Ignite the Spirit, Chicago-To-Nashville

We arrived in Nashville

The Riders
(Riders pictured left to right) Mark Buckley, Pat Brennan, Gail Stoffregen, Tony Snyder, Greg Piskiewicz, Cliff Gartner, Matt Straley, Pat Reardon, Mike Wadas, George Maragos, Chuck Judy, Mike Lopez, Tim Rose, Sean Butler.

Support

Not pictured are the support crew. We could not have done this ride without them. Ignite President- Rich Pinskey, Sam Kamberis, Mark and Alicia Jadwin, Lindalu and Bill Bentley. They drove the support trucks, scouted the route ahead and followed us to make sure no one was left behind.  Did the grocery shopping and setup rest breaks each day. So grateful, tireless dedication from all of them.

Broadway Street. The main tourist strip in Nashville.

Bitter Sweet

In the end, the feeling for me is "Bitter Sweet". I'm relieved to have finished but sad to see it end. I am honored to have ridden 500 miles with such a dedicated group of friends. We accomplished our goal. We raise $40,000 which will directly benefit firefighter families battling cancer. Along the route we raised awareness of the problem with other towns people and firehouses. Hopefully they too will begin to address these problems, provide aid and campaign to make fire fighting safer for all who serve and dedicate their lives to helping others.

Here's my Garmin bike computer data from the 6 days of riding.

Final day early morning prep.

Beautiful route and roads today. Fields of green beans, corn, soy and tobacco.

 Many tobacco farms along the route into Tennessee. This new drying barn appears to house five levels.

 Matt greeting the drive up pharmacist Thomas Drug Store, Cross Plains Tennessee.

Matt Straley in front of the store.

Tony, Rich, Matt and Pat posing with the owner. Much of the Pharmacy and Old Fashion Soda Fountain are kept as it was in 1915.

Matt and Tony

Matt

There's a couple mile stretch of road in the farmland of Kentucky where the kids graffiti the road.

We stopped at Millersville FD for lunch today.

 Our last rest stop before heading into town.

The outskirts of Nashville.

Broadway with the Bridgestone Arena Tower ahead.

 We had a great steak dinner at Nashville "The Bottoms" #9 Station downtown.

 Cliff and Pat comparing scares

Gear packed up for the trip home.