Long time

I know it has been a long time since I've updated my blog, and for that, I am sorry. I just wanted to say we have sent the money to the American Cancer Society. That's all I had to say!

Luck.

Hey Everyone!

It's Alec! I just wanted everyone to know that before the trip, my mom gave me her lucky acorn. Here's the thing. My dad and I ran into a lot of mosquitos. "There sure are too many bugs", I said to my dad. About 5 seconds later, we saw a FULL BOTTLE OF BUG SPRAY on the trail! How weird is that?!(Of course, we picked it up). I also came up with a saying; "If you need help, you must help." That took it's role on the trail as well. As we were stopping to take a breather, a man came over to us and asked us if we had a hand pump. We did(of course). But our pump didn't work on his tires. Luckily, another man came by to get the flat tire man back in business. After that, the flat tire man got in front of us. About 45 minutes later, a different man had lost some air in his tire, and the flat tire man asked another biker if he had a pump. A few minutes later, everybody was back in business!!! And that's how biking goes; if you need help, you must help. Above is a picture of the lucky acorn. 

                     -Alec

Crossing the Finish Line!!

My friend Zac rode the last 10 miles with me.

Crossing the finish line!!!

Pictures!

Looking out at the water at Harpers Ferry, WV

Everyone came to meet me at Harpers Ferry.  From left to right, me, Aunt Christy, Mum-mum, Uncle Toad, Great Aunt Mary Lou, my cousin Sarah, Nicole, my brothers Cole and Beau and Mom and Dad.

Aunt Mary Lou (my grandma's sister) and Aunt Christy.

Aunt Christy made the trip from SC after chemo on Friday. She is diagnosed with

colon cancer. She has many hats to cover her loss of hair! 

My brother Cole is crazy.

Pictures!

Me and dad just before Harpers Ferry, West Virginia

Paw Paw Tunnel

Headed into the dreaded Paw Paw Tunnel! IT WAS DARK! But there weren't any bats

Pictures!

Me and another one of Pop-pop's friends, Mr. Struntz, near Oldtown, Maryland.  Mr. Struntz rode with me from Cumberland to Oldtown.  

Pictures

In Cumberland at Canal Place near the C&O Canal trailhead.  We found a lot of great information on the C&O Canal at http://www.bikewashington.org/canal.

Pictures

Me and Mr. Skidmore, one of my Pop-Pop's friends.  He rode the first 10 miles with me on the Great Allegheny Passage (www.atatrail.org).  

Pictures

Me and my family getting ready to head out on Day 1 from Frostburg, Maryland.

Done!!!!!!!!!!

I'm done!
I am finally done! It was tough but I'm done! I want to thank Zac Branciforte for riding with me and Quintin Ricci for trying to make it! I have had a HUGE after party! So much celebration!Thanks to everyone for all of your help and support!


-Alec

Great Falls!!

We are at mile post 19. Lock 22! We are a full 2 hours plus ahead of schedule!

Alec is on a mission. We just departed whites ferry. We are one hour and 45 mins ahead of schedule. Updated mtg times: great falls 1:45 anglers 2:15.

Update : we are at mile post 48 rolling along at about 10 mph. I would say we are about an hour ahead of schedule

Alecs dad here. Alec is really cranking them out this morning and we are already at point of rocks. So we are about 30 minutes ahead of schedule!

Last day and we are headed out a little bit early. Hope we beat the rain!

Made it to Harpers Ferry about an hour ago! Neat town, but TOO hilly! Not too many updates today. Dads phone is almost dead.

Day3 here we go!

Made it!!! 45 miles(when it should have been 40) thanks to my dads little exploring mission! At the end my dad needed a little enthusiasm, but we still made it!

Hey everyone!
Its Alec! I am in Hancock getting a cinnamon roll at Weavers! Its the second day of my bike ride and my dad and I have already ridden 15 miles!

Day 2 is underway! Mom just dropped us off back in little Orleans. Thanks to Mum-mum for the big french toast breakfast!

Paw Paw Tunnel

C&O Canal at Cumberland

This is a picture near the C&O trailhead in Cumberland, Maryland.  The bridge in the background is the Blue Bridge which crosses from Cumberland into Ridgeley West Virginia.  

