The Lance Vaccaro Memorial Ride

With great sadness, Army Staff Sgt. Christopher F. Cabacoy, a Virginia Beach native, was killed in action on 5 July in Kandahar. Our brothers and sisters of the Patriot Guard Riders, who planned to escort Team Lance into Hampton Roads, may be assigned to stand for SSG Cabacoy’s memorial service this Saturday, 17 July. Will advise.

The team rolled in to Great Falls last night and had two of the bikes serviced at Big Sky Harley-Davidson. They kept their doors open way beyond closing, and we are eternally grateful. Bravo Zulu to the entire BSHD team!

Now, on to Utah…

Just got a quick voicemail from Jimmy G.

Team Lance is rolling from Calgary toward Great Falls, arriving tonight. Communications will greatly improve once they cross back into the US.

We are changing our daily launch time to 0800.

We will still launch from Short Pump (just outside Richmond) at 0900 on July 17th.

Phone and internet service is still spotty. Following is a Facebook post from the team:

LVMR has made it to our stop for the night at Muncho Lake. It has been a long day but beautiful weather! No complaints on our end .

Here’s an excellent Facebook photo gallery from Jim Clemenson.

You don’t need a Facebook account to view the pix.

I just spoke with Jimmy by phone, and the team is boomeranging home after two short (but amazing) days in Seward. The entire team is grateful to friends (old and new) for the support and encouragement, and are humbled by the hospitality offered along the way. They still have very limited cell service and virtually no internet access, but promise to send photos as soon as technology allows. Stay tuned…

Several team members participated in the 83rd running of the Mount Marathon Race, a famous (and treacherous) 5K that takes place each July 4th weekend in Seward. Here’s an excerpt from the the Wikipedia entry:

The race begins downtown, on Fourth and Jefferson, in front of the First National Bank, and ends a block south of where it began, on Fourth and Adams. The halfway point is a stone marker[1] atop Mount Marathon, 3022 feet (921 m) above sea level, and a mile and a half from the finish line. The total race course distance is about 3.1 miles (5 kilometers). Leading racers will typically reach the peak from the starting line in 33–40 minutes, and reach the finish line from the peak in 10–15 minutes. Average speed uphill is 2 mph. Average speed downhill is 12 mph. It is not uncommon for the racers who finish to cross the finish line injured or bleeding and covered in mud.

The team recons Mt. Marathon before the race:

Team Lance leads the parade!

A photo from last year’s race:

The Team has arrived in Seward!!!  Right on schedule.  Stay tuned for the weekend activities.  Check with our Facebook page too.