See,
life is an adventure made richer by the people
around you and those you meet on the road.
I'm Dominic.
And when I met Ernie Greenwald,
I wanted to help realize his dream to cycle across the USA.
I'm looking forward to seeing the country that I've lived
in for 70 plus years and never really seen.
But Ernie's adventurous hopes were destroyed.
It looks like maybe the cancer has got the better of
him. Had every reason to believe we'd be able to do it,
I suppose in a way, Ernie's left a legacy.
This is the story of how Ernie's impossible dream became possible
for 10 strangers that could never make this journey alone.
I
haven't been on a bicycle in 10 years.
We're riding cross country and we're loving it and living it and uh sharing it.
This is the last long bike
thing all around.
Everything is perfect right now. Everything
from Los Angeles, California.
I traveled over 1500 miles
more than a third of the way to New York City. Our final destination,
the four companions that had ridden with me so far,
had each overcome their own physical or psychological barriers
to complete their leg of our cross country journey.
Sometimes through suffocating heat
and sometimes through bone chilling rain.
We dropped off our fourth rider, Chad
in Rapid City, South Dakota
while we rested for a few days in the Black Hills.
I made contact with a person interested in taking
a seat for the next leg of our journey.
We found a guy by the name of Kelly Lane.
After a little convincing,
Kelly agreed to join us for the third leg of our journey.
600 miles from Rapid City, South Dakota
to Minneapolis, Minnesota.
I met
just on a wild hair when he called me out of the blue.
And uh I thought it was, wasn't legit.
So I hung up on him basically said, I'm not gonna do this. I haven't got time
and uh
then I got, got on the computer, got on the website and found, hey, this is legit.
So I called him right back. I said, did you call call?
Yes, he had and then we got together the next day and we decided this would be fun.
It's gonna be my tool to keep you in line
for the last 15 years. Kelly has suffered with Parkinson's disease
first. It meant he had to stop teaching
a job.
He put his life and soul into student teaching with Kelly was,
was unforgettable but his, his disposition, his positive way,
his positive approach with life.
It was truly contagious.
But as well as work. It began to prevent Kelly from getting outside,
paddling the rivers and peddling the highways.
I was diagnosed 15 years ago.
I was probably symptomatic. 18 years ago.
I used to run a lot
and I had to quit running because my, my heel strike changed. I got bad heel spurs.
I took my running pretty well down to nothing.
And then I started carrying my arm funny
presenting at this call.
But back then
there was no indications at all possible with technology
except to uh
kill you and dissect your brain.
Went to the emergency specialist. I walked down the hall.
I said you have Parkinson's.
That was it.
Parkinson's makes life difficult
as well as the muscular convulsions and cramping up, impeding Kelly's mobility.
He also finds it difficult to talk.
The symptoms are controllable to a point with a hard to monitor regimen of drugs.
This is pretty good in my drug cycle right now. So if I'm a little further off,
especially if I get over, I start
getting very much like,
like trying to speak through a mouthful of peanut
butter is the best way I can explain that.
And walking, walking is a total pain in the butt because
walking you, uh it's like,
it's like you're all the time.
You got sand dr
on, on, on the front of your toes
and they grab, they grab everything, they grab carpet,
concrete dirt doesn't matter where it is.
They grab it.
We just left Rapid City.
We've moved 45 miles in
2.5 hours.
So basically he is by far proving to be our fastest passenger
and we'll see whether or not he can hold up for,
uh, the next eight days, we're gonna do 600 miles in eight days. That's the plan.
And we're coming into the bound land,
probably our last scenic moment for 600 miles
after half a lifetime of outdoor sport.
Kelly was a strong companion
and for that first day, at least
his tremors did not affect him
and we made progress quickly.
Kelly knew this area better than anyone.
So despite the fact that we provided the bike,
he was definitely our guide. We're in scenic South Dakota.
It's
uh
interesting town
at one time, scenic was the murder capital of the United States.
More more shooting fatalities per capita here than any place else in the country.
There's a jail, there's a drunk tank, there's um
an open convenience store, there's a sometimes open bar,
sometimes open trading trading post
and
that's about it.
Scenic was the last place we stopped that day
before pedaling another 20 miles into camp.
At least for now. It was nice to be back in warmer weather
and the serrated ridges of the badlands as well as for the moment,
symptom free and strong as an ox.
Kelly
made my worries about his parkinson's disappear.
Kelly hadn't taken any of his regulatory drugs.
It was almost as if prolonged exercise made his symptoms disappear.
You completed your first day on the bike? How did you feel?
I feel good better than you thought you'd feel.
Uh, I was, I didn't know, I just, I had no expectations. I was very apprehensive.
