June 24, 2008
So I just realized that I have failed to give you all a glimpse of what a typical morning is like for the Trans Am Journey of Hope team. I am going to take this opportunity to give you an idea of what we do each morning before rolling out on our bikes. A 5 am wake up call has become second nature and any chance we have to sleep in until 6 am is a big treat! It’s hard to imagine that I would complain about waking up at 8 am everyday at college. After we wake up, the team has approximately ½ hour to get dressed, load our bags into the car, and get our bikes outside and prepped for the ride. Following the prep period, we have 15 minute to eat our breakfast which traditionally consists of ½ banana, ½ bagel, and a bowl of cereal. At this point the team has been up for 45 minutes and we head outside for “circle up.” This portion of the morning is led by the project manager. The team stands in a circle to discuss daily road conditions, weather conditions, the distance of that day’s route, and the expected elevation. He also takes time to brief us on the sponsors for the daily activities, meals, and lodging. We are informed on what to expect of the friendship visit as well. The project manager gives us a brief overview of what the next two days of the journey will be like. Each team member takes turns presenting a “disability of the day.” This is the time during “circle up” where one member will present something to the group on a disability that they were assigned to research the night before. (Last week, I informed the team about Muscular Dystrophy) If any team member leaves something in the van or at lodging, they must dance in the middle of the circle to receive it back from the project manager. We then discuss if we would like to dedicate our ride that day to anyone. I particularly enjoy this part of the morning because it helps us remember that we are doing this for a purpose and not just to cycle. The June 20 ride was dedicated to David Feltner, a fellow Omega Chapter of Pi Kappa Phi brother who is finishing chemo treatments with his second battle of cancer. Today’s ride was dedicated to Tracey’s (my girlfriend) grandma, Bonnie Ross, who played a role in starting special education classes at Tipton School Corporation in Indiana. Her oldest daughter is mentally retarded and she feels very passionate about the mission of Push America. At the conclusion of “circle up” we say a prayer and roll out on our bikes.
Today’s ride was outstanding! It was another cold morning with the trek beginning at about 33 degrees. We crossed into Yellowstone National Park within the first mile of the ride. Five miles into the ride, we were greeted by a huge herd of buffalo! We crossed into Wyoming and the sun started to rise and warm things up slightly. After the first couple of hours, we were able to shed off our extra gear of leg warmers, jackets, and ear covers. The journey took us across the Continental Divide two times and we rode up 8,400 feet at our highest point. After a 56 mile ride, we arrived at our lodging. The team is staying at a hotel tonight inside the park. That’s right….we get beds tonight! We spent the afternoon exploring the park, enjoying the hot springs, and making a trip to see Old Faithful. This evening we enjoyed a buffet spaghetti dinner, it was some much needed carbs to reboot! I had the pleasure of spending the remaining of the night with my Uncle Greg, Aunt Kas, and Cousin Nick. It was so great to see familiar faces after being on the road for more than two weeks. They are vacationing out West and stopped through the park to visit and meet up with me. I would love to spend more time in Yellowstone National Park, but unfortunately we will be riding to another city tomorrow. I hope to come back someday and visit.
Today was a milestone as I looked at my odometer at the completion of the route and it read 1,002 miles. We have ridden more than 1,000 miles of our 4,440-mile journey! All in all, today was very enjoyable spending time with the buffalos, taking pictures of geysers, and being joined by my family. Good Night!
So I just realized that I have failed to give you all a glimpse of what a typical morning is like for the Trans Am Journey of Hope team. I am going to take this opportunity to give you an idea of what we do each morning before rolling out on our bikes. A 5 am wake up call has become second nature and any chance we have to sleep in until 6 am is a big treat! It’s hard to imagine that I would complain about waking up at 8 am everyday at college. After we wake up, the team has approximately ½ hour to get dressed, load our bags into the car, and get our bikes outside and prepped for the ride. Following the prep period, we have 15 minute to eat our breakfast which traditionally consists of ½ banana, ½ bagel, and a bowl of cereal. At this point the team has been up for 45 minutes and we head outside for “circle up.” This portion of the morning is led by the project manager. The team stands in a circle to discuss daily road conditions, weather conditions, the distance of that day’s route, and the expected elevation. He also takes time to brief us on the sponsors for the daily activities, meals, and lodging. We are informed on what to expect of the friendship visit as well. The project manager gives us a brief overview of what the next two days of the journey will be like. Each team member takes turns presenting a “disability of the day.” This is the time during “circle up” where one member will present something to the group on a disability that they were assigned to research the night before. (Last week, I informed the team about Muscular Dystrophy) If any team member leaves something in the van or at lodging, they must dance in the middle of the circle to receive it back from the project manager. We then discuss if we would like to dedicate our ride that day to anyone. I particularly enjoy this part of the morning because it helps us remember that we are doing this for a purpose and not just to cycle. The June 20 ride was dedicated to David Feltner, a fellow Omega Chapter of Pi Kappa Phi brother who is finishing chemo treatments with his second battle of cancer. Today’s ride was dedicated to Tracey’s (my girlfriend) grandma, Bonnie Ross, who played a role in starting special education classes at Tipton School Corporation in Indiana. Her oldest daughter is mentally retarded and she feels very passionate about the mission of Push America. At the conclusion of “circle up” we say a prayer and roll out on our bikes.
Today’s ride was outstanding! It was another cold morning with the trek beginning at about 33 degrees. We crossed into Yellowstone National Park within the first mile of the ride. Five miles into the ride, we were greeted by a huge herd of buffalo! We crossed into Wyoming and the sun started to rise and warm things up slightly. After the first couple of hours, we were able to shed off our extra gear of leg warmers, jackets, and ear covers. The journey took us across the Continental Divide two times and we rode up 8,400 feet at our highest point. After a 56 mile ride, we arrived at our lodging. The team is staying at a hotel tonight inside the park. That’s right….we get beds tonight! We spent the afternoon exploring the park, enjoying the hot springs, and making a trip to see Old Faithful. This evening we enjoyed a buffet spaghetti dinner, it was some much needed carbs to reboot! I had the pleasure of spending the remaining of the night with my Uncle Greg, Aunt Kas, and Cousin Nick. It was so great to see familiar faces after being on the road for more than two weeks. They are vacationing out West and stopped through the park to visit and meet up with me. I would love to spend more time in Yellowstone National Park, but unfortunately we will be riding to another city tomorrow. I hope to come back someday and visit.
Today was a milestone as I looked at my odometer at the completion of the route and it read 1,002 miles. We have ridden more than 1,000 miles of our 4,440-mile journey! All in all, today was very enjoyable spending time with the buffalos, taking pictures of geysers, and being joined by my family. Good Night!
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