Day 15: Lots of Wildlife

Picture: The Divide was haunting us today, we were constantly climbing and descending

Today was really fun we went through Yellowstone Park and had no obligations for arrival so we got to take our time taking a ton of pictures and stopping at the different attractions. Push America paid for us to cycle through the park where we have seen more wildlife than any other route so far. The first animal we saw was an elk grazing right next to the road, it actually ended up walking right across the street and we were about 10 feet from it as it seemed to have no problem with the humans or cars rolling by it. Later we ran into some Buffalo and got real close to them as well, you always know when there is something to see when all the cars have their brake lights on and people are swarming around an animal and snapping pictures. The Buffalo were huge and according to the park ranger were typical of charging observers so I definitely kept my distance. Later we spotted some bald eagles sitting on their huge nest, I think there were about 50 people trying to look at them. Towards the end of our ride we ran into some steep terrain and ended up crossing the Continental Divide about three times. I was surprised at how

Picture: The park was very beautiful

tough the climb was, I had a hard time catching my breath but then I remembered the elevation. We were around 8,000 feet and I could definitely feel it.
We arrived in Grant Village which is located inside the park. This place was like a cabin/hotel and it was once again nice to relax somewhere that has a bed. For dinner we were sponsored by a restaurant that sat on a huge lake. They fed us lots of pasta, meatballs, and dessert; it was pretty good. After dinner we all rode to go see Old Faithful. I guess Old Faithful erupts every hour and a half, give or take a few minutes. The water shot up about 60 feet in the air and I think I saw about 200 flashes go off, so many tourists.
Tomorrow we head for Jackson, WY and will get a day off after tomorrows ride. I am looking forward to some down time for sure.

Picture: Old Faithful in all her glory

Day 14: The Beginning of Yellowstone

Today we got to sleep in until 8 which was so refreshing after being up at 5:30 for the last two nights. Our schedule said that we were supposed to be going 90 miles today to West Yellowstone, WY but during circle up this morning Jay informed us that we were going to rack the first 30 miles. He scouted the route last night and said the road had no shoulder and consistently wound up and around corners with fast logging trucks approaching. He said it was just too dangerous and didn’t feel comfortable putting us on the road for those 30 miles. So we all packed the vans and put our bikes on the racks and road towards the mountains. The river following the road was had a ton of river rafters, kayaks, and boogie boarders (something I have never seen). I noticed all of them wearing helmets and lifejackets because of the intensity of the river. The views in those 30 miles were amazing and I was eager to get on the bicycle and bike through it all.
Finally after a while in the car we got out to start our day on the bike and headed 60 miles towards West Yellowstone. It is always exciting getting into a new state; it makes it feel like we are moving fast through the country. Wyoming is beautiful as well the scenery continues to get better and better. I am excited to go through the park tomorrow; we are expecting to see some wildlife, hot springs, and famous geysers. On our route today everyone was keeping their eyes peeled for some wildlife. It wasn’t until the end of our ride that we saw a moose on the road. It was running the same direction as us on the opposite side of the pavement and everyone was going crazy trying to get their cameras out. It was really cool to get a chance to see one, I have seen them before and am always astounded at how huge they are. We got about 25 feet from it before it darted into the woods and I would say it was about 7 feet tall, just enormous.
Arriving into West Yellowstone I was surprised as to how touristy it is. All the restaurants were over priced and there were unlimited gift shops, we meet people visiting from all over the country. Seeing that West Yellowstone is about half a mile from entering Yellowstone Park I can now understand why there were so many tourists. So far we’ve had friendship visits every other stop and tonight we don’t have one. Once we get into Colorado we will be having them almost every day from there on out.
Im excited for tomorrow, we will be going through the main part of Yellowstone Park and have an easy 50 miles, there should be lots of pictures taken.

