Anton Savage says he is finding out things he didn't know about himself during a charity cycle across the United States.
The Newstalk presenter is travelling the infamous Route 66 to raise money for the Children's Health Foundation.
He is currently at Amarillo in Texas and is part of a group of 80 Irish bikers.
It all culminates in a motorcycle ride from Chicago to Santa Monica on Route 66.
He told The Anton Savage Show he has underestimated the route and what he has seen.
"We are going to places that are ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous," he said.
"I spent a good hour yesterday in a place just outside Shamrock, Texas. Shamrock, Texas claims that it has a section of the Blarney Stone.
"Shamrock, Texas is a total one horse town - it's a one pony, there's nothing in it except a section of the Blarney Stone.
"There's a big poster saying in 1950, the Shamrock officials put pressure on Irish links and got a bit of the Blarney Stone.
"They have it framed in the middle of the most cliched small town America.
"There's the Blarney Stone, there's a big picture St Patrick and more or less kiss it if you like".
Anton also found out he had a secret love for barbed wire.
"Besides Shamrock, Texas a little bit down the road I spent an hour in the Barbed Wire Museum," he said.
"They have 2,000 different types of barbed wire ranging from the genesis of barbed wire through to modern barbed wire.
"It's called the Devil's Rope Museum - you'd think you can't spend an hour looking at barbed wire? I'm not making this up - it was probably the most interesting museum I've ever been in my life. I loved it."
Anton described it as "Oklahoma and Texas made real over 50 years through the medium of barbed wire."
I’m in Uranus. Won’t linger. pic.twitter.com/FjF7nlBWzX
— Anton Savage (@AntonSavageShow) September 26, 2024
Anton said he also came across a town with an interesting name.
"If ever you think you have a bad day, there is a place in Oklahoma called Uranus," he said.
"The small town of Uranus has a fudge factory and when when you walk into the local store, that is both the fudge factory and general store, every time you walk in every single person is greeted by all of the staff shouting in unison, 'Welcome to Uranus!'
"All I was thinking was [when] you're having a really bad day... imagine knowing when you wake up on Monday morning that between then and the close of business, you're going to have to shout 'Welcome to Uranus' about 8,000 times and each time make it seem like the first".
The town also has its own newspaper, called the Uranus Examiner.
And they say local newspapers are dying… pic.twitter.com/rqu8SxrPM4
— Anton Savage (@AntonSavageShow) September 26, 2024
'Going above and beyond'
Anton said families on the trip are directly involved in the campaign.
"There's people here who have lost children, there's people here whose children have been grievously injured," he said.
"They all talk about the support that they got.
"To some extent the thing that matters is taken for granted, which is that the medical care given to the kids was top flight.
"What they then talk about is the nursing staff and the medical staff going extraordinarily above and beyond.
"Nurses coming in on their days off so that they could give a continuum of care to families who were distraught, people who reached out at the time where they were under such stress.
"There's a huge amount of families here who have had a direct involvement with the children's hospitals and therefore want to give back," he added.
People can donate to the campaign here
