Day 39 (7/10): Dodge City, KS; 65 Miles

Woke up pretty refreshed…got to even sleep in a little because today’s ride was pretty short. After some delicious hotel continental breakfast (Belgian waffle…mmmm) we were on the road. Had the same nice wide should all day so it was smooth sailin all the way into Dodge. Couple highlights on the ride: most of the road is lined with huge patches of beautiful sunflowers (the state flower of Kansas)…got to see a cool plane crop dusting corn fields…and took a sweet pic at the Dodge City sign in front of the “Magnificent Seven.” One BIG low point of the ride: the smell!!! As opposed to the cattle ranches out west which birth the calves, Kansas is home to the feed lots that fatten em up. So instead of a few hundred cows over hundreds of acres, you get 10,000 cows all in just a few acres…and man do they reek. Every so often a “poop truck” (as we called em) would drive by and just hit us with a wave of awfulness…yuck.

We rolled into town and lodged up at the Dodge City Community College and got showered up for lunch. It was a short walk over to the school cafeteria, where members of Phi Theta Kappa, an international honors society, sponsored us for some good ole’ fashion school style lunch…even had the trays with all the little sections in em! Highlight of the meal was the ice cream cones at the end.

Not a whole lot going on here in Dodge, so we were actually free after lunch…with a small stipend provided by Grant Elpers (who sponsored our meal at the Golden Corral last night) to get dinner with. So after some relaxation and a little post office action I headed out with a group of guys to wrestle up some grub.

After tooling around the small touristy town for a bit we ended up at Casey’s Cowtown…a local steakhouse type joint. We couldn’t tell if the waitress didn’t like us, or just was kinda mean, or actually did like us and had an awkward demeanor…who knows…but we got through it. At the top of the menu were the “Crown Jewels” aka Calf Fries aka we had no idea what they were…so I asked and in a rare flash of an excited smile she replied “wanna try em?”….”well sure!” So she brings out a plate of what look like little round deep fried popcorn chicken pieces…at which point we had a sneaking suspicion that we were about to eat what our Texas teammate Geren referred to as “Rocky Mountain Oysters” and sure enough…they were calf testicles! Felt great knowing that I had an animals balls sitting in my stomach…but hey they didn’t taste half bad…kinda like chewy calamari.

Dinner pretty much marked the final excitement that is Dodge City…so I think I’ll spend the rest of the night working on much overdue thank you notes!

Day 38 (7/9): Garden City, KS; 105 Miles

So according to the Colorado boys we left CO back in Colorado Springs (eastern Colorado IS rather different)….but today was our OFFICIAL crossover into Kansas. Turns out the first sizeable city in Kansas isn’t till about 75 miles past the border….and seeing how we were 30 miles from the border in Colorado…BAM…you get a century ride and change…woohoo! But this set the stage for one of the most epic Journey of Hope battles ever: the ride along challenge between Rodney and Farley (recall, Rodney had completed (barely) the 65 mile day into La Junta). The bet: if Farley doesn’t make 65 he buys Rodney a steak dinner…if Farley makes over 65 but doesn’t finish call it even…if Farley makes the whole 105 miles Rodney buys him a steak dinner. Guess you could say the “steaks” were high bwa ha ha ha.

Woke up bright and early at 5 am to some crew chief eats before hittin the road. I started out in the back pack with Small, Jay, and Grant - the state line crew (we’ve been getting pics together at every state line). Cruised the first 30 out of Colorado no sweat…took a nice pick at the Kansas sign and Jay showed his affection for the state in his own way. From there the Kansas roads are pretty sweet: nice wide shoulders which let us ride double-wide and chat the whole time. So about the next 50 miles or so were fun times with the guys…sneakin up on other pacelines shark style…chattin about life…all good things. We caught up to the next group with Farley (who was pretty hurtin at this point) and rode together for a good while…ole’ philly boy is a diehard trooper. Around mile 80 we stopped for some lunch at which point Farley was making moves to call it quits. So I started ridin with Brent the rest of the way into town. Turns out Grant wouldn’t let Farley quit and the back few guys motivated him the rest of the way. At the finish at the Marriot in town we all cheered as Farley (who hadn’t ever ridden a rode bike) trudginly rolled in…what an incredible accomplishment! And Rodney owes him a steak!

It was past 5 pm at this point (due in small part to the crossing into Central time at the border…obscure quote that comes to mind: “Jack…Kyle…it’s Michael Keaton…the space time continuum is all f’ed up!!” …I know only one person who might laugh at this). So we all quickly got cleaned up to head to dinner.

A couple of local Pi Kapps sponsored us at the Golden Corral…which is just about the biggest all-you-can-eat buffet you can imagine. Gorged ourselves on EVERYTHING…steak, veggies, pizza, pasta, salad, chicken, etc. etc. etc. Absurd amount of food. It was pretty funny watchin Farley pretty much sit there and zone out….just totally wasted tired from the ride.

Had the night free after dinner…but most of us pretty much are just going to bed…loooooong day on the bike!

