Well, we've done it, 303 total miles ridden, with 500 lb's. onboard our beautiful bike- thanks again and always to Mark Nobilette of Nobilette cycles, and to Steve and Ruth Meyer of Mainstreet Pedicabs. Thanks to the dozens of people who helped us in ways large and small, and especially to all the groups that believed in us and partnered with us to present events at which we fundraised for them. We were able to present our project to many, many more people, and to raise much more money than we did in our maiden voyage of 2009. We've received attention from many media outlets as we travelled, and I've heard we've been mentioned from far across the country. We we're the recipients of a grant from a Foundation based in New Mexico, without even applying, or no known connection! It's starting to take off, and I'm full of enthusiasm for the future of the project.
My biggest thanks go to my partners who planned, helped fundraise, learned and recorded music, and most importantly rode with me as members of the Joybox Express Quartet every inch of the way; Brian Delaney, Carl Hildebrandt, and Pete Siers. Also, it's important to note that we really rode as a group of five, our friend and photographer John Lilley was with us the whole way and has thousands of images of the trip. Also, we'll never forget the energy and good spirit that Phillis Englebert brought to us as she rode and helped us for 5 or 6 days- we all loved having you Phillis!
We'll take a break now, and wait awhile before any future plans are made, but we'll be back riding and playing- we've loved it too much to not find new ways for us to make the project grow.... Mark Braun

We're almost done with our epic journey across the entire state of Michigan, we've ridden just over 300 miles with 500 pounds of our gear piled on our beautiful piano bike. Yesterday we rode from Canton to downtown Detroit down Warren Ave through Dearborn, Westland, Dearborn Heights, Warrendale...What a scene to pass through the spectrum of urban environments, all the time garnering looks of amazement and encouragement from the people that watched us roll by. A highlight was an unplanned stop at the Kronk boxing gym, one of the finest in the world where we stopped and were welcomed in by "Caveman" Lee and the other young fighters. After a beautiful lunch at Al Ameer Restaurant we came to downtown and had some photos near Hart Plaza and the iconic sculpture of Joe Louis" fist on Jefferson Ave.
It's hard to put into words what the trip means to each of us, and to the people we've met, but the outpouring of encouragement and gratitude has been profound, we've moved people and been moved by people. Every member of our group answered every bell, and looked out for each other, and helped at every turn- never pausing for any acknowledgement...that's giving with grace, and it felt amazing to be a part of such a great team.
Our gig last night was our only club date, at Cliff Bell's in Detroit. We had a nice turnout, and had some friends join us; Chris Codish played piano and sang, R.J. Spangler played drums, and Bob Seeley played piano, too- a great night. In the dark we rode our last couple miles up Woodward to the Scarab Club where we'll play tonight. It's strange not to ride today, we're all strong and feasting on the constant riding. Well, I'll be back tomorrow to report on our final day, and I'm going to encouragement the other guys to post their thought, too. Words don't seem adequate, but guess what it meant when a lady pulled over in front of us in the dark and high fived us on Woodward as we passed, screaming out" I just read about you ( Metro Times?) and here you are! God bless you for what you're doing!
Mark

Wow----what a day yesterday. Mike Casey and Mark Nobilette to the rescue! Mike drums up just enough spokes to fix our unusual wheels, and they relace them in time for Mark to true and round them on the piano bike...amazing that Mark would be with us when this happened. We played a nice concert on the grass in front of the Chelsea Library for about a hundred people, and about 60 people formed into our group ride including some of our closest friends. The peleton rolled strong with everyone looking out for one another, my sister was in on it- her longest ride ever! The National Kidney Foundation of Michigan formed a team with their own shirts in honor of a little girl who passed away after a struggle, she attended their camp,and was in their hearts as they rode , and raised money for their cause-exactly what we're trying to do. My closest pal Jom Caleca rode with his son Gabe, who rode 3 days in a row, and is experiencing the beauty of the bike! We arrived in Ann Arbor and played for thousands at the Top of the Park Summer Festival where our home town poured on the love. Volunteers lifted the piano and bike onto the stage, we had a great set for our hometown fans! The Mayor even proclaimed the day officially Joybox Express Day in A2!We presented Mark Nobilette with a Jersey and Plaque, Heidi fed us, we had a few beers , and rode off in the dark exhausted but triumphant to the Mayor's parking space where we convene for our ride to Ypsilanti today, probably in a thunderstorm. Tuesday we're in the 313 with a roll down Warren Ave into Detroit for a 7 PM gig at Cliff Bell's...we're almost done for this amazing trip, I hate to see it end.... Mark

