Day 60: A father's 100 mile sacrifice

Thursday CJ wanted to do 100 miles from Dequincy and Krotz Springs, LA. It was flat land so it looked like a good day to try it. We woke up early expecting media and possibly local cyclists to met us at the Burger King where we had parked that night before. Around 7:45 we had the first knock on the camper door. It was a local newspaper journalist. Within 15 minutes there was another newspaper and two television stations there. It was nice to know that the story is getting out! We pray that as more and more people here about this, more people will give to the NCCS for kids with cancer!!

We were very disappointed that even though we put out word well in advance, no local cyclist came out to ride this 100 miles with CJ. We knew that it was going to be a huge task for Craig (dad) and we were really hoping to see support from some locals since there were TWO big cities with cycling clubs within driving distance. Either way, the ride must go on......SO Craig (dad) was ready and willing to ride the day with CJ.

At 8:58 CJ and Craig rolled out of the parking lot of the Burger King headed on Hwy 12 toward the first stop in Kinder, LA.  It was cold 51 degrees and the wind was brutal and straight in their face for the entire first 40 miles. They arrived at the Dollar General Store parking lot in Kinder around noon. There happened to be a McDonalds across the street. At the sight of the golden arches CJ was craving a MCDouble! He ate 2 then we were off pedaling again.
Our next stop was in Eunice, LA. We only had about 23 miles to ride until there but unfortunately the wind was still right in our face. Craig literally rode in front and blocked the wind for CJ the entire time! Craig's knee was killing him and at every stop he was popping ibuprophen or Tylenol but he pressed on dutifully to help CJ reach the 100 mile goal.
As CJ rode he was also doing shout outs via video on facebook to try to get people to give $100 on his 100 mile day. He wanted to see 100 people give $100. Every stop he asked "Has anyone given yet?" At the 2nd stop in Eunice, only 3 people had given! HOWEVER the owner of the business where we stopped (Rocky's Cajun Chicken) handed him a $100 cash donation and made things seem better. Also at Rocky's another newspaper was there to interview. After a good break, we pulled out of the parking lot at Rocky's at 4:00pm to finish up the last 39 mile leg of this journey.
The last 39 miles seemed LONG but the wind at least began to die down. We saw a dead coral snake and stopped to look at it a little closer.

Other than simple accomplishment, the coral snake was possibly the highlight of the entire ride for CJ.  On the last stretch we began to cross large bayous and crossed through a small town that was built completely on canals. The sun was setting and the scenery began to be really gorgeous. 
At 6:47 pm CJ and Craig rolled into a gas station right before the Atchafalaya River bridge with a total of 102 miles for the day.  We were all proud of CJ for accomplishing his 100 mile goal, but we were all also glad to be done for the day. Craig was in a lot of pain and the little kids, Katie and Kenadi were just glad to get OUT of the bus! Craig really did give his all physically today. It was a huge sacrifice! Truly a labor of love for a Daddy. We are praying that as we continue local cyclists will jump on board and ride at least one day stretches of this trip with CJ to give us all a break.

Attached to the gas station is a little family run restaurant called the "Cajun Corner Café". There was a crowd gathered to cheer for us since Katie had called ahead to let them know we were coming. The owner greeted us and donated an AWESOME super of "Cajun specials". We ate Boudin, Rabbit Balls, Crawfish Pie, Red Beans and Rice, and had some delicious lemonade!  Cj said, "Isn't it crazy that some of the best food we've had this whole trip is gas station Cajun!?"  There were some local kids there so CJ and the other boys played football until almost 9:00.

When we came inside CJ of course wanted to check the giving. At that time only 6 people had given $100 for the day. He was very sad that so few people had given. We reminded him that he is doing this ride for JESUS and the money that comes in is NOT his part. However I don't know if there's anything that can really change his mind about it.

Once everyone came inside and sat down we were all so tired we just went straight to bed.