Five By Five

Thom met this large family of vultures on a bike ride not far from the house. A very impressive brush with nature.

Molly needs to unwind at the end of the day. (Photo by Avery)

Jack’s two-toothed smile hides his mad chomping skills.

We spent a great four days after the ride exploring the country between Madison, WI and Peterborough, NH. We met many interesting people, and ate a lot of great food (Especially— Nichols Diner, in Zanesville, Ohio; and King Pita in Oneonta, NY). Along the way, we stopped in Johnstown, PA to visit with Thom’s uncle Paul, aunt Bonnie and Grandpa Eash- still sharp as a tack at 96 years old.

Thom supported the riders with delicious offerings at breakfast and dinner. He is the head honcho of the food crew and is well loved and respected on the ride. He has numerous returning crew mates that will only work with Thom. And the Riders love Thom’s food! Imagine cooking for 300 people? Thom had ridiculous hours while the Ride was in progress and he grabbed sleep when he could on the floor of whatever school was that night’s camping ground. After preparing and serving breakfast, he’d meet up with us at the AM Pit to lend a hand and then stayed with us until he had to get going on dinner prep. He was Superman! And I am very proud.

Ophelia, Elli, Avery and Jack joined the AM PIT Crew for ACT 7. This meant early rising for four days in order to set up the pit ahead of riders who hit the road at 6AM and sometimes don’t take long to traverse 15 0r 25 miles to the first pit. Pit Stops provide food, first aid, bathrooms and support of every kind to riders- many of whom are on the longest ride of their lives. Our family did their best to dispense to the riders whatever was needed, usually in rather rainy conditions. Avery loved tattooing anyone who stood still long enough to catch her eye. Even Molly got into the act.

The purpose of our long journey across the country: The ACT 7 Ride. The ACT rides raise money and awareness for the Madison AIDSNetwork ( http://www.aidsnetwork.org/ ) which provides AIDS/HIV prevention and care services for the South Central Wisconsin. Thom became involved with fundraising for the Network over a decade ago as a rider for the Twin Cities to Chicago AIDSRides, and transitioned to volunteer and crew member. It is the sort of event, the sort of people that we want our children to interact with and be a part of. The community created over the four days of the ACT ride echoes the one that in our hearts we all wish we lived in every day. It is good people banding together to solve problems, to support each other, to find joy in our everyday lives. Our hope is that our children will see this, and wonder why the whole world isn’t like this, and work to change the world to be a better place. And they’ll have fun while they do it.

Our destination city, Madison. Although busy with the ACT 7 ride, and dodging rain most of the week, we still got to see some of the capital city highlights, like Ella’s Deli, and Karoline.

While in the Chicago area, Jack had his first taste of ice cream at a Dairy Queen. Yummm. Soft serve! It is amazing how parenting changes with each child you raise. I would never have allowed or desired Elli or Avery to have a sweet under age two, let alone under one! Yes, I was that neurotic. Ah well. No harm. Just different. And we embrace different in this family!

Continuing our explore of Chicago, we spent a great day in the city proper. The girls really enjoyed the Institute of Art. They have a fantastic wing specifically designed for families and a yummy cafe with lots of veggie choices where we lunched. Then, we splashed around the water pad in Millenium Park before we ended the day with pictures at the Bean. Why a bean? I still haven’t been able to figure that one out!