Location: Teutopolis, IL
Today was a long one. We left St. Louis early and headed east over the Mississippi River via the Chain of Rocks Bridge which is part of Historic Route 66. We stayed on or near the Route for a grand total of about 116.5 miles, which is either the longest of the trip thus far, or at least up there. Thankfully, it was very flat compared to what we had seen towards the end of Kansas and in Missouri. Also, the weather was considerably nicer.
I think the total time it took to reach our lodging (with stops) was about nine hours. We were supposed to be in Effingham, IL, but apparently something fell through there, so we had to continue a few more miles down the road to here.
It's nice to be out of Missouri -- and as much as I rag on it, even that state was pretty neat. (Although it was sort of scary to cycle through some of the slums this morning...but it was Sunday morning and either nobody was up, or they were at church. Or it was just all abandoned, which is probably closer to the truth.) This is our only stop in Illinois; tomorrow we head right over the border to Indiana and cross into the Eastern Time Zone. So I'll be a full three hours ahead of Seattle. Whoa.
I looked at a map of where we were in the States the other day, and it was really crazy to look at all the places we've left behind. It's sad to realize that we have less than three weeks until it's all over...
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Saturday, July 26, 2008
JOH meets inclement weather.
Location: St. Louis, MO
Alright so probably the highlights of riding the past couple days have been the weather. And boy has it been horrible.
Leaving Lincoln University, we got the word that we might hit some stormy stuff. Well, we did. At about thirty or forty miles (I don't remember) we stopped at a a crew van for a quick rest, and looked out to the northwest to see a HUGE wall of ominous, black cloud racing toward us like a tsunami. I'm not kidding you, that's what it looked like. Thinking, "Oh, s***, that's coming right for us," we hurriedly continued on our way.
About five miles later, the front line of the clouds rolls over us and it turns from day to night. Then one of our guys gets a flat, so as we're waiting for him to change it I'm looking up at the swirling, angry-looking clouds, fully expecting a funnel to form. Then: lightning, and thunder almost immediately following. Almost as if on cue, rain starts coming down in buckets, so we all ditch our bikes and run for cover under some trees. Yeah, probably not the smartest idea but comparing the probabilities of getting soaked versus getting electrocuted, we figured we try. We got soaked anyway. Fifteen lightning-and-rain-filled minutes later, a van shows up only to tell us that the lightning was "far enough away" that we could continue riding. (Joy!)
We later found out that the line ahead of us made it to some good samaritan's mansion where they were able to wait out the rain in his garage while drinking piping hot coffee. And the line before them made it to the next crew stop and stayed dry in the van. I guess that's just tough luck for us!
The next day (yesterday) it started raining almost immediately after we hopped on the bikes. I had a jacket on this time, but it didn't help much, save for keeping me from being as cold as I could have been. I still got soaked.
So, dirty and wet we arrived in St. Louis to a restaraunt owned by someone one of the cyclists knew. Good Italian stuff. Then we did another arrival into downtown where we got some pretty epic pictures and a proclamation in front of the old courthouse and famous Arch. Perhaps better though, we're staying at the Ballpark Hilton which is a-maz-ing.
Today was filled with friendship visits with the St. Louis Arc and St. Louis Society (lots of board games, specifically mancala). It was hot again, so we went for a swim at the Country Surf Swimming Club pool where our project manager lives, then dinner hosted at his house with his family (and friends/neighbors). So, for a "day off," it was friggin' busy.
A couple random things:
Alright so probably the highlights of riding the past couple days have been the weather. And boy has it been horrible.
Leaving Lincoln University, we got the word that we might hit some stormy stuff. Well, we did. At about thirty or forty miles (I don't remember) we stopped at a a crew van for a quick rest, and looked out to the northwest to see a HUGE wall of ominous, black cloud racing toward us like a tsunami. I'm not kidding you, that's what it looked like. Thinking, "Oh, s***, that's coming right for us," we hurriedly continued on our way.
About five miles later, the front line of the clouds rolls over us and it turns from day to night. Then one of our guys gets a flat, so as we're waiting for him to change it I'm looking up at the swirling, angry-looking clouds, fully expecting a funnel to form. Then: lightning, and thunder almost immediately following. Almost as if on cue, rain starts coming down in buckets, so we all ditch our bikes and run for cover under some trees. Yeah, probably not the smartest idea but comparing the probabilities of getting soaked versus getting electrocuted, we figured we try. We got soaked anyway. Fifteen lightning-and-rain-filled minutes later, a van shows up only to tell us that the lightning was "far enough away" that we could continue riding. (Joy!)
We later found out that the line ahead of us made it to some good samaritan's mansion where they were able to wait out the rain in his garage while drinking piping hot coffee. And the line before them made it to the next crew stop and stayed dry in the van. I guess that's just tough luck for us!
The next day (yesterday) it started raining almost immediately after we hopped on the bikes. I had a jacket on this time, but it didn't help much, save for keeping me from being as cold as I could have been. I still got soaked.
