Day 2: Burlington,Wa to Bremerton,WA

Miles on the road: 93

# of Wrong Turns: 0 (We took 3 yesterday)

Terrain: Moderately Hilly.....there were a few big ones, but for the most part they were manageable.

Weather: We hit the high 70's by the end of the day.

Wind: As with yesterday, the wind was not a factor at all.

# of people that I spoke to that I would consider to be "Crazy:" 2 (And one of these individuals, oddly enough, happened
to be from the great state of Wisconsin. HOW CAN THIS BE?????)

# of friggin' awesome bridges that we rode over: 3 (including one "floating bridge")

Songs that were stuck in my head: "No doubt about it" -Neal McCoy (I know.....this is a really old, and a really
random song to have stuck in your head, but it was there.)

# of pieces of sloppy, greasy, baked cod that I ate at lunch today: 5

# of ounces of grease I probably consumed with my lunch: 250-310 or so

SUMMARY OF DAY #2........
Man, I gotta tell ya, I love Washington. Great State. Beautiful. Real nice, Clark. Real Nice. I love the scenery....the ocean, the rivers, the bridges, the tall pines. I love the biker-friendly, wide shoulders on the road. But most of all, I love the people. Several times yesterday and today, we were literally standing in the road with our bikes looking at the map and people stopped to ask us if we needed help. How rad is that?
Today was definitely more of challenge than yesterday because of the temps. It's funny what 8 or 9 degrees will do. But, all in all, I'm still very surprised at the fact that I'm really not very sore from the last two days of riding. Overall, I feel great. The sorest part of my body is my arms from being slightly sunburned. I have a couple of theories as to why this is......one theory is that "it's all in the wrestling singlet." My other theory is that this strange phenominon has more to do with my trainer for the last 6 months, Greg Anderson. I'm not sure what he's been giving me, but it's working. Thanks, Greg.


I REALLY APPRECIATE.......
your prayers for our safety. While we did, for the most part, have GREAT shoulders to ride on yesterday and today, there was definitely a high volume of traffic on the road. And we will probably have many more days like today the rest of the summer with it being the peak of the tourist season on the west coast. Most of the roads we were on ranged from 55-65 mph. This is definitely something that you get used to and come to expect on a trip like this. But, the reality is, at the end of the day, you have to place your faith in the fact that if you make it to the next day unharmed that it is only by the grace of God. So, know that I covet your prayers.


SHOUT OUTS......
*Dave at the Hampton Inn for the comfy bed, firm pillow, the shampoo that makes my hair smell good. Also, the shower cap.
*Grant Edwards, my old college roomate, for changing the numbers in my cell phone while I was visiting him in Texas last weekend. Thanks buddy, you're a real pal. Hey funnyman.......all I've gotta say is CharlesStolfus@hotmail.com

Day 1: Vancouver,BC to Burlington,WA

# of Miles on the bike: 91
# of Miles we should have been on the bike: 80

Weather: Mostly Sunny, High's near 70 or so. Perfect riding conditions.

Wind: No Factor. Or at least I didn't notice. However, I did notice a slight breeze
beneath my bicycle seat from time to time today.

Terrain: Gosh, there was so much variety in today's ride. We had gargantuan bridges over wide rivers, we had big hills amidst thick forestland along the coast. We also had many miles of quiet, flat farmland riding.

Road Kill: The first Road Kill seen on the 2007 Hunger Ride was, oddly enough, a frog. And a big one at that.
Next, we saw a duck......and then a couple of skunks.

Quote of the Day #1: "It was suppose to be nice out today but instead we got stuck with this heat wave."
-An older lady sitting outside of Subway in Ferndale,Wa. The bank clock read "71 degrees"

Quote of the Day #2: Let me first set the scene. I'm sitting inside the USA/Canada border patrol building standing
in line......waiting to get my orange card to cross into the US. Right before Stephen and I get called up, some agents arrive and take the man standing right in front of us away in handcuffs. It was actually a pretty intense scene.
Right after that happened, an older canadian lady standing behind me says (very sternly) "I think I'm going to go back to Canada"
Immediately after she said that I looked at her and said, "I'm sure glad that I"m going back to the United States."
HeHe.
Then I also said, (sarcastically) "Thanks, Canada, for being such a good friend and ally over the last couple of decades. Preciate' you guys coming out the way that you have."
Ok Ok, I didn't say that last part.

Song that was stuck in my head: "Riding with my Top Down"
-Lecrae (a Christian rapper who came to PDS last month to rap for the boys)
I also, for some strange reason, imagined what it would be like if Lecrae sang this rap song "country" or "opera."

Day 1 Summary:
Man, what a GREAT first day of riding. It's so good to be back on the bike again.....I forgot how much fun this is.
We were blessed from the very start to have Ben, Miyuki, and Julia from the Canadian Food for the Hungry with us at the start of the ride. They are very nice people doing great work, and we were honored that they made the effort to be with us at the start. (Ben drove 70 miles!!).

The only frustrating thing about the ride was the amount of miles we actually rode--91 vs. the amount of miles we should have rode--about 80. There was one main reason for this--Macho Man Randy Rand can't read a map. While it is true that he can drop thundering leg kicks......not to mention nailing a pile-driver with the best of them......as well as jumping from the top rope with ease......and yes, these rare gifts. Unfortunately, they do nothing for one looking to navigate himself from the northern part of the US to the southern part. So, we had some extra miles in the saddle today. But that's ok. If I could describe this day in one word, I'd say were pretty
"BLESSED." We were blessed with great weather, good roads, even a few friendly driver's along the way that pointed us in the right direction when we were lost. And, to be honest, as crazy as this sounds.....for riding 90+ miles......I'm not really all that sore. I feel GREAT. However, I did burn a little bit......and my tan lines are looking steller.

TOMORROW'S RIDE......
Burlington,WA to Bremerton,WA: Appr. 100 miles on the road......including one 30 minute ferry ride.....and one trip over a 3 mile floating bridge.

SHOUT OUTS......
*Ben, Miyuki, and Julia for making the effort to be with Stephen, Billy, and I at the start of the ride
*Dave @ the Hampton Inn for a place to lay our heads
*The Junior HIgh girl outside the Subway in Ferndale that said, "You look like a snake."

Oh Canada!

Well, the countdown is on. Stephen and I are appr. 12 hours away from embarking on this bicycle journey called the "Hunger Ride" down the Pacific Coast. To reference an 80's band.......as Europe once sang......."This is the Final Countdown."

My riding buddy, Stephen Douglas, his father Billy, and myself slept comfortably last night thanks to the Quality Hotel of Vancouver. All I've gotta say is it was Quality. Top Quality. My flight to on Wed. Vancouver was pretty uneventful with one exception. When I was about to sit down in my seat on Frontier Airlines flight 631 out of Denver.....(seat 14C, a window seat, just in case you were wondering) I noticed what I thought to be a 10 year old boy sitting in the middle seat (of a three-row isle) with his mother, who had taken the seat on the aisle. Envisioning a potentially squirmy and squirrely situation for the next 3 hours or so.....attempting to avoid this I had what I thought to be a brilliant idea. I offered my window seat to this child (thinking of course he would take this....what kid wouldn't want to look out the window?) and offered to sit in the aisle while the Mom would be BETWEEN us. That way Coach Rand could catch up on some well needed sleep that he's been deprived of for last, oh, month or so. Well, let's just say Mom didn't go for that. I'm thinking her total rejection of my idea had something to do with the fact that I called this poor MOther's child a BOY when, in fact, it was her DAUGHTER who was with her........who has really really really short short hair.......and was wearing camoflage pants, and a brown army like coat.
It was an honest mistake. And I felt terrible. Let's just say I quietly sat down with my tail between my legs. Doh!

Stephen, Bill, and I had the chance to wander around Vancouver and the surrounding area today. We went atop Seymour Mountain several miles outside of downtown. As you can see in the picture, there's still plenty of snow at the summit. Too bad I didn't have my saucer with me and I could have made a trip down. Vancouver is no doubt a steller town as far as scenery goes. However, it's got the traffic of NYC which makes it much less appealing as far as being a place that I'd want to live.

A GREAT BIG THANKS for the votes that were received for my "Wrestler Name" for the summer. Again, I ask that when you refer to this bike trip you would from now on use my wrestler name and not any of the following: Coach Rand, Mr. Rand, Tom, The Tomster, TomCat, TomTy, Tommy

Before I announce what name I shall go by for the next several weeks, I'd like to make you aware of some comments that I've heard from various people in the Memphis, Denver, and greater Milwaukee area communities in reference to me wearing a wrestler's singlet for the entire summer.

"Can you let me know where you got that singlet from, I'd like to pick up two or three of those
for myself this summer."
Matt Weathersby, Commercial Advisors, Memphis,TN

"Do you think that I could fly you back to Memphis sometime next week for a few hours? I'd like to have you around (in your wrestler's singlet) to help me show a house that I'm trying to sell."
-Drew Renshaw, Renshaw Builders, Memphis,Tn

"Tommy, are you sure that's appropriate to be wearing in public?"
Adrianne Smithey, Women's Senior High Director, 2nd Presbyterian Church, Memphis,TN

"I'm going to propose that Sun Microsystems have an official, mandatory "Wrestling Singlet Day."
Andrew Aymami, "Some kind of finance job where nobody understands what he does"
Sun Microsystem, Denver,Co

"Even though we shut it down a few weeks back, you still, and will forever always, own the pole in the corner. Too bad you will never have the chance to own it in your singlet."
-"Hollywood Raiford

"I'm not sure that I would go for the singlet myself, but I definitely think that it's sure to bring out the Tom
Cruize in you this summer. Yeah, because you definitely look like Tom Cruize."
-Brooke Faber, Junior High Youth Director, 2nd Presbyterian Church

"Tom, please remember, you may only watch 60 minutes of WWE wrestling per week this summer on the Hunger Ride."
-Roger Rand, Best Dad in the World, Waukesha,WI

The Final Count:

T-Bone: 149
T2: 37
The Exercisor: 151
Macho Man Randy Rand (as a write in): 1,109


SHOUT OUTS'
*Andrew Fitzgerald, GM of the Quality Hotel in downtown Vancouver for putting us up last night.
*Fawaz, my taxi driver from the Vancouver airport to downtown.......for breaking a new speed record and giving me the
opportunity for my life to flash before my eyes several times in a 30 minute time span while riding in his taxi. That was cool.
*Bill Douglas, Stephen's Dad, for being a stud and driving the support van for the next week.

I need your help.......

Wrastlin' Around in Denver.......

Well, it's time to get fired up because we are less than 84 hours away from the start of the 2007 Hunger Ride.
Man, I can hardly believe it!
I rolled out of Memphis Friday afternoon with my Ford Ranger stuffed full with all the necessities for the summer.
After a brief stop in Sanger,TX this weekend to visit two of my best friends from college, Grant Edwards and Craig Debell,
I now sit in the great state of Colorado, awaiting departure for the V-Couv on Wednesday morning. (Vancouver,BC)

Here's the schedule for this week:

Tuesday: Hang out in Denver, last long bike ride, get bike boxed up for the airlines, hang out with Team Denver (my Denver riding buddies that will be meeting up with me in San Fran)
Wednesday: Fly to Vancouver,BC in the morning. Get settled in the hotel, put bike together.
Thursday: Hang out in Vancouver. Last minute bike check. Get in a short ride. Carbo load for the first ride.
Friday: The 2007 Hunger Ride begins. Day 1 is about an 80 mile ride from Vancouver to Burlington,WA.

How will this summer be different from last summer.......you may be asking yourself?

Well, I'm traveling about half the distance of last years' trip for starters. 3400 miles compared to roughly 1800 this year.
In addition, I will not be carrying any of my gear this year. I've found some fine volunteers that will be doing that.
And let me tell you, that's a HUGE burden off my back.
However, I would like to draw your attention to what I believe to be the most significant difference between this summer and last summer.

My threads.

As you can see from the picture above, I will be wearing a wrestling singlet for most of the summer as I ride. The biking community calls it a "bib," but let's be honest.......let's call it what it is, a wrestling singlet.
King Kong Bundy and Andre the Giant without question took this outfit to another level back in the 80's when they wrestled for the WWF.

So why wear are you wrestling singlet, you ask?
It's simple. You eliminate a waistband and all of the irritation/chaffing that goes with it. That will save me a half a stick of "Body Glide" when it's all said and done.

But more importantly, I'm not going to lie to you.....I've always wanted to wear a wrestling singlet. (It's actually every man's secret desire in life.)
For me personally, I've just never had a reason. I did watch a lot of WWF wrestling as a kid....a little too much actually as Dad and Mom had to impose a time limit (60 min) on how much I could watch on television. If I remember right, they created this law in the Rand household because of some article they read in the Milwaukee Journal about some kid watching what turned out to be a little bit too much wrestling. Apparently this kid, let's call him Johnny, not only watched wrestling, but he taped every episode, re-watched each episode in slow-motion, and perfected each wrestler’s finishing move. Consequently, Johnny put his older sister in one of these moves that he had learned and she ended up in the hospital. I remember being pretty hacked off at Johnny, thinking to myself, "Thanks for ruining it for everyone, pal....now I can only watch 60 minutes a week because of you."

Incidently, I did wear a singlet once for 7th grade wrestling practice at Harry Horning MIddle School back in 1991. One might say that my days as a wrestler were short-lived. Literally ten minutes into my first practice I got slammed onto the mat by Andy Lapp. I sat out the rest of practice (I cried in the corner) and never came back. To this day, it's still the only sport that I've ever quit at in my entire life.

Alright Alright.......Why do I tell you all of this? Well, for one very important reason. I figure that if I'm going to be wearing a wrestling singlet this summer, I'll need to have a wrestling NAME, despite the fact that I won't actually be doing any wrestling.
That's an insignificant point though.

So, here's 4 potential names........I'll need y'all to pick which name you think would be best suited for me this summer. Please e-mail me with your TOP CHOICE.

Here's the list that we've come up with:

1. "The Exercisor" (my finishing move would be "jumping jacks" or a seated "bicycle kick" to my opponents face or mid-section.)
2. "T-Bone" (my finishing move would be first distracting the referee as my agent would then hand me a dog bone carefully hidden under the arena mat that I would then use to clock my opponent on the head with. Just as the referee became "undistracted," I'd pin my opponent.
3. Terrible Tom or T2 for short. I haven't exactly figured this guy out yet....but I'm thinking that this character a) should not bathe more than twice per month b) eat a steady diet of garlic and raw onions c) should not have any sort of vocabulary whatsoever.....only grumbling, moaning, shouting.
4. Other???