The day started early in Forrest City with sleepy riders, hotel coffee, and everybody slowly trying to come back to life before kickoff. Huge shoutout to Comfort Inn & Suites for opening breakfast early just for us because that was VERY appreciated this morning. The weather also gave us a rare little gift for once: partially cloudy skies, an amazing breeze, and temperatures that somehow weren’t trying to personally attack us yet. Spirits were high, bikes were rolling, and it felt like the kind of morning that makes you excited to knock out another day on the road.
Before departure, Siren sang The Star-Spangled Banner, and hearing it early in the morning surrounded by bikes, veterans, and flags was one of those moments that gives you chills no matter how tired you are. We also got an update on the fundraising competition, and somehow the Patriots are STILL winning at $713. The fundraising supports the Midway mission along with schools, memorials, and veterans homes, so even the competition side of things is helping a bigger cause. Tomorrow’s Day 7 outreach opportunities were announced too, including visits to the memorial built by Charles Webb, an elementary school, and a VA home.
This morning, the person we honored and spoke about was Colonel Charles William Burkart Jr., a United States Air Force pilot who was declared Missing in Action after a mission over Laos in 1966. Seeing his photo and hearing his story this morning stayed with me throughout the entire day. During the long hot stretches of road, it became a reminder that this ride is about so much more than motorcycles or making it to the next fuel stop. Every name shared on this run belonged to a real person with a family, a story, and people who still remember them decades later. Carrying those stories across the country feels like one of the most meaningful parts of this experience.
Pipes and Ivan went over hand signals this morning, which definitely came in handy throughout the ride, especially with all the LEO support we had from Dixon, Tennessee helping escort us safely through traffic.
Fuel stop number one felt great. It was still partly cloudy and somehow not unbearably hot yet. That quickly changed. The ride to fuel stop number two took about two hours, and by the time we arrived, you could tell the heat and humidity were getting to everyone. We’re all trying to stay as hydrated as possible, but the humidity makes it feel like you’re sweating out water faster than you can drink it.
One of our amazing medics taught us a hydration life hack this morning though. If you pinch the skin on the top of your left hand using your throttle hand and the skin snaps back quickly, you’re hydrated. If it stays up or slowly goes back down, you’re dehydrated. Safe to say half the group immediately started pinching their hands in parking lots.
Lunch at Cumberland Presbyterian Church felt like a reset button for the entire group. They served pulled pork, a loaded baked potato bar, salad bar, cakes, pecan pie, apple pie…basically every comfort food imaginable for a bunch of exhausted riders running on fumes and electrolytes. But as incredible as the food was, the real hero was the blasting AC. After baking in the Tennessee heat almost as long as those potatoes, stepping into that freezing cold church felt like entering another dimension. You could literally see people coming back to life one bite and one blast of cold air at a time.
Unfortunately, we had to leave the blessed air conditioning and head back into the heat for the last fuel stop of the day. By then it was brutally hot, humid, and sunny. At the stop, riders were literally hiding in the tiny strip of shade beside an 18 wheeler trailer trying to cool off. Some people were laying on the ground resting, and multiple riders said that was the “shortest 45 minute break ever” because everyone was just exhausted and trying to recover before getting back on the road.
Then came the final ride into Cookeville, and somehow the entire mood shifted. The scenery got greener, the temperatures cooled just a tiny bit, and the massive trees finally started giving us a little shade after baking in the sun all day. Every single stop on this route has been incredible, and we are beyond grateful for every town, church, school, police department, and volunteer who welcomes us with open arms. But Cookeville completely caught all of us off guard in the best way possible. We rode through almost the entire town, and everywhere we looked there were people lined up waving flags, cheering, filming videos, and welcoming riders with nonstop energy and support. It felt like the whole city came outside for Run For The Wall. There was even a helicopter flying overhead following the pack into town, which made the arrival feel even more surreal.
Tonight’s dinner was held at the Leslie Town Centre in Cookeville, and Life Church took care of the dinner for us tonight. After a day of brutal heat, humidity, and exhaustion, it felt like exactly what everyone needed. They served chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, green beans, rolls, and chocolate cake, which already would have been enough to make a bunch of tired riders happy. Riders finally got a chance to sit down, cool off, laugh together, and reflect on the day instead of just focusing on the next fuel stop.
We heard from Shan Stout and Mayor Wheaton tonight, and tomorrow Mayor Randy Porter will be joining events as well. Between the support from veterans, churches, schools, police escorts, and entire communities shutting down streets just to welcome us in, it’s impossible not to feel emotional about what this ride means to so many people.
The evening also included a silent auction and cheesecake auction supporting local elementary schools, VA homes, memorials, and fuel. Clint Conner ran the auction tonight and somehow managed to keep the entire room laughing while also creating complete chaos every time someone raised the bid another hundred dollars. One minute people were relaxed eating dinner, and the next minute entire tables were teaming up and whispering game plans trying to secure the cheesecake.
Clint mentioned that last year’s cheesecake sold for $7,100, which already sounded wild to everybody in the room. Then this year’s special limited edition strawberry cheesecake with the dark chocolate Oreo crust and American flag decoration came out, and suddenly the bidding just kept climbing higher and higher. People were pooling money together, yelling bids across the room, cheering each other on, and fully committing to the moment.So how much did it end up going for?
Can you guess?
…Guess Again. wink wink
Ten thousand dollars.
And the coolest part was that everybody knew it was about way more than just cheesecake. Watching people get that excited to support veterans, schools, memorials, and this mission was such an incredible thing to witness. Still though…that has got to be one of the most expensive cheesecakes in America tonight.
Day 6 tested everybody with the heat, humidity, and exhaustion, but somehow the mission keeps pushing us forward mile after mile.
Now it’s time to cool off, hydrate, and mentally prepare ourselves to do it all again tomorrow.
Goodnight from Cookeville, where the riders are exhausted, the cheesecake costs more than somebody’s motorcycle payment, and the memories somehow keep getting better every single day.
— Natalie “Guess Again 2” Fielding
– Photos by Ben ‘Stitch’ Noyce
Due to circumstances beyond our control, Midway Route Photos from previous runs are no longer available. 