So, dirty and wet we arrived in St. Louis to a restaraunt owned by someone one of the cyclists knew. Good Italian stuff. Then we did another arrival into downtown where we got some pretty epic pictures and a proclamation in front of the old courthouse and famous Arch. Perhaps better though, we're staying at the Ballpark Hilton which is a-maz-ing.
Today was filled with friendship visits with the St. Louis Arc and St. Louis Society (lots of board games, specifically mancala). It was hot again, so we went for a swim at the Country Surf Swimming Club pool where our project manager lives, then dinner hosted at his house with his family (and friends/neighbors). So, for a "day off," it was friggin' busy.
A couple random things:
- I've been on the computer here in the hotel for almost two hours, mostly trying to design the team t-shirts.
- I checked my grades finally...not good. The whole confliction with finals week and the beginning of JOH didn't bode well for me.
- I'm looking for some research/lab work in Seattle, and the researcher at one of the labs I'm really interested in mentioned that there might be some opportunity for me! Exciting. Hopefully it's for pay because I'm almost dead broke. So, happy and sad today.
We cross over into Illinois tomorrow -- for likely the longest mileage of the trip. It's in the books for 110 but that's subject to change, and as we've found out...not always for the shorter. Oh well, hope for mild weather and flat road! But now I'm going to go up to my nice hotel bed and relax.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
This state is Missouri-able.
Location: Jefferson City, MO
The past few days of riding have been incredibly hilly and muggy; it doesn't allow you to get into any sort of rhythm, and being wet the whole time is incredibly uncomfortable. Crossing into Missouri yesterday didn't change much, save for the condition of the roads. (No shoulders and apparently they don't like smooth pavement.)
Also, we got an excellent Missouri greeting when some redneck in his little pickup decided to harass one of our pace lines. He pulled up real close to the tail-end rider and after a while blew by with a friendly, "GET OFF THE F***ING ROAD!"
But that's not all! A little while later, we had a crew stop at a Qwik Trip gas station/convenience store, and this guy pulls in -- for a coffee, I think. Anyway, one of our crew members meets him as he's coming out and asks him to stop messing with our cyclists, and the guy promptly explodes into a flurry of cuss words and threats and lectures about how we don't belong on the road. (He especially didn't like being told what to do "in his own state.") Mind you, there's about twenty Pi Kapps about fifty feet away ready to pummel this guy if he gets out of hand. He wasn't too bright. Obviously we weren't going to do anything rash, wearing all of our Push America gear as we were, but it seemed like he was ready to toss his scalding coffee or throw a punch at our crew member. Eventually, after a lot of empty talk he got in his car and he and his five- or six-year old son sped off. Yes, his son was in the passenger seat. Excellent role model.
And have I mentioned it's humid? I guess I have, but by golly I could do without being soaked the entire day! At least it's pretty. We're going through lots of rural area, lots of corn and soy, I think. At every stop today, I wrung out my gloves and they were sopping wet every time. Yuck.
On a tangent, we have several guys on the team who are from this part of the country, so we've had a lot of friends, family, and girlfriends hanging out and sometimes sponsoring meals and stuff. That's all good and well, but it's kind of sad for me to see everyone meeting up with their loved ones and then there's nobody for me! Oh well. I did find out, however, that my dad is going to be flying to Washington, DC to see the arrival, so I'm excited for that...except I told them not to spend the money on it!
Lastly, brief recap of today. Yesterday's 80-mile ride turned into 107, so today we were all a bit sore and sluggish, especially with the hills and humidity factored in. We had to re-route past some real crappy roads in favor of some back country stuff, so our ride today would have been 20 miles longer as well, except we didn't quite go fast enough to meet our rack point. So at mile 50 we had to pack up the bikes and drive into Jeff City where we had a police escort and an arrival at the capitol building which was strictly scheduled. We had a fried chicken/mashed taters lunch (I know what I said earlier about fried chicken, but I must be over it because it was delicious) at a nearby church, then set up shop in the Lincoln University gymnasium. After a little reading and a wonderful nap, we headed to dinner and back. Not too exciting but I think after so much activity in the past week, it was much needed.
Up next: Union then two days in St. Louis!
EDIT: Holy crap, I totally forgot probably one of the coolest things. We had a couple days in Olathe, KS after my last post which was just swell. We had an arrival, proclamation, and lunch at the Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop and then went to lodging at the Kansas School for the Deaf where they put us in the rooms there (I had one to myself). We had a couple friendship visits that were packed in and more or less unorganized, so that was difficult...but everything was organized by a gentleman by the name of Mark Cameron, and I'll tell you about him now:
Mark broke his neck almost four years ago by diving too deep into a lake while trying to swim out to a friends boat. He's now quadripelegic, but was determined to overcome some almost insurmountable obstacles so that he could be able to live as independently as possible. He invited us over to his house to visit and check out some of the neat gadgets he has that helps him in is daily life, such as his lift which will get him into/out of bed, the shower, etc. He also has voice commanded electronics and some cool modifications to his computer system so he can type emails and such...
