Woo Hoo! Yesterday at the 2007 Face of America Bike Ride was a blast!!

My daughter and I traveled up to Chevy Chase,MD yesterday to assist with handing out lunches when the 2007 Face of America Bike Ride

(sponsored by World T.E.A.M. Sports .....and T.E.A.M stands for "The Exceptional Athlete Matters",I found out yesterday:)

came to the Geico building parking lot as their last stop before heading to the

National Naval Medical Center .

As it turned out, the 'lunch stop' got turned into just a 'water stop' because the bike ride was running behind schedule.

But we still got to meet some Great folks.....both fellow Soldiers Angels members , and some of the bike riders (Hey,Josh!!!!),and friends and family of the bike riders, and volunteers from other organizations. (And the "Geico Gecko" was there:)

It was an absolutely Gorgeous day....the sun was shining,clear blue skies, not too warm out. April and I arrived at 10 am, and then learned that the riders were about 2 hours delayed. We teamed up with some other kindred spirits (i.e. "hungry people",lol) and walked a block to get some food for ourselves at a restaurant in the Metro station mall....and act silly while we were there,LOL.(no,Security wasn't called, but we got some funny looks:)

The 'Lunch Truck" arrived, and we helped set up tables and then learned that we Weren't going to be a lunch stop, and took the tables back down.

When the riders came in, the "Geico Gecko" met them as they entered the parking lot,high-fiving a bunch of the riders, and they rode down the entrance to the parking lot and then circled around to pass through a tree-filled lane hung with banners made by schoolchildren and other veteran/troop supporters that were flapping in the breeze....while we Angels, and family members and friends of the riders, clapped and cheered.

I think the water stop lasted about 20 minutes.....we were handing outwater,chips,pretzels, and oranges to the riders, and then they all grouped together to ride the final 3 miles to the National Naval Medical Center,where the ride ended.  We volunteers didn't get to see the end of the ride, we did 'clean up' duty, but we did get to go down to the Medical Center afterwards,where the riders Finally were eating their lunches and just hanging out and celebrating the end of their long 2 day bike ride that started in Gettysburg,PA.

There was a fellow Soldiers Angel member who was taking pictures, and she already has some up on her website  Click here: SmugMug - PuppyLovePhotography's photo galleries (It's under "freedom race" )

or the direct link is here  Click here: SmugMug - PuppyLovePhotography : freedom race

I'll get my own pictures developed and posted within the next few days (darn, I wish I had a digital camera,lol) and pass along any other pics as I come across them.

This was a wonderful event to be a part of, and it was worth every bit of the 4 hour round trip for us, to meet some other Angels and all the other great folks we got to meet. (And hey! we got free shirts from World T.E.A.M. Sports.....doesn't everyone drive 4 hours roundtrip, just to get a free shirt?)

LOL...my 'dork moment' that I have to share is, while we were driving to the Geico building, we passed a church with cars parked all up and down the road next to it, and I commented to my daughter "There must be a wedding, or a funeral, or something". She looked at me in amazement,and just said "OR, it could be because it's SUNDAY, Mom!!!"And then I replied,"oh my gosh, it IS Sunday,isn't it?"(All I can say in my defense is we got up Very Early to make the drive....maybe I hadn't had enough coffee yet?:)

My next big event that I'm looking forward to is the 2007 Milblog Conference .

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Oh, and speaking of bike rides? Remember the local teacher that I blogged about last fall who made a bike ride with firefighters?  Click here: Mrs. Ferek’s Blog

I saw last week in our local paper that she had won an award. 

Daily News-Record (Harrisonburg, VA){PUBLICATION2}

April 25, 2007
Section: Valley Virginia

Bridgewater College Honors Alumni
Valley Residents Cited For Professional, Community Leadership
   ALICIA WOTRING, Daily News-Record

Bridgewater College honored six alumni last week, including two Valley residents, for their professional and community leadership. Paige Will of Dayton received the West-Whitelow Award, which honors humanitarian service, and Cindy Pearson Ferek of Broadway received the 2007 Young Alumnus Award.

Ferek is a teacher and coach at Turner Ashby High School.

She led a cross-country bike trip from San Francisco to the Pentagon to raise awareness for Sept. 11 victims and the Christian Firefighters Association, the press release said.

She is a supporter of the Special Olympics and served as a Big Sister for Big Brothers Big Sisters for six years.

She teaches health, physical education and driver's education. She has also coached girls tennis and basketball.

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Congratulations! Mrs. Ferek :)

Well, that's all for today:) Hope everyone has a great week!

 

Tags: Soldiers Angels