Hopkins 4K for Cancer

June 16, 2005

Montgomery City, MO
Today was an interesting day in many ways. The day started off nicely, with an 11-mile escort out of St. Louis. Our stay at the University of Washington was amazing, and everyone was very generous with food and lodging donations. After the escort, we embarked upon the Katy Trail, which led us 50 miles into Missouri. The road conditions weren’t the best, but the area was shaded and apparently made for biking. The gravel pavement kept our pace slower than usual, until we reached a path that was unridable. We began to walk it, but soon decided that it was getting late, and walking would never get us to our destination in time. The only logical thing to do was to shuttle our riders in the vans. The first couple riders went on ahead to unpack the vans so they could return and pick up the rest of the riders and their bikes. We were left stranded and the only thing we could do was wait. That was when we experienced amazing kindness from a couple of total strangers. Marcus Crawford and his wife were driving by and asked us what the problem was. We must have looked like a mess with riders and bikes strewn everywhere. After hearing our plight, they immediately offered to shuttle some riders to the First Baptist Church in Montgomery City, where we would be staying the night. 9 of us piled in, just as a van arrived from the church to further aid us in our exodus. We all reached the church safely, and we were treated to an amazing meal by the church members. Afterwards they showed more kindness by shuttling us to a nearby high school to shower. We returned back at the church late, and went off to bed immediately after such a tiring day.

Thank you to everyone that helped us make it through this trial of a day,
Mr. And Mrs. Crawford
First Baptist Church of Montgomery City

Justin DeAngelis