Grand Tetons and City Slickin'

Location: Shoshoni, WY

Okay, so I have to remember where I left off on my last post...Ah yes, national parks and such.

We got to cycle through Yellowstone National Park. It was pretty amazing, and I'm glad I can say I did that. I was amazed at how much wildlife there was, and how little each animal cared that there were cars and people everywhere. We saw two bald eagles, a handful of elk, countless bison (one of which decided to shuffle slowly in front of us for a good distance so that we couldn't get by), and even a wolf.

The scenery was different than I expected. Still rugged, but there is a lot of new growth from after the wildfires of 1988. So there was this weird dichotomy of new, 7 to 8-foot trees coming up between the charred, skewer-like remains of the old trees. So it looked empty, but not, all at the same time.

Probably the coolest part, obviously, is the geothermal activity at the park. We went by a bunch of thermophile-rich pools and geysers and other such oddities of nature, but didn't see Old Faithful until we drove there later that night. (The notorious geyser was somewhat of a tease -- spurting slightly for 20 minutes past its "scheduled eruption time" until blasting hundreds of feet in the air. Pretty spectacular!)

Probably the best part of the night was staying at one of the lodges in real beds. Oh, and the buffet dinner. Mmm.

However, as cool as Yellowstone was, nothing could have prepared me for the Grand Tetons. Oh. My. God. They are breathtaking. And pointy! The ride that day was short and flat (read: easy) and absolutely gorgeous. I'd say it was the best ride of the trip thus far.

But wait! There's more. We arrived in Jackson, WY and had a police escort to the town center where we were greeted and congratulated by the mayor. (We got cool Jackson pins too.) THEN we went a short distance to the Snow King Resort and spent a few hours on the alpine slide -- which is basically a 2500 foot fiberglass slide that you go down on while riding a sort of luge/sled. It was pretty fun. Okay, it was freakin' fantastic.

But we're definitely not through. After alpine slide and pizza, we departed Jackson Hole and drove west to Driggs, Idaho to stay at Twin Creek Ranch, owned by the Cushman family. Pete Cushman is a Pi Kapp alum from University of Colorado - Boulder, and rode the Journey of Hope back in 1999. He was there with a few of his buddies from the same chapter who had also cyclied JOH in the late 90's. The ranch is a slice of heaven: property bordering a national forest, three houses (all beautifully built and furnished), great food, a pool and hot tub, tons of planned activities, and real comfy beds made for an extremely spoiled Trans-Am team. We had a day off there, and I got to go horseback riding (I rode Cricket and he kept grabbin mouthfuls of lush grass almost the entire time) and canoeing, with some eating and pool-swimming in between. It was almost as tiring as a day on the bike! Our (old) Pi Kapp brothers were excellent hosts and we all had a blast. I could have stayed another week or two, easily.

After the ranch, we went to Dubois, WY which was pretty forgettable, besides the fact that our 100+ mile trip turned into a little over 60 due to construction and crappy roads. And we hit our highest (posted) elevation: 9,631 feet. We paid for the shortened trip today though: our 80 miles turned into 96 in very hot and very nondescript Wyoming countryside. It was relatively flat though, so we averaged a good speed (over 20mph compared to our usual 15-16). So now I'm here and our historian is bugging me to get the journal entry for the Push America website done, so I'm going to do that.

Big Sky and a National Park

Location: West Yellowstone, MT

Hey everyone! This post is going to be a bit short(er) since someone is waiting for the computer. (It's the only one with a satellite connection so it works when nobody has wifi.)

So I'm not going to bore you with how amazing the scenery is. Even though it really is. Yesterday we got a tour of Bozeman's Eagle Mount facility, which was incredible. They have recreational and therapeutic activities for people with all sorts of disabilities; from swimming to horseback riding to downhill skiing (and so much more), they have tons of programs and as many ways to get people involved no matter what their disability might entail. I was pretty impressed, and they loved what we were doing -- it was the Journey of Hope's fourth time through there. After dinner and a tour, I got to pet and feed some horses. I felt like I was twelve. (Awesome creatures, those.)