But I think one of the most amazing thing was hearing him talk about his injury and rehabilitation. He is so positive and upbeat, and has such a great sense of humor and outlook on life that it really hit me to think that if something similar had happened to me, would I have the same attitude and resolve to do the things Mark has done and continues to do? For example, doctors had him on a ventilator or some type of tracheal tube thing to help him breathe (I think one of his lungs is paralyzed). They said he'd never be able to breathe without it. But he found a "bicycle" that he can pedal with the aid of electrically stimulating pads worn on the legs or arms -- and now he has some pretty massive muscles for one who can't fire them himself, and his lung capacity increased exponentially with the exercise so that he was eventually able to remove all the assistive devices. He also has invented a couple of his own little gizmos that help out in his home, and just always seems to see the silver lining in everything. He basically lives on his own with some assistants who will help him out of bed and get him fed and everything, but that's about it. And actually, he said he has been getting some sensation back in his feet/toes, can twitch a muscle on his right leg about 50% of the time, and also has some twitching in his palms. Doctors are dumbfounded, but he says he thinks it's because of the bike and electrical stimulation. Pretty neat!
Anyway, I thought it was incredibly inspiring and think you should check out his website, http://www.teamcameron.org/. "Why dive? Make a splash!" (Haha!)
The past few days of riding have been incredibly hilly and muggy; it doesn't allow you to get into any sort of rhythm, and being wet the whole time is incredibly uncomfortable. Crossing into Missouri yesterday didn't change much, save for the condition of the roads. (No shoulders and apparently they don't like smooth pavement.)
Also, we got an excellent Missouri greeting when some redneck in his little pickup decided to harass one of our pace lines. He pulled up real close to the tail-end rider and after a while blew by with a friendly, "GET OFF THE F***ING ROAD!"
But that's not all! A little while later, we had a crew stop at a Qwik Trip gas station/convenience store, and this guy pulls in -- for a coffee, I think. Anyway, one of our crew members meets him as he's coming out and asks him to stop messing with our cyclists, and the guy promptly explodes into a flurry of cuss words and threats and lectures about how we don't belong on the road. (He especially didn't like being told what to do "in his own state.") Mind you, there's about twenty Pi Kapps about fifty feet away ready to pummel this guy if he gets out of hand. He wasn't too bright. Obviously we weren't going to do anything rash, wearing all of our Push America gear as we were, but it seemed like he was ready to toss his scalding coffee or throw a punch at our crew member. Eventually, after a lot of empty talk he got in his car and he and his five- or six-year old son sped off. Yes, his son was in the passenger seat. Excellent role model.
And have I mentioned it's humid? I guess I have, but by golly I could do without being soaked the entire day! At least it's pretty. We're going through lots of rural area, lots of corn and soy, I think. At every stop today, I wrung out my gloves and they were sopping wet every time. Yuck.
On a tangent, we have several guys on the team who are from this part of the country, so we've had a lot of friends, family, and girlfriends hanging out and sometimes sponsoring meals and stuff. That's all good and well, but it's kind of sad for me to see everyone meeting up with their loved ones and then there's nobody for me! Oh well. I did find out, however, that my dad is going to be flying to Washington, DC to see the arrival, so I'm excited for that...except I told them not to spend the money on it!
Lastly, brief recap of today. Yesterday's 80-mile ride turned into 107, so today we were all a bit sore and sluggish, especially with the hills and humidity factored in. We had to re-route past some real crappy roads in favor of some back country stuff, so our ride today would have been 20 miles longer as well, except we didn't quite go fast enough to meet our rack point. So at mile 50 we had to pack up the bikes and drive into Jeff City where we had a police escort and an arrival at the capitol building which was strictly scheduled. We had a fried chicken/mashed taters lunch (I know what I said earlier about fried chicken, but I must be over it because it was delicious) at a nearby church, then set up shop in the Lincoln University gymnasium. After a little reading and a wonderful nap, we headed to dinner and back. Not too exciting but I think after so much activity in the past week, it was much needed.
Up next: Union then two days in St. Louis!
EDIT: Holy crap, I totally forgot probably one of the coolest things. We had a couple days in Olathe, KS after my last post which was just swell. We had an arrival, proclamation, and lunch at the Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop and then went to lodging at the Kansas School for the Deaf where they put us in the rooms there (I had one to myself). We had a couple friendship visits that were packed in and more or less unorganized, so that was difficult...but everything was organized by a gentleman by the name of Mark Cameron, and I'll tell you about him now:
Mark broke his neck almost four years ago by diving too deep into a lake while trying to swim out to a friends boat. He's now quadripelegic, but was determined to overcome some almost insurmountable obstacles so that he could be able to live as independently as possible. He invited us over to his house to visit and check out some of the neat gadgets he has that helps him in is daily life, such as his lift which will get him into/out of bed, the shower, etc. He also has voice commanded electronics and some cool modifications to his computer system so he can type emails and such...
