June 27, 1997 was the day that the Five Points of Life bicycle ride pulled into town and I was there. I read about the riders in the USAToday, Gainesville Sun, and on the Internet. It seems that almost everyone I mentioned the ride to, had heard of it in one way or another. They were practically celebrities. Sort of.
My neighbor, Mark Sciallo, and I travelled to Jacksonville and stayed in a hotel just to ride to Gainesville with the "Five Points Riders." Mark had spoken to a representative a few times to make sure it was OK that we joined them. Despite being told that there would be no problem, I was a bit reserved. Could I keep up with them? After all, these folks just rode their bikes across the country, for Pete's sake! Would they even talk to us? Would we be looked upon as amateurs or, perhaps even invaders? I really didn't know what to expect as I fell asleep Thursday night, just that I wanted to finish and not pull into Gainesville 2 1/2 hours after they did. I was pleasantly surprised.
When we met the riders Friday morning, they talked to us like anyone else. The first person we met was Larry Frederick, who told us about some of the adventures they had during the past 41 days. He answered all of our questions ranging from the stupid, "Are you tired," to the curious, "What happened to your leg?" Turns out that Larry, while he was a police officer in California, was hit by a car doing 65 M.P.H. He needed over 100 units of blood to save his life. We met Barb Kostohryz, who nerver thought she could do something like this, but she trained for eight months in preparation. She said that it really paid off. Her legs felt fresh and she never had cramps, but her butt hurt a bit. I know that feeling! We even ate lunch with one of the riders, Gainesville's own Tom Wurzbach, who works at Civitan. He just kind of sat back and talked to us. And why not, we were normal folks, just like him.
Of the most interesting stories I heard, two tied for first place. One of the riders was a two pack-a-day smoker up until the day before the ride began in Carlsbad, CA. The first week of the ride almost killed him. He had a tough time breathing, of course. The second week he started getting stronger, and by the end of the ride, he was one of the best three riders of the twelve. The other story was about Lance Armstrong. A Texas resident, he met the riders and rode with them for a stage in Texas. I was told by several people that he rode with them for a while and some of the stronger riders challenged him. Lance hung with them for a while to make them feel good, then took off and blew them away. I was told firsthand that he was completely out of site in less than five minutes. Remember, this is flat 'ol Texas and the riders he dusted were doing about 25-27 M.P.H. They loved telling that story, they wanted to see Lance show off, and boy did he.
Anyway, we made the 82 mile journey just fine. Through Jacksonville and Gainesville with police escorts and no side mirrors coming within inches of our shoulders. And the festivities at the Downtown Community Plaza were fun. Heck, Mark and I even rode our bikes home. Turns out that the celebrities were regular people. Nahhhh! What they did to raise awareness, via something I love to do - cycling - makes them celebrities to me.