American Brain Tumor Association bike trip from Reading Pa. To Chicago Il.

When you open the doors to your store in the morning you never know who or what will
walk into your store. Last April 16 Barry Noss rolled up to our store in Chardon
with a bike problem. I could tell he was on a cross country trip. He asked if we fixed bikes and when we answered yes a look of relief came over his face. While working on his bike he told us where he was biking from and his final destanation.
The most important was why he was doing this 900 mile bike trip. Barry's wife Gina,
is a survier of a brain tumor that was diagnosed back in 1996. Barry was showing his support for her and helping to support the American Brain Tumor Association. Please check out Barry's Facebook page to learn more about his trip. You will find a link to his page from the Mountain Road Cycles facebook page. Here is a sample of his stories
"I reached a sign that said, "Welcome to Ohio". Took some pictures and headed out. It ends up most of the pictures at the sign I deleted with out realizing so I need to go back some time to get more. I made it to Andover, OH and I got back on route six. It wasn't long and I heard a bang on my bike. Stopped to see what was wrong and noticed that I broke a spoke, again. Decided to try to nurse it thirty miles to the bike shop. Made it fifteen miles and I heard another bang. I knew what it was right away, a second spoke. I decided I was pushing my luck, so I had to find a place to pull over. I caught with the mail lady who was in front of me and asked her for a bike shop that was nearby, she just laughed. I was in the middle of nowhere. Next I asked her if there was a convenient store nearby with a parking lot. Luckily I only had to go a few blocks and there was a BP Station. First I need to thank Ed and the Bicycle Barn for making sure I had the correct tools and making sure I knew how to repair these spokes. Believe it or not it went pretty good. I got them both fixed, I got the tire put back on and I didn't have any extra parts which was a good thing. I had some people watching what I was doing. They were amazed that I had the parts with me, and the tools to fix it. My goal now was to make it to Chardon and the bike shop. Things went good and I made it to the shop alright. I was a little nervous how I was going to be treated walking in and wanting service right away. When I walked in the first thing I looked for was if they serviced bikes. I saw that they did and knew I was in luck. I told them my story, and they couldn't have done more for me. They helped me unpack my bike and they started working on it right away. He replaced six spokes that were damaged, and trued the rim up. It ends up I couldn't have gone to a better place, these guys knew what they were doing. I asked them about my route through Cleveland and they gave me some advise on the best way to get through. They looked over my bike and found a few things that needed straightened out and did it. They told me where the motel was and that they would be in the shop until if I wanted to come back and hang out that I should. I ended up finding my motel room and getting something to eat. I walked back up to town and back to the bike shop just to shoot the breeze a little bit. Once again the guys and the Mountain Road Cycles made me feel right at home. They gave me some good advice and wished me luck. I feel a whole lot more confident going through Cleveland tomorrow knowing that these guys worked on my bike. Went back to the room and did my normal organization of gear and making phone calls. The weather was beautiful today, not a cloud in the sky and a high of about sixty degrees. Expect the same weather tomorrow. I'm pretty excited and nervous about going through Cleveland, it should be exciting getting up to Lake Erie. Well, time for bed, it will be a busy day tomorrow. Rode about 58 miles today. Expect to do about 90 miles tomorrow".
href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Yp1vJ1nOLlE/SgSJKindqtI/AAAAAAAAAHE/BpnQvhUbQUs/s1600-h/n1759037224_7270_6142856.jpg">