Goodbye Indiana, Hello Kentucky!

We aren't beginners anymore.

Six days after starting our ride and entering the state of Indiana, we completed the approximately 250 miles needed to cross the state. Crossing the Ohio River, which at nearly a mile wide here near in Louisville was an impressive site to see, symbolized our passage from "new cyclists" to Bike Adventure team. The only thing missing was a "welcome to Kentucky" sign to welcome us in.

Louisville Fuller Center is on the ground here, and it's already obvious they are a dynamic bunch. Their goal is to do 1,000 homes in 1,000 days by using over 1,000 volunteers - an incredible goal! We were met in the church parking lot of Oak Grove Missionary Baptist Church, our gracious host, by Louisville Fuller Center's President Don Erler, members of Louisville Fuller Center's board of directors, and the homeowner of one of the homes with whom we will be working on Monday. As we rode in, we even passed by one of the Fuller Center projects - complete with a Fuller Center sign and Fuller Center orange t-shirts around the site! Of course we couldn't help but yell a few "Oyee's!" at the sight.

What's an "Oyee!" you ask? If we aren't beginner riders anymore, you can't be beginner Fuller Center fans anymore :) It comes from the heart of Africa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where Millard and Linda Fuller were missionaries. We use it to express gratitude, appreciation, and excitement, and we like to yell it...a lot! And it always comes with an arm raised. It's even printed on the collar of our jerseys.

Anyway, after getting settled into life in the big city, we had a little "family game night" with all the riders, playing Psychiatrist and Signs. The highlight was seeing each of us imitate the other riders on the team when playing Psychiatrist. As for me personally, sometimes I think I give these riders too much material...

Aside from a few missed turns by yours truly, this trip is off to a remarkably smooth start. In fact, it's so smooth that if this keeps up we may just have to take the word "Adventure" out of Fuller Center Bicycle Adventure! Everyone has been safe, we've helped plant seeds for The Fuller Center in cities along the way, helped to spread the word to people we've met and through radio, newspaper, and TV coverage, and raised some money - and the trip's just starting!

We're almost at $60,000 towards our $200,000 fundraising goal, which means we have a good start but have a LONG way to go. We're going to need some help. Any ideas anyone? Every dollar helps. A woman at one of the churches the other day just walked up to us and wrote us a check for $750; another man dropped $2 into one of our helmets we had set up on a table. Both helped us move closer to our goal. If you haven't donated yet, would you please? We need all the help we can get!

Lastly, I wanted to leave you with a song I wrote to celebrate our passing from Indiana to Kentucky today. It is to the tune and theme of the traditional Christian hymn "Shall we Gather at the River"

VERSE 1:

Shall we shower in the river,

where the muddy water flows,

with its muck and glass slivers

going right between your toes?

CHORUS:

Yes, we'll shower in the river,

the dirty, the filthy river,

shower with our clothes on in the river

'til the cops come and send us home.

VERSE 2:

Why're we biking through this place,

where the wind is in your face?

If you follow all the road signs,

you'll bike right on the interstate.

[CHORUS]

VERSE 3:

Soon we'll reach Ohio river,

soon we'll wave to Indiana,

mount'ns ahead make me quiver,

no prob - just eat more bananas.

[CHORUS]

Ryan Iafigliola

Trip Leader