I guess what I've yet to mention is how a typical JOH day works:

• We usually get up early, about 5:30 or 6:00, and get 30 minutes to pack up our things and get dressed.
  
• Then another 30 minutes is dedicated to breakfast which usually consists of off-brand cereal, an off-brand toaster pastry, half of a bagel, a splash of juice, and...if we're lucky...part of a banana. Not fancy by any means but it's loads of carbs and cheap (we don't have much of a budget I guess).
• We circle up for briefing about the day's ride where we learn about the length, terrain, checkpoints (if any).
• After that, we have Disability of the Day where someone researches a disability and tells the team about it.
• The Dedication comes next, where we name someone we've met or someone we should be thinking about when the ride gets tough. For example, one day happened to be a team member's friend's last day of chemotherapy, so we dedicated the ride to her; or also we heard about a Bob Mortimer who is cycling cross country as well -- only he is a triple-amputee and has a specialized bike which he cranks with his arm. (He was just north of us on Highway 2 the other day when a friend of his pulled up to our crew stop and we swapped stories. Kinda makes one feel lame to be bitching and moaning about how hard the ride is when one has all four limbs still!) Most often, though, it's someone we've met at a friendship visit earlier in the week.
  
• Then we take volunteers for the Sweeps positions. They're the two guys in the very back; they wear orange vests that say "Cyclists Ahead" on the back, and no cyclist falls behind them. Helps to denote the end of the pack.
• Then we split up into our pace lines of four or five guys and we're off! The pace lines are sent separately so we don't all get bunched up into one long mass of cyclists.
• There are crew stops about every 10 miles where we can fill up on water or grab a Clif Bar or packet of cheese crackers. It's also a good chance to rest the legs or stretch, so the days aren't as bad as they COULD be.
• If we have a long ride, or if nobody is sponsoring lunch, we have another crew-provided lunch: a sandwich (either PBJ or processed meat-and-cheese), chips, and sometimes a treat like an Little Debbie oatmeal cream pie. Or a ton of fried chicken that was leftover from a friendship visit like we've had for the past couple days. (I'll be happy not to see another piece of fried chicken until after the trip.)
• Lastly, we arrive at lodging and set up our things, get showered (we've had no warm water in our showers the past couple days...) and head out to our programmed activities, whether it be a friendship visit or a sponsored dinner. Then it's back to lodging where we have some free time to do whatever (I like to read)...then lights out and ZzZzZzZzZ...

That's pretty much it!

I also don't have a camera with me, but we have a team historian and he's taking lots of 'em. We also have journal entries for every day on the Push America Website.

Journals (Click "Team Journal Entry" on the right):
http://pushamerica.org/events/te_itinerary.cfm?ride_code=JOH&route=Trans
Photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pushamerica/collections/72157604901121186/
(...the journal entries also have links to the photos from that day.)

Okay I've spent time enough. We have a day off soon (I hope) so I'll write more then. I'm sure I'll have plenty more to say about Yellowstone National Park -- we get to ride through and do some sightseeing tomorrow!! I can't wait. Well, if it means a few more hours of sleep, I can...

Panhandles and Hot Springs

Location: Missoula, MT

Today is our day off in Missoula, Montana. We spent a couple days in Idaho: Camp Sweyolaken in Coeur d'Alene and then Kellogg. I thought the camp was fun; some other guys were a bit taken aback by the quirky camp traditions and what not. But we had a pretty relaxing day there, or at least I did. I fell asleep reading A Clockwork Orange in front of Lake Coeur d'Alene and the setting sun. Niiice.

From Kellogg we had an 85-mile trip to Paradise, Montana. Yep. Paradise. Only that 85-mile trip turned out to be 105, much to our dismay. (It also included a few thousand feet of climbing through two passes.) But we made it through and got to stay at Quinn's Hot Spring Resort, where we enjoyed pools of different temperatures and DE-LUXE cabins with our OWN BEDS! So 105-mile soreness, plus cushy beds and climate-controlled rooms made for a very difficult wakeup the next morning.