Andy

Forgot to mention, thanks to Mr. Skiddy and Mr. Struntz for joining me on the first part of my ride. They were good friends with my Pop-pop

Hey everybody!
I have good news and bad news. Good news is I completed my first day awesomily! Bad news is I got 2 bad sunburns on my legs :-( -Alec

Almost 40 miles into trip. Just stopped for lunch. Back on the trail!

1st Day update!
Hey its Alec! Its the first day of my bikeride! So far I have gone about 12 miles. Stay tuned!
Alec

At the trail head in Frostburg getting ready to kick off. Wish me luck!

My Class And Training

Hey Everybody!

It's Alec! First of all, I just want to thank everybody in my class for donating money to this cause! I also want to say that I would like friends to be there for me on the last leg of the trip. You may bike or just be there for me. I will be running low on power by then. So far, The people riding with me on the last day are Quintin Ricci, Matt Wohlebben, Brendan Boyle, and maybe Zac Branciforte. Sorry if I got your name wrong. Second, I've recently trained on the last leg of my trip. First it was a bit bumpy, but then it stopped as we reached the city. It was very crowded! Only two more days left!                                            

                                                  -Alec

Almost Time!

Hey!

It's Alec. It's almost time for the big bike ride!! I am getting sooo nervous and excited! Me and my Dad will be training some on Sunday and again on Monday.  With baseball and homework it has been hard to get a lot of training time in.  With all of your help, I have raised over $2,500!  That's a lot and way more than I expected.  All of you that have already sent in their checks and people that will soon-send-in-checks, thank you so much!

                                       -Alec 

Wow

Hey, it's Alec!

I just wanted to thank everyone for all your generous donations! You are really donating A LOT of money! It is very nice of you and I appreciate all of your support!

Well, that's all for now!

Sincerely,

Alec Souders

April Update

Alec's dad again.  Well, three weeks from day we will embark on our bikeride.  Alec has continued to train very hard and is physically ready to make the trip.  We did a relatively tough leg of the trip a couple of weekends ago, from Point of Rocks, MD to the Old Angler's Inn.  While this was only about 40 miles, it was, in Alec's words "boring, boring, boring"!  We have attached a clip below.

We have been overwhelmed by the amout of support that we have received in donations and the thoughtfulness of your letters.  On behalf of Alec, who will be taking over his blog site from here on, THANK YOU SO MUCH for your generosity and support!!!!

Sincerely,

Alec's Dad

March Update

This is Alec's dad.  I figured I'd take a minute to update everyone who is following, or about to learn about, his bikeride through this blog.

Alec decided that he (1) wanted a new bike and (2) wanted to go on a big bikeride.  I suggested doing something on the C&O Canal and that he do it for a cause and the letter that most of you have seen was written entirely by him in response.  We forwarded the letter to Mark McElrath at the Cancer Society through a very good friend where I work, Cliff White.  Cliff was our first donor!!  Mark quickly embraced the cause and the rest is history.  Just a note that this trip is one that Alec made up...this is not part of a larger group.  While we are looking for recruits for legs of the trip, for the most part so far it will just be me and Alec on the trail.

As many of you know, I lost my mom to lung cancer 9 years ago and in 2006 Kristen lost her father to melanoma.  And most recently, my sister Christy was diagnosed with colon cancer and is going through chemotherapy, but in fantastic spirits.  I have also lost three other grandparents to cancer and my dad is a prostate cancer survivor.  We have all been touched either directly or through friends by this disease and I could not be more proud of Alec for wanting to do something about it.

We ended up buying Alec a new bike in early March and on his FIRST DAY, he logged 26 miles.  I was amazed, impressed, wowed, speechless, but also very tired!  Then on the next day we put in 16.  Since then, he has been eager to get out and ride, in good weather and bad.  On one Sunday ride, it was sleeting, but he didn't complain and we still managed to put in 10 miles.  I have been awed by his commitment and enthusiasm for this challenge.  Not to mention that on his 24" bike, he has to pedal 3 times for every 2 times I pedal.  Pretty good for an almost 11-year-old.  The trip is almost exactly 200 miles.  We plan on departing in the early morning from Frostburg on Friday, May 22nd and breaking the trip into four segments of 60 miles, 40 miles, 40 miles and finishing up in Georgetown after the final 60 miles.

Everything about this experience so far has been amazing.  And we look forward to keeping you in the loop as we continue to train and during the trip.  Thanks so much for your support.  Pray for good weather.  200 miles with only your dad is going to be tough enough without having to do it in a downpour!

All the best!

Andy (Alec's dad)