But I think one of the most amazing thing was hearing him talk about his injury and rehabilitation. He is so positive and upbeat, and has such a great sense of humor and outlook on life that it really hit me to think that if something similar had happened to me, would I have the same attitude and resolve to do the things Mark has done and continues to do? For example, doctors had him on a ventilator or some type of tracheal tube thing to help him breathe (I think one of his lungs is paralyzed). They said he'd never be able to breathe without it. But he found a "bicycle" that he can pedal with the aid of electrically stimulating pads worn on the legs or arms -- and now he has some pretty massive muscles for one who can't fire them himself, and his lung capacity increased exponentially with the exercise so that he was eventually able to remove all the assistive devices. He also has invented a couple of his own little gizmos that help out in his home, and just always seems to see the silver lining in everything. He basically lives on his own with some assistants who will help him out of bed and get him fed and everything, but that's about it. And actually, he said he has been getting some sensation back in his feet/toes, can twitch a muscle on his right leg about 50% of the time, and also has some twitching in his palms. Doctors are dumbfounded, but he says he thinks it's because of the bike and electrical stimulation. Pretty neat!
Anyway, I thought it was incredibly inspiring and think you should check out his website, http://www.teamcameron.org/. "Why dive? Make a splash!" (Haha!)
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Squishy socks and a football game?
Location: Topeka, KS
So I'm going to update you real quick on the past couple days...
Yesterday from Wichita to Emporia, we got rained on. Like, a lot. I was soaked through and was able to ring probably a gallon of water out of my socks the next time we stopped. Thankfully it was really warm, so wasn't too uncomfortable besides the whole "wet" thing. I also got my first flat since last August. Correction, I got TWO flats yesterday. Ugh.
But despite the rain and the inconvenience of changing out a couple tubes on the side of the road, the ride was very nice, and actually it seemed pretty easy for the "longest day of the trip." (In actuality it was about 105 miles instead of the scheduled 115.)
AND it was even better because we had a scrumptious lunch in the middle of the ride at a hotel whose name I have forgotten, and then potlatch dinner by members of the local Kiwanis club -- complete with massages for all the cyclists. Aww yeah.
BUT WAIT, there's more. The whole team had been anxiously awaiting the release of the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight, so we piled in the vans and saw the 8:00 show. It was basically amazing, and the late Heath is spectacular as the Joker.
We slept fitfully, constantly interrupted by passing trains on the nearby tracks, then woke up at 5:00 this morning for the capitol, Topeka. We took some more back-country roads with rolling hills and less shoulder, but it was a lot more interesting and a really nice, fun ride. No rain this time, either.
We had lunch and dinner here at the TARC, and afterwards got to make the opening coin toss at the Kansas Koyotes arena football game. We got to watch the game, which was cool, but I guess I'm old fashioned: I like real football better. (The rugby club played at halftime and that was way more interesting.)
That's about all I have for ya right now. We're in Olathe tomorrow, then a day off there, then we head into Misery, I mean, Missouri. As much as I'll be relieved to be out of Kansas, I'm not sure Missouri's going to be much better...haha.
So I'm going to update you real quick on the past couple days...
Yesterday from Wichita to Emporia, we got rained on. Like, a lot. I was soaked through and was able to ring probably a gallon of water out of my socks the next time we stopped. Thankfully it was really warm, so wasn't too uncomfortable besides the whole "wet" thing. I also got my first flat since last August. Correction, I got TWO flats yesterday. Ugh.
But despite the rain and the inconvenience of changing out a couple tubes on the side of the road, the ride was very nice, and actually it seemed pretty easy for the "longest day of the trip." (In actuality it was about 105 miles instead of the scheduled 115.)
AND it was even better because we had a scrumptious lunch in the middle of the ride at a hotel whose name I have forgotten, and then potlatch dinner by members of the local Kiwanis club -- complete with massages for all the cyclists. Aww yeah.
BUT WAIT, there's more. The whole team had been anxiously awaiting the release of the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight, so we piled in the vans and saw the 8:00 show. It was basically amazing, and the late Heath is spectacular as the Joker.
We slept fitfully, constantly interrupted by passing trains on the nearby tracks, then woke up at 5:00 this morning for the capitol, Topeka. We took some more back-country roads with rolling hills and less shoulder, but it was a lot more interesting and a really nice, fun ride. No rain this time, either.
We had lunch and dinner here at the TARC, and afterwards got to make the opening coin toss at the Kansas Koyotes arena football game. We got to watch the game, which was cool, but I guess I'm old fashioned: I like real football better. (The rugby club played at halftime and that was way more interesting.)
That's about all I have for ya right now. We're in Olathe tomorrow, then a day off there, then we head into Misery, I mean, Missouri. As much as I'll be relieved to be out of Kansas, I'm not sure Missouri's going to be much better...haha.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
I know why it's abbreviated KS...