Day 37 (7/8): Lamar, CO; 65 Miles

Turns out some of the guys didn’t take last night in La Junta so easy…opting for a night out on the town with some local community college kids. The team woke up to be informed that we would be riding just a little down the street to a house where some new “friends” had made us breakfast. Apparently last night Ezra, Pops, Brendle, Donde, and some others met up with the locals: Andy, Chad, Alli, and Sam…went out on the town (where our friends waited outside because they weren’t 21???)…then went back to the community college campus to play hide and seek??? Apparently Ezra and Ms. Alli took to each other…and there’s speculation that Andy took to Brendle a little….haha. All in all just a bizarre night.

So throughout all this sillyness our local friends agreed to make breakfast…so we get on the bikes and go to their teeny house…where Andy royally comes out onto the deck and declares “Ooohh you guys look so Sh’nazzy in you Sh’pandex.” Needless to say at this point we were all a bit freaked out….but our new friends were hospitable and welcomed us in. So there we are in a living room with no furniture, while our friends served up some egg and cheese omelets they had stayed up all night making (after making a 4 am walmart run). The food actually wasn’t so bad and we enjoyed some pleasant convo before huddling together on the porch for a team pic. Finally it was time to hit the road after our unique little La Junta experience. Only on JOH….

Pretty flat and easy day on the bike…though not without a few more unique experiences. Mr. Wes Pitts joined us on the bikes today and was actually a pretty strong cycling considering his lack of experience. It wasn’t till about halfway through that the weird stuff started happening…

So at first there were a few grasshoppers on the road (all on the right shoulder where we were riding, interestingly). But gradually there’s numbers seemed to grow till we were literally riding through a minefield of grasshoppers…and these suckers were HUGE! Not only huge but they liked to clump together in massive mounds of grasshopper. Couldn’t help but run over the darn things…which resulted in a delightful splat that ended up on several guys legs and even made a sweet stain on Nick’s jersey. It was madness!

And if the plague of the locusts wasn’t enough, just a little further up the road I hear a scream and look up to see Jay and Chad Small looking at each other with Home Alone-like faces…only to look down and see a snake slithering right below where I was riding…aaaahhhhh!! Tried to lift my feet up but they were clipped in….it was absolutely hilarious our whole paceline was freakin out. To be honest the snake was in a much worse position than we were, but hey…snakes are freaky!

So then we role up to Farley’s stop where he was nonchalantly shaving his legs with an electric razor right on the side of the road…which on any other day would be pretty weird but it was par for the course today. Finally our trip through the twilight zone came to an end as we pulled into Lamar (a pretty small town) and lodged up at the local high school.

The gym had some cool ropes to climb on…which I would have loved to trade for some AC. We hung out and mostly took naps for a little bit before dinner time.

For dinner we headed over to Mary and Dan Minor’s house…a couple of cycling enthusiasts who had heard about the trip through friends and wanted to help out. Jim and his wife…fellow enthusiasts and neighbors to the Minors…were also there and had cooked us some spaghetti. Stuffed our faces and even watched a little of the Tour de France down in their basement.

Back here at the gym we have the rest of the night off…so we just be hangin out. Just glad we made it through bizarro day alive.

Day 36 (7/7): La Junta, CO; 70 Miles

The awesomeness of Pueblo continued as we feasted on some hotel breakfast this morning. Big event of the day was the ride along by Hot Rod himself…yes, Rodney Clements of Shreveport, Louisiana took to the bike today.

Turned out to be a pretty flat and easy-going ride…passed through some cool small towns including “Rocky Ford”…what an awesomely American name. Rodney (who hadn’t ever ridden a bike before) was already hurtin around mile 30. He endured nonetheless…looking rougher and rougher with each 10 mile crew stop until finally…La Junta! (pronounced La - Hunt - Ah…and means “The Junta” …though some scholars argue it means gathering, those fools).

Rodney was as good as dead to the world as we brought our stuff into lodging and ate some crew chief lunch (left over bbq from John Pierce, holla!). We’re staying at La Junta High, where to the delight of Sollner they had a full free-weight set right out in the main gym area for his meathead pleasure. Had some downtime before dinner so after a manly set of 10 reps on the bench I took a much needed nap.

Dinner was over at a local park with the Kiwanis Club…whose members are nice as can be no matter what town you’re in. Munched some awesome pot luck (my favorite kind of meal on the trip) while talking to the group’s head, George, who does awesome impressions (though mostly of people that are long before my time). He lamented the waning membership of the group (upwards of 90 back in the early 80’s…now down to around 25)…attributing it in large part to a dying interest in service among older folks across the country…just a different generation. After eating we all took turns sharing our favorite parts of the trip…I talked about singing “For the Longest Time” with Pops and Don back in Missoula, MT….Chad Snyder joked about the team saving my butt by singing the rose to my mom in Jackson, WY…that silly knucklehead. All in all it was a great visit.

After dinner a bunch of us played a rockin game of volleyball in the gym (I was spiking left and right, baby…our team won, obviously). The rest of the night I spent catchin up on some thank you’s and such before hittin the hay.

Day 35 (7/6): Pueblo, CO; 50 Miles

So from here on out we’re not actually in “Colorado” as the Colorado boys would say…rather “Eastern Colorado” or perhaps even “Western Kansas” or “The Conclave of Utah” (crazy Brendle thought that one up). Indeed this part of the state is pretty different from the highly populated cities we’ve hit in CO so far.