But on a similar thread from my last post, the scenery we've seen this past few days has also been amazing. I thought Washington was as good as it was going to get, but clearly I was wrong. Lake Coeur d'Alene is amazing in its convoluted and tree-filled shorline, and Montana is just plain rugged. It's awesome; exposed rock and mountains that look like they had just been forced up at an angle just the morning before...I'm glad I get to see this on a bike going at about 16 miles per hour instead of a car going at 60+.

Side note, we're staying at Hellgate High School in Missoula. So we went from Paradise to Hellgate. Hahaha.

I'm using a crew member's computer right now (Ben Kaufman) and we're at a pretty nifty coffee shop not too far away. Missoula is actually really nice, nothing like I expected. Of course I've never been to Montana before so it's all pretty surprising. It's a beautiful town.

Speaking of beautiful: a bunch of the 21+ year-old guys went out last night and found the Iron Horse Bar and Grill (or something like that) and it was PACKED with college kids. Namely, college girls (most of whom were absolutely gorgeous). The ratio of girls to guys was through the roof in our favor. We were there to hang out with each other though (a.k.a. "bro-ing out"), but nevertheless it was refreshing to see.

So Missoula, you get high marks in my books. We had a really good friendship visit yesterday too with Opportunity Resources. I actually met a couple Washingtonians, one from Aberdeen and one from Whidbey Island, so that was cool to be able to talk to them about that and why they moved out to Montana. They had the same sentiments as me about the scenery. I guess if you've got to move out of Washington, Montana ain't a bad choice!

We're going to be moving through Yellowstone National Park in the next couple of days -- so I may regret not bringing a camera with me even more than I do now. Actually, I just remembered that I packed a digital camcorder that also takes photos...so maybe I'll toss that in my jersey pocket for this special occasion. I can't wait!

The First Few Days of JOH, or, The Two Faces of Washington

Location: Spokane, WA

Hey everyone! So this is the first post from the road. There's actually a ton of stuff I could write, but I don't know how much patience you have, or how much battery Ryan Dixon's laptop has (he's letting me borrow it for a little while). It's really weird being without a computer attached to my fingertips...

Anyway, I want to start of and saying that I love this state. I mean, I'm a born-and-raised Washingtonian, and I'm still amazed at how beautiful everything is. I mean, granted we had clouds and cold and wet on the west side of Stevens Pass, it was sunny and eighty-five degrees on the other side. And yes we rode on both sides in the same day. Talk about odd -- I had to take off almost all of the cycling gear I had put on in the morning so I wouldn't overheat as we reached the other side.

But I digress. Back to Washington and its amazing-ness. Almost all the guys have been awestruck at the natural beauty of the WA countryside all along our route (mostly Highway 2). Every once in a while in a pace line, I'll hear the guy in front of me say, "God, look at that!" And I'll admit, even Eastern Washington has a particular terrain that is spectacular in its own right: undulating farmland and sporadic canyons. Not to mention a significant reduction in the amount of rain that fell on us...

Changing gears: the trip has far exceeded my expectations already. Yes, we're sleeping on a lot of floors, but I haven't had trouble sleeping at all. (The air mattress helps. So does the 100 miles I rode earlier that day.) I'm actually eating VERY well (especially for summertime; the past couple years I've lived on my own at the fraternity). The people sponsoring our meals and activities are so generous and wonderful. The guys are all great (and I think I've got almost all their names down now!); I've been laughing so much and having a blast. The teamwork and unity are what I enjoy about the fraternity life -- and here on the road it's so much stronger. I guess JOH just attracts a certain type of gentleman to which I can relate very well.