Location: Wichita, KS
So, our first couple days in Kansas were flat, featurless, hot, windy, and smelly (thank you beef industry and roadkill). I thought at first, "Kansas Sucks."
However, I'm highlighting the bad and there's plenty of good. For one thing, everyone I've met in this state is absurdly nice. I'm serious. Even the honks from passing cars are more pleasant. And the highways we've been on have had enormous shoulders -- room to roam! Keep in mind that this stretch (until today) has been our longest stretch without a day off, so some smooth, easily navigable roads are very pleasant on the ol' backside...
Also, the ride from Pratt to Wichita was actually very pretty. Lush and green. With trees, even!! One of our crew members, who is from here, rode the whole day...he's going to be hurting tomorrow, I think. Haha.
And we had an awesome friendship visit at a camp for kids with cerebral palsy. They were absolutely adorable and had a blast with them in their pool. After experiencing an 80-mile day turn into 95, all I had on my mind was napping...but when we got to the CP Ranch, the kids just had so much energy and were so excited to see us, it was easy to forget about how tired I was or how much I just wanted to curl up into a corner and snooze.
Even better: we get to come back to a really nice hotel and we have our OWN BEDS! Nice. And we have a day off tomorrow -- at least from the bikes. We have a lot planned and I think I'm going to hit the hay.
So, our first couple days in Kansas were flat, featurless, hot, windy, and smelly (thank you beef industry and roadkill). I thought at first, "Kansas Sucks."
However, I'm highlighting the bad and there's plenty of good. For one thing, everyone I've met in this state is absurdly nice. I'm serious. Even the honks from passing cars are more pleasant. And the highways we've been on have had enormous shoulders -- room to roam! Keep in mind that this stretch (until today) has been our longest stretch without a day off, so some smooth, easily navigable roads are very pleasant on the ol' backside...
Also, the ride from Pratt to Wichita was actually very pretty. Lush and green. With trees, even!! One of our crew members, who is from here, rode the whole day...he's going to be hurting tomorrow, I think. Haha.
And we had an awesome friendship visit at a camp for kids with cerebral palsy. They were absolutely adorable and had a blast with them in their pool. After experiencing an 80-mile day turn into 95, all I had on my mind was napping...but when we got to the CP Ranch, the kids just had so much energy and were so excited to see us, it was easy to forget about how tired I was or how much I just wanted to curl up into a corner and snooze.
Even better: we get to come back to a really nice hotel and we have our OWN BEDS! Nice. And we have a day off tomorrow -- at least from the bikes. We have a lot planned and I think I'm going to hit the hay.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
It's hot.
Location: Lamar, CO
Today is our last day in Colorado. The scenery isn't much, but the weather is certainly throwing in its punches.
Going into Pueblo, it wasn't too unbearable. (Still really hot though; upper 90s.) Especially considering we got to stay at another hotel/motel...so real beds again after having them in both Denver (for two days) and Colorado Springs. Air conditioning is spectacular, by the way.
The ride into La Junta, however: scorching. Thankfully, it wasn't windy and we hauled butt on the bikes, frequently topping 26-28 miles per hour for fairly long stretches. I think we topped out at 104 degrees, and the gym we stayed in didn't have air conditioning. As you can imagine, it was a bit uncomfortable for this Seattle native. Playing four or five rounds of volleyball before going to bed didn't help either. I didn't get great sleep, and actually had to transfer from my air mattress to the floor because it was a degree or two cooler. One has to take what one is given though.
Oddly enough, today's ride was pretty chilly and took place under a pretty thick layer of gray clouds. And it was windy, so we had to fight that the whole time. Not so fun.
On another note, while I was doing fundraising, I was a bit discouraged to see how many people weren't willing to donate even a little bit to the cause. But out on the road, with all the people who open their homes and wallets to feed us, as well as the strangers who pull over at our crew stops to ask us about what we're doing is just really neat.
I think this is the shortest interval between posts, so there's not much -- especially since there hasn't been much programming. I have been doing a lot of sleeping though. So that's good.
Today is our last day in Colorado. The scenery isn't much, but the weather is certainly throwing in its punches.
Going into Pueblo, it wasn't too unbearable. (Still really hot though; upper 90s.) Especially considering we got to stay at another hotel/motel...so real beds again after having them in both Denver (for two days) and Colorado Springs. Air conditioning is spectacular, by the way.
The ride into La Junta, however: scorching. Thankfully, it wasn't windy and we hauled butt on the bikes, frequently topping 26-28 miles per hour for fairly long stretches. I think we topped out at 104 degrees, and the gym we stayed in didn't have air conditioning. As you can imagine, it was a bit uncomfortable for this Seattle native. Playing four or five rounds of volleyball before going to bed didn't help either. I didn't get great sleep, and actually had to transfer from my air mattress to the floor because it was a degree or two cooler. One has to take what one is given though.
Oddly enough, today's ride was pretty chilly and took place under a pretty thick layer of gray clouds. And it was windy, so we had to fight that the whole time. Not so fun.
