07/30/07 Cincinnati, OH to Lexington, Kentucky

Up at 5:30 am again, like usual. Really starting to wear on me. Breakfast was sponsored by an alumnus but there wasn't a ton of food. So, I started my long day off with half a donut and a bagel with cream cheese. We racked out of the city and not even five miles into the ride I had another fall. This time it was in city traffic and I was pretty lucky there weren't any cars behind me. I was crossing lanes to the left but the streets had cracks lining each lane and the groove was lifted about an inch or so higher so that when I tried crossing over, I didn't. And my tires kind of got stuck in the crack and turning my handle bars only sent me over them. I was still riding Andrew's new bike but there was barely any damage to the bike. I landed on my hand hard, actually the same place I had a burn make on from the day before. I've got some scratches on my elbow, shoulder, and back as well. I rode the rest of the day though, all 82 miles of it up and down the big hills of Kentucky. How come no one told me that Kentucky has such giant hills/small mountains? This was also the most humid a day of riding has been and I was dripping sweat all day. We didn't eat lunch until after 3:00 pm because of the long day of riding plus some confusion on where lodging was. It was at a disability rec. center. Lunch was Qdoba tacos which is a great change from sandwiches with two slices of meat or the burgers and hot dogs we usually get. With about an hour and a half of time to shower and run errands we were back on the clock for a dinner and friendship visit with the organization that was hosting us. Back to barbecue for dinner! The visit was huge. Tons of people just kept showing up. We had a dance going and a few other activities. I danced my little heart out again like I always do at our dances. The night didn't stop hopping until around 8:30 pm which was exhausting for us, especially after a long, tough day. We rolled with the punches though and had a great visit. I decided that I needed some rest bad and got to sleep a little after 10:00 pm. This gave me around 8 hours of sleep. I'm trying as best as I can not to zonk out with so little time left. With a day off coming up soon and I'll just be trying to take it easy for the next couple of days so that I'm rested for the last stretch.

07/28, 29 Oxford and Cincinnati, Ohio

The ride to Oxford was an interesting one. The grid said that we would have an 85 mile ride to do but we ran into a detour because of construction which would have made our ride 120 miles. No one was able to finish the ride because of the length and we were due for dinner with the Miami University of Ohio chapter of Pi Kappa Phi. Also, early on in the ride I broke a spoke and so I finished the ride using Andrew's bike. Anyway, our reception at the fraternity house was unbelievably big! The chapter held their annual alumni barbecue on the same day so there were tons of people there and lots of great food. We hung out with those Pi Kapps all night.

The 35 mile ride to Cincinnati began with a wake up at 5:30 am. Seems pretty early for such a short day but that's because we had so much to do! Breakfast was in Oxford at the fraternity house once again. They've got someone in their chapter that really knows how to cook. The ride was easy until the end when we ran into some up hills and some sharp, fast downhills. I stayed on my brakes most of the way down because it was so windy. We rode into lodging for the night (a recreational center) which was also where we got to play wheelchair football. After given 20 minutes to shower, we all took turns playing the game. I got burns marks on my palms because I played so long and they sting bad. I did score a touchdown though. This wheelchair sport was a lot easier to catch on to. From there we went directly to the Cincinnati Reds vs. Chicago Cubs baseball game. It was so hot and humid. If you think I'm kidding, ask this guy! The game was kind of boring and the Reds lost 6-0. I was pretty excited though to see Ken Griffey, Jr. and Lou Piniella. The coolest thing at the park was the Cincinnati Reds' Hall of Fame and Pete Rose exhibits. There was so much historical stuff and cool memorabilia I couldn't see everything or take pictures of all of the things I wanted to. We went to dinner at a park and there was an alumus barbecuing for us. Is it starting to sound like we have a lot of barbecue yet? Anyhow, being outside almost all day and working up a sweat during wheelchair football really exhausted me and I was all ready to take a nap which probably I wouldn't have gotten up from except Guitar Hero was found! So I played that, took care of some stuff like shaving and washing my jersey and shorts and then got to bed in the un-air conditioned gym. By the way, exactly two weeks from the 29th is our arrival into Washington D.C. and our journey will be complete. It's getting very exhausting and exciting as the end draws near. Keep checking up on us because we're trying our best to keep updating.

