Snowy Texas [news]

We were in Hawkins, Texas. Birthplace of Aunt Jemima; A proud hub in the American pancake world. Strolling in I requested we bunk out in a local hotel; I was sick. Ironically the weather systems changed and with a stroke of coincidence it started to snow in Texas. We were warned that this part of the country was famous for their southern ice storms so we were lucky to be sheltered for the night. Little did anyone know that it would snow nearly a foot. Breaking any and all records in the area.

We awoke, ate breakfast at the Jewel Cafe and decided we would push west on route 80. Push is what we did. There were no plows in the area and the only pavement visible was at the bottom of tire ruts. It was a beautiful morning with freshly lain snow covering every tree and every building. The most people we saw on that run were the few stuck in the ditches by the side of the road, unpracticed in slick driving conditions. Paul & I had a blast.

It was a drastic change in scenery for us and we felt reminiscent of New England. Just west of Hawkins, Paul took the brief opportunity to photograph a large snowman while I pedaled ahead some. A few minutes later I looked back to see an empty divided highway, blue and white with the morning sun. Searching for Paul I found him sitting on a porch, drinking hot cocoa, and chatting with a snowed in Texan family. We stayed with them for hours.

One of my goals for this trip was to learn how to ride a horse. I was not all that determined to search out my opportunity that particular day but by happenstance this family let me mount up on Leo, their stallion. I donned a pair of cowboy boots, a cowboy hat, a pair of size-to-small snow pants, and my Team Bowditch short sleeve shirt and set off to trot. Boy did I have a thrill at that. I would not mind being a cowboy. I was a lucky guy that day; I do not think many people can say that their first horse ride was 3,000 miles away from home in Texas, with inches of snow on the ground.

Duo pedals through Shreveport [news]

from the Shreveporttimes.com

Duo pedals through Shreveport on cross-country journey

Two men pedaling across the country in support of the Susan G. Komen Foundation pedaled into Shreveport on an L-shaped path from Maine to California just in time to watch the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl game with firefighters at Station 20.

"It was truly nice to be in Louisiana for that," Paul Dorr, 48, of Rockland, Maine, said of the Saints' victory.

He and Clint Valentine, 18, of Mansfield, Mass., traveled into Shreveport by way of Highway 1 after biking the scenic Natchez Trace Parkway. They expected to camp outside the city limits, but their stomachs dictated otherwise.

"We were looking for food and we didn't find any for 60 miles," Valentine said.

After eating, they approached the fire station hoping to get directions to a nearby place to camp Sunday night. Instead, they were invited inside to watch the game and pitch their tent in the station's backyard.

The duo took a weather-related day off Monday, when they said the generosity continued. After changing three flat tires that morning, they made a pit stop at River City Cycling. Owner Ian Webb gave them new tubes, a tire, lights, hats and good conversation, Valentine said. Later that day, someone invited them into their home for a traditional Louisiana bowl of red beans and rice.

"We've had that happen countless times," Dorr said. "It always seems to happen when you need it the most."

Cash donations to breast cancer research also have poured in from people they've met along the way.

"I lost my mother to breast cancer a number of years ago," Dorr said, explaining why he and Valentine chose this cause.

So far, they've raised nearly $5,000 from cash and online donations combined, and they've spent nearly that much of their personal money on food and other road-related expenses. They're aiming to raise $20,000 by the time they make it to San Diego in late March, completing their estimated 5,000-mile journey.

Valentine, an Eagle Scout, found Dorr in a cycling forum online while looking for someone with whom to do a cross-country trip.

"I had to lower my standards of crazy," Valentine said of the idea of the trip and the trip itself. "You really have to take it as it comes."

After working together all summer on a windjammer, they spent two months planning their trip before departing Oct. 25.

Team Bowditch started with a third member who completed the first leg of her trip before leaving her teammates to work on a schooner named Nathaniel Bowditch — the team's namesake.

Since then, the remaining two have spent the entire holiday season on the road. Holidays were prearranged to spend Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Eve with friends of friends who'd offered their homes, they said. Valentine even missed his Eagle Scout graduation. "They had it without me," he said.

Welcome to Catahoula Life [news]

Contents from "Catahoula Life" of the Catahoula Parish and the surrounding area
visit:  www.catahoulalife.com

Welcome to Catahoula Life Adventure of a lifetime and perhaps save some lives Saturday, February 6, 2010 - David W. Ryan Some of you may have noticed a couple of guys biking through Jonesville on Wednesday afternoon wearing bright pink t-shirts. Clint Valentine and Paul Dorr have been on those bicycles and wearing those t-shirts since October 25th when they left Rockland, Maine headed to San Diego, Calif.

The duo stopped long enough in Jonesville to take a mini tour of the old downtown and the 4-Rivers Park, where other than the Garden of Eden, is the only place in the world where four rivers meet.

“We love seeing different things as we pass through,” Dorr explained. “From each community to the next, it can be vastly different. “

And to see the history as we ride from town to town is so interesting.”

The pair ride about 40 miles a day and have everything mapped out according to Valentine who noted his only disappointment has been the cool weather on the southern leg of the trip.

“It’s kept people inside,” Valentine said with a laugh. “But of the people we have met they have all been so wonderful to us.”

In Maine, the guys work on the ocean sailing, tourist attraction, Nathanial Bowditch windjammer, which is seasonal work and allows them this opportunity. They call themselves “Team Bowditch” in honor of the windjammer.

Dorr and Valentine are on a six month, 5,000 mile biking trip that started out as an adventure of a lifetime and has now turned into a fundraiser for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure and to raise breast cancer awareness. It’s in honor of Dorr’s mother who passed away with breast cancer 15 years ago.

“Unless you are directly affected by breast cancer,” Dorr said, “I just don’t think people realize how widespread this disease is.”

“Hopefully this trip will bring a little more attention to this situation.”

According to Valentine “Team Bowditch” has raised $4-5,000 of their stated goal of $20,000.

To donate to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure you can visit “Team Bowditch” at www.teambowditch.com or you can help them with donations to pay help defray the cost of the trip.

Duo Stops in Natchez on Cross-Country Bike Ride [news]

 Content from the Natchez Democrat
www.natchezdemocrat.com

 Paul Dorr and Clint Valentine, of Rockland, Maine, ride down Main Street past St. Mary's Basilica Monday afternoon while spending the day in Natchez. The duo are headed to San Diego, Cali, on their bicycles raising money for breast cancer research along their way. -Hannah Reel

After trading their former lives on the sea for a life on the road, Paul Dorr and Clint Valentine of Rockland, Maine, made their way into Natchez Monday afternoon on their bicycles.

Dorr, a former cook, and Valentine, a former deckhand on the schooner Nathaniel Bowditch in Rockland, decided this past summer that they would make a trip cross country on their bicycles to raise money for breast cancer research for the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

On Oct. 25, they left on their 5,000- mile journey in honor of Dorr's mother who lost her battle with breast cancer. They plan to make it to San Diego, Calif., by the end of March.

They ride approximately 40 miles a day, stopping in the majority of the towns they ride through and learning about the area.

"Every day is a history lesson," Dorr said.

They also enjoy meeting the people in the towns they visit, and through them they collect donations for breast cancer research, as well as, promote their Web site, www.teambowditch.com, where people can make a donation and track their journey.

So far, the duo has raised $5,000. Their goal is to raise $20,000 by the end of their journey.

"The people we have met have been so supportive," Dorr said. "That's what we'll remember the most."