Day 13: Finally, Back on the Bike

Picture: Beautiful Montana

I dressed in my jersey this morning in hopes of using someone’s back wheel later on in the day. The guys had a 2 mile climb in the very beginning of the day so there was a high chance that someone might not be feeling good about the day and feel the need to rack. The second crew stop was at the top of this climb and sure enough Joel’s knee was acting up. He decided it was best for his body to rack so I checked out his back tire and it was same size and speed as mine so I attached it to my bike. This was really exciting because I only missed the first 15 miles of the day. Starting from the top of that climb the rest of the terrain was a steep to gradual downhill for about 25 miles with only two little hills. We actually ended up crossing the divide which we will be doing many more times when we get into Wyoming and Colorado. The ride went great and it was nice being able to get on the bike after two days of rest. The ride today was 105 miles which meant I completed about 90 of them.
We arrived in Bozeman after riding for about 6 hours and rolled into the high school where we are staying for the night. Immediately after unpacking I headed to the bike shop to get my back wheel spoke fixed. The bike shop guy said this type of thing happens more than often than people think and he was able to easily replace the bad spoke and then true my tire.
We then headed to a disability center known as Eagle Mount. They sponsored an amazing BBQ for us with all the toppings. All of us were starving for some good food and this place went above and beyond, I had two helpings of the homemade burgers, mixed green salad, homemade potato salad, and strawberry shortcake. Eating a meal after cycling 90 miles really makes the food extraordinary! But this place was so cool, there weren’t any people with disabilities there to work with because they do day camps but they told us all about their organization. They work with all kinds of people with disabilities and have some great opportunities for them to get involved with the outdoors. During the winter they take people with disabilities up skiing and teach them how to ski depending on their disability. They have ski chairs for those who can’t use their legs, use ropes to guide those with a mental disability, and a vocal spotter for those who are blind. Last year they had 170 participants, all people with disabilities hitting up the slopes through their program. During the warmer months they take people water rafting, kayaking, and to their indoor swim pool that has a ramp for wheel chair use, so cool. They also own 20 horses to take people out on rides and through courses. This place just blew my mind, families come from all over the nation to this place and plan their spring breaks and summer vacations around the opportunities here for people with disabilities.
With my bike now fixed tomorrow I’ll be able to ride my bike with my own back tire. We will be heading to West Yellowstone, MT and entering Yellowstone National Forrest!

Note the wheelchair access on the left of the pool. This place was amazing

Day 12:Athletes from the Special Olympics!

Picture: Here is Kim, she was so sweet and wouldnt stop smiling

Today I road in the van all day with Jay who is always the first to arrive at our destination for the day because he is responsible for everyone and is the one who talks with lodging as well as scouts our route for the next day. There were some rain clouds in the sky from last night which brought in some intense thunder showers. Today included a little climb to start the day and a total of about 60 miles. Another scenic route of course as Montana has been proving every time we set out to ride. It was great riding in the van with Jay and getting to know him better, he is a really great guy and leader in his chapter and on this trip. I went with him so I could get to the nearest bike store and repair my spoke, without a bike shop repair I am not able to ride my bike.
I helped him navigate the route today which really made me realize how much the crew guys riding these vans do for us. They are always in communication planning pit stops and making sure we are safe on the roads ahead. Arriving in Butte we found our lodging for the evening at the YMCA, a huge facility with an indoor waterslide, probably the nicest YMCA I have ever been too. We then tried to get the spoke of my back tire fixed at two different local bike shops but they both were closed because it is Sunday. I am beginning to get really frustrated because I would much rather be out on the bike then sitting in the van and its unfortunate to have to sit because of a mechanical problem. The rest of the team cycled in a few hours later and we all had lunch and got to play in the pool, hot tub, and of course waterslide. After showering up we headed to our friendship visit.
Arriving at the park for the friendship visit we were greeted by a ton of people from the local disability center. All the disabilities we saw that day were ranged from down syndrome to mental retardation to anxiety disorders and many others. I sat down at a table with Kim, Richard, and Lynn who all had different disabilities. Richard often had anxiety attacks and would grunt and use hand signals to communicate. He was very shy so it was a challenge to try and get to know him. Lynn was very sweet, she is around 45 years old but is still at around 10 years old. She informed me that she is the lead arts and crafts woman at the center and shreds paper and sweeps at her job at the Good Will. Then there was Kim who was so sweet, she was hard to understand and though her real age was 28 she was only at about 3 years old. She was a handful and sometimes hard to talk to because she loved seeing what everyone was doing and wanted to be a part of every conversation. She was so sweet though, she loved to give hugs and even gave me a little back rub. Oh and she wouldn’t let anyone forget about her new pink shoes which she pointed out to every person who walked by.
Tomorrow is a 105 mile day and I want to be out there so bad. I think what I’m going to do is keep my bike on the rack and if anyone has any knee problems or starts to hurt bad enough to rack then I’ll use their back tire on my bike and ride the rest of the day. I am hoping everyone stays safe tomorrow and that I’ll somehow be able to ride, I hate sitting in the vans when I could be out on the bike.