Got up to some usual crew chief breakfast and hit the road…took it easier in the back today with Brent, Snow, Country, and Brendel. Quick ride; highlight was racing a train to the crossing (we lost)…the scenery in this region isn’t quite as picturesque (more desert-ish).

Pueblo actually turned out to be a great stop...we lodged up in a local motel with huuuge rooms (with a separate little living room area!) which is a real treat. Showered up and headed over to the “Gold Dust Saloon” for some lunch provided by the town Chamber of Commerce. Our specially prepared menu (usual protocol for distinguished guests, of course) included either a cheeseburger or a cheeseburger with choice of side…it was some good eatin! The Chamber rep gave us each a little goody-bag of Pueblo promotional items (I put the sweet embroidered sticker on my bike…see if you can spot it in future pics!)

After lunch we had some downtime…most guys napped…I got some laundry action done at the convenient hotel Laundromat (after getting propositioned by some greasy-haired guy in the street to come to the “meeting” nearby where he and his “associates” were discussing identity theft…whaaaat??)

For dinner we headed over to the center of town where they were having their summertime-weekly “Friday Festival” …perfect timing! Put on by the local Art center, the fest has live bands, food, and lotsa booze (which we didn’t partake in…just yet). The local Arc (organization that supports people with disabilities) paid for our admission and gave us each an allotment of “tokens” to get food…super nice!! I allocated my tokens to a super burrito, a mountain dew, and some breadsticks (I sold the last two (festival value: $2) to Farley for $1…he was making moves to have some beverage purchasing power later on this evening). After hanging out in the sun for a little while we strolled on back to lodging with the rest of the evening off.

Some guys headed right back to the festival (in street clothes, this time) to catch the tail end of happy hour but most of us relaxed. I shaved the ole’ legs back up while watchin some tube with the roommates (a luxury we don’t often come by). Chad S., Pops, Farley, and Grant had gone to the thrift store earlier in the day to pick up some sweet suits for some “gentlemanly” fun this evening…they returned shortly after as the establishment was unfortunately closed.

Looking forward to some sleep in a real bed again tonight!

Day 34 (7/5): Colorado Springs, CO; Day Off

Slept in till the golden hour of about 7:30 am before getting the wake up to head to a sponsored breakfast. The parents of Tanner Bacon, who works for Push America and oversees construction projects like Build America, live in C-Springs and had us over to their home. Enjoyed the great atmosphere of the backyard as we scarfed down amaaaazing sausage quiche and fruit.

After some more relaxation at lodging we got in the vans to head back to the Olympic Training Center for a friendship visit with Easter Seals. Somewhat bittersweet as it was also when we had to say goodbye to Scott Shek, our fearless Push intern and cameraman, as well as Bobbi, Sollner’s sweetheart of a girlfriend. Nevertheless we persevered on to show the Easter Seals folks a good time.

It was mostly volunteers at the visit…they were there to thank us for Push America’s support and talk about their program for helping kids with Autism develop skills to live a more normal life and interact with others….really cool stuff. Had some delicious chik-fil-a and chatted it up for a little bit before stopping at the Olympic Spirit Store as we headed out (got some sweet sweats for just $5 bucks).

Back at the Mullet House I decided (or my body did rather) it was time for another nap (pretty much chalking this up as a recharge day). After a glorious 3 hours or so it was time to head to dinner over at John Pierce’s house. He wanted the team to just have a fun, relaxing evening so we didn’t even have to wear our team shirts. Grubbed on some “Slayton’s” bbq (best in town, for sure) while also watchin some hi-def TV, getting schooled in Air Hockey by John’s son Nathan, playin some Bocce Ball outside…just a great time. John was actually on the very first Journey of Hope team back in 1988…when it was just a group of guys with a very vague idea of what they were doing. Very different pack then: had to use pay phones, planned things as they went, no rules or safety procedures…hard to imagine when you think of how structured the event is now. It was great hearing stories of the first rides. John also treated us to a viewing of one of his projects…a commercial spot for the upcoming Olympic games. We got to provide feedback and even got to talking about interactive marketing on the web…which he says is a direction the Olympic Committee is definitely trying to take (pretty sweet relating things back to my upcoming job at Modea…maybe we can do some business :-) )

After dinner we headed back to lodging….Brent took headshots of everyone for an as of yet undetermined project he’s doing…hmmm. We had a team meeting with Joey Smith, Director of Logistics for Push America (the one who plans out the trip before it starts) who had flown out to hang with us for a couple of days. Talked mostly about the upcoming SEVEN days straight of cycling (ugh!) as well as a few points we as a team could work on.

After the meeting we again were free to relax…and I’m taking the opportunity to hit the sack early once more….ahh glorious sleep…

Day 33 (7/4): Colorado Springs, CO; 75 Miles

Did NOT want to get out the bed at the Marriott Suites this morning at 5:30…way too comfy….but bike ride we must. We were all pretty psyched for today we were to ride with Bruce Almighty. He and a couple of his associates from KRG, Dustin (who’s like a professional bike racer), Tom and Dave (who were more our speed). We all enjoyed a delicious breakfast provided by Chad Small’s parents out in front of the hotel before shoving off.