07/26 and 27 Indianapolis

Wrapping our last two days in Indiana was Indianapolis. The ride in was short, between 40 and 45 miles but the last half of it was in pouring down rain. It was dark and a lot cooler than it has been lately. It was mostly flat however not too bad of a ride. Lodging was in the dorms at Marion College. When it came to choosing room assignments Andrew and I randomly chose the same room. Each person got their own bed and we had our own bathroom too! After a nice hot shower, just what I needed after a ride in the rain, we made our way to lunch at a pizza place. The weather was no longer cool and rainy but had become warm and humid now. Dinner was spaghetti and we played power soccer at a rec. center with a few individuals that use electric wheel chairs (that's what power soccer is). They use a bigger ball and have attachments on the end of the chair to hit the ball with. It was pretty cool but it wasn't something you could just pick up. They were alot better than us. Eventually, a small group of us went to White Castle! Not as exciting as I made it seem though. I didn't like the food and some old man came up to us and started singing songs and told us to take a picture of him because he would be famous someday. Then when we were leaving he asked for a dollar so it made more sense. I was up until 2:00 am this night working on blog updates. See the sacrifices I make for you guys?

On the next day I woke up at 7:00 am and took a shower before going on a live spot on Indianapolis' FOX station. It was only 4-5 minutes and all I did was hold a map of our routes. It was good media coverage though and we always appreciate getting on the news. Breakfast was pastries and fruit. Lunch was a barbecue with the Noble of Indiana. This was a big, fun friendship visit with lots to do. I however found myself in the percussion room which they use for musical therapy and relaxing. We just banged on drums and tambourines. I also busted a move in the gym to hits like "YMCA" and "You ain't nothin' but a Hound Dog." One guy I was dancing with was Charlie who was having a great time. At the end we gave a grant and the CEO of the organization was there very thankful and very grateful. For dinner we went to the home of a mother of a former team member and had tacos. It was nice to have some chill time; we watched Home Improvement and Seinfeld. Some distant relatives of ours tracked us down and met us there which was a surprise to say the least. Really cool though that they had never met us and yet really supported what we were doing and were just excited to see us! They even brought cookies and some delicious home-made brownies!

07/25/07 Terre Haute to Bloomington, IN

Today’s ride was odd and started out with a bang. We were literally a mile or less into the ride when my group stopped at a stop sign. Two cars back we heard yelling that sounded something like “get out of the way.” The first car drove by us once we were moving and followed by that car was an old man in a pick up truck, yelling and pointing at us. We yelled some stuff, not bad or negative, but sarcastic like “Sorry for making a difference!” He slowed down to a stop and as we got closer he spun his tires spitting dirt and rocks up at us. The guy in front of me got most of it but I caught a little of his wrath. We just kind of laughed about it, that someone is filled with so much anger to do that. The ride was hilly all day and I pushed it too hard. My quads and knees were sore at the end of the day. We had an arrival at an organization called Stonebelt. This organization planned their own picnic and activities around us coming so there was a ton of people waiting for us when we got there. We were served lunch and then some guys participated in the dunk tank, volleyball, and BINGO. As you might have guessed, I was drawn to the BINGO arena and it was there I played the game next to Frank. Frank is 60 years old and has Down Syndrome. I chatted with him a little bit and made sure he marked his card correctly. He was pretty friendly and I knew we were having a good time but I didn’t know how much of an impression I had left on him. When we got outside for the group picture we walked together and sat down in front. He needed a little help getting down and right before the picture was taken he rested his head on my shoulder. It just amazes me that we can have that much impact on someone in so little time, under an hour. There was another team member who made an impression. He spent the entire time with a girl who called him buddy and when we had to get ready to ride off again she started crying. She hugged him and went inside, but came outside in a couple minutes to hug him again and say good bye one more time. We stayed at the Pi Kapp fraternity house on the campus of Indiana University , which was enormous. The living legend Dr. Phil Summers made sure we had a great steak dinner at the house and gave us a small tour around campus (by car, not walking, I don’t think I could have handled that). On this night, I finally got around to cleaning my bike.

