Day 31 - Winona, MN, to Viroqua, WI

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ACTIVITIES

Day 31: July 19, 2000, Update
Winona, MN, to Viroqua, WI

Today's Miles: 65.8

Miles since Seattle: 2106.5

One Rider's Story

Twenty years ago, at the age of 18, Thomas Wardell made, in his words,"One big f---ing mistake," and he's spent the rest of his life fighting back from the disastrous results. He'd done some drinking when he got on his motorcycle, but it wasn't all his fault, said his father, Jack. A driver ran him off the road, he hit a curb and caromed into some big yew trees lining the road. Three months later, he woke up in a hospital in his home town of Madison, Wis. "They said he would be a vegetable," said Jack.

"I overheard them saying that," recalls Thomas, "and it infuriated me."

Thomas Wardell's amplified persona

Four months later, Thomas left the hospital in a wheelchair, determined to recover. Brain damage had paralyzed him temporarily and slurred his speech. But soon he was walking with the help of a cane, and two months after he left the hospital, he moved into his own apartment. Several years later, he received a degree in hotel management and started working in food service. Year by year, his condition improved, but the help he received was limited because physical therapy wasn't even available for people with that degree of brain damage."He's pretty much done it on his own," said his father.

A star second baseman and pitcher on his team at Monona Grove High School before his accident, Thomas was particularly frustrated by what had happened to his body-loss of motor control on the left side made it impossible for him to even walk at first, and then only haltingly. "I felt sorry for myself for a long time," he said. "I'd just sit in the corner and say, 'Oh, poor me.'"

"Pretty Near a Miracle"

Over the years, though, Thomas developed a more stoic attitude. He even started helping others, teaching swimming to disabled kids. And he was able to resume some outdoor activities. He went bow hunting and duck hunting. Then last year, he went on a bike ride in Wisconsin sponsored by the American Lung Association and met a man from Milwaukee who had been on the 1998 Big Ride. "I knew this was something I wanted to do," said Thomas. "I signed up in January."

Now, after a month on the road, Thomas has become a well-loved Big Rider. Almost always gracious and cheerful, and with an eye for the ladies, he is fond of playing word games with friends with an elegant form of speech that one crew member described as "Yoda-esque." Fellow riders often help him with his baggage or with setting up his tent, but "he's pretty independent. He's amazing," said Dot Keith of Bothell, Wash.

Welcome to Wisconsin

On the road, Thomas can be found every afternoon plugging along beyond the third water stop, the pink orthotic on his left foot bobbing up and down with his pedals."I keep telling myself, 'Tom, keep pushing. Keep trying. Keep turning those wheels.' I'm not going to let down my sponsors and my relatives."

On Thursday, Thomas plans to pull the Chain of Hope, with the names of lung disease victims, from the fourth water stop into Madison. His parents and sisters will be there to greet him. "We're very proud of him," his Dad said. "He's pretty near a miracle."

After the ride ends, Thomas said, has a couple more goals: "Find a lifetime dancing partner" and learn how to ice skate. "I'm going to impress the whole bloody world," he said.

More Hospitality across the Border

Thomas and his fellow riders spent a short and delightful day on the road Wednesday, sweet recompense for Tuesday's wet, cold misery. Riders followed the muddy Mississippi south, crossing into Wisconsin at La Crosse, home of the world's largest six-pack at the old Heileman brewery.

Birthday flop for Marta Willman

A steep climb up from the river valley took them into Amish country, gentle hills and vales dotted with silos and farmhouses. Farmers in dark wool shirts and broad-brimmed hats cut oats in contoured rows behind teams of matched horses. Amish children in frocks and overalls stared stoically at the visitors with their shiny wheels and flashy lycra, declining to be photographed but politely answering questions. At the Miller Bakery in Harmony, an Amish man and two of his children sold donuts, freshly-baked chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies and plastic bead necklaces to squadrons of Big Riders while his wife kept churning out more goodies in the big farmhouse kitchen. And at Viroqua, where riders camped, local folks plied them with delicious Wisconsin milk and cheese curd. Most riders went to bed early, to be ready for the second-longest day of the Big Ride, into Madison.

By Clem Work, riding reporter.

For more information about today's ride, check out the GORP Big Ride Log.