August 1 2009 - South Bend - Kalamazoo

Another new state today: Michigan!

Today we rode out of South Bend and made our way to Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was a fairly laid back day today without any programming. We arrived in town early and had an hour of free time to relax before staging up for our arrival. When it was time to go, we rode to Western Michigan University and met with the newly founded Pi Kappa Phi chapter. Lunch was hosted by Qdoba and was exactly what we needed after our long ride today.

After lunch, we made our way to lodging which was at a YMCA camp outside of town. We had some free time when we made it to lodging so I made sure to take a nap and catch up on some sleep. I woke up and made my way to dinner. Dinner was sponsored by a past JOH rider’s family and the food was great; especially the deviled eggs which we haven’t had yet on the trip.

After dinner, we had our team meeting and then I watched a movie with the brothers.

Tomorrow we make our way to Lansing, Michigan which is the capital of the state!

July 31 2009 - Chicago - South Bend

Welcome to Indiana!

This morning we made our way out of the city of Chicago and headed east. We had a few minor mix ups in the morning which ended up costing us valuable time on the road. The first problem occurred when our bike path dead ended causing us to make a phone call to get rerouted. We had another hold up when there was a fork in the road and one of the groups went the wrong direction. None of the setbacks were a big deal, but we only ended up riding 70 miles before being racked for time.

We racked up so that we could make our KOB at the local children’s museum at 3:30 p.m. The KOB was probably the best of the entire summer! The kids and team members were laughing throughout the entire performance.

We went off to dinner sponsored by the Knights of Columbus and then went to the University of Notre Dame campus. It was extremely beautiful and the seeing the “Touchdown Jesus” was definitely a highlight of the visit. I’m off to bed, we have another 90 mile ride tomorrow!

July 30 2009 - Chicago

We didn’t cycle a mile today but I am still exhausted from all of the activities!

We woke up at 8:00 am so that we could get some breakfast and start our day in the city. After breakfast, Jimmy and I took the bus to the Natural History Museum. We only had a few hours to roam the museum so we spent most of our time in the famous Dinosaur exhibit. Chicago’s natural history museum is home to the most complete T-Rex skeleton in the world. After spending some time in the museum, we walked across the street to look at Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears!

Next, we made our way north for lunch. Since we were near the famous Hancock Building, we decided to make the trek up to the top after lunch. The views were absolutely breathtaking but more importantly, we also had an accompanying audio tour which gave us the entire history of the city. When we finished at the top of the tower, we took North America’s fastest elevator back down to the ground level.

The next stop on the tour was to Navy Pier to check out the famous Ferris wheel. Then we moved to Millennium Park to check out the “Silver Bean.” After we were done touring the city, we made our way to dinner to have some famous Chicago Style Deep Dish. The pizza did live up to the expectations and hit the spot nicely for the evening. I wanted to continue to explore the city, but I really needed to update my blog and pictures so I made my way back to the hotel to do so.

Tomorrow we have a 95 mile day to South Bend!

July 29 2009 - Glenview - Chicago

We made our way into the big city today!

The ride was 30 miles, but it flew by very quickly with all of the exciting sights and sounds. Our first stop of the day was for lunch and a friendship visit on the north side of Chicago. While there, we received a tour of the facilities and got to meet a lot of amazing people. The sno cones that were provided during lunch, were definitely a memorable treat.

Once we finished up with lunch, our police escorts arrived to guide us the last few miles into the city. The police rolled up to the friendship visit on ATVs and stunned the team. It was the first time that we had ever been guided by 4 wheelers through any city. We followed the police as they shut down the traffic lights, and we were really excited as we made our way by Wrigley Park only minutes before the game started. I will definitely remember rolling by all of the fans decked out in their Cubs attire. Once we entered the city center we had to bob through traffic in order to make it to our lodging at the Palmer House Hotel. When we arrived at our hotel we were all blown away at how luxurious it was. We then found out the history and importance of the hotel within the city of Chicago, which made us feel even more fortunate for being allowed to stay there.

We moved our bikes into storage and got ready to explore the city. The first thing that I did was go to Millennium Park which was only a few blocks from the hotel. I traveled around the park with Jim Rampton (Elon) and Dan Brown (GT). We made sure to visit the outdoor theater, BP Bridge, and fountains. It was definitely one of the nicest parks that I have ever been in. We continued to Grant Park and took note of where President Obama delivered his acceptance speech. In addition, we had some funnel cake and sat by the Yacht Club. We then needed to travel back to the hotel in order to get ready for dinner. Our dinner was provided by some Pi Alpha brothers at a local real estate firms office. The office was great because there was a TV, darts, ping pong, and pool to play. I unfortunately lost at ping pong and then spent the rest of the evening chatting with former JOH rider, John Pierce (Drake).

After dinner we were let loose for free time in the city. I decided to go to ESPN Zone with Jimmy Vaeth, Ray Feuga (Cornell), Travis Alsop (Indiana State), Ryan Grumble (Louisiana Tech), and Ross Gruenky (GW). We played some video games and then I made my way back to the hotel to wish Ali a happy birthday and get some rest before the big day in Chicago tomorrow.