07/24/07 Effingham, IL to Terre Haute, Indiana

The Rotary Club again catered a breakfast in the morning before we were on our way to Indiana . I swept, both because I was sore from the crash but also because Steve made a big deal to the team about riding with different people. We finished the 60+ mile ride and did an arrival at Indiana State University in their court yard next to a big fountain. It was a decent crowd, mostly of Pi Kapps from ISU. There was good media coverage though. We stayed at a giant house basically right on Greek Row with an alumnus. The place had like four stories including the basement. It was so big and clean I was a little creeped out. Plus there were old black and white photos and child-sized dolls that looked kind of real. Our dinner/friendship visit was with the Happiness Bag. We had a big dance and karaoke was available though not extremely popular. Dances are definitely the most fun friendship visits we get to do. It’s so great to have a lot of people come out. Plus media, there were three video cameras in our face when we showed up. There was one guy I linked arms with during the Chicken Dance and after about two seconds he told me he loved me and gave me a hug. Steve said that that was what the trip was all about. All of the people there had also made cards for us which I thought was pretty touching. It was pretty laid back when we got back to lodging. We watched a cycling movie called “Breaking Away” which was filmed entirely in Bloomington , Indiana , our stop for the following day.

By the way, Indiana puts us three hours ahead of the Washingtonians back home. It’s unbelievable to me that there are less than 20 days on the trip left and the states just continue to fly by. This really has been the adventure of a lifetime.

07/23/07 St. Louis, MO to Effingham, Illinois

We left to Effingham which was supposed to be a longer ride than 90 miles but that’s what it ended up being. We racked out of the hotel to breakfast, sponsored again by Chuck Howard, and then out of the city to avoid East St. Louis and morning city traffic. The ride was long and straight, flat until the end where some rolling hills did pop up. I zoned out a lot, too much as it turned out because I had my first crash ever. I got too close to the edge of the shoulder and I think my back tire went off the little edge and I slammed down on my left side, dragging my left ankle on the edge and scraping my left leg more than half way up. My left hip has a small bruise and my right shoulder is sore. It’s not too bad though because I was only going about 15mph I think. The right handle bar was bent in but I fixed that. It hurt a lot more on the next day. My right hand also became sore. Nick was riding behind me and I took him down with me. Todd was able to stop in time. Nick got flipped off his bike because he ran right over me, leaving some bruises on my upper thighs. When we realized no one was seriously hurt, we all had a really good laugh about it. After a long ride and a quick shower at lodging, a church, we had dinner with a Rotary Club. They brought us a catered dinner with roast beef, chicken, and some amazing loaded mashed potatoes. The greatest part about the day though was the church had a hangout room in the back with Guitar Hero! I was able to show off my skills by playing a few songs. I actually played still in my jersey and spandex before taking a shower.

07/22/07 Day off in St. Louis, MO

I woke up at 10:30 am on our day off and ate three donuts, donated by Chuck Howard mentioned earlier in the blog. That was our healthy, optional breakfast because we had a friendship visit at 11:30 that was supposed to be a lunch as well, but some confusion made for us not getting lunch. The visit was really cool though, held at the St. Louis Science Center . I wheeled around Jeff during the time I was there and looked at some of the different exhibits in the Science Center . He was funny and had a good memory. He also had a lot of abbreviations for things like “QU” for “quite unique.” I thought it was pretty funny. So, after the visit, we had another healthy meal, this time lunch at McDonalds. Right after we had some fun at an indoor go-kart place sponsored by Jay’s family (he’s from St. Louis ). It was fun. I was dead last out of about twenty people. Andrew was first, surprise. We had pizza there too so we went from really hungry in the morning to getting fed twice in an hour but we’ll take it. Dinner was pretty soon after go-karts and sponsored by a Pi Alpha (someone who has done a summer event before) who lives in the city. We went to Ozzie Smith’s Sports bar and Restaurant. It was really cool there because there was a ton of Ozzie memorabilia and framed photos and jerseys, signed balls, etc.

