“There are two mistakes one can make along the road[...]not going all the way, and not starting.”

Day 4 is in the books.

Now here's how this whole journey started. First, it was supposed to be some sort of informational trip in which we gathered information via interviews with fans regarding the rivalry between the Yankees and Red Sox to either turn into a book or video. So far, not going so well. Second, it is intended to raise money for charity. We're collecting money for Memorial Sloan Kettering and The Jimmy Fund, charities sponsored by the Yankees and Red Sox respectively. That aspect of the trip is going, but could be going better. Where does that leave us now? Geographically, in Simsbury, CT. But on another level, even though people refuse to be interviewed and that would seem to dampen our spirits, this trip (at least for me) has become something much bigger than the rivalry...Can you imagine that?

This journey has become more of a quest. It's a matter of achieving a goal which has been set. I'm not too great at following through with goals I set for myself, but I don't think I've ever taken on one of this magnitude. Therefore, not finishing is not an option. Each day it becomes a little more difficult to start, but a little bit easier to keep going. Also, at this point point in our journey the 5 of us have really developed a very good report. We've come to understand each other; when we're riding we know when to slow down, and we know when to pass. We know when to offer words of encouragement, and we know when to just shut our mouths and ride on. It's pretty cool when we're on the road, usually single file, and we've all kind of adopted our own roles. Alex is obviously the most experienced rider, our navigator and our self-proclaimed "task master" (speaking of which I have to hurry this along, Alex set the curfew for 9:30). He usually rides up front, not usually by choice but because he just rides better than us. Liz has become our pace-setter on the straight-aways and downhills. She blazes out in front of us, and keeps us moving. Johnny likes to be the anchor (when I let him). Billy is the pusher. He rides up on whoever seems to be struggling and just keeps them going, generally during an uphill battle. And me...well? I'm doing what I can to keep everyone together. I try not to say too much (probably because I got us lost the first day; once is enough), and I just ride. I do a little bit of everything. I prefer being the anchor and keeping the group together, but every now and then I find myself in the front pushing the pace. I do what needs to be done...It's just how I operate.

Well...babble babble babble...My apologies. As I mentioned yesterday, we have been saying a little prayer every morning before we get going. I think that a little faith goes a long way during difficult times. After all, if we didn't have the uphills to struggle through, would we really enjoy the downhills that much?

See you all tomorrow...

So it goes...