Day 11: Racked

Well the day started normal with an early 5:30 AM wakeup and Jay blasting his “wake-up” CD which usually consists of old horrible songs that no one likes which motivates everyone to get out of bed and pack up their stuff to be on time for breakfast. After breakfast every morning we circle up and talk about what the day is going to look like, what the terrain is going to consist of, the mileage, weather conditions, and any other precautions that need to be brought up. There is then a “disability of the day” that someone volunteers to educate us on, it can be any disability that the person would like to talk about. We then dedicate the day to someone, it can be anyone. On Father’s Day we dedicated it to our father’s but usually it is someone that we encountered at a friendship with a disability. So when the day gets tough, the lactic acid is unbearable, or you’ve got a negative attitude think about who we are riding for that day and our purpose for riding. We then pray for the day and depart. It was a little chilly to start the morning and my knees took a little while to warm up. About 20 miles in we had just gotten on I-90 when Lewis mentioned my back tire was rolling wrong. We pulled over and I checked it out, it was apparent that one of my spokes on my back tire had broke and there was no way of repairing it without a new spoke. This really was a bummer because it meant that I would have to rack the rest of the day. I had made it a goal to ride every mile, body permitting, but I did not take into account the reality that my bike may not function right and force me to sit the rest of the day. It was a frustrating racking for mechanical reasons but I guess that’s just how it goes, it could be worse, I could be sitting because of injury so for that I’m thankful.
About the same time I was fixing my bike the first pace line was about ½ a mile ahead. They were experiencing some worse problems than my own. Keagan’s chain locked up while he was riding and he took a good spill going at about 17 mph. He was ok but they rushed him to the hospital to clean up his road rash. We were all thankful he was fine, he suffered a little road rash on his leg and a gnarly gash on his right arm that is defiantly a deep wound. The rest of the day went well, I helped the crew set up pit stops and tried to encourage guys at each stop. It was very hot out and all the guys on the bikes were saying it was the hottest on the road thus far.

Day 10: Our Second Rest Day

Today we spent the day in Missoula, MT where everyone enjoyed a day off. Today consisted of a lot of free time, most guys did their laundry and cleaned their bikes. I ended up going to the mall with Max, Matt, and Dom so that Matt could get some new cycling glasses because he previously broke his the day before. I also updated my blog as well as responded to many e-mails.
There really was not much else that happened today so this blog will be short. I want to thank everyone for all their continued support through comments on my blog, emails, and phone calls. Also, I have been getting continued financial response from more of you who are donating. I am almost at $12,000 raised and it still amazes me how generous so many of you are, thank you. You have no idea the positive impact that your donations make on so many of the people with disabilities that we encounter, their families, and the organizations involved. This trip has been amazing so far and every day is always a new adventure full of opportunity and challenges!
Tomorrow we head for Phillipsburg, possibly the tiniest dot on the make. Should be an exciting 75 miles.