July 28 2009 - Milwaukee - Glenview

Today was an easy day on the bike as we moved from the Milwaukee suburbs to the Chicago suburbs!

We quickly made our way to Glenview so that we could make it to our Vaeth family sponsored meal. The lunch provided by Bob and Joy Vaeth was amazing and consisted of cheeseburgers with lots of extras and milkshakes. After lunch, I went to the library to catch up on journal entries and pictures, but was unable to catch up completely due to a time crunch. Seth Klondar, a past JOH cyclist, provided a fantastic dinner and presentation about translating our experiences on the bike into a resume builder. The presentation was helpful and sparked some thoughts in my head. I realized that I need to make sure that I write down some specific experiences from the trip that I felt helped me grow as a person.

After dinner, we had our mid-summer ritual in which we reflected on the summer thus far and refocused ourselves for the last few weeks of the trip. I was happy that we had our ritual because I needed to make sure that I am making the most of my experience and not looking too far ahead towards the end. It was a busy night and I need to get some rest for our big ride into the city of Chicago tomorrow!

July 27 2009 - Milwaukee

Another great day in the city of Milwaukee!

We were able to sleep in again this morning before leaving for our friendship visit at a local school. We put on a KOB for the elementary kids and then spent the rest of the morning playing four square. Afterwards, we left for our lunch at an Easter Seals Camp. We had Subway sandwiches and spent time with those with disabilities. While at the park, we had the opportunity to play with therapeutic dogs. We would take turns giving the dog commands and then praising them after we were successful.

We left the camp around 2:30 pm for an exciting game of wheelchair ice hockey. Wheel chair ice hockey is basically the same as regular hockey, but the game is played in regular sport wheelchairs and with shorter sticks. The game is very difficult because you have trouble stopping and maneuvering on the ice. I have to say that of all of the wheel chair sports, I was the best at wheel chair ice hockey. I had a great time and also scored on one occasion. Our JOH team played against the local athletes and the game ended in a tie. One of the star players for the opposing team was Gabi, who was a young girl with spina bifida. She was a ball of energy and was certainly one of the most memorable athletes in Milwaukee.

After hockey was over we went to a local mall to spend time with a group of young girls with disabilities. The purpose of the visit was to teach the young girls acceptable social behavior and to have a great time. Part of the visit was to complete a scavenger hunt throughout the mall and ask local sales people for various things. The exercise was great for teaching the girls how to interact with others. When we were finished with the hunt, we also completed accessibility surveys for 3 stores in the building. Ultimately, we found that Sephora was the most accommodating to those with disabilities.

After we were done with our visit we spent the rest of the evening in Barnes & Noble and returned to lodging.

July 26 2009 - Waukesha - Milwaukee

Today will be remembered as the sports day on the trip!

We had the opportunity to sleep in until 7:30 am this morning which was fantastic! Once we were packed up and ready, we had a fabulous sponsored breakfast from Kathy, the representative from Independence First who is organizing our days in Milwaukee, and her friends. The breakfast was delicious and included ham, egg, and cheese casserole, fresh fruit, muffins, juice, and French toast. After thanking our sponsors for the meal, we ran some errands with the 2 hours of free time that we had. I went to the bike shop with some of the guys to buy brake pads, adjust my derailleur, and purchase cleats for my shoes. It was a successful trip except I was unable to find some bike tape for my handlebars.

Our afternoon began with an arrival into a local park, where we were warmly greeted by Kathy and many others. We were then given a hosted lunch and let loose with many kids for sports activities. I was lucky enough to secure a wheel chair so that I could participate in wheel chair tennis. I must say that it was one of the most difficult sports when your mobility is limited. I then went inside to play Goal Ball, which is a game for the visually impaired. The basic premise is that the game is 3 on 3 with each team occupying a given space on one side of the gymnasium. Each team takes turns rolling the ball across the gym floor in an attempt to sneak it past the other team. The ball has bells inside so that you can hear it as it rolling towards you. In our case, we had on ski goggles with black tape around them so that we couldn’t see anything. It was an extremely challenging game which entertained me for quite some time. After playing several games of Goal Ball we had to head back to lodging for setup and dinner.

The nourishing sponsored dinner was provided by Qdoba Mexican grill. Our post dinner activities consisted of fishing and free time. The fishing didn’t work out too well because the moss growth on top of the pond was too thick to get the lure to pass through. As such, my fishing experience lasted about 5 casts and then I had to call it a night. I spent my free time tonight doing laundry and catching up on bike maintenance . It was a low key night, but I really enjoyed our Laundromat experience. We were in a Latin American area of town and so we walked up and down the strip shopping in various foreign food shops. I purchased some foreign desserts (cocoa wafers, fruit flavored soda, sesame pistachio sticks) and then made my way back to lodging with clean clothes.

Tomorrow we have a lot to do so I need to get some rest!