Edclicking Keyword Cloud
By Dr. Harry Tennant
Sunday, May 20, 2012 Education Ride 365: Catching Up On Featuring Kind People Along The Way! After a most pleasant week in Minnesota, on Day 116 I departed for a southern dip back down to Dallas for cycle maintenance and family visits. There would be several stops along the way. My first stop was at the home of Deb and Harlyn Jasper in Hospers, Iowa. Harlyn is a longtime employee of the primary manufacturing business in town, while Deb works at the business they owned for several years before relieving themselves of that pressure! They still feel very attached to the Chit-Chat Cafe, but would rather have the freedom to travel more frequently without worrying about business ownership.  One night during my visit, we rode to a neighboring town to meet a couple dozen of their friends for a yummy dinner. I was interviewed by the local paper about "Education Ride 365" before departing on Day 118 for a stay near Lincoln, Nebraska at the home of Ronny and Carol Aden (below).  Ronny and Carol live in a small town outside of Lincoln called Cortland. Earlier in his life, Ronny was involved in the pioneering days of the high tech industry and now, after retiring, he enjoys driving a school bus for the Norris School District that supports a number of small towns in the area. We visited the school. It is a very nice facility with a great reputation. It is centrally located between the towns it serves, with all campuses situated on a single piece of land including many acres of undeveloped property intended for future expansion as needed. I remember hearing of a school bus accident in Nebraska in August of 2009 that occurred because a stop sign at an intersection had been stolen resulting in a pickup truck crashing into the side of the bus, toppling it and causing a fire that sent two adults and thirty-three students to the hospital. Thankfully all of the student injuries were minor, however the adults suffered more serious injuries. Ronnie was the bus driver that day. He has recovered and is now proudly driving his replacement bus, which is parked beside his rural home when not in service. The Cycle of Education's front tire had traveled over 20,000 miles by this point (a high amount for a touring motorcycle tire) and was basically --like my head--- bald! I was hoping to make it back to Dallas before replacing the tire because I had a new one sitting there at my brother's house. The hydroplaning I felt in heavy rain while in Nebraska caused me to rethink this decision, but I held out.  Thankfully it dried up before I left for my next stop right outside of Kansas City in Harrisonville, Missouri. Dennis and Judy Kraemer own a motorcycle I was drooling over! While at their home, Judy tried to talk me into buying it. Dennis, on the other hand, was happy to hear how my budget would not support my desire, because he is loathe to part with the beauty. It is a 1976 Honda Goldwing that is in pristine condition with just over 16,000 original miles on it. Over the last few years it has won numerous best of show awards and is one of only two thousand made in what was only the second year of production of the Goldwing line that has spanned thirty-seven years, from 1976-present. The Cycle of Education is a 2004 Goldwing. On Day 122, I rode to Tulsa (OK) and stayed in a hotel directly across the street from Oral Roberts University. It is amazing how beautiful a divinely-inspired, well-financed college campus can be!  After exploring the campus, I joined good friends Ken Roper and Heather Dane (previously featured on my blog) for a ride with their local club south through Oklahoma to the crystal clear Lake Murray in south-central Oklahoma. They were a nice, welcoming group of folks!  Once we arrived at the lake, after wandering through some nice rural roads, I split off from the group and finished the sweltering early-spring
day making it to my youngest brother's home in Garland, Texas.
It would be little more than a weekend later before I concluded my short visit home and headed right back up near Tulsa to Ken and Heather's home as a first stop on my way up to New England for yet another leg of Education Ride 365! Day 116---292 miles traveled, 4 hours and 27 minutes of moving time, 60.1 miles per hour average moving time, 4 hours and 16 minutes stopped time, 31.7 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 82 miles per hour. Day 117---Rest! Day 118---230.3 miles traveled, 3 hours and 37 minutes of moving time, 63.5 miles per hour average moving time, 2 hours and 33 minutes stopped time, 37.3 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 81.9 miles per hour. Day 119---35.74 miles traveled, 47 minutes of moving time, 45.3 miles per hour average moving time, and a max speed of 71.4 miles per hour. Day 120---231.3 miles traveled, 4 hours and 9 minutes of moving time, 55.6 miles per hour average moving time, and a max speed of 83 miles per hour. Day 121---83.56 miles traveled, 1 hour and 52 minutes of moving time, 44.6 miles per hour average moving time, and a max speed of 80 miles per hour. Day 122---257 miles traveled and a max speed of 91.3 miles per hour. Day 123---320.4 miles traveled, 6 hours and 20 minutes of moving time, 50.6 miles per hour average moving time, 4 hours and 24 minutes stopped time, 29.8 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 81.3 miles per hour. Day 124, 125, & 126---163.4 miles traveled and 4 hours and 8 minutes of moving time. Day 127---171.8 miles traveled, 3 hours and 43 minutes of moving time, 46.3 miles per hour average moving time, 6 hours and 11 minutes stopped time, 17.3 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 71.6 miles per hour. Posted at 7:21 PM Keywords: Education Ride 365 , EdClick , Cycle Of Education 0 Comments |