Day 9: Some Mental Toughness

The 5:30AM wake up came way too early, we have switched to mountain time so we lost an hour of sleep but what made it really tough trying to pry myself out of that comfy queen size bed. The day was chilly until the sun found its way into the mountains. Starting the day was tougher than I thought it would be. My body was clearly expecting a rest and all I gave it was another 70 miles. Ill try and break down how tough these last two days were: When we did the 105 miles we started with 21 of the 22 riders and ended the day with 19 guys finishing, pretty good. Now, today we started the day with 16 of the 22 guys riding and only 13 finishing. It just goes to show how tough today and yesterday were. As for me, I had the most mentally challenging day of my trip thus far. Starting out the day it took a while to really warm my body up and get my knees going. Once getting about 20 miles out of Paradise, MT we jumped onto I-90 which was a horrible road, it had all sorts of debris, sand, and rumble strips in the shoulder where we were riding. The head wind was strong and a slight uphill slowed us to about 10 mph, which can be agonizingly slow. I got to about mile 40 and my body really started hurting, it felt like me whole body was aching and my knees were still giving me problems. Guys were racking every other pit stop and I was seriously thinking about throwing in the towel for the day. As I said, the day was mentally challenging, I just kept telling myself to take it one pit stop at a time. The pit stops are every 10 miles and are marked by the vans which provide water and Cliff bars (one of our sponsors). The toughest part of the day came around mile 40-50 however became even more mentally challenging when we were on the highway for a stretch of 15 miles with no shoulder and huge semi log trucks were zooming past us at 65 mph. It is hard to describe but think about if you were trying to concentrate on a goal and you have these huge loud trucks flying past you, some of them only 4 or 5 feet from you, almost blowing you over as you attempt to stay cool and collected. It was tough, my pace line had to stop twice to gather ourselves. Dan was freaking out a little and kept telling him we were close and going to make it, Matt had a great attitude which I think helped all of us to keep plugging away at the day. Making it past that tough part of the interstate and arriving to the van at mile 55 was exhilarating. With only 15 miles to go we weren’t about to call it quits. Soon after leaving that pit stop the greatest thing of the day happened, the road turned into a 6% downhill for about 2 miles and a half and we finally got to cruise at about 30 mph and actually gain some significant ground. Everyone’s spirits were lifted after that, it was the perfect boost to get motivated to finish the day.

We arrived into Missoula in a double pace line and through the city which is always fun because we are in a huge group and everyone stares us and want to know who we are. Our first stop was at a famous cycling no-profit organization called Adventure Cycling Association, they sponsored lunch for us and had a huge bbq waiting for us. The people here in Montana are really nice and love the outdoors so they really appreciated what we were doing for the summer. The place puts out a magazine and holds hundreds of maps of bike routes around the world. We are staying at local Hellgate High School and after showering up I couldn’t help but take a well deserved nap. Soon it was dinner and we headed for a local nursing home that hosted dinner for us as we got to work with the people with disabilities there. A few of them were born with their disability but many had been in accidents. I got to talk with Dale who had been in a motorcycling accident when he was young. I found out that his brain functioned fairly well but his speech was hard to hear and he could not hold things with his hands. He could no longer use his legs and he had bi-polar disorder. I talked with him almost the whole time we were there which was touch because he was on a really big low. He was not too responsive and it was challenging to be interactive with him, I helped him eat and drink and turned the pages for him when we wanted to read his favorite magazine, Newsweek. There were a few other at the nursing home that had been in motorcycle accidents or suffered other head trauma. It was a great reminder to live each day to the fullest because we just never know what could happen to us. It was a wonderful opportunity to get involved in their lives and find out who they are and where they come from. That night everyone went out, it was a great time to spend with the guys just relaxing…a well accomplished day.

Hanging with some of the guys after a long couple of days. From left to right: Me, Joel, Cody, Sean, and Paul.

Day 8: Our First Century Ride...and then some

At the top of the first ascent



Today was our toughest day. We went 105 miles, through two mountain passes, and spent 7 hours on the bike. We had more elevation gained today than we did when we went through Stevens Pass. The views today were amazing, the best on the trip, going through the the pan-handle of Idaho we made our way into Paradise, Montana. Like any hard day, it didnt come without some difficult physical and mental tests. The two passes we went up were steep, only traveling at about 5-7 mph. Some of they guys were having aches and pains and two of them racked themselves, one for knee pan and one was having tendon pain by his calf muscle. It was real hard for both those guys to rack themselves because they really wanted to finish the day but I think it was best for the long run. We followed along a river all the way here and going through the two passes you can just imagine how beautiful the terrain and surrounding mountains were. We were traveling through huge open valleys and only passed through 3 tiny towns the whole day.

At the top of the second ascent...quite the accomplishment!



