You know, to be perfectly honest, Pat and I have been feeling kind of worn down. We’ve been pushing pretty hard to keep ahead of schedule so that we can arrive in Chicago on time for events there.

That’s why the event we attended today at the Hollyloft Ski and Bike Shop in Jamestown, New York was such a delight.

The folks in Jamestown were the consummate hosts. When we left Jamestown today, we felt more energized and enthusiastic about the mission of The Dream Tour than when we arrived. Colleen Schubring, the local Bayer HealthCare Diabetes Sales Specialist, Kathy Krieg, Certified Diabetes Educators with WCA Hospital in Jamestown, Jackie Carlson, Registered Dietitian and Diabetes Program Coordinator at WCA Hospital, and Les Johnson and his staff at the Hollyloft Ski and Bike Shop all teamed up to make Pat and I feel very welcome for the two days we spent in Jamestown. We made a bunch of new friends and we didn’t want to leave.

This past Thursday, we had ridden all the way to Warren, Ohio. We then drove back to Jamestown, New York in preparation for an event there today. We drove back to Jamestown earlier than we really had to so that we could spend all day yesterday (Friday) as a rest day with no travel.

On our rest day, we had planned to visit the Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center, but we were too tired to do much except rest. In the afternoon, we wandered over to the Hollyloft Ski and Bike shop in search of a few extra spare tubes, tires, chain lube, etc. After we got there and introduced ourselves, it was clear we were in good hands. We felt so welcome it was like coming home again! Plus, like any good bike shop, they had dogs hanging around! Raleigh and Duncan seemed at home wandering among the bicycles and the busy activity of the store on Friday afternoon didn’t seem to bother them a bit.

While we were at the store, a reporter from the local cable TV station stopped by for an interview. Colleen, Kathy, Bob Dahl, the Team Hollyloft ride leader and I were interviewed for a segment that would air on the evening news. I hadn’t done a TV interview in quite a while, so I felt a bit nervous and disorganized as we got started, but once we got going, things seemed to fall into place. When the piece aired yesterday evening, it was a nice, long segment and I thought they did a great job.

Yesterday evening, Colleen treated Pat, Kathy, Jackie, and me to dinner at one of the local favorite restaurants: Webb’s. We had a great time getting to know Colleen, Kathy, and Jackie and learning more about the Jamestown area.

This morning, the agenda was a short “meet and greet” session with the Team Hollyloft club members and other interested people before I headed out with the team on their regular Saturday morning ride. Colleen arranged for some food and drinks and some great Bayer Dream Fund t-shirts. I couldn’t resist taking a couple of the shirts for myself. Did I mention that I’m wearing out the three t-shirts I brought with me and it’s going to be SO nice to wear something different?

I was given an opportunity to speak to everybody there for five minutes or so to explain what The Dream Tour was, why I was doing it and how things were going. After that, just as the rain was starting to fall, we got ready to ride.

The rain didn’t last long though. By the time we had ridden four or five miles, you could see some blue sky. The Hollyloft team had decided to take me on a scenic loop that started up the west side of Chautauqua Lake. Eleven miles later, we took a left turn off of highway 394 and onto a quieter, but hillier rural road. This road took us back towards Jamestown via Ashville. We passed through downtown Ashville where I experienced a bit of “Ashville Days”, a local celebration that included things like a parade, bed races, mower races, live music, yard sales, and tons of people out enjoying the sunshine.

On the return ride, we passed through the town of Celeron, New York, the town where Lucille Ball grew up. Jamestown is popularly credited as being her birthplace, but nearby Celeron is where she spent her childhood.

When I got back to the Hollyloft Ski and Bike Shop, I said some good-byes to the team members. Pat and I had such a great time that I decided I just had to have one of the Hollyloft team jerseys. Pat took a couple of photos of me posing with the jersey on and then we hopped in the car for our drive back to Warren, Ohio. Last Thursday, I had finished up my ride in Warren, Ohio. Tomorrow, we will start riding again from there. On the way to Warren, Pat and I talked about what a great time we both had, how great everybody was, and how in the world we could manage to come back to visit again!

Other photos from today:

July 15: Getting energized in Jamestown, New York

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 15th, 2006 at 6:50 pm and is filed under The Dream Tour, Diabetes, Bicycling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.