To get out of the city Bruce took us on a really sweet bike trail along a waterway. Pops and I decided to sweep it up today which rocked because Bruce hung out with us in the back for the first part of the ride. Chatted about his company (which apparently competes for bids with a VC/Private Equity firm I was looking to work with: Summit Partners ….small world), about his kids, about his first ride….it was awesome…again just a really great guy. After getting out of town it was pretty smooth riding all the way into C-Springs…just a few ups and downs.

Coming into C-Springs was quite the site…Brendle pointed out the Air Force Academy and Pike’s Peak. We staged up toward the outskirts of town to get ready for our awesome arrival: riding into the Olympic Training Center with a group of Paralympic cyclists!! Kelly, Gretta, Barb, Mike, and Anthony were all amazing athletes…most just had one underdeveloped arm requiring special methods for holding the handlebars…their legs (especially Mike’s) were strong as can be. I got to ride up front with Kelly, who actually just took up cycling a year ago (before she was a Paralympic swimmer). She’s from San Fran and was here to train for a couple months…they were all gearing up for Beijing in ’08!

We pacelined for something like 15 miles with some killer hills through town…I was doing my best to keep up with Kelly! Finally made it to the Olympic training center where some family and media watched us ride in. I got to snap a sweet pic with Bruce right outside of the center before we headed in. John Pierce, who sits on the Push America Board of Directors, is the Director of Research and Brand Marketing for the Olympic Committee, was there to greet us with free passes to eat at the training center cafeteria…all you can eat baby! We were lovin it: all the meals were portioned out with nutrition facts…the same stuff Olympians eat (the training center is for both Olympic and Paralympic athletes). I sat with Dustin and Tom from KRG and Anthony, who shared stories about training for upcoming world-championship races. Even met some world-class cyclists (who said “ride safe and use sunscreen” …sound advice) as we took our group pic and headed out.

Finally rolled over to lodging at the “Mullet House” (haha)…which was part of Colorado College. Not too bad digs…had a nice living room with TV….we all showered up and relaxed for a bit before heading to an early dinner at Meg’s house: the mother of a Pi Kapp and a daughter whose friend dates our very own Chad Snyder…small world. Had a great barbeque and got to talk with Tom…and air force guy and friend of the family. Brent was in heaven meeting Kate, a young teacher from London. Also got to meet Courtney, Snyder’s girlfriend and her friend Alli…both very nice. Couldn’t stay too long as we had to get on the road back to Denver to go see a Rockies game with the North Team!

Didn’t get very far though…it started pouring down rain….so much so that it was dangerous to drive; so we decided to turn around and head back to lodging…too bad (note: the Rockies ended up sweeping the Mets…sorry Schuey). Back at lodging a group of us decided to take the chance to go see “Transformers” so we headed on over to the theater. Cheesy plot and dialogue but all in all a pretty sweet flick with the special effects (and anything with robots is always cool…score: A-). Got back to lodging and hung out for a little before crashing…getting a good night’s sleep with a day off tomorrow!

Day 32 (7/3): Denver, CO; 30 Miles

Possibly the shortest ride of the trip…but one of the toughest considering it comes off of a night in Boulder. Caught a quick breakfast then headed out with Rob and Sunshine for a jolly ride-along. Had one big climb coming out of Boulder, but were treated to a great scenic view of the Flat Irons at the top…great photo op! It was here we got the scariest news of the trip so far….four of our riders (Andrew, Grant, Josh, and Brent) had gotten in an accident with a car coming up the hill…thankfully they all turned out to be fine…couple scrapes and bruises, worst injury was a hairline fracture in Andrew’s tibia…Grant and Andrew’s bike’s were totaled though. Our great sponsors at KRG ended up covering the cost of new bikes until a settlement for the accident can be reached.

Other than the big scare we made it smoothly to Denver. Rob pointed out some points of interest as we pulled up to stage-up at Invesco Field stadium. When we got in I did a quick interview for Scott Shek (our Push intern…watch for me in the upcoming recruitment video at a theater near you). As we finished up the North Team pulled up (we beat em there, haHA! …note: there is a slight rivalry among JOH routes). Got to see old friends Jack Czarkowski and Phillip Hamilton from GUF…as well as the new and improved Basil Lydberg (aka half-a-Basil…he’s in great shape now). Ate some killer Chipotle burritos with both teams (I guess the North guys are actually pretty cool dudes) before we got to head over to tour Invesco field…home of the Broncos!

And then there I was…walking behind the legend himself: Bruce Rogers, inspiration of the Journey of Hope. Back in 1987 Bruce decided to ride his bike across the country to raise money for people with disabilities…and based on his ride JOH was born the next year. One of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet…and he’s kicking butt with his own later-stage investment firm, KRG Capital. We all got to walk out on the field (no game was going on) and up on the jumbo-tron it said “Welcome Journey of Hope” …pretty cool.

