CAL FIRE San Diego County Firefighters of Local #2881 CAL FIRE San Diego County Firefighters of Local #2881 shared Iverson Foundation for Active Awareness's post.

3 days ago

Day 11: Ride Into the Light #ifaaride “Today was a short and quick day. Cory must have given me a small set of wings, because I felt like I was flying today. I had 20 MPH tailwinds pushing me the whole way into Las Cruces. My uphill speed today was faster than my downhill speed from two days ago. It made for a nice afternoon not having to sit in the saddle for too long. A few miles outside of town at a rest stop, I met up with Firefighter Dwayne Neal from the Las Cruces Fire Department whom I had mentioned yesterday. He had hustled out there to meet me on his day off since I was way ahead of schedule due to the wind. He said that he was having some engines from the area come meet me for a couple pictures. He said the original plan was to have those engines post on top of the overpasses as I came in to give a salute in support of the #ifaa cause in Cory’s memory. That made my heart swell. Remembering all those who saluted Cory on his way home from Ventura was a sight to be seen. The Firefighting Brotherhood is strong out here. Two engines from the Fairacres Fire Department and one engine from Las Cruces Fire Department stopped in to take pictures with the view of the Las Cruces valley in the background. Firefighter Neal has been following this journey from day 1 and sent out an email ahead of time notifying his department of my arrival in support of the #ifaa cause. Everyone was so amazing and listened to Cory, Ashley, Evie and Taylor’s story and everything that has transpired in between. From there I finished biking to the hotel that the IAFF Local 2362 was generous enough to provide me with for the night. They are also pledging a donation to the #ifaa. Firefighter Neal waited for me to get cleaned up and then drove me around in his personal vehicle to a few of the fire stations in his department to meet some of the on-duty personnel. When Firefighter Neal would introduce me, he would explain who I was, what I was doing, where I was going, and the entire nature of the #ifaa. I just sat back and watched the magic happen. It made me so feel so humbled and proud that this gentleman took the time to research and memorize every detail of what this entire trip is about. I almost wanted to bring him along for the rest of the trip to be a spokesperson. Firefighter Neal went above and beyond what I or the #ifaa could ever have asked for. You could tell that this man has a genuine love for helping others. I can’t say enough about that. Not to mention he looks like a spitting image of Will Ferrell in person. Also, to Firefighter Neal’s wife, thank you for sacrificing your time so that he could help promote such a wonderful venture. One of the Firefighters I met at the headquarters station is the nephew of CAL FIRE Fire Captain John Sena, who I work with back in San Diego. Small world. Thank you to IAFF Local 2362 and to Fairacres and Las Cruces Fire Departments for your support. Thank you to all of ones who support me and the #ifaa on a daily basis. I also forgot to mention that I am now more than 1/4 of the way across the country. Let’s do this!” Day 11 donation total: $6720 Iversonfaa.org/ride ... See MoreSee Less