Arriving to lodging felt really good, accomplishing a challenging day like today was very rewarding. The place we are staying has some hot springs which everyone used. It was the perfect ending to a hard day. I dont know how but Push America some how got hooked up with this lodging. We all have beds and were served some very tasty bison burgers for dinner. Tomorrow we will be heading toward Missoula, Montana. I am not sure of the mileage but Im sure it will be difficult because of how tough today was. I am going to sleep so good tonight!

Media

Go to http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_061108WAB_journey_of_hope_LJ.1ff5d36a.html
to watch me in an interview for local news station King 5 in Seattle

Day 7: Dangerous Roads and Flooding

Our outdoor sleeping quarters from last night at Camp Sweylanka

Today started great with a hot breakfast courtesy of Camp Sweylanka, our first hot breakfast of the trip. Unfortunately today we found that we were going to be racked for the first 25 miles of our ride. Being racked means you’re in the vans and the bikes are on the bike rakcs. See how it works is our Project Manager, Jay, who is in charge and makes all the calls scouts the routes the day before and makes a decision on whether or not we are going to take that road or not. All of our routes we take are planned before the trip and many times are chosen based on past route usage or if it is a new part of the route, like this one, it is chosen based off local Pi Alphas or cyclists in the area. Unfortunately this route was not as great as the local cyclist had said, Jay said the highway was too busy and narrow, also the roads were bad with gravel and holes. This will happen sometimes and so what we did was rack the first 25 miles and from that point we got out and finished the last 45 of 65 miles we were supposed to do that day. The ride was very scenic from there, being next to the lake and mountains the land had lots of trees and open green fields. At one point we cruised down a 2.5 mile 7% grade downhill which I would say is half the fun to riding the bike, getting to fly down the hills that you just climbed. Our route followed along the Courd A’lane river which was surprisingly clear and blue. One thing we also noticed was the flooding around the area. The rivers right now are very high and it was not unusual see owner’s pastures with two feet of water across several acres, even part of our bike path we were supposed to ride on was flooded and which forced us to detour.
Once we got into Kellog, ID I noticed that I had been here before, the local mountain known as Silver Mountain is one I skied last winter. It is only about an hour or two from WSU. We are staying here at the local high school. After unpacking and showering up I tuned up my bike, it had been making some noises on my ride today but after degreasing and lubing it up I was able to get rid of the noises. We are getting really good at understand how our bikes work and how to keep them newly functioning. That night a sponsored dinner by Dave Smith, your number one car dealer in America apparently, was complete with a huge steak, potato, salad, and soup. Another great sponsored dinner. There wasn’t a friendship visit tonight; however, there should be one coming up soon in Paradise, Montana, our next destination, or Missoula which is also in Montana.

Day 6: ...Lost

As you can see, we were very lost

Well today was supposed to be a nice easy short 35 miles but that just didn’t happen. We were supposed to be on a bike trail for the first half of our trip but I think the guys wanted a little bit more of a challenge. Well, truthfully we were big time lost. We had taken a wrong turn and didn’t realize it until we did not see a van at the 12 mile check point that we had arranged to see it at. We gave the crew guys a call and they had to escort us across some really busy highways to get back on track, it’s pretty funny watching 22 guys in biking shoes try to run across a highway with their bike in hand. Finally, after some minor detours we arrived at our destination, Camp Sweylonka. The camp is across Lake Courd A’lane and we had to take a little shuttle boat to get t

1 state down, 14 to go. The Washington - Idaho bordero the camp. They greeted us in song and we quickly found that the camp sings upon someone’s arrival, departure, and meals…very interesting. The camp serves kids all summer and devotes two weeks to kids with disabilities. The place sits on 300 acres but they only use about 20 acres of it. Our sleeping headquarters were underneath a roof in these wooden “bungalows” if you will, it felt a little bit like camping. The staff there was all very friendly and treated us to lunch, dinner, and breakfast the next morning. Though there weren’t any kids there we still got to give them some grant money which is not done at every visit. It’s really neat when we give out grants because we get to see the money we raised go right into the hands of the organizations we are working with, they are always very appreciative and of course get a little teary eyed.
That night we built a fire and hung out for a while, I was pretty exhausted though and ended up going to sleep around 9:30. Tomorrow we head for Kellog Idaho, 65 miles.