Around 12 it was time to get back on the bikes….got in a huge paceline with both teams as well as Bruce and some of his associates who came out to ride, and a few other Pi Alphas. Got a rockin police escort up to the capitol building through town. As we circled the building the paceline had to pass a swinging barrier (like at a toll road) and I guess the guy controlling it was lame because it came down right in the middle of the line passing through…nailing Brendle and Holley…haha. Pretty hilarious actually…and apparently it happened to Snyder as well last year…ya’d think they’d fix that glitch huh?

A bunch of friends and family (yay Moshier!) were there to see us as the Lt. Governor read a proclamation from the Governor of Denver. Then it was time for a Kids on the Block puppet show for some local kids but most didn’t show…luckily a YMCA camp with about 100 kids was playing nearby and took us up on the offer to come watch the show…haha. I got to hang with Bruce’s kids Madison, Leighton, and Chase (12, 10, and 7 I believe) who were cool as can be…great looking kids from a well-off family - but very down-to-earth…some of the nicest kids I have ever met. They had all grown up seeing JOH teams and these KOB shows so it was funny hearing their perspective. The entire Rogers family is just a great looking bunch with awesome personalities.

After the fanfare at the capitol we hopped back on the bikes for a couple miles of downtown riding over to our lodging at….the Marriot Suites!! (just like the third best hotel in Denver…no big deal) Headed up to our “suite” room (tee hee) and got cleaned up…then hit a nap in the most amazingly comfortable bed. Around 4ish we headed down to the lobby to head over to “Pedal for Pennies”…our friendship visit for the day.

The event is a bike ride around a local lake…participants are people with disabilities who went out and got pledges for each lap they complete. Each rider had two guys from the JOH teams riding with them…Chadd C. and I got to ride with Adela…the only female rider…and what a sweetheart! For the first whole lap she couldn’t stop saying “I’m so happy to be on this ride” …it was awesome! We cruised around the track telling stories and singing Disney songs for the one hour ride…and apparently the 9 laps we completed (about 7 miles) was a personal best for Adela!! Some of the other riders turned out to be pretty serious cyclists…tiring out our JOH boys going over 16 miles in the hour…haha.

After the ride we all got to enjoy a catered dinner…I sat with Adela’s family who were extremely nice. Bruce presented the Special Olympics (who runs the event) with a grant for $5000 after a couple of presentations about the event itself and about JOH….yowza! Highlight of the visit was the after-dinner dance party…we’re talking the Macarena, the chicken dance, the electric slide…all the greats. One of the North guys did a hilarious interpretive dance to “I will Survive” …dances are always the best visits. Finally it was time to go home so we said our goodbyes and headed back to the Marriot.

Changed right up….delivered the Bat of Justice to Jack (a GUF ’06 artifact)…then it was time to hit the town. Headed out first with P-Hami, Moshier and his roommate to one of their favorite bars. Then bounced around a couple more before meeting up with Sunshine and Jack at a country-western style place. Had a blast before our nice early curfew at 12:30…just made it in the nick of time again! Crashed out pretty hard after a jam-packed day!

Day 31 (7/2): Boulder, CO; Day Off

Ahhhh a day off. Woke up around 8ish this morning to head to a sponsored breakfast over at the Walnut Café…big thanks to the Tanabes. Quite an earthy little place…turns out Boulder is quite the “granola” kind of town. Enjoyed a rockin spinach and cream cheese omelette with potatoes AND a sweet roll. Day was off to a great start.

Headed back to lodging for a little downtime before packing up to head to ANOTHER sponsored meal (sometimes they come quite close to each other, what can ya do). A couple of Boulder Pi Kapp alumni were overseeing a pretty sweet residential/commercial condo project called “The Peloton.” The complex is still under construction; we were visiting the sales office. Munched on quite the spread of fajitas while learning about the project…one of the associates was even giving Pops the hard sell as if he was going to buy a place after the Journey, haha.

After lunch we again had the day off…so a few of us took the time to do laundry…an absurd few of us went to bike up a steep hill near town…and some just relaxed (I went with laundry).

Around four we met up for the highlight of the day…tubing down the Boulder river…a lot like our sweet setup on the New River, but narrower, closer to town, and with a lot scary rapids. It was AWESOME…grabbed some good ole’ inner-tubes from the local gas station and headed over…tons of people all along the banks, hanging out…a couple of times those rapids pull ya down pretty hard making for a pretty crazy ride. After a good 2 miles or so we hopped out to move to our next activity: campus golf.

This is definitely an idea to bring back to VT: get a group of people, golf clubs, and tennis balls…pick some spots on campus to tee-off, with the objective of hitting a certain spot on campus (stairs, sign, fountain, whatever)….and design a course that goes all over campus. It’s a blast…apparently becoming quite the popular sport at CU (though we did annoy a few innocent bystanders who had to move)…and it was a great way to check out the beautiful campus.

As night started to fall I broke off from the golfers to meet up with Rob Schneider, a hilarious buddy from GUF ’05, and Sunshine, over at a local pizza shop for some gigantic slices of ‘zza. Caught up…reminisced about past trips…contemplated the meaning of life….all the usual stuff…before heading back to the CU house to shower up and get ready to go out.