We've had a couple friendship visits, and they've been fun. Today we visited with a group started by a mother with a kid with muscular dystrophy. Her son was there; his name is Matthew and he's ten years old. I spent a good amount of time talking with him. He is surprisingly intelligent and mature for his age. And the visit was especially exciting because we had lots of activities and our first Kids on the Block puppet show. KOB is a show we do where we get to tell kids (and parents!) a little bit more about some common disabilities and how people who have them just go about things a little differently. Our three skits involve Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, and blindness. They're informative, but hilarous too because, well, it's us behind the puppets doing things like making girls' voices and accents and screwing up our lines and coming up with things on the spot. Hopefully we get to do that a lot.

Just a few miscellaneous things...

I've been keeping a journal for myself. I've never done that before, and hopefully I stick with it so have something to look back on. I regret not bringing a camera, so hopefully the journal will suffice. (I really don't like taking "Cheese!" pictures anyway, and besides the other guys are taking tons of pictures for me. And I didn't want to bring/bust my super-nice and expensive DSLR.)

I finished "The Art of Racing in the Rain" by Garth Stein. Like my dad, it got teary-eyed at the end; what a beautiful book. But it only took a handful of days to go through, so I'm starting "A Clockwork Orange" now.

Speaking of my dad, I feel bad that I'm out here on the road and can't do much more than call (which I did). I hope he knows how much I love him and appreciate everything he's done for me, as costly or pain-in-the-ass-ly my endeavors may be. I am seriously lucky to have such an amazing father, and I only hope that what I'm doing here on the Journey of Hope, in college, or whatever, makes him proud. And I think it does, and that means a lot. Happy Father's Day, pop!

And they're off!

Location: Seattle, WA

The team kicked off today from Olympic Sculpture Park downtown after a super tasty breakfast from the Porterfields and Pascals. KING 5 news was there and ran a short story. We trucked on up the Burke Gilman and then some back roads to Monroe where we stopped for lunch. That's also where I stopped for the day...although the rest of the team continued to Skykomish, WA.

My folks picked me up and transported me back to Seattle so I could take my last final. It was for biology, and I hadn't really studied for it. Needless to say I didn't do very well. (My math final yesterday will probably have lower marks than I'd hoped for as well.) I don't regret losing study time to JOH, but I'm a bit sad that the quarter had to end on a low note, since I was doing very well academically.

Oh well. Only thing on my mind now is cycling and spreading the Push America message!

Tossin' Fish

Location: Seattle, WA

We had a team meeting at REI today; we've been having those and skills assessments, and even a friendship visit yesterday which I missed in order to finish a paper. Sad.

Afterwards, we walked through the rain to Pike Place Market. After all, it's pretty much a must-see for those out-of-towners. Hell, I even enjoy it. Every time I go down there I regret that I haven't gone there MORE.

A few of the guys got to throw/catch fish at the infamous fish market. To quote one (I'm still working on the names), "That was probably the coolest thing I've done...in a long while." Haha.

I'm glad they're getting to experience some of Seattle's highlights, as tourist-y as they are. We went to Kerry Park yesterday for our team picture in front of the entire Seattle cityscape. (Mt. Rainier was obviously obstructed by clouds.) The gigantic REI, Pike Place Market and fish-tossin', and of COURSE the original Starbucks.

And what is Seattle without our super weather? It's been gray with the rare sunbreak...but mostly rain. Honestly, I think most would be disappointed to go to Seattle and not get rained on. That would be robbing them of the whole experience...right? Hahaha. Anyway, I should be studying for the two finals I have yet to take, so until next time...!

Meet the team

Location: Seattle, WA

The Trans-Am team has arrived in Seattle and will be heading over to Alpha Delta Chapter (my house!) in about an hour. So I get to meet the guys I'm going to be spending the summer with! Cool stuff.

On another note, I'm still trying to frantically finish a paper and study for two finals. Both my finals were scheduled for Wednesday, but I get to take one of them on Tuesday. The other...well they won't let me take it early so I actually have to come BACK to Seattle after cycling the first day of JOH. It's frustrating, and a complete waste of time, but it is what it is. Cross your fingers for me. I'm not even packed yet, nor do I even have everything I need I don't think. Ugh. For relevant biological information, see caffeine and cortisol. Can't wait to get on the road...!