What a day yesterday!!! Lots of ups and downs...We left our unbelievable stay with the Hillary's and started in Williamston where we were met by my great pals John Rutherford and the maker of our bike Mark Nobilette who came all the way from Colorado to ride with us for a couple days. That's a lot of extra juice for us- we're infused with a lot of new energy. Pete's back from his stint with the DSO, and Tim Potter from Lansing shows up to ride with us ,too, a real good guy , he gets video footage of us while he pedals, that will be cool to see. After a while we're met by Jim Gilligan on another Nobilette cycle, a cool testament to Mark- we're rolloing all Nobilette on the Mothership with Mark and John on 2 old frames from the early '80s and "Joe Don" on his freshly powder coated Nobilette ,too. Pete's riding one of my Nobilette mountain bikes as a wingman...way good all around. We arrive as part of a group that picks us up and rides us to Bader Gardens in Howell where we play a nice set in the shade for a good crowd who loves what we're doing. We're joined by a cellist on her cycle who plays a couple tunes with us- then we roll on. It was meant to be a record day for the JBE with Gilligan and Rutherford stoking now, but we pop spokes on both rear wheels and we HAVE to shut it down at about the 51 mile mark with only five to go to Chelsea. Right now our chief mechanical support is in high gear trying to drum up the correct spokes and relace the wheels in time for our big group ride today from Chelsea to A2 at 3 PM. Mike Casey and Mark Nobilette are probably working right now and I'm itching to call them and see what's happening... Mike Casey. the owner of Aberdeen Cycle in Chelsea has answered every bell for the last 2 years, and has been the home of the JBE.. in Mike and Mark I trust... wish them luck, we'll see..... Mark

I've gotten a little behind with a lot going on the last couple days- here we go... Chuck and Nadean Hillary continue to spolil us with their unparalleled hospitality. The benefit they arranged with Dr. Peter LaPine went great, we raised twice as much money as last year with twice the turnout. Heidi drove out to be with me but it was too busy to spend much time together...Next day we played at the St. Vincent Home for Children, heart wrenching and gratifying at the same time. Most of the kids were thrilled to meet us and try out our instruments, they liked our offering, too.These kids have had such troubled lives, it's a gut punch to think about what some of them have been through. The staff were all warm and kind, committed people doing a tough job, but trying hard. We tried to provide some bright moments and maybe a little hope and inspiration... I want to go back and do more, a lot more. Chuck and Nadean took us out to a beautiful Indian restaurant where we had a fine meal, and a full night of sleep afterword.
Today we played a really nice set for about 50 people that showed up at Elderly Instruments. We played without Pete the last couple days because he had an obligation with the DSO-it's great to have a drummer so good the Symphony steals him. On a personal note, I told myself I would try to learn something from everyone on the trip, and I've been with and around some really fine people. Phillis has filled in nicely on pusherbike/roadside for Pete, tomorrow we get my great friend and inspiration John Rutherford, and another super strong rider, Jim Gilligan as 2 pushers- we should go down the road... Also tomorrow we welcolme the maker of our beautiful craft, Mark Nobilette, he came all the way out from Colorado to ride with us for a couple of days...that's going to be cool for us, we'll roll with an all Nobilette rig... Getting ready for our homecoming, 1 PM in Chelsea Sunday at the District Library followed by a group ride at 3 to Top if the Park gig in Ann Arbor at 6:30, should be a very cool day for all of us... More soon.... Mark

Time to catch up a little. Here are some highlights from the last few days. On our rather long ride from Holland to Grand Rapids on July 4, we rolled through beautiful farmland, with flags flying from fenceposts and silo tops...gorgeous American experience. Luckily I had published our route on our website, and though we deviated slightly, Pete's wife Steph, and their two kids Charlie and Neva, and family friends Ken and Priscilla found us in the shade of a tree neer a massive silage. I'll always remember how happy Pete's kids were to have found him, and how cool it will always be for them to remember what their Dad did on this unusual adventure. Next day after staying in a hotel with a POOL we rode down into GR to the brand new GR Bike Park, a reclaimed baseball field now serving as a roller course for BMX'ers. We played in a BLAZING hot sun for about 30 people in a benefit for a Coalition to end Homelesness, in conjunction with the Majic concert series. We were joined by Bill Vits from the GR Symphony, he played bones, and a Sousaphonist named Karen who brought her horn on a bike! After going to bed early we rolled at 6:30 am with Phillis Englebert riding along and supplying all our food for the day, we rode on way back, rural roads, beautiful... altogether we rode a new record 54 miles, ending in Grand Ledge witrh a dip in Pete's sister Sue's pool... Wow were we cooked, 96 degrees, 54 miles, pulling a piano, a set of drums, a heavy cooler, an amp, a guitar, and all our personal things... I'll never forget it. We were then picked up by one of the projects greatest supporters, Chuck Hillary. Chuck drove us to his home where his wonderful wife Nadean fed us ( a veteran of the Cordon Bleu Ecole), and put us all to bed for 11 hours of sleep. I woke up with bags under my eyes like barnyard doors... Nadean is making breakfast, then Chuck takes us back to the bike where we'll ride 16 miles to the place we'll play tonight as a fundraiser for the Playa Del Carmen Health Project administered through MI State University, a surgical intervention program for Mayan kids. We're actually succeeding in our efforts at raising needed funding for worthwhile groups, we couldn't do it without people like Chuck and Nadean. Well, time to get going...

It's Monday morning, 10 am, we ride in 2 hours. Yesterday we rode 30 beautiful miles in 90 degree weather- a little bit in the middle of nowhere where we asked the only passing car for route advice. We astonished them and their children by pulling off our cover and playing them a tune. Did the same for some kids at our hotel- that's one of the best parts of all this- surprising people at odd locations when they would never expect it, but then where would you expect a piano bike? Short ride and afternoon gig in the GR BikePark, tomorrow we try for 60 miles in 90 degree weather... This us everything I hoped it would be... Mark