Cobhman Dave Walsh’s Slow race across America for Parkinsons

Having spent the bones of ten months raising the needed funds for the trip And getting into shape for the three thousand plus miles from Ocean side San Diego to New York city, Finally, On Sat 9th April I set off all kitted out and carrying my life for the next six weeks, Literally on my back! All in all, The Bike, The bags And me, Weigh in close to 19 stone!
My first real test came on day one, With a four hour steep mountain climb to Lake Henshaw California, Total hours in the saddle on that day was nine hours, I chose to spend as many nights in cheap motels as I could, As the weather was not the best And having Parkinsons And undertaking such an arduous journey certainly requires me to get a reasonable nights sleep.
After several days travelling through CA, I hit the deserts of Arizona, I say deserts…Because there is the low desert, Which is what you would expect, Hot dry and sand for as far as the eye can see! After days of this, I faced a 7000ft climb to Flagstaff, Which is referred to as the high desert, Snow, Cold And rocks.
After a steep decent And a fleeting visit  to New Mexico, Its over the rockies of Colorado, Resting in such wonderful towns as Durango, After days or tough climbing, It was a welcome relief to literally get 300 miles down hill! And into Kansas, The unfortunate thing now was, That until St Louis MO I would be on Highway 40, A necessary evil, Not much to see But it kept me on the right trail! The lack of scenery in such a flat region, Was complimented by the friendliness of the locals, Who were extremely helpful And genuinely interested in what I was doing, I got a lot of,In an excited voice, I wish I could do what your doing, Followed by a sigh as they poured more coffee, Accepting that giving directions to me was as close as they would get to it!
I bypassed St Louis, As I was told the only direct way for me by bike was through east St Louis And that I might be, A little to Pale and moving a little too slow! Aside from that, The weather was turning for the worse, This is where i learned of Tornado alley And more importantly Tornado season, Which was now!!! I pressed on to Illinois, Greenville to be exact, At this is where it all went Pete tong! Driving rain and 110 mile per hour winds, Which is where I reluctantly accepted a lift north east to Ohio, It saved me about 250 miles but left me far north of where I should have been, So I had no choice but to continue on north to loop around and enter Pennsylvania 600 miles from NY, It seems strange to be heading north when NY was east ,And the freeway was due east and 200 miles shorter! And was certainly frustrating But knowing I had to stay on the secondary roads by law,
I assumed that the further east I got the easier the directions would be…I was wrong! People here drive every where And have no concept of miles to a destination or indeed directions! I got alot of this, Take the 78 foi an owaa Then take the awframp and the yule see a soin, If not…axes somebody!
But never the less I pushed on and after several more days And seeing beautiful towns like Bethlehem PA, And today in the rain I’ve pushed onto Trenton NJ, And tomorrow I will get to Hazlet NJ only 60 miles from New York city, It will have been six of the toughest weeks of my life And more than once, For various reasons, I felt like packing it in! But thank god for all the people who lifted my spirits when i was down, Those here and those back at home! You can still sponsor me at www.noparkinsons.org
Many thanks Dave Harmer Walsh.