07/21/07 Union to St. Louis, MO

Today’s ride was unlike any other in that we had two arrivals to make and so the last half of our mileage was with a police escort with lunch in between the two arrivals. The first arrival was into the Saturn car dealership (Saturn used to be a major sponsor of the trip) and absolutely no one was there to greet us, that is except for a team member (Jay’s) family aka fan club. We ate lunch there and then got back on the road making our way through Jay’s neighborhood. Lots of people came out with signs and cheered us on. We got friendly honks constantly and it was one of the most fun and proudest days of the trip. We did an arrival in front at a park with fountains and the arch in the background. A decent amount of people came out. We had a proclamation like usual and then got in the cars and drove to the Marriott hotel by the airport. Very nice. Dinner was with the Build America team who are spending six weeks on the road driving to summer camps that serve people with disabilities and making renovations and parts of the camp more accessible. Shawn O’Leary, a Pi Kapp from WSU is on the team so it was great to meet up with him and the other guys and hear how their summer has gone so far. Dinner was excellent, provided by the parents of a former team member I think.

07/20/07 Jefferson City to Union, MO

The roads were the absolute worst we’ve seen and Missouri is officially the worst state to ride a bike in. We rode on some tough hills with no shoulder, broken roads with pot holes and right in the middle of rush hour. I should have racked up but I kept telling myself it would get better, and it did I guess. At least the traffic thinned out and cars could pass us easier. After an 80 mile day we had cold pizza waiting for us at our lodging (a gym). Dinner was provided by the Rotary Club. There was a live band (composed of old people) and I was enjoying it and the hot roast beef sandwiches but Steve pulled us out after only about an hour. A bunch of us changed our clothes immediately when we got home and drove to the movie theater. We all saw different movies, Nick and I saw the new Harry Potter! We had an excellent time, loved the movie. We played the arcades for 20 minutes before and those are always fun.

07/19/07 Sedalia to Jefferson City, MO

The roads were so bad today! There were lots of hills and little to no shoulder. We pushed it pretty until I got two flat tires five miles outside of stage-up (where we prepare for an official arrival). The heat wasn’t bad and it was overcast. The arrival was quite small but we were presented with two plaques and thanked for what we are doing. We ate fried chicken at a nearby church. We stayed at Lincoln University for the day. After a quick shower, we were taken out to ice cream by an alumnus named Chuck Howard. He’s one of the more involved alumni in the country and took really good care of us in Jefferson City and later on in St. Louis . Chadd Cockrell (UW) and I ate ice cream with two of his children who were really fun and crazy kids. Dinner was a barbeque provided by another alumnus in the area. It was kind of stormy with a little thunder and lightning.

July 18th, 2007 Olathe to Sedalia

after being startled to death by Rodney running around banging on everyones doors to wake us up. Everyone packed up and prepared for what was supposed to be a more than 100 mile day. Well it ended up because of re-routing due to road construction to be about 130 miles. So at lunch all of the cyclists were racked in order to pass the bad road conditions and also to make it to dinner on time. Dinner was sponsored by a cyclist Josh Dondes family. He was very excited because his mother, who lives in NJ, few down to surprise him.

