ORR 100 Mile Bike Ride - all Bikers Triumphed over the Road!

Omaha Rapid Response (ORR) hosted its first ever Bike Ride to relieve suffering September 11th, 2010. The initially began with my son Isaac (8 years old) who wanted to ride a 100 mile bike ride on his bike this year. Joanie and I have been involved in Omaha Rapid Response for years and asked Isaac what he thought about making the ride a fund raising event ORR. Isaac loved the idea, and so the training began.

Isaac rode over 324 miles this summer during his training for the ORR 100 mile Bike Ride. His brother Caleb (7 years old) decided that while could not ride a 100 miles, he wanted to ride as far as he could to help raise money for ORR.

Rich McGinness, TJ Enst and Mike Hall, Isaac and Caleb’s grandfather also joined the ride. The ride began at 6:05 am on September 11th, 2010.

The terrorist attack on 9/11/2001 was the first disaster Omaha Rapid Response responded to shortly after its founding. Since then ORR has responded to natural and manmade disasters all over the world. From helping clear tree limbs after tornadoes in Omaha to hurricane relief on the gulf coast, to ORR’s ongoing relief efforts in Pakistan and Haiti, ORR has been helping people all over the world. It seemed only fitting to host this bike ride on 9/11 as a way to commemorate our inaugural response and also to honor those lost on 9/11.

The ride began early in the morning at 6:05 am. For 100 miles we pedaled from Ashland to Greenwood, and Waverly. We then proceeded through a corner of Lincoln up through Ceresco and Wahoo. We continued on from Cedar bluffs down through Mead, Memphis and finally back from Ashland.

We were met along the way by their support team and well wishers cheering them on. Joanie and my mom, Susan Hall, and Jill Borgelt provided sag support for the team providing them with water, Gatorade and snacks at various points along the way.
Janet Klein, Susan Hall, Jill Borgelt and Debbie Smith prepared a meal for everyone at the conclusion of the ride.

Here is a list of all the riders and their mileages:

TJ Ernst – 100 Miles
Aaron Hall – 100 miles
Caleb Hall – 18 miles
Isaac Hall – 100 miles
Mike Hall – 100 Miles
Rich McGinness – 100 Miles

I am so proud over everyone involved, our riders, our support team and our donors. And many of these fit into more than one category. I can’t thank you all enough, you all made this a huge success! From the bottom of my heart, Thanks!

On a personal note I am not sure what is sweeter, that joy of watching my boys train and work hard, building character throughout this process, or being able to also do this with my dad, Mike Hall. Three generations of us. Glory be to God for all that He has done!

-- Aaron L. Hall