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!