July 13 - Grand Island

We made sure to wake up early today so that we could accomplish everything on our busy schedule!

We started off the morning with a sponsored breakfast at Arby’s including breakfast sandwiches and French toast. We then made our way to two friendship visits to spend time with kids with disabilities.

The first visit was at a local school, where I was paired up with a young boy named Connor. Connor has autism and absolutely loves the movie Shrek. I was told to try and help him learn some of the words on his flash cards, but I was able to convince the teacher to let us draw Shrek characters instead. We had a blast trying to draw the characters and we soon made our way outside for free time. Connor and I played on the swings and playground set until we were absolutely exhausted! As I was leaving Connor said goodbye to me. While this might not seem like a big deal, the teacher said that it was a big step for him and that she had never seen him act as happy as he was today. It was definitely one of the moments from the trip that I will certainly remember.

We had to leave the school to make it to the park for our next friendship visit. We spent the early afternoon playing Frisbee and climbing a rock wall with kids with disabilities. It was great to be outside and enjoying the beautiful day while we played games. While we were at the park, Tammy explained to us the history of the park and how JOH impacted its creation and development.

Push America was instrumental in securing some of the playground equipment as well as supplying the manpower (Pi Kapps) to build it. In addition, there is a tree dedicated to one of the brothers who rode through last year and recently lost his life. It was moving to see the impact that Pi Kappa Phi and Push America has had on the lives of those in Grand Island and especially in the history of the park.

Next, we went back to the hotel for some rest and relaxation time. I was able to cram in a couple hours of sleep before having to go to the bike shop for some new tires.
Dinner was provided by the Grand Island women and was located back at the same park. We had a friendship visit and Kids on the Block show to accompany dinner and recreation. When we left dinner we all thought that our fun in Grand Island was done, but there was one more surprise in store. Tammy, Sue, and Andrea put together a slideshow of pictures from past trips as well as our own so that we could see the progression of JOH in Grand Island. It was extremely moving to watch all of the pictures, and when the show was over we all said our goodbyes to the friends that we had made.

Tomorrow is another 100 mile and I need a rest day!

July 12 2009 - Minden - Grand Island

After an arduous day yesterday, we had an easy 50 miles into Grand Island, Nebraska today!

We arrived into Grand Island in the early afternoon and prepared for our arrival into the city. We had a police escort to the Holiday Inn where we were warmly welcomed by many supporters of the Journey of Hope. In addition to the many supporters, we were also greeted with a proclamation from the Mayor proclaiming today as “Push America Day” in the city of Grand Island. We also had the chance to meet 3 of the most loyal supporters of the Journey of Hope; Andrea, Sue, Tammy. They have been supporting the ride for around 20 years and every year they take care of everything for the entire 2 days!

Our time in Grand Island came with a few surprises, the first of which was that we would be staying in the Holiday Inn for the next 2 days!. In addition we also had ice cold slushes from Sonic waiting for us the moment that we arrived. At this point, I already knew that this was going to be an unbelievable 2 days.

After showering, we made our way to Tammy’s house for steaks, video games, and trampoline jumping. The afternoon was spent getting to know the 3 women who have made the Grand Island visit the most legendary on JOH. They told us about their children who have disabilities and the amazing way that our efforts have touched their lives.

After spending a couple of hours at Tammy’s house we went to the hospital to visit one of Sue’s foster daughters Milly. Milly was 14 months old and extremely cute! She was in the hospital because she had a bacterial infection which needed severe medical treatment. We gave her some balloons and a card and said our goodbyes so that we could make our way to dinner and dancing with local residents.

The dinner and dancing was at the local Elks club and was the perfect ending to another great night on the trip. Afterwards, we made our way back to the Holiday Inn to relax for the rest of the evening.

July 11 2009 - McCook - Minden

I will take the mountains back!

Today we had to change time zones to central which means that at 5:30 am when we woke up it felt like 4:30 am. As such, we started the morning in darkness as shown in the picture above. In addition to the early start we also had a 25 mph head wind today for all 95 miles! Cycling today was like riding uphill for 95 miles without the enjoyment of ever having a downhill. Fortunately, our group was not plagued with flat tires so we were able to be the first group to finish.