Day 5: Finally, A Day Off

Above: Some of the puppet shows we put on for the kids

Today was great, we got to rest our legs and attend a friendship visit. The morning came early with a 6:30AM wake-up and jerseys on so we could do an interview with the local Spokane News. After that we had an active day of events including a sponsored lunch and dinner. Lunch was at a local park where we met up with kids who had Muscular Dystrophy. It was great getting to meet the kids as well as their families, many of the children were in wheelchairs and after talking to Andrew who was only 7 years old it was tough hearing that he once could walk and is now limited because of MD. These friendship visits are a consistent reminder to live each day to our fullest, that it is important to put your all into what we are given and use the abilities we have to the fullest. What amazed me the most about these kids was how strong they were, even though they knew their bodies are progressing down they still had great attitudes and the biggest smiles on their face. The MD center had games like race cars, Gunny sack racing, and other carnival games for the kids to win toys. Everyone had a blast and I think the highlight was the puppet show we put on for the kids. These puppet shows are called Kids on the Block and they feature puppets that we make come to life through girl and foreign voices that explain a disability and inform the children of disabilities like down syndrome, cerebral palsy, and mental retardation. The kids are able to then ask questions after and understand more about what the disability is and why people have them.
That evening we went to this beautiful house out in the country that sits inside a green valley. The people there sponsored an amazing dinner and we got to swim in their pool and use the hot tub, it was a well deserved day off and there could not have been a better place to spend it. Once back from the sponsored event we had a team meeting. After every 4 or 5 days we sit down and go over what the up coming 4 or 5 days are going to look like. After discussing safety issues to work on as well as communication on the bike we then did a little thing called “pass the water bottle.” At this time everyone gets a chance to say something they saw someone do well in the last 4 days. It’s great for the teams cohesion and is a nice opportunity to give someone some positive feedback. Tomorrow we have a short 35 miles to Courd A’lane Idaho.

Above: Me and a couple of the guys at this beautiful country home.

98 Miles

Above: Sean, Ian, Myself, Andrew, Jake, and Max during the almost 100 mile day. GO COUGS!!




Today has been our longest day so far on the trip and defiantly the longest I have ever cycled in a day. We traveled from Coulee City to Spokane and the terrain was similar to yesterday, a lot of rolling hills and flat terrain the entire trip. I think everyone was looking forward to today so that we could get through it and have a day of rest. Today we had two extra riders with us who are Pi Alphas (guys who have done JOH in the past) and friends and fraternity brothers of mine from over at WSU. It was great seeing them and getting to ride with them, I thought it made the trip a little more bearable having them there. The day started normal with a little bit of side wind definitely slowing us down a few miles per hour. Making it to lunch we hit the 50 mile mark and the Turner’s sponsored an incredible subway lunch with some of the best homemade coconut cornflake cookies I have ever had. By this point there were a lot of guys starting to have knee pain, including myself. The rest of the ride went well and everyone had a great attitude, it was a great feeling rolling into Spokane knowing the day was over and we did it!
Lodging was at Gonzaga University and we were hosted a BBQ dinner by the Theta Iota Chapter (my chapter) so it was great to see a bunch of the guys. That night we all got to hang out and look forward to our first day off, I can’t wait!

Below: Typical Eastern Washington wheat fields, rolling hills, and blue skies.

Day 3: A tail wind and some change

Today has been my favorite day of riding so far. I have never experienced riding quite like today’s was. Besides an 8 mile climb the terrain was rolling hills with lots of steep downhill. After our 5:30 wake-up we headed East back onto Highway 2 towards Coulee City, another small town on the eastern side of Washington. Before we even started the day my tire popped on a small rock in the parking lot, man that’s annoying. Today’s weather was a warm 78 degrees and high winds. But was made this ride so fun was that the wind was facing our backs, we were flying down the road averaging 28 mph on flat ground and 35 on the downhill. My max speed for the day was 48 mph and I can’t even begin to describe how exhilarating it is to be going that fast on two of the skinniest wheels you have ever seen. In all the day was 65 miles and we made it to lodging earlier than expected.
There wasn’t a friendship visit tonight but we did have a sponsored event that the Cattle Women put on. Apparently there is a group of women out here associated as the “Cattle Women” and they promote beef, go figure. Despite their humorous name the shredded beef sandwiches’ they took an hour preparing were delicious. After dinner our evening consists of getting our bikes tuned for the next day as well as getting to bed early so we can tackle the next day. Tomorrow we head for Spokane and will be our first 100 mile day. Tonight I iced my knees and have been stretching often, that lactic acid build up is really starting to get to me. I am eager to get into Spokane because we will get a day off there, also, many of my fraternity brothers from WSU will be there to greet us and host the dinner.
…100 miles here we come.