Tonight we hit up “The Sink” for coin toss night (call it right, get a free drink!). Fun place…bunch of goofy artwork all over the walls. Sunshine crashed and burned hitting on one girl…before we headed over to a rooftop bar called “K’s” (quick shout-out to the sis). Apparently this is where all the beautiful people of Boulder congregate on Monday evenings…and not just because we’ve been hanging out with just guys all week…everyone here was legitimately attractive. Felt a little underdressed in my standard orange tee, haha. Got a little caught up in the scenery when we realized we had about five minutes to get home for our 12:30 curfew…so after Grant geniusly decided to stop and buy jello shots…we ran home and made it in on time.

Day 30 (7/1): Boulder, CO; 50 miles

Needless to say wake-up this morning was a little rough. But we were all psyched to head to Boulder so after some crew chief breakfast we were on the road cruising. Rode with Mr. John Caldwell 3000 himself…a VT boy and Trans-am alumni from ’06…as well as Tony Macias and a couple other CSU guys.

Pretty easy ride all in all (extremely easy if on a good night’s sleep)…so before long we were pullin into Boulder. What a beautiful, fun looking city tucked under the majestic Flat Iron Mountains. John pointed out some sites, including LASP (Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics) – a nerdilicious connection to my past interning at Orbital Sciences back home. Finally reached the University of Colorado…nice campus with its own signature reddish “flagstone” (not as cool as Hokie Stone, of course). Pulled up to the CU chapter house…an impressive old style mansion that must hold over 50 guys.

Had some downtime for lunch…so most guys decided to forego the standard crew chief fare and head over to Q’doba right down the street…mmmm. Showered up at the house and looked around before heading over to our lodging at a church down the street.

Around two we headed out for one of our coolest visits yet….playing “Quad Rugby” with the Denver Harlequins team. Ever seen the movie Murder Ball?? These guys actually just got back from winning the national championship of the sport…needless to say the team was a little nervous about playing. The game is pretty simple…all players have no use of their legs and a range of abilities with their arms and hands (rated on a 0 – 3 scale.,..each team must have an equal number of “points”). Players sit in specially designed chairs (designed for smashing into each other!!) and the object is to get the ball into the other team’s “end zone”. When the ball is put into play at one end of the court, players jockey for position…the defense maneuvering their chairs to block the offense from advancing the ball. One of their players, Chance, was definitely the hammer head of the team….slamming into you before you even knew what happened. We all got to play some exhibition matches with a couple members of the Harlequins….then a team of four of our guys actually took their best players on…needless to say they got annihilated. Such a fun game…these guys (and girls…go Joy!) are some serious athletes.

Had the rest of the day off, so a few guys went to get us all some steaks from the store (can never get enough steak) and some brews and we had an awesome cookout on the back deck of the CU chapter house. Played some “Snappa” and enjoyed the sunshine till it was time to head out on the town. Headed over to “The Pit,” a nice little dive and enjoyed some drinks to the entertainment of Grant and Ezra jumping in the pool and Rodney treating us to a truffle shuffle. Sunshine came back out for a bit which is always a good time.

Day 29 (6/30): Fort Collins, CO; 50 miles

Finally out of Wyoming and into what Sollner has dubbed “God’s Country:” Colorado. Woke up refreshed and after some crew chief morning chow we were all psyched to hit the road.

The border was only about 10 miles south of Cheyenne…so the whole team stopped to take a pic at the CO sign and stretch out…right down the way from a Gentleman’s club strategically placed at the border, haha. The rest of the ride went pretty smoothly…save for a little flat trouble for pops…and the whole team stayed together.

About 15 miles out form “Fo Co” I got a surprise visit from none other than Sunshine himself…Mike Wilbourn…the tri-alpha with the flowing blonde locks that drive the girls crazy. After some quick catchin up we were eager to finish up the ride (Mike told us there were steaks waiting for us at the CSU chapter house). Before long we were in the great city where I had once before partied till the wee hours of the morning. Our lodging is at the local senior center…truly a nice place. Chad Small’s girlfriend (sweet and pretty as can be) was there to greet us…a touching romantic moment haha. After a quick shower we were ready to head to lunch at the Pi Kappa Fly hizzle.

Rolled up to the chapter house where a bunch of the brothers were out to greet us…including Mike Rager and Matt Gant…rockin dudes from GUF ’06. Also got to see Tony Macias and Matt Cook…and had to call Dom “St. Megatron” Garcia from his old room on the third floor (he’s currently kicking butt as a reporter in Albuquerque, NM. We ate some awesome ribeye steaks and salad…enjoying the day outside on the front porch. Sunshine was telling old Trans ’06 tales…probably some Sollner didn’t want to have told (at least not until DC, haha). After a hilarious t-shirt presentation for Wilbourn and Eric we had to head back to lodging for a friendship visit.

Folks from Adaptive Recreation Opportunities made their way over to the senior center to have a fun billiards tournament with our guys. I shot around with the fun-loving Heather and the cool-cat Jay mostly…the big event of the visit was the championship match between Geren/Destry and Nick/Kevin….when Kevin cleaned up the table to victory Destry looked as if a train just ran over him, poor guy. The young volunteers for ARO were very nice and even awarded prizes at the end (we all got some sweet mini-carabiners…mine’s blue).