On another note, while I was doing fundraising, I was a bit discouraged to see how many people weren't willing to donate even a little bit to the cause. But out on the road, with all the people who open their homes and wallets to feed us, as well as the strangers who pull over at our crew stops to ask us about what we're doing is just really neat.
I think this is the shortest interval between posts, so there's not much -- especially since there hasn't been much programming. I have been doing a lot of sleeping though. So that's good.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Olympians abound!
Location: Colorado Springs, CO
Hey everyone! The days are all blurring together, but I think I can pick up where I left off last...
After Fort Collins (where we got to hang out with the Zeta Phi guys from CSU), we headed to another college-oriented town, Boulder, where we were greeted by more Pi Kapps, this time by the local Eta Gamma guys.
Our friendship visit in Boulder was one of the most exciting to date: we got to play wheelchair rugby (a.k.a. quad rugby) with the Denver Harlequins, a couple of whom were/are Paralympians and star in the 2005 movie, Murderball. It was so fun, they mixed us in and we got to play some scrimmages -- although I have a feeling they held back. It's brutal and full-contact for sure; at one point a chair teetered delicately on its side after being slammed into. (The chairs, by the way, run upwards of $4000!) As time ran out, we were reluctant to go, but were pleased to present the team with a grant from Push America. It's always nice to see the money that we raised go to the organizations we visit!
That visit was very humbling as well, and hit home more than the others we have had so far. Most of the athletes were quadriplegic and had varying degrees of control of their hands and arms. At the beginning we got to hear how they ended up in their wheelchairs: several car accidents, one diving into a shallow pool, cerebral palsy, and even being bucked off of a mechanical bull. Who's to say one of us is on a bicycle on day and in a Murderball chair the next? It was very sobering to realize how quickly and easily your life could be so drastically changed. Needless to say, I felt more than a bit guilty about being able to get out of the chair and walk away...but I wish them all the best as the next Games approach!
The next day in Boulder was a day off the bike, and we kicked off by a scrumptious breakfast at the Original Pancake House. Or Original House of Pancakes. Something with pancakes, which is all that really matters. And boy did I enjoy some of those fluffy, flattened treats! It was glorious.
After breakfast, we thought it would be a great idea to float Boulder Creek. Well, the weather turned out to be pretty horrible, as it rained on us intermittently. And also the "creek" turned out to be more of a raging river than I expected. I banged up my legs on countless rocks and feared for my life on a couple occasions...but hey, it was fun! I think about 30 of us went in at the beginning and 8 floated out in one piece and/or on a tube.
Despues de Boulder, we headed to good ol' Denver. It was just a hair longer than 30 miles, and we got to meet up with the North team for an intricate arrival. We double-pace lined it all from near Invesco Field to the capitol building where we had media and some of our KRG Capital sponsors. For example, the "R" in KRG is Bruce Rogers, who was the inspiration for the Journey of Hope when he cycled cross-country in 1987.
Later that day, the friendship visit was a joint one with the North team: Pedal for Pennies. It was another KRG-sponsored event in which some of the local Special Olympians cycled laps to raise money. We did some ride alongs, dinner, and ended with a bumpin' dance party. It started out pretty slow with only a few people but quickly filled up and ended up being incredibly enjoyable, especially the dancing; we did a rhumba line, Macarena, sing-alongs to the Backstreet Boys and Sweet Caroline, etc. etc.! Good times. One of the Special Olympians who was cycling earlier (Emily!) started crying because she was so happy. That was especially heartwarming. They told us that they waited all year for the "Journey of Hope boys" to come visit! I'm glad we were able help out and bring some more joy to the day.
Yesterday was a day off in Denver, and I took advantage of the downtime to sleep in the wonderful Mariott beds until 11 o'clock, then shop for some new sunglasses (I lost a pair in the swollen "Creek") and goggles for the hotel pool. (The previous night, I had started to do laps but without protection, the chlorine didn't agree with my eyeballs too much.) In an attempt to keep some upper-body tone, I lifted weights and then did some more laps. Then a nap and some reading, and bike maintenance took most of the rest of the day. Pretty chill.
Today we left Denver for Colorado Springs with some KRG and Pi Alpha ride-alongs. We fought through a heavy headwind the entire day and it was both painful and frustrating. But our spirits were lifted soon enough, as our stop was at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. They fed us amazing food, gave us a tour of the incredible facility -- and we even got to see some of our Beijing Olympians! (The women's volleyball players are absolutely GIGANTIC. I felt so insignificant as we watched them lift weights...I probably came up to most of their belly buttons. Just kidding. But almost.) It was pretty darn American, that's for sure, and darn impressive too to know that some of our country's greatest athletes had come and gone through that facility (or are training there right now!).
We're staying at Colorado College right now at really nice residence hall, and the dean, Mike Edmonds, was kind enough to provide a catered meal at his house here on campus. Beautiful campus and good food made for a nice end to the day. OH! And I almost forgot: we were on the local news here in probably our best TV spot so far, check it out at FOX21 (I don't know if they'll put the TV spot online or not?).
