Tour de USA | Stage 30 Quincy, IL 76 miles

Wow, another nice day on the bike.  So much to talk about today, I’ll try to keep it short, but a lot of things to share.

First, we hit 2000 miles today, a couple of pictures above are with 2 of my great friends on this trip, John G. From NC, and Cathy S. From San Fran.  I ride a lot with Cathy, and John is just a great friend.  So excited to share this experience with them.

Second, we finally ran out of luck with the weather, and we had rain today, probably only 15 miles of the 76 total today, but it happened around mile 40, so we were soaked for the remainder of the ride.  Gotta love squishy shoes, and mine are outside drying now.  The weather was a little humid this am, but over cast most of the day until the rain, and then it cleared and it got hot and steamy.

Third, this one is the hardest to share, because I really don’t know much yet.  But one of the riders was hurt yesterday on the road.  We think, according to a passing motorist that was heading in the opposite direction, and stopped to help is that Mike S. Just went limp on the bike on a downhill, and wrecked.  We aren’t sure if he fainted or something worse.  There were Sag Vans in the area, and EMT’s were on the scene quickly.  I was ahead of this and didn’t see or even hear about it until dinner.  He was life flighted to Columbia, MO to the University of Missouri hospital. We should hear more at dinner about his condition.  We are obviously hoping for the best.

This is John G.’s account of what happened from his blog post.

Hills and heat became ENEMY #1. Adam was smart enough to call for the SAG wagon and head to the hotel, once he felt symptoms of heat stroke. When we knew Adam was in good hands, Rod and I proceeded to next hill top. Looking down and preparing to speed up, we noticed a person stretched across the highway. One of our riders was down. It was Mike Sheskey who was lying on his stomach with a wound on his forehead. Apparently, he fainted from the heat, as he attempted to climb, and simply keeled over. A passing doctor and paramedics were there in a nanosecond. We assisted where we could as the team administered to Mike. An EMS unit was on its way. Once the ambulances arrived it was time for us to leave. 

The fourth is that my friend, Scotty H. From Nashville left, and here is a picture of us this am before we both took off and headed in our different directions. 

The fifth thing is that we crossed another state line, we are barely into Illinois, but we are in Illinois. Below is a picture of Cathy, Pete from Scotland, and myself.




And the sixth item to share is a PM that I got from one of my dad’s friends.  It is always great to receive these. Thanks for sharing, and feel free to email me anything you want.  Brucegreen2@comcast.net 

Last night at our chief residents’ graduation banquet, one of the chiefs made a speech and said that I was “the most passionate and devoted educator ever”...the resident knows that it was actually Neil Green but he was being kind and respectful - I think your Dad would be so proud to know the generational educational and clinical impact that he has still today...it’ll continue to roll on thru at least one more generation of physicians. 

He also said that he would forever call me Dr R. ( I used his initial instead of his last name for privacy) because “you will always intimidate me”...your Dad would’ve liked that too!!!

Here is the map today, close to Iowa, St. Louis, and Missouri. Heading East!!

We also had a tailwind today so that was nice, as we were trying to take it easy today, because tomorrow is a big day, a 106 mile day. 

Here is the video: Check out Tour de USA | Stage 30 Quincy, Ill  https://www.relive.cc/view/1630580647

Thank you for following along with me on this journey, and if you can please make a donation to the Children's Hospital below.  100% of your funds go to the Vanderbilt Children's Hospital.

https://vanderbilt.ejoinme.org/bikeacrosstheusa

As a non-profit institution, the Children's Hospital provides care to the children who come through its' doors regardless of the family's ability to pay.  Caring support from the community allows this level of service to continue.