We drove back to Washington DC early this morning for the Walk a Mile in Her Shoes benefit. This great benefit, organized by Becky Lee Woman’s Support Fund and the DC Coalition Against Domestic Violence was one that I did not want to miss. I not only was invited to walk, I was invited to talk to the crowd. Fathers and mothers alike, came out to support this 1st annual event. With the way the event turned out you would have thought it was its 21st year in existence.
Karma Cottman, Executive Director of the DCCADV talked with me before the event, it is so comforting to see the passion she has for her job. Lynea Woody who is with the DCCADV as well, helped to get the word out to the community for this event.
I had the honor of meeting Becky Lee, Founder of www.beckysfund.org
What an amazing and very dedicated woman. I urge you to visit her website.
**I challenged Brian Namey of the NNEDV to participate in the Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event and to a race against me for the final 100 yards, unfortunately he had other obligations. Next year Brian!

I have a new anti-aerodynamic feature that I added to The Kindness Bike. My average mph pace at which I ride has steadily increased from just under 10mph to nearly 15mph over the 5 weeks since I began, now with the new feature, I may well be under 10mph once again.
The sign, “Boys Should Never Hit Girls” is highly popular; it strikes a chord with nearly everyone. I tell most people to teach boys not to hit and they have a better chance of knowing not to hit as adults. Some mention to me the same applies to girls, which it does of course.
After 5 full weeks of riding, the ride total is increasing and is nearing the one thousand mile mark. Our shorter daily rides are coming to an end and longer rides will be common as we push into Ohio later this week.

I guess that is somewhat of a misleading title for the blog today. No I didn’t take a spill, we found a Red Cross Donor Center on our ride. I think giving blood was more appealing than pedaling a bike, so we took rolled up our sleeves and took an hour-long break.
Evelyn Perry, a longtime volunteer for the Red Cross, was the perfect help to making our visit to this center, a very pleasant one. Evelyn who had so many stories about traveling the United States, had her own Harley for several years. Evelyn was also given the Clara Barton Honor Award, the Red Cross’ highest award bestowed on volunteers. Barbara Moss, a Red Cross employee became an instant cheerleader of One Million Acts Of Kindness excited to spread the word about my mission to one and all.     Today while riding, we met so many people and made some very good connections for future meetings with Children’s Advocacy Centers across the nation. The National Children’s Advocacy Center website can be visited at www.nationalcac.org

“Being a kid is like a box of chocolates. You never know what kind of parents you’re gonna get.” Most kids are getting great parents, many aren’t. In the extreme cases, hopefully, Child Protective Services steps in to monitor. I have talked with many professional caseworkers over the course of the last half year. A few things are for certain, most of them are drained, under appreciated and over worked. All of the caseworkers look for the small glimmer that they can realize from their months spent on individual cases. They look for a bright moment that makes it all worthwhile.
Today, One Million Acts Of Kindness was paid the ultimate compliment from a caseworker in being told that the work being done by this mission was her bright moment she so sorely needed.
A short day of thirty miles was a full day of catching up with some of the hundreds of emails, phone calls and letters I need to return. Thank you to everyone for being so understanding for not making me feel so overwhelmed.

A local television news segment can do much to raise awareness for a cause, this was the case today after last night’s Channel 3 News story on The Kindness Bicycle Tour. During my 40 mile ride today, many people mentioned that they had seen the footage and many others were more enthusiastic than what I normally experience. Thank you for the big boost Channel 3.
I met Chris from “Heroes for Children” today, he is riding with his 5 horses from Dallas, Texas to New York City and back to raise money for childhood cancer. What a great guy to give so much of his time for the very good cause of helping children.
Laura and Sharon from Frederick County Child Protective Services stopped by during their lunch hour to talk to me about the importance of kids living in a safe environment. They loved The Kindness Bike with its signs.
Thank you to Rick the owner at the Snow White Grill for buying lunch today.

There are so many ways to see the United States countryside. The method I am taking allows me to see most everything at a distance and up close, in great detail. It is the speed with which I travel that helps me to appreciate the beautiful detail of this amazing land, with every turn of my bicycle wheel.
Today was a very full day, riding over 40 miles, filming for a segment on Channel 3, a local ABC affiliate, a visit to Frederick County services offices, a visit to the Winchester Star, the local newspaper and conversation with dozens of people.
The weather is going to be near perfect for the next few days, helping me to make up the 34 miles I have fallen behind.

Riding a bicycle 7,400 miles to raise awareness for Domestic Violence and Childhood Sexual Abuse gives me the opportunity to meet many professionals who work tirelessly to help put an end to the pain and suffering some people live through because of these two issues. While talking with Lynea Woody of the DC Coalition Against Domestic Violence a week ago, she mentioned an upcoming event being held on Father’s Day in DC. It was an event that I didn’t give much thought to because I would be a couple of states to the west. The more I thought, the more I realized that this would be one of those opportunities that I shouldn’t miss out on participating.
“Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” is an event being organized in the DC area by the DCCADV, urging all men who are brave enough to put on a pair of high heeled shoes to show their support against Domestic Violence by walking one very long mile. We are going to do a giant U-turn and head back to DC for the day to take part in this very worthy cause.
In looking at today’s photo, two things are apparent;  1.) It is going to be a very, very long mile  2.) I’m thinking most women would love to have these legs…or at least the guy who comes with them…just kidding!!!