Once we arrived at lodging at Minden High School we all took hot showers and put on our team tuxedos (red Push America T-shirt and khaki shorts). We had a fantastic sponsored meal provided by Pizza Hut including cinnamon rolls for desert!

While today was extremely taxing on the body, we are fortunate enough to have a few hours for relaxation which I am going to spend catching up on blog entries and reading. Tomorrow we are going to Grand Island, Nebraska for a legendary 2 days.

See you then!

July 10 2009 - Wray - McCook

3 states in 1 day!

Today we were scheduled to cycle from Colorado into Nebraska, but we made a 3 mile detour so that we could walk across the state line into Kansas!
The ride was another 95 mile day through the plains with numerous cattle farms and corn fields.

When we arrived at lodging at the local Methodist church we were all very worn out. A much needed power nap was in order before dinner! Our wonderful pepperoni lasagna was provided by local church sponsors and the rest of the evening was spent playing Euchre and relaxing.

Tomorrow is another 95 mile day through the plains of Nebraska!

July 9 - Fort Morgan - Wray

I believe that we are going to be facing wind for the next few weeks through the Midwest plain states. Today was no exception as we made our way 87 miles to Wray, Colorado.

It was not an extremely exciting scenery day, but I will say that I have never seen so many cattle farms in my life! At one farm there had to have been 5,000 – 10,000 cows crammed into a couple acre lot. As you can imagine, the smell wasn’t the most pleasant, but the problem was made worse by the many cattle semi-trucks that passed every few minutes.

When we arrived in Wray, we were warmly welcomed at the WRAC (Wray Rehabilitation Activities Center). The facilities were absolutely fantastic with warm showers and an amazing meal. Many of the cyclists stuffed themselves so much that they literally felt sick to their stomachs. After dinner we put on a KOB for some children in the gymnasium. The guys did a great job with their acting and role playing. Once again, we are all exhausted so we are making it an early night to bed.

Tomorrow is another 95 mile day into the great state of Nebraska!

July 8 - Denver - Fort Morgan

Today was one of those days where we couldn’t get a break! We started off the morning by leaving the city as the 1st pace line. When we made it to 48th street we made our first turn onto York Street. Our group continued progressing down York Street until we were finally back at 8th street (the same one we left from). At this point we realized that a mistake may have been made and so we called our project manager, Grant. He said that there had been a mix up and we would need to rack back to the 1st turn. When we got back to the 1st turn we found out that there were 2 York streets within a few miles of each other and we had taken the wrong one.

Once we were back on the right track, we only made it a few miles before the wind kicked up over the plains making the ride much more difficult. To further complicate things our pace line of 6 people had 7 flat tires throughout the ride! I had 2 flat tires myself which was ironic because I had never had a flat tire before.

July 7 2009 - Denver

My hair is officially cut now! While this might not seem like that big of a deal, we have not had ANY free time to do some of the simple maintenance items. Also, it was really important that I got my haircut now because I am going to be seeing my beautiful fiancée soon and she loves my hair the best about 1 week after its been cut. `

After getting my hair cut, the team made their way to Dave Fishel’s (one of the cyclists) house for a sponsored lunch. All of the guys got to relax at their house and play pool, ping pong, and poker. Unfortunately, we had a tight schedule today so we couldn’t stay too long and play games.

Next, we went to the Craig Medical Center where we spent the afternoon working with quadriplegic athletes. The group was divided into two and the first group received a full tour of the facilities, while the second group played wheel chair rugby (Murderball). The facilities were absolutely spectacular and included an outdoor obstacle course for learning how to operate a wheel chair, a full gym for athletic events, and several interactive therapeutic machines.

The most fun part of the day, however, was playing murderball with the Denver Harlequins. Two of the athletes were members of the 2008 Gold Medal Team in Beijing which meant that when the JOH team faced off against the Harlequins it was an absolute blowout! We all had a great time, but we once again had to continue our busy day by leaving for a sponsored dinner.

The dinner was sponsored by the Tanabe family (Our Project Managers family). The food was absolutely spectacular with steaks and baked potatoes! The meal was just what we needed before another 100 mile ride tomorrow to Fort Morgan, Colorado.

Goodnight!