right now I'm sitting on cloud nine. because, yesterday when I opened my email. I had one from a possible sponsor that not only wants to sponsor me. but, he also wants to set me up with a different trike that would be more suited to the trip. thats all I know right now but, I'll be sure to let you know as soon as I hear more from him. on another note taking the day off today because of illness but, I'll be back on the bike tomorrow for sure I hope.

well after much back and forth with several people. including a lady that the VA is put me in contact with to assist me with all of the details. I think my route is going to change. I'll still end up in the same place and doing the same miles plus a few hundred more. but, it will be a lot more bicycle friendly. I will be traveling along the old historic underground rail road. through Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas and then take the trans continental route across Arkansas into Oklahoma and then drop down to Texas and go on to Dallas. I know that it seems like a lot more but, in the long run I think it will pay off.

TRAINING RIDES FOR THE WEEK OF 3/16/09

I'm just trying to keep in shape right now till the weather gets more tolerable. Then once that happens I will kick it up a notch or two. my goal is to be able to do at least 75-100 miles comfortably. That way in case something happens during the ride I will still have plenty of energy to complete the days miles.

3/16-40 miles 3/17- 25 miles 3/18- 25 miles 3/19- 52 miles 3/20- off day 3/21- 25 miles

TRAINING RIDES FOR THE WEEK

friday 3/6/09 I rode about 35 miles in the morning and then stopped because of rain and time constraints saturday 3/7/09 got in a 40 mile ride between morning and afternoon but, it felt good getting out into the nicer weather. sunday 3/8/09 off day monday 3/9/09 raining and cold so instead of risking getting sick opted to stay indoors tuesday 3/10/09 40 miles kept up a good pace and cadence wed. 3/12/09 had to get ready to go up to the VA for the day so no riding today

A little about me...

I am a 39 year old father of 2 kids, and a 1991 Desert Storm veteran. In September of 2004, I was in a really bad motor vehicle accident that almost ended my life. I was taken from the accident scene by life-flight helicopter, and spent the next 6-8 months in a coma, a vegetative state, trach dependent (breathing machine), quadriplegic for several months after that. Over the next 5 years I had gained a lot of weight from being inactive. Then, about a year ago, my girlfriend turned me onto riding a recumbent-trike. Well, let me tell you what that bike has done for me. I now ride every chance that I can, rain, shine, or even snow. My power wheelchair only comes outside when I go down to the VA hospital, and my manual chair is now my office chair. My weight is now back down to my before accident weight, along with my pants size. I now ride everywhere I can. About 2 months ago, after coming home from the VA hospital, I was sitting here listening to the radio, when a question kept coming into my head. If I could give back to the men and women that give so much for us, how would I do it? Well, actually the answer came easy, I could take a long bike ride for donations to a charity. Then came the hard part, the planning. Do I take a short ride, using the rails for trails? No, that isn't long enough and anyone can do that. Do I just ride from Cleveland to Cincinnati? No, once again that is not long enough, and there really are no VA centers to goodwill visit between here and there. Alright, at least now I had some sort of idea of what I wanted it to be. It needs to be long, have the most VA centers between the two points, and to be something that I can be proud of, and say I did that. So, that is how MY BIG RIDE 09 came about. With the help of my friends, family and you, it will hopefully be a huge success and raise lots of awareness and donations towards the plight of our returning veterans. I would like to thank a few people before I even leave on my big ride. To Rhonda, thank you for helping me find myself when I was lost, and to my family thank you for not giving up on me when the doctors wanted to. To all of my friends both new and old, thanks for accepting me as I am. And, to my friend Ken, thanks for helping me put all of this together, may it be a huge success. Also, thanks to you, my supporters, because without you none of this would be possible. Best Regards, Lee Kelly My Big Ride 09 PS I belong to the following organizations: American Legion Disabled American Veterans Veterans of Foreign Wars Adventure Cycling Association I also enjoy volunteering at the Louis Stokes VA Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio.