My good friend Kenny picked me up in his truck at 4:45 am and we drove downtown, parked and made our way to Grant Park, where Bike the Drive starts and finishes. I started biking at 5:40 am and finished at 9:15 am. The weather was perfect. It was hazy (the sun didn’t really start shining until 9:00 am) and 66 degrees when I started. Unlike last year, there was very little wind, which made things great. I was, thanks to my hours and miles of training, able to bike at a rather steady pace, stopping every every 15 miles to refill my water bottle with Crystal Light packets. Things were going well until the last 7.5 miles, then I began to get a little tired. OK, really tired. Of course, others were biking too and I knew that I was almost finished. I kept going, like a man on a mission, and finally made it to the end.
Throughout the ride I was listening to shiurim and was able to get through a shiur on the history of the SlabodkaYeshiva, a biography of Rav Yitzchak Hutner and a discussion on Perfection in Human Relations. What Torah I was able to learn was in memory of:
- Avraham ben Zorah a"h
- Rivka bas Chaim Yosef a"h
- Dan Halevi ben Ovadia a"h
- Pesha bas Shmuel a"h
- Yakov ben Rav Avraham Yosef a"h
- Efraim ben Shlomo a"h
- Reuven ben Tova Chaya
- Esther bas Sara
- Yenta Tzarna bas Etya
- Ayelet bas Nurit
At Grant Park, where the event ended, we were greeted at the Chai Lifeline tent by their staff and a nice breakfast of cream cheese sandwiches, pastries and orange juice (I was too exhausted to eat, but the orange juice hit the spot). Also, at 8:00 am I was greeted at Buckingham Fountain by my brother, David, who had come in for the event.
Kenny and I (along with my brother) then went back out our home where we were given the welcome of a lifetime. Kenny’s family had come over and all of our kids had lined up in the front yard and made a paper-link-chain for us to cross. Rena, our 2nd grader, had even made a picture for me of a trophy and written “#1” on it. Joanie had made an awesome celebratory breakfast of champions that included: Bagels, lox, cream cheese, scrambled eggs, whole wheat pancakes and coffee. I mostly drank and had a bagel later in the afternoon.
After resting for some of the day, we all drove to Six Flags, since the kids didn’t have school on Memorial Day, and hung out for the evening. Kenny and I (along with all the kids) ended up being picked to be part of the Glow in the Dark parade. It was a great way to end perfect day.
I biked a total of 45 miles (I tied with only one other person for the the longest distance biked) and my sponsorship totaled about $3,000.00, which was the highest amount raised in Chai Lifeline’s Bike the Drive history…thanks to the you.
As I had previously written, I dedicated this year’s ride to the memory of my father, Al Harris a"h, who passed away in early November. He not only sponsored me, but was always amazed by my commitment to Biking the Drive and was very proud of my efforts both in terms of biking and also in attempting to help an important organization like Chai Lifeline. I know he would have been very proud of what was accomplished on Sunday.
My wife and kids made it all worth while.
