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.)