Above Picture: I rode with Cody and Joel almost the whole day, we had some fun times flying down the steep hills. Here they are enjoying a little Eastern Washington wheat!

Climb! Climb! Climb!

Today we had quite a challenge ahead of us. Wake up was promptly at 5:30 AM and I think everyone was eager to face Stevens Pass! The morning was very foggy and cold as we started our ascent. The first 16 miles of our 75 mile day was all uphill, we gained 3,000 feet. The top of the pass still had snow on it as it was about 37 degrees and foggy. It was crazy coming down the other side, there is nothing like going 40 mph on a bicycle. Once we headed down the weather immediately changed and all of the sudden it was 70 degrees and not a cloud in the side, welcome to the east side of the mountains. The rest of the ride was breathtaking, filled with “oo’s” and “aw’s” as we glided down towards Levenworth and Wenatchee. The road follows a river that is set between mountains filled with evergreens that make perfect picture opportunities. Everyone finished safely however I think the worst of luck came to Dan who had four flat tires that day. Looking back now it is pretty funny because he was stopping and going all day with because of those flats, poor guy just couldn’t get a break.

Once we made it into Wenatchee we had lodging set up for us in one of the local churches. That evening we worked with one of the local disability centers that sponsored a pizza feed. We got to talk with a lot of people with disabilities, many of which were athletes in the Special Olympics. Every one of them are so interesting to talk to, after talking to them you get to know their interests and some of their favorite things to do. It is a blast getting to be a part of their life for a day and I always feel refreshed and blessed for the abilities that I have. It makes you realize how fortunate we are to have two arms, two legs, a high IQ, or fine motor skills.

Above: Where we stayed in Wenatchee.

Right: Larry and I did a little rap together at

the disability center...California Love,

his favorite song

Day 1: 77 miles and sore legs

Today we headed east out of Seattle, beginning the first of the 4,000 miles we will travel. For the last four days we have been training as a team, learning how to ride well and communicate better. Surprise, it rained all four days during training. While being in training we got to work with some people with disabilities, all of them adults who had numerous disabilities ranging from down syndrome to mental retardation. It is amazing working being able to get to know them, after talking with them you begin to realize the abilities that they have. It was a surprise to hear that many of them hold jobs and own apartments. I will try to get some pictures up from that event.
The Bike today was difficult, no one said it was going easy heading up a mountain pass. We had a police escort out and the vans have been helping alot to keep us safe and get us water and snacks at our stops. We had about 4 flats today, I unfortunately blew a tube as well. Today was a great test for the team. There was alot of teamwork involved, its very good to see everyone working well together, our pace lines were tight and the communication was great. Tonight we stay in Skykomish, town of about 200 people. We are staying in the local high school/middle school/elementary! Tomorrow we will make it to the very top of the pass and then head for Wennatchi, another 80 miles!

Thank You Sponsors: $11,650 raised!!

I wanted to give a big thanks once again to all of my sponsors and supporters. You all helped me raise $11,650 for people with disabilities. That is over $6,000 that Push America requires an $4,000 over my goal!! This summer is going to be incredible and I cant wait to see the impact made when we finally get to present the money to the disability organizations as well as get face-to-face with the people at each disability center.
Today I leave for Seattle where I will be meeting all my 25 other teammates, Pi Kapps from all over the nation, who all have raised money as well and will be riding with me across the country. We will spend 4 days in Seattle doing some testing, team building, bonding, and go over all intinerarys for the whole trip. We depart from Seattle on June 11th! I will try and be updating this site every couple of days.
Thanks again to everyone who has supported me and supported Push America. We all can make a difference!