I'm sorry my posts are so long! I have to cram a bunch in. You can read them in chunks, that's okay. That's why you've bookmarked it...right? Anyway, we're out of Colorado in a couple days and into Kansas. I can't wait. Except I think I forgot my ruby slippers at home. (Mandatory Wizard of Oz Kansas joke.)
Hey everyone! The days are all blurring together, but I think I can pick up where I left off last...
After Fort Collins (where we got to hang out with the Zeta Phi guys from CSU), we headed to another college-oriented town, Boulder, where we were greeted by more Pi Kapps, this time by the local Eta Gamma guys.
Our friendship visit in Boulder was one of the most exciting to date: we got to play wheelchair rugby (a.k.a. quad rugby) with the Denver Harlequins, a couple of whom were/are Paralympians and star in the 2005 movie, Murderball. It was so fun, they mixed us in and we got to play some scrimmages -- although I have a feeling they held back. It's brutal and full-contact for sure; at one point a chair teetered delicately on its side after being slammed into. (The chairs, by the way, run upwards of $4000!) As time ran out, we were reluctant to go, but were pleased to present the team with a grant from Push America. It's always nice to see the money that we raised go to the organizations we visit!
That visit was very humbling as well, and hit home more than the others we have had so far. Most of the athletes were quadriplegic and had varying degrees of control of their hands and arms. At the beginning we got to hear how they ended up in their wheelchairs: several car accidents, one diving into a shallow pool, cerebral palsy, and even being bucked off of a mechanical bull. Who's to say one of us is on a bicycle on day and in a Murderball chair the next? It was very sobering to realize how quickly and easily your life could be so drastically changed. Needless to say, I felt more than a bit guilty about being able to get out of the chair and walk away...but I wish them all the best as the next Games approach!
The next day in Boulder was a day off the bike, and we kicked off by a scrumptious breakfast at the Original Pancake House. Or Original House of Pancakes. Something with pancakes, which is all that really matters. And boy did I enjoy some of those fluffy, flattened treats! It was glorious.
After breakfast, we thought it would be a great idea to float Boulder Creek. Well, the weather turned out to be pretty horrible, as it rained on us intermittently. And also the "creek" turned out to be more of a raging river than I expected. I banged up my legs on countless rocks and feared for my life on a couple occasions...but hey, it was fun! I think about 30 of us went in at the beginning and 8 floated out in one piece and/or on a tube.
Despues de Boulder, we headed to good ol' Denver. It was just a hair longer than 30 miles, and we got to meet up with the North team for an intricate arrival. We double-pace lined it all from near Invesco Field to the capitol building where we had media and some of our KRG Capital sponsors. For example, the "R" in KRG is Bruce Rogers, who was the inspiration for the Journey of Hope when he cycled cross-country in 1987.
Later that day, the friendship visit was a joint one with the North team: Pedal for Pennies. It was another KRG-sponsored event in which some of the local Special Olympians cycled laps to raise money. We did some ride alongs, dinner, and ended with a bumpin' dance party. It started out pretty slow with only a few people but quickly filled up and ended up being incredibly enjoyable, especially the dancing; we did a rhumba line, Macarena, sing-alongs to the Backstreet Boys and Sweet Caroline, etc. etc.! Good times. One of the Special Olympians who was cycling earlier (Emily!) started crying because she was so happy. That was especially heartwarming. They told us that they waited all year for the "Journey of Hope boys" to come visit! I'm glad we were able help out and bring some more joy to the day.
Yesterday was a day off in Denver, and I took advantage of the downtime to sleep in the wonderful Mariott beds until 11 o'clock, then shop for some new sunglasses (I lost a pair in the swollen "Creek") and goggles for the hotel pool. (The previous night, I had started to do laps but without protection, the chlorine didn't agree with my eyeballs too much.) In an attempt to keep some upper-body tone, I lifted weights and then did some more laps. Then a nap and some reading, and bike maintenance took most of the rest of the day. Pretty chill.
Today we left Denver for Colorado Springs with some KRG and Pi Alpha ride-alongs. We fought through a heavy headwind the entire day and it was both painful and frustrating. But our spirits were lifted soon enough, as our stop was at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. They fed us amazing food, gave us a tour of the incredible facility -- and we even got to see some of our Beijing Olympians! (The women's volleyball players are absolutely GIGANTIC. I felt so insignificant as we watched them lift weights...I probably came up to most of their belly buttons. Just kidding. But almost.) It was pretty darn American, that's for sure, and darn impressive too to know that some of our country's greatest athletes had come and gone through that facility (or are training there right now!).
We're staying at Colorado College right now at really nice residence hall, and the dean, Mike Edmonds, was kind enough to provide a catered meal at his house here on campus. Beautiful campus and good food made for a nice end to the day. OH! And I almost forgot: we were on the local news here in probably our best TV spot so far, check it out at FOX21 (I don't know if they'll put the TV spot online or not?).
