A Family Affair Start time: 8:25 A.M. Distance today: 62.4 miles Average speed: 11.2 mph End time: 4:41 P.M. Top speed: 22.9 mph Temperature and weather conditions: It was very hot all day. As the road heated up the ride got very hard. Total trip distance: 2,800.1 Miles (since start on April 2, 2000) There were five riders at the start this morning, just East of Greenwood. The riders included Linda, Dane, Sadie, Charles, and Danny. The pace was smooth and steady. Dane’s second day on the bike, and Sadie’s fourth day showed tremendous improvement. They are more proficient in handling the bikes and have a much higher level of confidence. Family involvement is important with this trek. The picture shows, from right to left, Sadie (Charles' daughter), Floyd, (Danny’s uncle), Danny and his son Sean (the communications director), and Lydia with her sister’s son, Dane. Danny and Charles miss their wives, of course. The total support, understanding, and patience of these fine women has enabled Charles and Danny to carry out this trek. Without their compromise and desire to see this event occur, it would not have taken place. There were no hotels in Batesburg, our destination today, so we drove in the motor home to Lexington. We were met by reporters from WLTX- TV19-CBS, The State Reporter, The Dispatch News, WIS-TV-NBC, and WMFX 102.3. We have been fortunate, thanks to Sean Leonard’s efforts, to talk with over 60 stations and papers. The media is a very competitive business. We have found that reporters seemed under great pressure to meet a deadline or get to the next story. Today we found an exception in Mr. Roddie A. Burris III. His questions were very thorough, thought provoking, and he actually stayed with us until he had uncovered all the facts and underlying story. We are optimistic his efforts will lead to an interesting and professional article in The State. Danny’s son drove from Charleston today and met us at the hotel with a grill and coolers full of fresh seafood. We set up a table in the parking lot and enjoyed a feast with many family members.