After we said our goodbyes it was time to head out on the town. Sunshine and some other CSU boys came to pick us up….ridin in style in truckbeds…over to the chapter house. There we had a ceremonial drink before heading over to Sullivans…a great irish bar near and dear to my heart…right down the street from the house (pi kapps are apparently the number 1 regulars here). At “Sully’s” Chad’s girlfriend Lara bought us all a round of drinks…followed by a “beaver race.” Such a good time being back hangin out with the Colorado guys. Afterwards we all caught cabs to the ‘Old Town’ district of Fort Collins…where we roamed around a few more fine establishments before hitchin a ride back to lodging before curfew at 1!

Day 28 (6/29): Cheyenne, WY; 50 miles

Team Photos

Woke up at 5:30 to the smell of a delicious hot breakfast compliments of the Laramie Cycling Association – ridiculously awesome quiche, muffins, juice…can’t ask for more. Several of their riders actually rode with us today: Mike, Tom, Wade, and Terrie…they spent most of the ride up front with a couple of our guys, pretty good riders! Today’s ride started out with a pretty hefty climb along the interstate…not too bad, and at the top we were spurred on by the noble bust of Mr. Abraham Lincoln himself…quite the memorial looking out over the highway.

The rest of the way into Cheyenne was rolling hills…all in all it was a pretty quick ride. Finally around mile 45 we staged up just outside of town for our police escorted arrival. Said our goodbyes to the Laramie folks and in a bout a half hour the cops showed up to take us on in. Nothing cooler than double-pace lining it into town with police cars stopping traffic…wish we could do the whole trip like that!

Arrived (a bit sloppily, but hey it was our first one on this trip) at a local park where the “Action Team” (a local organization that supports people with disabilities) was waiting for us, along with the “Cow Belles,” another branch of the Cattlewomen’s Association. Cheryl and Stephanie (who had mild mental disabilities) gave us a moving introduction; they had both been here for previous JOH teams. One of the Cow Belles (who also worked with people with disabilities) read a proclamation from the Governor of Wyoming…proclaiming today Push America Day…rock on! We all enjoyed AMAZING prime rib sandwiches, and I chatted most of the time with Cheryl and her friend Maria about life in Cheyenne.

With stomachs full we had to hop back on the bikes for a bit of a hairy trek through town to get to lodging at the local Community College…pretty nice facility; the gym was a bit warm. Most of the guys took much-needed naps after getting all cleaned up.

Around 5 we headed back to the same park as earlier in the day for dinner with members of the Arc of Laramie County…what a turnout! Several group homes came out in big numbers overfilling the little pavilion outside. Most everyone was already eating so our guys went around meeting folks for a little before jumping in the food line. Cheryl was back as bubbly as ever….also got to meet John, who did great impressions, sweet little Janice….it was a great visit for all the guys. As we were headed out we all received super-cool Wyoming t-shirts and $20 Visa gift cards compliments of the Cow Belles again…those ladies rock!

Back at lodging a bunch of us hung out in the lobby area chattin it up…fraternity life, girls, current events…the usual. Some guys ended up going out but I was pretty beat so I called it a night relatively early.

Day 27 (6/28): Laramie, WY; 80 miles

Team Photos

So four hours of sleep doesn’t really kickstart your day….but I was feeling surprisingly good this morning considering. Crew chief breakfast as usual and we were on the road. These last few days have been through the more non-descript part of Wyoming scenery-wise so please excuse the lack of pics. After just one small climb through some foothills we were smooth sailin all the way into Laramie.

Lodging here is at an awesome Community Center, and we got there just in time before a heavy storm hit….first one of the season apparently (not a lot of rain in this part of Wyoming). Ezra fed a few of us the standard sandwich and chips but most guys went over to “Wingers” which was right next door. We had some down-time before dinner so I finished up some correspondence before Ezra graciously took me over to the post office for some posting…it was cool: two of the ladies there had seen us riding into town and were asking about the trip.

Around dinnertime we rolled over to a local park where the Laramie Cycling Association sponsored some burgers and salad grub. Chatted about cycling in the area for a little while…they even gave us t-shirts for their annual race, the “Dead Dog Classic” …sick orange tie-dye. Really nice group of guys and gals.

After dinner a bunch of us decided to hit up the town. Not one but two people recommended a local bar, the “Buckhorn”…an older somewhat creepy dude in the locker room and a friend of a friend of Karl’s, So to the Buckhorn we went...only cab in town charged a hefty $15 for just 4 miles…nice. Special of the night was dollar jack and cokes, which we took good advantage of as we enjoyed the bar’s décor: plenty of animal heads and skulls, an ornate oak carved bar, and a giant bullet hole in the mirror behind the bar…apparently from a jealous boyfriend across the street seein his girl chattin with another dude at the bar back in the ‘70s (no one was hurt, though). Good times all around before Karl’s friend took us home to make our 12:30 curfew.

