Bike America 2K4 Diary, May 16-18, 2004
Baylor University sophomores Chad Anderson and Drew Mitchell are spending more than half their summer bicycling 3,700 miles across the United States to raise funds and awareness for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Texas.
Their journey, called Bike America 2K4, will take the business majors through California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky and Virginia. By the time they complete their trip in mid-July, the students hope to have raised $37,840 - or $10 a mile - for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Texas, where Anderson serves as a Big Brother. For more information or to donate, go to Bike America 2K4.
As they pedal across America, Anderson and Mitchell are filing a diary from the road so fellow Baylor students, faculty, staff and alumni can keep up with their progress. Alums along the way are providing support and lodging for the students.
To reach Anderson and Mitchell, e-mail them at Chad_Anderson@baylor.edu or Drew_Mitchell@baylor.edu or contact Lori Scott Fogleman, director of media relations, at (254) 710-6275 or Lori_Scott-Fogleman@baylor.edu.
Sunday, May 16, 2004 - San Francisco
Today was a crazy day. It was the day before the trip and we went up with Drew's family to San Francisco and kinda chilled there, touring the bay area and eating on Pier 39. Today we also walked the Golden Gate Bridge, knowing that we would not be walking it tomorrow but biking across it to start our journey. We got back to the hotel room before too late and got a good night's rest.
Monday, May 17, 2004 - San Francisco, Vallejo, Fairfield, Sacramento, CA
Today is the start of our trek across America. We woke up at 5:30 a.m. and headed to the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge where we were dropped off by Jim and Cassi, Drew's Parents. We took some great photos and then biked across the bridge to the other side. We then hiked our bikes to the beach to officially start our journey in the Pacific Ocean, hoping to end up in the other ocean across the country.
We got to the ferries and just missed the 7:30 a.m. one and so we hopped on the one at 9 a.m. to take us across to Vallejo, Calif. Our bikes got a little salty from this part. We then got off the ferry at Vallejo and biked to Fairfield pretty much non-stop. Very nice country and hills out there as we biked all day. Literally all day. Jim, Cassi and Jimmy (Drew's big brother) would come and offer assistance every once in awhile as we usually just kept on biking.
In Fairfield we met up with Becky, an awesome Baylor graduate who met us along the side of the road and chatted for a while. It was good to share some stories with her in the middle of the day. We then took off and headed for Sacramento. Most of the bike trails here were nice and pretty. We then stayed the evening in eastern Sacramento with another Baylor graduate Nicholas, his wife, Jessica, and their 10-month-old son, Luke. After not eating much all day, they provided great meal and comfortable place to stay for the evening. It was great hearing what Baylor was like back in the early 90s when Nick went to school there. We had a big spaghetti dinner and ice cream afterwards. We got spoiled our first night on the trail.
We calculated the distance, figuring we bike 90 + miles on the day. We got sunburned, but we're looking forward to the eggs in the morning. Thanks, Nick and Jessica, for the stories and great hospitality along our way.
Tuesday, May 18, 2004 - Sacramento, Placerville, CA
Today is the second day of the trip. We woke up at 6:30 a.m. and got some eggs from Nick and then headed out. We biked all the way to Placerville, Calif., about 40 miles, where we stopped at a gas station. Today the biking was a little more difficult as we had a little more uphill to do. We're planning on making a little farther up the mountain today before we camp for the night. We hope to make it over the pass tomorrow, but it will depend on how the legs feel. We are right now at the public library in Placerville and are about to bike for about three or four more hours before we settle down for the evening. We both have knees that hurt a little but nothing too serious has happened yet!
In Him,
Drew and Chad