His nerves twittered up and down his entire body. This was the beginning of the ride of a lifetime. His right foot rested on the curb and his left was twitching on the pedal of his bike, donated for the cause. It was time. He looked around at all his friends, gathered to send him off in style. A couple were Newsies, so he hoped it would be on the 5:00, 6:00, 10:00, 11:00...whatever he could get. It was all for The Cause, so the attention was not only warranted, but a big part of the ride.
He took a deep breath. Here we go. Pushing off from the curb, he started to pedal. His left foot circled around and down and his right foot went from the curb to...to...nothing! To thin air! He fell forward, remaining upright but feeling that hot flush shoot straight up his neck under his pink cowboy hat to the tip of his bald head. Dozens of cameras caught that graceful start.
"It's OK, Dusty. Better to get it out of the way early."
He vaguely registered that shout of encouragement as his thoughts started spinning. What was he doing?? Did he seriously believe he could ride cross county on a bicycle all alone? He had his support van meeting him in pre-set locations, but he would be on his own otherwise; praying that his fans would come thru with sleeping accommodations and food.
He picked his foot back up and watched himself put it on the pedal this time. He was now officially off on his 3,000 mile ride from Clearwater Beach, FL to San Francisco, CA. It wasn't all for awareness. The man in a pink cowboy hat, pink bra and loud bike shorts would draw lots of attention, that's for sure. He'd been doing that for years. This ride was to raise money. He had goals for each state and he planned on posting them regularly to Twitter and Facebook. Before he left Florida, he had to raise enough money to get Emily her PET Scan.
That's what it was all about. Getting the cancer patients, his friends, the money to pay the electric bill, the hospital bill, the scan she needs, the medication she needs, the hotel room for her husband as she gets treatment in a town away from home. Whatever these women (or men) needed, he wanted to be able to help them get. Cancer was hard enough without having to worry about the bills or how you were going to pay for that treatment.
They were what made the ride, not him. He could hardly wait to get to his first night's accommodation to do his first "fireside chat". He had tons of time for thinking and lots of things to think about. No rain, sleet, snow...well, if it sleeted or snowed in Florida or the other Southern states, it might slow him down, he couldn't use the USPS motto after all. But the feeling behind it stuck. His first thoughts were how he could update that motto to fit his ride. No gators, opossums, rattle snakes, thunder, lightening or rain would keep him from his ride. He would make it to good ole California in five weeks time.
The bets were on. The pool had started. Now it was his time to beat the odds. Dusty waved at all his buds as he rode out of town. He had a long road ahead of him, but it was easier than chemo...it was easier than chemo...it was easier than chemo...