So now
I'll see what, see what I feel like in the morning
after Kelly's first night on the road,
we woke in the badlands of South Dakota
every morning. He takes medication about an hour before he has to get up
to loosen the grip of Parkinson's and allow him to move.
But since getting on the bike,
the daytime regulatory pills have not been necessary,
we're
about
a third of the way across South Dakota
right now
and, uh,
we get pretty close to the State Capitol
tonight except we'll probably stay in Midland.
What we noticed about
the
pill regimen
pill regimen every three hours until I got on the bike.
Which is odd. Odd, odd man. We're trying to figure it out.
There's a lot of research now that, that
indicates that hyper exercise or extends extreme exercise
can eliminate the symptoms of Parkinson's temporarily.
I find that my symptoms are almost all gone.
Uh, my voice is just slightly difficult to understand but it's pretty good.
My movement is quite good
and I can walk pretty easily except I'm stiff and sore,
but that's just from the exercise.
It's been 20 years since I did this much. Writing
do.
Do, do,
yeah.
When you're, when you're, when you're, when you're standing up pumping,
I should be rocking a lot more than I am.
You're rocking a little bit more than would be normal. But
that's understandable.
But
on the straight windy roads that afternoon
our hopes of an exercise
induced cure for Kelly's symptoms
hung in the balance. Kelly does
without really meaning to, he,
he starts leaning and he's leaning a good distance to the right now.
Give it a massive leftward shirt. I can't, not at all. No. OK. You're
fucking as far
as I can get you go. There you go, man. I'm falling off the goddamn
we
left.
Now. That's dead center. I'm falling
off the
left to my body.
Pisses me off
very, very hard to
peddle
when I'm
over that.
It's always difficult to predict the amount of
medication to take in Kelly's varied lifestyle.
So we went through the highs and lows of too little or too much in his system.
See how my arm
jerk around.
I mean that, that, that this is dyskinesia.
This is too much drug.
I just took some more drug because I couldn't walk there at the,
at the junction where we stopped
me. Bones sound like a dam
Jack in the box.
So that's the result of too much drugs. That's why I enjoy
it
with Kelly's Parkinson's symptoms emerging
and still four days left in his journey.
My top priority was a good place to relax and recharge
outstanding.
I had little doubt in my mind that Kelly was strong enough to make this journey.
What I worried about was his cramping up or shaking, becoming exhausting,
making riding impossible.
The morning added fuel to my worries.
The therapeutic properties of the antique mineral baths were short lived.
Kelly's cramping up was back
and with it came an ominous headwind.
The right foot just doesn't co-operate. When I'm not on my drugs,
you can walk backwards better.
You can walk forwards as Parkinson, you can run better than you can walk.
You can climb stairs better than you can walk on level ground.
The old gray mayor, she ain't what she used to be.
Ain't what she used to be,
ain't what she used to be. The old Gray Mary. She ain't what she used to be.
Many, long years ago,
many, long years ago,
many, long years ago.
As we pedaled painfully east through South Dakota.
The 35 mile an hour headwind on dead straight roads began to make us suffer.
We're trying to get the truck to shelter us
from the wind, but
partly cos of the hitch box on the back and partly cos
it's very difficult to see where the truck ends and where we begin.
It's barely worth it.
It's the PC G I
and
LA
A headwind is a cyclist's worst enemy.
Unlike a hill, there is no visible end
over the next few miles. I felt the never ending stress driving me slowly insane.
After more than 40 miles of painful headwind,
Kelly's Parkinson's forced us to a standstill.
You were able to tell us
how the situation developed over the last half hour
in Kelly's condition,
he was not even able to talk.
And by the fifth, the fifth day yesterday,
um,
I was just, I was off, I took my drugs. It didn't seem like they ever got me on.
I stumbled on the camp ground, finally got on the, on the bike.
And, uh, I just, I couldn't, I could, every, every place we stopped, I had to,
I had to use my stick.
I couldn't walk.
Finally.
Finally, I was just, I was just, I took one more dose and I took it way too soon,
about an hour and a half
in FF
with cholest dose. And I just, my body just went free.
I was angry
and I had that little pity party about it.
I guess I had to cry for a while and think about it and cry a little longer
and, uh,
walk away and come back to it.
Eventually, we
sat down and had a meal and
I was just out of control
and I don't know how much that was. Parkinson's how much is.
That was a raw frustration
and not being able to control my body.
Kelly's symptoms eventually calmed down
but the head wind did not.
This, this, this wind has just been so frustrating
and the fact that, that I am a south sequent and I say,
oh, our prevailing winds are always northwest.