July 17, 2007 Day off in Olathe

the day started off with a trip to the Mahafee farm and stage coach stop on the Santa Fe trail. We were served omletes by a former city council women, and then given a tour of the homestead. http://www.olatheks.org/visitors/mahaffie/ later in the day we ate lunch with the Lakemary center for a friendship visit. Lakemary was an awesome place because they provide so many great services for people with disabilities, everything from group homes, jobs, job training, help with job placement, and day time service and sometimes just a place to hang out. The wonderful people at lake marry cooked us lunch then gave us a tour of all of their sites before we chose one to hang out at for the remainder of the afternoon. Later we were able to hang out with Mark Cameron (teamcameron.org) a quadriplegic man who runs his own business as well as lives almost completely on his own. He worked really hard and did a great job setting everything up for us in Olathe. For dinner we attended a tailgaiting party for an Olathe T-Bones baseball game just before heading to the game. The T-Bones didn't win. After the game most of us called it a night, even though it was a “day off” it was more tiring than a normal day full of cycling
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July 16, 2007 Topeka to Olathe, KS

Olathe was definitely one of the toughest rides so far. We had the heat as well as hard rolling hills including some VERY VERY steep ones. We rode through a part of Kansas University's campus so we stopped to take a picture outside of their basketball court.

The end of such a tough ride could not have been anymore perfect than our police escort arrival into Olathe. It was huge and their town absolutely loves us. It was the most I've ever felt like a rock star, it blew Guitar Hero away! When we showed up to the building, the pathway to the front door was lined on both sides by people, both with and without disabilities, cheering and holding up signs with their hands out for a high five. The atmosphere was just insane. Some speeches were made inside this big room I think that Olathe uses for meetings and we were endlessly thanked. They actually had the mayor there to speak which was the first time we haven't had someone filling in. After that, we ate lunch there and got to visit with our “fans.” The picture I have here is with Ralph,

an old man who was pretty difficult to hear and understand but you could still tell he was happy to be there. After lunch, we made our way to the dormitories of the Kansas School for the Deaf. We stayed here for the next two nights since we had a day off here. I definitely feel grateful for all of the beds we've been staying in along the trip. We were all told that we'd have about four hotels along the way with just a few more nights in a bed. Before dinner at the Texas Roadhouse (where I had prime rib!), I endured the most painful experience ever. A massage therapist and chiropractor met us at lodging and I asked for my quads to be worked on. Stupidest thing ever and I didn't realize until then that a massage and massage therapy are different. He worked out the kinks in my quadriceps and it just felt like endless burning and stretching. I got about nine hours of sleep that night because I was so tired from the long days we had put in lately and the big dinner I scarfed down earlier.

July 15, 2007 Emporia to Topeka, KS

The ride was hot with mostly flat terrain, though we did begin to see the rolling hills we had been promised in eastern Kansas. We did an arrival and were greatly welcomed by the ARC of Topeka (TARC). They were great hosts, allowing us to to sleep in their facilities and provided us both lunch and dinner, with a friendship visit at lunch. I sat with Barbara and her cousin who drove Barbara to our visit. They were both originally from southern Alabama and Barbara kept calling me sir. It was rather tough to get any long conversations going with either women. Even though Barbara was smiling the whole time, she just wasn't a big talker I guess. We showered at the Topeka YMCA and then had a lasagna dinner with no FV. Andrew hung out a bunch with the two sons of Dawn, the woman who set up all of the TARC stuff. They played video games and ate dinner together, and played a little after dinner too. They seemed to be having a really good time together.

