancaster and on to my boyhood home to see my mother.

On our bikes, it was beginning to become routine- get up, eat, ride 60-80 miles a day with my newest and best friends- Mike, Jeff and Ellen, then do an assembly, eat, rest, sleep. I loved it! It was absolutely beautiful riding through the farmland of Adams county which then gave way to apple orchards. You could smell the apple trees in the air. An apple rolled towards me as a rode by, so I scooped it up, wiped it off, and took a bite. That apple was one of the best I've ever had. As Dr. Paul Williams from the PA Academy of Family Physicians said the night before- "an apple a day keeps the doctor away." So true, making that concious choice of what you will put in your body. You truly are what you eat. We passed by a huge Coca-Cola advertisement on a billboard showing a "Go Big, and get two for the price of one with Coca-Cola" and then on the opposite side of the sign an advertisement for Hot Dogs at the local convenience store. It made me want to puke. These high calorie, low quality food/drink companies claim they are taking action and making a difference in preventing childhood obesity. I want to see it. Where is the social responsibility to our nation? We need to subsidize healthy foods and make THEM convenient and readily available.

After seeing that I rode hard. I was pissed. When you are pissed there is nothing better to do than to be active, be outdoors, vent with a fellow rider on a bicycle, and take deep breath filled with methane from the cow manure on approach to Lancaster County. It is incredible how much the landscape had changed over the past two days coming from the Allegheny Mountains to the farmland rolling hills of Middle and Eastern PA. Out west at higher elevations the leaves were definitely falling already and changed color for fall. The foliage was still relatively green as we moved eastbound.

Our Teamwork had been improving throughout the week, and now it was down to clockwork. Pumpkin 1 and Pumpkin 2 (Penske truck sag wagons) would keep us well sandwiched and protected from fore and aft. The Blacksmiths would run point and scope out the turns ahead and rest stops every 20-25 miles. Cousin Dan would drive Dan the Video Man to strategic camera positions up ahead in order to catch the riders as they passed through. It became fun to spot Dan the Man, as we would begin to see him pop up behind barns, hay bales, and one time this day, I saw him with his big video camera in the middle of a corn field!

About 10 miles out from York, PA we stopped at Rutter's gas station for rest stop and fuel up. I took a picture and recorded some audio and sent an update to Epic Tracker www.healthride.org/tracker to mark our location. As I was sending it, I heard some commotion and a young woman came out of the store wearing big cowboy boots, talking quickly about how she knew Jenna from Harrisburg, how she was not a "creeper" and how she wanted to teach me how to country line dance. Ok.... So we proceeded to country line dance, me in my bike shoes and helmet, and she in her cowgirl boots. The owner of the store came out and broke things up and informed the woman that she had forgotten to pay for her coffee and bagel inside. Geez.....I tell ya.

I got a call from the York Police Department telling me that they would escort us through town. I thanked Seargeant Kline and let him know when we would be there. York is known as the "White Rose" City and Lancaster as the "Red Rose" City. Affectionately called the "War of the Roses" between the nearby towns separated by the mighty Susquehanna River. As we approached York and traffic became congested, we picked up the police escorts and proceeded through some shady parts of town. We waved and pedaled on, and created some mid-day excitement in York, PA. It was fun.

It was a steady downhill from York to the Susquehanna River, where we would have to cross a majestic bridge into Lancaster County, and then be in Columbia, PA where Park Elementary School is located. Lancaster Commissioner Martin joined us for the ride across the bridge as well as Channel 11 and the Columbia Police Department and Mayor. I have to admit I got chills when crossing the bridge back into my hometown county of Lancaster PA. The weather was perfect, sun shining, magnificent views of the river, islands, and York and Lancater Counties. We had gone 330 miles on our bikes from Pittsburgh and now was homecoming time.



The students of Park Elementary greeted us with loud cheers and smiles. The assemblies here were split up into grades 4-6 first and then an assembly following with grades K-3. I had to change my approach between the two groups, but that is what makes it fun and exciting. Evaluating your audience, the venue, and adjusting on the fly. Kindergarten kids definitely have a shorter attention span :) Ellen's Dad came into town from DC to watch the assembly.
He is a former Navy Commander aviator, who flew P3s. It was great to get to talk with him and I know fun for him to see his daughter doing the skate dance she does so well. I tried to Hula Hoop once again and failed misearably :(
My favorite part of this assembly was when I felt a little girl tugging on my leg, and looked down and she had it turned to the page of their instructional book that had a picture of broccoli. She said "Dr. Andy, Look! Broccoli! I am going to show this to my mommy so I can have broccoli every night too!" So cute.


After the fun flying excitement of the 5th and 6th assemblies we had done thus far, the trucks were packed back up and we mounted our bikes for the ride to our homes in Lancaster. It felt just like old times, over 15 years since I had been on some of these roads, navigating my way back to my boyhood address on Raleigh Drive in Manheim Township, PA. Coming in the door, I screamed "Mom!" and the dog Zoe and Mother came downstairs to give us a big hug. "Let's go get some pasta at Macaroni Grill", I said. "There are some people from the Health Ride Team that I want you to meet."

So over dinner at the Park City Mall at Mac Grill, Dan the Video Man and Cousin Dan used the crayons to draw a schematic on the table of our trip thus far. Lots of stories of lives touched, funny tales, and questions about the two remaining days to come on to Philadelphia. Philly or Bust!