Day 26 (6/27): Wheatland, WY; 120 miles

Team Photos

Got off to a great start today: while eatin breakfast I noticed my back tire was going flat (even after all that hard work last night tunin up the bike!) Pops was having a similar morning, so we both ended up with the sweeps (Cockrell and Brendle today) right off the bat. This was just the beginning of our series of mishaps for the day. Sollner said this would be our longest ride of the trip…what a great day to have problems!

After setting out both Pops and I were subject to another flat apiece. Then around mile 30 or so I rubbed Brendle’s back tire but was able to recover…only to have Cockrell rub my bike tire and go down. Thankfully came away with just a couple scrapes and no bike damage. Before long we were pretty far back from the other pacelines.

Despite our troubles today we were havin a blast…everything just seemed funny. At Rod and Farley’s crew stop in Douglas (a little town along the way…apparently the home of the mythical Jackeloupe), Pops and Farley got in a hilarious cheese wiz fight: after matrix style dodging Farley’s first attempt, Pops got it right on the sunglasses from a good 20 feet away….causing me to fall over on my bike laughing, haha.

The odometer was just slow moving all day…head winds were really kicking our butt the whole ride. By 1-ish we had only gone around 60 miles…so Ezra set up a little pre-lunch of PB&J’s at a rest stop (side story: apparently when Ez and Grant got to the stop and started setting up, some guy came over and kept yelling at them to get out of there “I don’t wanna hear it; I know what you guys are doing and you gotta go.” Wouldn’t even let them explain. Completely confused Ez and Grant kind of hung for a little…prompting the guy to call up the cops…who came just as the first cyclists rolled in. Upon seeing this the guy realized he was absurdly mistaken, made a fool of himself to the cop (“uh, hey sir, why are you here?” …”because you called us!!”) The guy never even apologized….the guess is he thought we were protesters or something.

After all that excitement we kept truckin on till mile 85, when the decision was finally made that we had to rack up (just weren’t going to make the ride in time for today’s programming). While waitin for the vans we kept up with hilarious antics….took some sweet TA=BA pics…no one was really put out about having to rack, haha.

Seven of our guys who were cruising in the front all day did end up making the full 120 miles….pretty intense. We lodged up at the local Middle School (which was nicer than my high school) and within a half hour had to get ready to go to dinner (it was already pushing 5 pm at this point…looooonnng day on the bike).

Dinner tonight was again graciously provided by the Cattlewomen’s Association…but this time we headed out to their place: a ranch house down about a five mile rumbling dirt road (side funny story: Pops elected to stay behind at the rack point when we couldn’t fit everyone at first, so we had to pick him up on the way to dinner…so his bike (which he had just meticulously cleaned) was on the back rack for our whole dirt road ride…looked like it had been sittin in an attic for 100 years after than haha).

The owner of the ranch was Mimi, who had prepared for us some delicious top round with her fellow Cattlewomen. We even got to take a sweet wagon ride pulled by two beautiful (and huge) Belgian horses, Amy and Liz. Mel, our old cowboy of a driver, was pretty quiet.

After dinner most everyone hung out at lodging…used the computers and whatnot. I stayed up a little extra late to do some blog posting action…it’s truly readers like you that make this all worthwhile, haha.

Day 25 (6/26): Casper, WY; Day Off

Team Photos

Naturally waking up without an alarm – and knowing you can go right back asleep – is definitely one of the best feelings in the world. Even though my body is wired for 5:30 am wake-ups lately I was able to doze till about 9:00 or so…got up feelin great. Lazed around our lodging at the high school for a bit, even grabbed a morning shower, before heading out around 10:30 for some delicious cereal and a bagel graciously set out by Ezra. Afterwards took a quick trip to walmart for some incidentals and necessary candy. Also hit up the bike shop for some more tubes (darn those flats), one of the super high tech polar waterbottles to keep the agua warm in the heat, and sunglasses (both Small and I lost ours, and I loved those freakin glasses!) New shades were pretty cheap though and aren’t half bad.

Sollner was running one-on-ones with all the guys today to get feedback on how the trip was going, which I think proved beneficial. Just a quick 5-10 minuter…all in all I think everything is running smoothly; we’ve got one heck of a team. While those were finishing up I went outside with Todd to do a little bike cleaning/maintenance.

At 3:00 we had our third safety committee meeting – biggest concern was how to mix up pacelines of guys with different strengths on the bike…the goal is to have the whole team riding with each other, mixing it up every day…but it’s tougher than it sounds. The whole team meeting was at 3:30 and Sollner went over the next week or so…finally going to hit Colorado!! (most of the guys are pretty over Wyoming by now). We actually have 5 guys from Colorado…who have dubbed it the “party state” of the trip…should be a good time: two college towns, Denver, short rides throughout…awesome.

Around 5 we packed into the vans for dinner and a friendship visit at a local park with the folks of Arc of Natrona County. Got there and immediately had a sweet softball game going with a bunch of kids. Enjoyed some burgers with Gracie and Rachel…two young adoptive sisters, and their parents…who had taken 5 children in total…all extremely nice. Perfect day to be out and getting to be goofy with little kids is always a treat.

Most everyone is hittin the hay early tonight. Gonna be a looong ride tomorrow…