Four days
from the southeast.
Direct on 180 opposite.
Sounds good. You prove me wrong again.
You lie,
you lie like a rug. My beautiful state.
Kelly's blind optimism had for years hidden
the painful truth about Parkinson's disease.
It is very hard for me to admit.
Then I'm done with this.
This is the, this is the last long boat
I'll ever have
when I had to quit work. That was hard.
And I said, well, I,
I, I'll re invent
myself. And so I started, uh, doing lots of consulting but, but I can't, I can't,
I can't walk, I can't get anywhere.
And, uh,
but,
but I always thought
I could pedal or I could
battle
penny tops
and I really don't care.
That's our dude.
Although Kelly's symptoms had become a regular occurrence,
we had traveled over 400 miles.
The shakes,
shakes,
shakes
just
can't
walk
as stiff as a word.
So, uh, hopefully
my voice isn't very good either.
Hopefully, in a few minutes, I, I'll be able to get up and walk.
Kelly recovered that evening in Pier.
And despite the fatigue of five days in the saddle,
one thing kept playing on his mind.
He hadn't ridden 100 miles in a day for over 30 years.
We talked about a century right away at the beginning
and I'd love to do a century with Dominic,
but
I
just don't know. I mean, it's gonna take, it's gonna take no win for starters
and it's gonna take a full day in the saddle.
Yeah.
Even, even, even, even without, even without tail end, I mean,
essential is easy if you just, if you can give it a full day
and
stay with it.
I mean, it's just,
it's just put your head down and grind it out.
I mean, it's the same thing, same attitude, just,
just grind it out.
Despite his Parkinson's. Kelly was determined to challenge himself
as we traveled into Minnesota.
We both agreed that the only thing stopping us
from attempting a century ride was the wind.
This wind is an absolute nightmare.
We're sort of combating it slightly by
riding alongside the vehicle which shadows us a little bit, but
it, it's really hard work. I'm not enjoying it at all.
Especially with these dead straight
boring roads.
At least they're not hilly, I guess
with one full day left before Kelly's journey was over.
We had a single chance to realize his dream
tomorrow. We're gonna try
100 and two miles, 100 and two point something miles gonna try for this.
Hm.
I think you feel better about that than I do
probably.
Are you excited?
Are you at all? Apprehensive? No,
not, no.
Good morning.
Um,
what is that
by Kelly's request?
It's a Century Day a day of 100 miles.
It started pretty nice.
No wind,
don't think.
Let's do this.
This is mile number one of 100 and two,
bro.
See
the, the wonder of the world
as we ground it out through the windless flatlands.
Kelly's symptoms never disappeared
but it seemed like nothing would stop him from reaching his goal.
So
last 13 miles,
730 to
730
we just completed a century,
meaning we pedaled 100 miles in one day
and we have about three more to go.
Yep. Cool.
Only days before
Kelly's crippling disease had left him all but paralyzed.
Now he had completed his dream of riding a century
and was rewarded that evening with a family reunion.
Oh, you made it.
Oh my
God,
I'm
Nadia.
Nice
to
meet
you.
Thank you so much for agreeing to
the next morning
with only 35 miles separating us from Minneapolis.
It felt like we'd reached our goal
and Kelly had completed a nearly 600 mile journey.
But for him,
this journey was a wake up call.
Iii I, I'd like to believe that this is, this is, this is a thing that opens doors,
but I think this is, this is, this is almost a trip that made me realize
that certain doors are not closed.
I don't like that
but
say, l
like you say, I gotta,
I have to redesign, redefine myself.
We're here.
We've arrived
at the end of this leg with, with uh, Kelly,
if someone,
uh this year had said that you'd be riding a century,
would you have thought that it was likely? No, highly unlikely,
fairly impossible alone,
only with the support of this group? Because this is, did it happen this time?
I, I calculated, I figured the last century I wrote was back in
1981
in Kelly's 59 years of living life to the fullest.
He'd learned a lot of lessons.
But one above all struck a chord with me.
Go
peddling.
Never quit that
through life.
Turkey and, and duck it and got it out
with the reality of Kelly's honesty and courage branded on my memory.
I pushed forward with ever more conviction to complete my 4000 mile journey.
In the next episode,
my sixth companion peddles a bicycle for the first time in her life,
cycling with me towards Madison Wisconsin.
Over 300 miles away,
she
communicates by way of a word board or an electronic
device. Hi, this is Rachel Swanson.
I am non
verbal, but I am able to hear and understand perfectly.
Her enthusiasm for this trip is kind of infectious
despite the weather and despite
been quite road weary,
she's rubbing off on us and
it's fun.