Friends and family of William, Thomas Hollingsworth ( uncle) and Sharon Boland ( lovely Girlfriend!) have very kindly organised a charity collection in Tesco, Wicklow Town on Saturday the 14th of August. They will be starting the collection around 9 o’clock, so keep an eye out for them!
And we just want to say a special thank you to Sharon and Thomas for all there help and support. We really appreciate it!
Travelling from Butte to Bozeman, Montana, August 12th
. We left Patrice’s house that morning (thanks Patrice and Rick!) and left the I-90, taking some stunning back roads through the passes of the Continental Divide, passing by the Rockin’ Rivers Festival, which was just getting set up, eventually arriving in Bozeman after a 100 mile cycle!
A big thank you to Jason Delmue and Melissa for putting us up in their amazing house in Bozeman. I wish I had taken some pictures of it! It featured moveable stairs, rolling hinges made from skateboard wheels and tri-coloured bedsheets. Thanks guys!
On the afternoon of the 11th of August we arrived in the town of Butte. We met local reporter, Melanie Yuill, who interviewed us for KXLF TV. Check out the interview here: http://www.kxlf.com/news/irish-cyclists-riding-for-cancer-stop-by-kxlf-studios/
We then went to the house of Patrice Evans, who kindly hosted the team that night. Thanks also to Casey for accommodating Will and Mark! Patrice has been accommodating Rob this week as he is staying in Butte to prepare for An Rí Rá Irish Festival at the weekend, and no doubt doing loads of back-breaking work. Patrice and Rick brought us to a picnic at their friend Cherisse’s house, where we received a royal welcome from Irish-Americans and Americans alike.
The town of Butte has a massive Irish-American population who have kept very close to their Irish heritage and roots. It’s almost like a home away from home! Patrice’s sister, Monica, kitted us out with flags and stickers for the car from her fantastic gift shop, Cavanaugh’s County Celtic. Thanks!
Patrice and friends also brought us up to one of “gallows frames” at the old mine in Butte. Very impressive, there’s some great history in this mining town. Pictures below!
The COA team attend the annual county fair and rodeo in Superior, Montana on August 7th.
A big thanks to everyone in the town who made us feel welcome, including Sharon Smith from the Big Sky Motel (who kindly gave us free accommodation), Tallie from Durango’s and ex-pat Robert McGuinness. Plus, a big thanks to everyone who agreed to appear in our video!
Mark “ Lenny Armstrong” Leonard reporting directly and exclusively to you on behalf of COA
After the day of rest and recuperation in the magnificent Missoula,Montana the legs and mind felt ready for another day in the saddle pedalling through the Rockies.
To set the scene of the day in question ,I was rudely awoken by a certain room-mate William “snores like a bear” Kerwin at 6.30 am with the question “are you awake Leonard?Are you awake?there’s a storm Leonard,there s a storm.Did you see the news?Get your big a$$ out of bed” In a thick Wicklow brogue with an expression of utmost dissatisfaction.Surely this was just a bad dream?I wished
From the moment the man they call “the Kerwinator” uttered those fateful words the scene was set -today was going to be a disgustingly horrible day.A day to be remembered for all the wrong reasons.
I took a quick glance at my bike sitting there beside the bed and thankfully there was no mysterious early morning punctures (which is ongoing investigated with young Kerwin the prime suspect)
From the outset today was a day you would want to be in the support team( or even in the local county jail) rather than one of the cyclists. Everything seemed to have to been going against us- the weather the ridiculous climbs, the traffic the poor quality of the road but Akin to Armstrong the COA team are made of stronger stuff.
In cold, wet conditions far worse than you would expect to see at home in Ireland we commenced the cycle to Deer Lodge.
After just 5 minutes of cycling we realised we were lost and boom tragedy struck while trying to find our feet boom a puncture on the dreaded back tyre. This is where the fun and games were to begin. The team had 5 punctures today, would you believe?
And whats more! All 5 were on my bike! DISASTER!
Before I began to blame the innocent until proven guilty tyre-slasher William Kerwin for the punctures I found the culprit (a staple on the inside of the tyre) 4 more were to come. Fixing punctures tyres in torrential rain without any shelter on the side of an interstates with 50 tonne 100 feet long juggernaughts whizzing by at 70miles per hour ant no fun,but I’m not one to complain
But this was only to strengthen our resolve as a team.
After battling with a number of tasty hills and passing through towns such as Clinton, Bonner and a short lunch stop in Drummord (which seems to have a massive problem with Meth judging by the copious amount of signs around what is a small town-see pics)Mysteriously young McNamara seemed to fly out from the blocks from Drummord onwards.Perhaps this was due to his “stop off” in Drummord perhaps not. We finally arrived in Deer Lodge never more happy to see the faces of Rob and Donal.
After a quick ice bath and shower each (not together!) we went for dinner at the local diner by the Budget Inn Hotel where we were staying
Coincidentally of the 10 hardy soles in the Diner which you would expect to find on Gordon Ramseys Kitchen Nightmare were father and son David and Gregg from New Jersey whom were also doing a cross country cycle .We exchanged war-stories of our respective cycles and mutual respect and contact details were exchanged
Overall as challenging as the day was, I am always quick to remember and remind ourselves just how lucky we are to be fit and healthy enough to be partaking in this cycle.
Our minor whinges and moans are a small price to pay for the goal of raising funds for Cancer and cancer patients.
I’m pleased to say that we are getting some media coverage back home. The very kind and undoubtedly fantastic Alison Curtis interviewed cyclist William Kerwin on Today FM before he departed to begin the Cycle.
She is also posting updates of our journey on her own blog here: View Alison Curtis’ blog
The Cycle of America Team will hopefully be getting a mention tonight on KXLF TV in Butte, Montana, after a phone interview with cyclist Mark Leonard. They’ll also be interviewing us when we cycle into Butte on Wednesday. Check out the 5.30pm and 10.30pm news if you’re in Montana. They’ve also posted a brief summation to their website, which can be read here.
Rob, Eoin and Donal will be representing the team at our very own booth at the Rí Rá Irish Festival in Butte this weekend. It’s organised by the Montana Gaelic Cultural Society. We’re looking forward to flying the flag for Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow at the event! With thanks to Patrice and Monica. More details of the event here: http://www.mtgaelic.org/Festival1.html
Two online papers have also been kind enough to do articles on the Cycle.
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/outdoors/s_692797.html
Irish Central: http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Irishmen-cycle-across-America-for-cancer-99716424.html
We’d also like to say a huge thank you to the Salish Lodge and Spa, Snoqualmie WA, The AmeriStay Inn and Suites, Moses Lake WA, Stardust Motel, Wallace ID, and the Mountain Valley Inn, Missoula MT, where we are staying as I write this. All of these places were kind enough to give the team some form of free accommodation. Without the the generousity of these people, and more to come, the Cycle may not have been possible. Thank you!
The 8th of August – Superior, Montana, to Missoula, Montana. We’re going to be travelling through Montana for the next while!
The team rolled into the town of Superior, Montana on the afternoon on the 7th of August. We were given an extremely warm welcome by the locals, especially our waitress, Tallie, in Durango’s diner. We were treated like royalty! We were also informed that there was a rodeo in town, so we high-tailed it on down!
While there we bumped into Dublin man Robert McGuinness, who married a Superior lady and now lives in the lovely town.
