Macoupin County Special Olympics 2008

It all started with a familiar tune sounding at 6:30: my alarm. This was the earliest I had woken up in a very long time, so it was a little rough. After the rest of my morning routine, I eventually hopped on my bicycle headed to an event I volunteered for. The only catch was, it was at Beaver Dam State Park, and I had never ridden there before.

My best friend, Google Maps, told me it was about 12 ½ miles to my destination. I wrote down the directions and headed to the park. It was a pretty cold morning, maybe upper 40’s, if that. Then again, the sun hadn’t had much time to warm up this earth of ours. Heading south along a dirt country road, the sun flashed like a strobe light in between the tassles of corn. I’m just thankful I wasn’t an epileptic, or else surely I would have had a spell.

I saw a herd of cows that all looked at me as I rode past, which was funny.

Oh, how I love cows!

I also saw a couple of deer leaping through a field of thigh-high brush. It looked like “Flipper” Anderson diving over the linemen, only minus the flip. And yes, there was a moment when I had to call my mother-in-law because I couldn’t find this one particular road. Come to find out, the road I saw on the map and road by another name I saw were actually one in the same. I hate it when that happens!

As I neared the park, I also saw a squirrel fall about 30 feet off of a tree and bounce when it hit the pavement. Without missing a beat, it jumped up and ran up and over the hill. When I crested the hill, I saw a squirrel dead off to the side of the road. I hopped off my bike and stared at its chest to see if it was moving—it wasn’t. Then I got a stick to poke it and see if rigor mortis had set it—it hadn’t. I flipped it over to see if there were any sort of tire or teeth marks on its body—there weren’t. The point I’m trying to make is that I don’t know if it was the same squirrel or not. Strange stuff…

The ride actually was 17.6 miles long, which rather surprised me how “off” Google maps was. Upon arriving, I met up with Kelly, a longtime friend of my wife’s, who was in charge of the event. Apparently I showed up just after they finished setting everything up. Perfect timing! So, we just sat and waited for the athletes to arrive, and boy, they came in droves!

There was a huge group from Jerseyville, some from Girard, and of course, some from Carlinville. Everybody was divided into teams by color. I was on the pink team! Woohoo!!

I was in charge of pushing a wheelchair-bound man by the name of Gary. He was involved in a near fatal car wreck at the age of 18, which left him quadrapalegic. He was a very nice man with a hilarious sense of humor. His “one-on-one (caretaker),” Mandie, was a very nice woman as well. It was definitely a pleasure to hang out with both of them for the day.

The event was started by ceremonial balloon releasing, which was neat to see so many dozens of balloons at once.

There were several events that the athletes could partake in: a soccer ball kick, softball toss, horseshoes, basketball shooting, and of course, redneck golf.

After attending most of the event, we had a sack lunch which was followed by an awards ceremony. It was really fun to see their reactions when they got a new hat and a trophy. The smiles on their faces were absolutely contagious!

Only 2 and a half hours later after the event began at 10:45, it was already over and the groups headed home for the day. Meanwhile, I was faced with a physical dilemma of my own: riding back home! Already excrutiatingly sore from the student/faculty basketball game from the night prior, and pushing around a 170 pound man in a wheelchair after riding 17 miles on a bike, I was a little sore.

Before my journey, I thought that something more than my pop-tarts and granola bar and mt. dew for lunch would be necessary to give me the sufficient energy to survive. *laughs* Okay, it wasn’t going to be that bad, but still… I stopped at the restaurant at Beaver Dam State Park after hearing several people rave about how good the food was. I ordered a grilled beef tenderloin sandwich… and a 20oz. bottle of… well, you know. As I waited for my food, I decided to go snap a couple more photos of the beatiful lake.

True to everybody’s word, the food was delicious!

The ride back was cut short about 3 miles, as I decided to test my fate by riding on Shipman Blacktop instead of heading back the way I came. The road I wanted to get to was only 1 mile down the busy highway, so I gave it a go. Not a single car passed me, which was nice.
The rest of the ride was very beautiful, but not very eventful.

When I got home, I crashed for a good hour or so before working later that evening for 4 hours. It was a very fun event, and I look forward to volunteering once again next year!