Day off in Lexington

August 3rd

We got to sleep in again!  We went to a rally at noon in downtown Lexington.  The rally was called stay out late and was put together to advocate for accessible bus services to run later at night.  Right now in Lexington they accessible busses stop at 8 PM therefore if someone in a wheelchair wanted to go out at night or had a night job they would not be able to take pubic transportation home.  I thought it was really neat because the organizer said that the majority of time people with disabilities rarely get to advocate for themselves.  The rally was primarily people with disabilities at a park downtown talking to state officers about the situation and what they would like to see changed.

After the rally we went to Latitude for lunch,  Latitude is an art studio for people with disabilities.  The studio provides people with disabilities the opportunity to do whatever they wanted artistically.  They have had art from the studio displayed in New York and Paris.  It was amazing to see some of the work and to see how creative everyone at the studio was.  After lunch we had the afternoon off and a few of us went to Buffalo Wild Wings because we have been craving some good wings all trip. 

We had an amazing sponsored dinner at the Tin Roof.  The sponsor was a huge IU fan so I made sure to rub in how well Purdue basketball was doing compared to IU’s program.  It was a relaxed meal and the first time that we went to a restaurant and got to order whatever we wanted!!!! The place had live music that night which a bunch of us came back for. 

Lexington, KY

August 2nd

The 95 miles today went really quick and was pretty painless.  Our pace line was in no rush so we just took our time and had some good conversations.  We had a crew chief lunch, which has been very odd recently with all of the amazing sponsored lunches that we have had.  Our lodging today was at a church right off of KU’s campus.  I took advantage of the afternoon for a nap.  We had a great friendship visit for dinner and dance.  I met a woman named Mary who was in a wheelchair and non-communicative.  She still wanted to dance, so we went to the front and just swung our arms back and forth. It was amazing to see how happy she was about the smallest things.  I had a great time hanging out with her for the majority of the friendship visit.  I found it really neat that we where able to still communicate with each other even though she could not talk.  It definitely took extra work and additional yes and no questions but I could tell that she was so happy that someone was spending time getting to know her.  

Cincinnati, OH

August 1st

I can’t believe that it is already August!  It seems like just yesterday that we were in Seattle preparing for the trip.  Today’s ride was nice and short, only 35 miles.   We were honored to have Trevor do a crew-ride-along today.  Although he had not been on a bike for years he was able to crank out the miles without too much pain. He did collapse at lunch when he rode in because his legs hurt so badly.  The team had a good laugh watching him fall over as he rolled in!

We arrived at lodging provided by the Cincinnati Recreation Association.  After the quick ride we had the afternoon off.  Many guys took advantage of the onsite pool while other just relaxed and napped.  We had an amazing friendship visit with the adaptive recreation division.  We had the opportunity to play wheelchair football with many of the local athletes.   They did not take it easy on us.  It is full contact and a couple guys got knocked out of the wheelchairs.  We had pizza with the team afterwards and got to hear about how they adapt the rules of many sports in order to play them in wheelchairs. 

We got sponsored tickets to the Reds game tonight.  The game was awesome and we had perfect weather for baseball.  Unfortunately, the Reds lost to the Rockies but the game was still fun.  We have a long ride tomorrow so it is time to blow up the air mattress and head to bed.

Oxford, OH

July 31st

It seems like we are crossing states lines left and right as we move east.  The ride was set on paper for 80 miles but we turned it into 100.  JT did a crew ride-along today with my pace line.  He hadn’t ridden a bike for more than 30 miles before so we told him we would take our time and just crank out the 80 miles.  Although there was a decent amount of complaining from him he rolled into the Pi Kapp house after a total of 90 miles on the road.  Since he was so close and so many guys on the team had doubted him, we rode down to the football stadium and went around the parking lot until he reached 100.  It was pretty inspirational to the team to see a guy who hadn’t been on a bike for years finish 100 miles. That night we had an amazing T-bone steak dinner provided by the Pi Kapps at Miami of Ohio.  The guys were in the process of changing houses and they still took a good amount of time out of their day to cook and hang out with us.  We had a team meeting and went over safety on the road as well as our recent experiences at friendship visits.  

Day off in Indy

July 30th

We got to sleep in today which was a nice change of pace.  We had one of the most organized friendship visits in the afternoon with the Noble of Indiana.  They had lunch waiting for us when we arrived and then we were split into teams for different activities.  My mom, grandma, and Tracey came to the visit to interact as well.  I played bicycle bingo for the majority of the time but finished the visit with some karaoke.  We had the afternoon off so I headed home for a much needed nap.  We went to the Kelly’s home for dinner.  Mrs. Kelly cooked the most amazing taco dinner for the team.  It was one of the few dinners that we have had where there was left over food!  We met up with our cycling coach, Dean Peterson, downtown.  We hadn’t seen him since Washington so it was good to see him again.  He is by far the best cyclist I have ever met and he has been so helpful to the team.  

Indianapolis, IN

July 29th

Today was a quick 60 mile ride into Indy.  The first 10 miles were gorgeous and then we hit highway 37.  The first 5 miles of the road were by far the worst road conditions of the trip.  Franscis managed to get 2 flats at the same time because there was so much debris.  Our paceline yelled “every man for themselves” and gave the person in front of them 10 yards so that each of us could look for our own path through the minefield.  We had our first crew ride-along.  We give the opportunity for a crew member to cycle for a day to give them the experience of riding with the team.  Drayton cranked out the 60 miles with us today without too much trouble. 

We had a 10 mile police escort into IUPUI.  I want to thank everyone who came out to support the team at the arrival.  The support from my chapter brothers was amazing.  A couple chapter brothers, our chapter advisor, and an alumnus joined the team for lunch at Beauzbaux.  We had the afternoon off and I spent the day at home with the family.  We had an amazing dinner at the Stinnette’s house sponsored by his parents and my parents.  After dinner we met up with a ton of chapter brothers in Broad Ripple for a couple drinks. 

Bloomington, IN

July 28th

Today was a very hilly and scenic ride into Bloomington.  I crossed the 3000-mile marker today on the trip.  Looking back at the trip, I can’t believe that it has already been 3000 miles!!!! Time flies!  We arrived at Stone Belt, an organization that serves the developmentally disabled.  My parents, grandma, and Tracey greeted me at the arrival.  It was awesome to see my family after a long two months.  There were over 100 clients outside and the second that the first bike was in sight they started cheering.  It was one of my favorite arrivals because of their excitement and enthusiasm.  We had lunch with the clients and then played tons of games. 

After the friendship visit we went to the Pi Kapp house at Indiana University.  We were greeted by Dr. Summers, a 50 year alumni and past national president.  He showed us around the house and treated us to an amazing steak dinner.  That night we hung out with the guys from the chapter and then called it a night.