2009 Dawn to Dusk 500
Story by: Marvin Knapke

Hello everyone on August 29, 09 I went on the dawn to dusk 500 with Hoagy’s Heroes. This was the 2nd annual 500 mile Autism Dawn till Dusk charity ride to support the NHS Autism Schools in Westmoreland County. This is one of the places where Hoagy’s Heroes helps children; this is one of the reasons that I found their organization so interesting.

This is why I enjoy long distance rides with them so much, knowing that as I am enjoying a long distance ride I am also helping children. The comradeship for the ride was just awesome. The Holiday in where we started and ended the ride was very good to us. The staff could not have been friendlier, they were great. I met some new riders that were just plain good people and also people from the school that helped with the ride were great. The positive energy one feels when on a ride like this is very hard to put into words. I just know it is something I would like to continue doing in the future and also that I strongly recommend that other people get involved so they can experience the awesome feelings that I have had the privilege of experiencing.

The ride was a very enjoyable one with the day turning out to be beautiful. They were calling for 60% chance of rain but we ran into only a couple of sprinkles along the way. I never know the scenery in Pennsylvania was so awesome. The countryside was beautiful to see as we were riding through it. The ride was a total success in that everyone returned back safe. I am looking forward to more rides coming up and hope to meet more new friends along the way and to also reunite with the ones I was lucky enough to already meet. I want to thank you Hoagy’s Heroes for making many children’s lives better and because you have given me the opportunity to be a part of this you have also helped make mine better.