Links

I'm having a little trouble getting the pictures off the camera, but in the mean time, here are a few links to articles and stuff.

Articles:
http://www.bolivarmonews.com/site/tab1.cfm?newsid=19792789&BRD=2841&PAG=461&dept_id=603510&rfi=6

http://www.cjonline.com/stories/061308/loc_290170424.shtml

http://www.morningsun.net/news/x1470888801/Man-bikes-to-raise-money-awareness

http://www.taylornews.org/2008/06/20/riding-for-granton-bayless/

TV Stuff:
http://www.ktka.com/news/2008/jun/16/officer_rides_nephew/

http://ozarksfirst.com/content/fulltext/?cid=26121

My buddy Travis's Blog-good pictures on this one:
http://bullballarina.blogspot.com/2008/06/jaymes-goodbye.html

Home

OK, I'm home now and I've had a nice long relaxing day with my family. My wife and our best friends, the Riggins, threw me a great party last night when I got back. There were lots of people and lots of food, most of which Jenna managed to get donated and I got to rest and hang out and have fun in my own driveway all evening.

Here are a few final stats from the ride. The Granton Bayless Benefit Ride was 357.4 miles from Topeka to Bolivar by way of Burlington, Caney, Pittsburg, & Stockton. The actual time spent on the bike was 22 hours & 23 minutes. I saw 13 counties and 25 towns. I also got to meet and spend time with dozens of people as well as several people I already knew. The ride raised around $8000.00 and is still bringing in money for Jenni, Daniel, & Granton.

There are too many people to thank but I wanted to mention a few that really helped this thing happen. First off was my support crew, my wife and son who have been with me all through the planning and execution of the ride, and my brother, Toby, who was with me every mile. I also want to thank Guy, Jerry, Colleen, & Ron for the escort out of town. Pastor Van Zile, Judd & Nadine, Dennis & Kristen, and everybody else in Burlington, you were the perfect first stop. Blair and Amanda and family, Darby, Mike, & Mr. Bayless, thank you for the huge meal and the farm hospitality. Lisa, Andrew, and Countryside Christian Church for providing a great place to rest and just watch the Cubbies play in Pittsburg. David and Pat Steinmuller and all the kids and teachers at Stockton Elementary School, you were all awesome and it was great to get to share what I was doing with you. Clayton & Amanda and everybody else who helped plan the event at Wellspring Baptist Fellowship, what a perfect way to end the ride. I want to thank all my family who showed up on Thursday for the end of the ride and my friends & family at home who were waiting to greet me on Saturday. I would especially like to thank Debbie at the Bank of Bolivar for keeping track of all the money and all of the business, orginizations, families, and individuals who donated to the benefit, I would like to give special mention to my home church, Cnetral Park Christian Church, both for their donations and for their support throughout the ride. MG Machining (my parents' shop) helped with road expenses and the t-shirts. (FYI: If you would like to order a t-shirt, please make a comment along with what size you would like.) All the donations went to help Granton and that was the purpose for all of this. Finally, I want to thank Kay, Jenna, and Jerra from Sunshine Bike Shop. Without a bike and your support, this whole thing wouldn't have happened. You are wonderful ladies and have an amazing shop and I hope your business continues to grow. Thanks to everybody.

Once I get all the pictures and videos squared away and figured out, I'll post them on the blog, keep an eye out.

Day Five-End of the Road

The ride is officially over! I went 23.7 miles in 1 hour & 31 minutes, just an easy last day ride from Stockton Lake to Bolivar. The end of the ride party was great. I got to Wellspring Baptist around 7:30 pm and did a lap around the parking lot with all the kids. Jenni & Daniel were there along with a large part of my family and several of the people who contributed to the ride including The McCullahs and others that helped them plan the event and Kay, Jenna, & Jerra from Sunshine Bike Shop. The bike was raffled off and raised about $1200 dollars, it was pretty hard to give it away after more than 350 on it but now hopefully someone else will get as much use as I did from it over the last week. At last approximation, the Granton Bayless Benefit Ride had raised approximately $8000.00 for Jenni, Daniel, & Baby G! I'm going to bed now and tomorrow I get to go home-I miss my wife and boy and can't wait to see them. Thanks to everybody who helped with the ride, whether you put us up, fed us, donated, or even just prayed. I'll post more tomorrow. Keep an eye on the blog, there is still money coming in and I'll keep posting even now that it's over.

Day Four

Alright, day 4 is in the books already. 72.3 miles in 4 hours & 28 minutes. I was making great time until I hit Highway 39 and all the wonderful hills between E Highway & Stockton. I guess I am at the north edge of the Ozarks, what do I expect? We made it to Stockton at around 1pm where we were greeted by the Students at Stockton Elementary, where Jenni taught art until Granton came along. We spent about a half an hour talking to the kids about what we were doing and they had a chance to ask lots of questions, tell lots of stories, and even come up to see and touch the bike. Getting to spend time with the kids and tell them about Baby G (although most of them are already pretty familiar with the story) was a great experience. We finished the ride with a trip across the Stockton Dam up to the campground. From there we were treated to lunch by Pat Steinmuller, Jenni's former boss and the principal at Stockton Elementary and got to hang out with her grandsons, Drew and Tate. Only one more short day left!

A Message from Tobe...(Day Three)

Hey everyone, this is Toby. Jamye wanted me to add the blog today. We have just arrived in Pittsburg and what a day it was. Today was suppose to be a shorter day than yesterday but it ended up being longer than expected. When we finished the day Jayme had put in a 100.1 mile day and made it in less time than yesterday (6 hours, 25 minutes.) So we are going to go to the hotel and crash for the night maybe grab a bite. In the morning we will set out for a 70 mile day and end up at Stockton Lake to do a little bit of camping. We miss everyone and look forward to seeing everyone at the end of the week. Until next time...

The SAG MAN

And if your wondering what that means....Support and Gear Man

Riding out the storm

We're still here at the Bayless home waiting for the rain to move out of southern Kansas into Oklahoma. The sky is clearing up and we haven't seen any lightning for a while now so we should be on the road before long. I added a couple pictures to the site. The first is on the "Day One" post and is of Pastor Van Zile and myself outside the Church. The second on "Day Two" is Toby, Mr. Bayless and I posing next to Toby's truck with the Trusty Steed. I don't have the best expression on my face in this one but it's the only one we have with all three of us.

Day Two

OK, now to day two. We took off from Burlington a little before 8:00 this morning. The weather was still nice and cool but the wind had changed direction and I had to fight a bit of a headwind all morning so I didn't quite make as good time as yesterday. All in all it was a pretty good ride. We stopped in Neodesha and had lunch and took a little break before we took off for the afternoon portion of the ride. Once we hit Independence, the roads flattened out and the wind turned in my favor again and the last 25 or so miles of the trip went pretty fast. When we hit the big hill coming into Caney I knew I'd made it in one piece. Today was 98.2 miles in 6 hours & 28 minutes. We met Blair and Amanda Millemon, along with their family and a reporter from the local paper in the parking lot of Daniel's Alma Mater, Caney Valley High School. Blair, another one of those invaluable people that has helped more than I could possibly thank him for, then took us to the Bayless Farm, where Dennis (Granton's grandpa) and Darby (his aunt) already had the grill fired up and the table set. We were then treated to a massive feast, which after 100 miles on a bike was exactly what I needed. We've gotten to spend the evening in the home Daniel grew up in and visit with everybody and hear stories about Daniel and Granton and everybody-and if you've met Dennis Bayless, you know the man knows how to tell a story. OK, that's it for me tonight, I'm off to take an ice bath and a hot shower.