I'm sorry my posts are so long! I have to cram a bunch in. You can read them in chunks, that's okay. That's why you've bookmarked it...right? Anyway, we're out of Colorado in a couple days and into Kansas. I can't wait. Except I think I forgot my ruby slippers at home. (Mandatory Wizard of Oz Kansas joke.)
Friday, July 4, 2008
Colorado!
Location: Fort Collins, CO
Whew! Finally out of Wyoming. Not that we all didn't enjoy it -- it just got a bit...bland...after a while. As the national parks faded into the distance behind us, we entered a very flat, very windy, not-very populated stretch of the state. (Basically most of it.)
And it's HOT. I'm from Seattle, and I don't do hot well. We've only hit a couple days of iffy weather -- mostly thunder/lightning storms here in the past couple days -- so that's nice. It rains differently here than in Seattle, too. Back in good ol' WA, you get the gray mist, then a drizzle, then rain. But here, it's lightning and thunder, downpour of huge raindrops for five minutes, then everything passes over. It's weird.
I haven't been in the weather that much though; I've been off the bike for a couple days (if you've been checking out the photos on the Push America website, you may have noticed). But I should be back in top condition and ready to hit the road again here in the next day or so. In the meantime, I've been helping the crew do all their duties. And for the most part...it's boring as hell.
But! I've gotten a lot of time to read and have finished five novels so far in the three weeks or so that we've been riding. They are as follows: The Art of Racing in the Rain, A Clockwork Orange, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Of Mice and Men, and State of Fear.
Yesterday, we had a friendship visit with the Arc of Laramie County. It was really fun, and for a while I was speaking with a gentleman named Jeff. Jeff has Down syndrome, and was hearing but also liked to sign. So we spent some time learning how to sign some stuff. That reminded me that I'm going to be taking American Sign Language this coming year in school, so afterwards I headed to Barnes and Noble in Cheyenne, WY to find an ASL book to get an early start. I got one, but also ended up walking by one of the random tables they have and saw George Orwell's 1984. It's on my imaginary list of books I want to read before I die, so I snatched it right up and started it today. Yay for reading! (I used to read a lot in middle/high school, but with college comes a drastic increase in other obligatory readings...i.e. textbooks. So now I'm taking advantage of this downtime!)
So we're in Colorado. And it's the Fourth of July! Happy birthday, America. I don't know if we have anything planned as far as celebrations go, but I'm sure we do. I'm kind of along for the ride so we'll see. My grandparents used to live in Colorado, and I faintly remember visiting a handful of times, and I'm excited to be back.
I hope I've been posting regularly enough for all of you! Enjoy your Fourth, read all warning labels on your pyrotechnics, and I'll catch you later.
Whew! Finally out of Wyoming. Not that we all didn't enjoy it -- it just got a bit...bland...after a while. As the national parks faded into the distance behind us, we entered a very flat, very windy, not-very populated stretch of the state. (Basically most of it.)
And it's HOT. I'm from Seattle, and I don't do hot well. We've only hit a couple days of iffy weather -- mostly thunder/lightning storms here in the past couple days -- so that's nice. It rains differently here than in Seattle, too. Back in good ol' WA, you get the gray mist, then a drizzle, then rain. But here, it's lightning and thunder, downpour of huge raindrops for five minutes, then everything passes over. It's weird.
I haven't been in the weather that much though; I've been off the bike for a couple days (if you've been checking out the photos on the Push America website, you may have noticed). But I should be back in top condition and ready to hit the road again here in the next day or so. In the meantime, I've been helping the crew do all their duties. And for the most part...it's boring as hell.
But! I've gotten a lot of time to read and have finished five novels so far in the three weeks or so that we've been riding. They are as follows: The Art of Racing in the Rain, A Clockwork Orange, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Of Mice and Men, and State of Fear.
Yesterday, we had a friendship visit with the Arc of Laramie County. It was really fun, and for a while I was speaking with a gentleman named Jeff. Jeff has Down syndrome, and was hearing but also liked to sign. So we spent some time learning how to sign some stuff. That reminded me that I'm going to be taking American Sign Language this coming year in school, so afterwards I headed to Barnes and Noble in Cheyenne, WY to find an ASL book to get an early start. I got one, but also ended up walking by one of the random tables they have and saw George Orwell's 1984. It's on my imaginary list of books I want to read before I die, so I snatched it right up and started it today. Yay for reading! (I used to read a lot in middle/high school, but with college comes a drastic increase in other obligatory readings...i.e. textbooks. So now I'm taking advantage of this downtime!)
So we're in Colorado. And it's the Fourth of July! Happy birthday, America. I don't know if we have anything planned as far as celebrations go, but I'm sure we do. I'm kind of along for the ride so we'll see. My grandparents used to live in Colorado, and I faintly remember visiting a handful of times, and I'm excited to be back.
I hope I've been posting regularly enough for all of you! Enjoy your Fourth, read all warning labels on your pyrotechnics, and I'll catch you later.
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