Friday morning. A bit achy and a lot tired ... but thanking God for a wonderful experience! With your prayers and support and encouragement I was able to ride the entire C & O Canal Trail in one day - something I've had my sights set on for a long time and was able to benefit our school's scholarship program. When all the donations are collected the C & O challenge will have raised between $27,000 and $30,000. I'll post the number when the final tally is made.

I could not have completed this ride without your support. I could not have completed this ride without Ed Coss -- what an effort! He rode then entire trail start to finish with me -- a total of 21 hours, approximately 19 of which were on the bikes. I could not have completed this ride without Alice, Matt, and Beth, who were willing to spend the day in the "sag wagon" keeping us supplied with food and water at various meeting points. Each of them also rode a bit with me at critical points on the trail, just when I needed some extra encouragement and fresh conversation. Matt helped us get started in the dark and rode the rode the last 4.5 hours in the dark, the toughest part of the ride! Thanks to all of you and thanks to Charles at College Park Bikes for helping set up my bike for the ride.

I'd like to announce that the "2010 Challenge" in support of our Scholarship Program will be ... ?????

1:45 am: Milepost 0, Thompsons Boat House, Georgetown - The End!! (Will update later, too exhausted now to continue...)

Midnight: Milepost 16, Swains Lock

11:00 pm: Milepost 23, Seneca

9:20 pm: Milepost 35, Whites Ferry

7:30 pm: Milepost 55, Brunswick

4:50 pm: Milepost 73, Shepherdstown. The riders beat the sag team here and have to wait a few minutes, but the saggers bring subs for dinner so all is well. Beth joins for the next section of riding.

3:40 pm: Milepost 84, Dam 5. Pastor and Ed make it here after having to negotiate a new detour due to a washed out section of the trail. It's now fairly hot and they are looking fatigued. They are now past the halfway point!!

1:50 pm: Milepost 99, Williamsport. No problem getting here. Pastor's daughter Beth meets up to join the support team. The halfway point is not far away!

12:10 am: Milepost 113, Fort Frederick. Had a picnic lunch with Alice and Matt. The watermelon is extra good right now. Pastor and Ed are both looking and feeling good. After a 20min lunch break they push on at a steady pace, along with Matt on this leg.

11:05 am: Milepost 124. Arrived in Hancock - feeling good! Perfect weather.

9:20 am: Milepost 141, Little Orleans. It's warmed up nicely. Enjoy breakfast sandwiches from the grill up the hill.

7:40 am: Milepost 151. Arrived at Paw Paw tunnel. Pastor Fred and Ed roll in with plastic trash bags on their hands - it's cold out! They put on some proper gloves, take a short break and push on.

May 21, 4:30 am: C & O Challenge Launches @ milepost 184.5!!!

Pastor, Ed Coss, and Matt Hedt start the C & O Challenge.

Spirits are high, weather is good, trail conditions are ideal! We had a 3:30am wake up and a 4:30 launch, right on time. Cool out, but doesn't seem too bad at the start. Matt rides just a few miles to get things started.

May 20: 3 pm The van is loaded and we are headed up to Cumberland for tomorrow's start to the C & O Challenge.

Related Links:

• Click here for C & O Photo Gallery

• Click here to make an online donation.

• Click here for article published in the Gazette