The Route So Far - Google Maps


View X-America by Bicycle in a larger map

Why?

We are doing this ride to raise money for Research Autism. We are aiming to raise £20,000.
We are supporting Research Autism because my cousin Jamie is severely affected by the disease, and I have seen its effects not only on him but on the whole family." He is 13yrs old, but cannot yet talk.
Just take a moment to imagine not being able to talk.
Imagine understanding everything going on around you, but not being able to comment.
Imagine having to be dressed every morning in clothes you don't choose, and then hurting your parents as you try to tell them you wanted the blue shirt today.
Imagine being swamped by having to hear everything that everyone is saying around you, and not being able to listen to just one thing at once. Jamie loves being in a swimming pool, just floating, legs held motionless by the weight of the water, while he keeps his ears underwater to just relax, hearing nothing.
He understands everything - he appears to have a photographic memory - but can’t get his thoughts out.
Frustration leads to despair, and anger, which is just one of the many things that his family has to deal with.
He has extremely specific eating requirements and requires round the clock supervision. Jamie is at the severe end of the autistic spectrum, but given that one in 100 people suffer from the disease (with varying severity), and that everyone has some autistic traits, it is shocking that so little is known about it'.
Click here to support our cause and donate to Research Autism.
Read the "Meet Jamie" post - the only post in February, for more information about Jamie, and a poem - painstakingly slow for Jamie to type, but ultimately incredible.

Photo Video - New York to St Louis

May 13, 2010

Illinois

This is what I wrote yesterday but it only went up as a draft so here it is:

Having done a big day yesterday, we have made the next few days far easier as we only needed to do 180 miles to St Louis. Today we managed a casual 65 miles to the small town of Macleansboro. This morning we had a late start, but that gave us time to really get ourselves sorted for the next few days. We got all our maps and route sorted until St Louis, and i have booked my bike in to have my back wheel and spokes sorted out at a shop in St Louis. We originally planned to take a day off in Evansville(where we were yesterday), but having a 3 day break in St Louis, combined with the fact that Evansville seemed pretty dull, persuaded us to do 7 straight days riding instead.

The days riding went fine, with just one puncture on my bike, which was easy to fix and didn't take too much time. We also have entered the state of Illinois. It has got slightly hotter than the previous few days, and it is very humid. We arrived in Macleansboro at around 6:15, had a nice dinner and set about trying to find a place to stay for the night. However the only campsite was 8 miles in the direction we just came, so that ruled that out! we went to the police station to see if we could pitch our tent anywhere in the town, however there was no one there. So we trundled over to the B&B, expecting to have to pay a handsome price for the night. To our luck they had no room but were happy for us to pitch our tent in the back yard, and offered us use of the bathroom. So it has turned out very nicely. It has been few long days, so we are using the opportunity to get a early nights sleep!

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