July 14, 2007 Wichita to Emporia, KS

The morning we rode to Emporia marked the first of three days in a row we would be waking up at 5:00 am. It's not a very motivating feeling to wake up and begin moving around when it's still so dark out. Our grid reads 115 miles but I think that it was about 107 miles. Only five or six guys rode the whole ride because of both the need to be at a sponsored lunch in the middle of the day and some construction in the road that delayed everyone. The rest of us finished the ride with about 86 miles. Lunch was at a restaurant in Cottonwood Falls on the way to Emporia which is a small, historic town but for some strange reason has an amazing restaurant in it. Two families that had already done some sponsored meals in Wichita sponsored us together for lunch. It's very cool to see families for former team members continue to be involved and see there support in all the places across the country. This was also the first day we saw really hot temperatures in Kansas. It would become a trend as we saw it stayed true throughout the state. Lodging was at a Boys and Girls Club-type place and the Kiwanis Club brought a potluck dinner to us. They also provided a professional masseuse and self-massaging bed for our use. This was the first time I had ever received a massage from a professional and it was pretty good. It was really relaxing; I could have fallen asleep. During dinner, I chatted it up with some women that were both members and wives of members of Kiwanis. We had great conversation and laughter going the whole time. After, I did laundry and wasted some quarters on an arcade game from the 80s. I got to sleep early that night.

July 12, 2007 Pratt to Wichita, KS

We rode to Wichita on the 12^th and had a day off on the 13^th. The terrain was mostly flat with some hills, if I remember right. It's pretty hard to tell these days apart. I was in the last group and we just took it easy as the time passed quickly because we were chatting for most of the ride. A team member's parents bought us lunch at Chipotle (a mexican fast food place) that has humongous burritos and other food but it was just too spicy for my liking. By the way, we were staying at a nice hotel and each of us had our own big bed! We had dinner at the Kansas Jaycee CP Ranch which was hosting a one-week camp for kids with disabilities. There wasn't one child that I especially hung out with for the evening but I still enjoyed floating around during the carnival-like activities. At the beginning, we found out that we all needed to choose nicknames and I randomly thought of Tiny Dancer. Later, I agreed to have a butterfly painted on my face as it was too a tiny dancer, perhaps even a insect representation of me. I had a great time during the 30 second whip cream eating contest. I may not have “won” but my plate was definitely the cleanest. I walked around with Marcus for just a little bit, a blind child. It was very interesting to walk with him as he navigated himself around benches and poles. This was also a mail-drop for us and I got a letter from Hailey (yeah!) and a jam-packed care package from Aunt JoAnn (thank you again!). The Starburst Jellybeans were gone in about three days. The three of us from WSU received an invitation to Ian's wedding and thank you guys for the invite but I don't think we'll be able to make it. I wish I could be there though and thanks again for all of your support!

On the day off we had breakfast at the house of a former team member's house. The house was amazingly big and the breakfast wasn't so bad either, pancakes and eggs Benedict among other things. Lunch was at Rainbows United which was like a summer school for kids with disabilities. There was a ton of kids there and a wide variety of disabilities. I hung with Jeffrey while each person in the room filled a jar with colored sand and made different designs in it. At lunch, I sat next to a kid who kept trying to steal everything other people had. He was non-verbal and continuously was reaching to people's plates trying to get their pizza. It was funny to me but it clearly happens a lot, I could tell by the way the caregiver reacted. Dinner was at an office building which was an independent living resource for people with disabilities. I sat with Jerry and two other women at a table of four so I was trying my best to keep the conversations going by myself. I can tell that I'm a lot better now than I was at the beginning of the trip.

updates

well i am sorry we cant update it fast enough, we have been getting busier and busier as we get into parts of the country with higher populations. its not like montana and wyoming where we stay in town with 200 people. well be trying harder to update on a more regular basis. provided we have internet access. for those who dont know. i wont be needing surgery, so that is good news. the final report from the doctor is that i tore my gastroc nemius (if thats how you spell it) muscle pretty good, so now my right calf is almost twice as big my left. i also had a few fairly small tears in my achilles tendon, apparently nothing to worry too much about. im still pretty bruised up and a little sore, but i hope to be back on the bike in a week... i hope. as for right now i am an official member of the crew, i have to wake up 30minutes before everyone else with the crew as well as share a large number of the crew duties now. i even have an official crew polo.

how many people read this

hey, we were just wondering how many people actually read this. so if you see this, please post a comment with your name in it so we know.
thanks!

Busy day off in Wichita

Lots to do in Wichita