Day 36: Kids With Cerbral Palsy

Picture: Here is Mike in morning circle up, he raised over $300 in one evening!

The ride was a long one today as we headed into Wichita, KS where we will have a day off. We have been cycling 8 days straight and it’s been very exhaustive on the body. Today was 92 miles as we started out of Pratt. Thankfully the wind held up and we were able to withstand the hills. We primarily stayed on highway 54, the further we headed East the more hills and trees we encountered. The weather today was warm as it reached about ninety degrees by noon. We had two guys riding with us today that normally don’t, one was Alex Rosell, he is one of our crew van drivers and wanted to ride into Wichita because it is his hometown. Crew guys are allowed to ride as long as they are comfortable enough on the bike. The other ride we had was a local guy named Mike from Pratt who heard about us and was really interested in our cause. He was so excited about the Journey of Hope that he went out and raised over $300 that night for Push America. Its stuff like this that make the Journey so cool, just a random guy that really care about giving and believes in what we do. This guy was a stud; he knew none of us and had never heard of Push America yet he literally went door to door to raise that money.

Picture: Coming into the last stretch of the day.

Getting into Wichita was tiresome and I had the hardest time getting motivated the last 20 miles, I felt like I had nothing left. We did make it and had an arrival into the North Rock Suites where the Rosells welcomed us! Its going to be so nice to stay in another hotel, we are so spoiled. To make things even better the Rosells hooked us up with a free water bottle, gel shots, and cliff bars from the local bike shop! That evening we headed out to the Kansas Jaycees Cerebral Palsy Ranch where they hosted dinner and we got to play with the kids there. The CP Ranch is a camp for kids with Cerebral Palsy; the kids there get to go fishing, swimming, do art projects, and much more. I had the opportunity of getting to know Cody, a ten year old who LOVED fishing. He still had a lot of physical functioning and was a very social guy.

Picture: Cody and I discussing some fishing tactics.

He told me all about the fishing he does in rivers and lakes in the area. I then shared with him the salmon fishing Ive done with my grandpa in the Northwest. Cody was pretty sure he wanted to come fishing sometime out in the Pacific to see what it’s like to catch a salmon. After eating we then got a chance to all go swimming. I didn’t swim but got to sit with Mary, she was limited in the amount of functioning in her arms and legs. She loves to read and loves CP Ranch, we talked for almost an hour. She was so sweet, she couldn’t stop smiling, what a great attitude.

That evening a bunch of guys just watched movies and others went out to the bar. I was just ecstatic about sleeping in a comfortable bed. Also, we had a mail drop today. My dad sent a package from the family with a bunch of goodies. Its great getting something from the fam, it really brings the trip back to reality a little, reminds me that home is still there.

Picture: Mary and I ponder what her favorite book of all time might be.