Day 39-43 Emporia, KS - Jefferson City, MO

Day 39 July 19 Emporia, KS – Topeka, KS

We had an early wake up at 5:00 and hit the road at 6:00. It was a tiring day because we were pretty exhausted from the century day before. You never really understand lactic acid until you ride your bike at 6 in the morning after riding 105 miles the day before. After enjoying the flatness of western Kansas, we finally hit the rolling flint hills of eastern Kansas. We arrived at our stage up around noon but not before I hit a pot hole and got a flat .5 miles out. I fixed it just in time to make our arrival into the parking lot of TARC. TARC is an organization in Topeka that works with people with disabilities and that’s where we would be eating lunch and dinner as well as spending the night. We enjoyed a low-key afternoon before heading to the Kansas Koyotes arena football game where we got to do the opening coin flip. It was fun to get away and watch a little football, even if it was a weak athletic performance. After the game I went back to lodging and caught up on some journaling and reading.

Day 40 July 20 Topeka, KS – Olathe, KS

Today’s ride was fairly short but somewhat challenging for Kansas. We went through more of the flint hills and hit several pretty steep climbs. We arrived in Olathe and had our stage up to get ready for our arrival. We mingled with some fine gentlemen from the Olathe Police Department and then hit the road for the 1-mile arrival to
the Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop. We were greeted by lots of friends and family, probably 40 people total. I had 2 supporters come out. My good friend, fraternity brother and roommate Chip George and his wife Kristen showed up for the arrival. It was good to see both of them and catch up. At the arrival, there was a nice presentation and welcome for the team. Members of the city came out and gave us a proclamation that declared July 20 2008 Push America day in Olathe Kansas. We enjoyed a nice Jason’s Deli lunch and headed to lodging at the Kansas School for the Deaf. After some down time (a.k.a. nap time) at lodging, we headed to dinner at the Wulff residence. There son Matt is a teammate of mine and they made us an exception Steak meal. After dinner, Chip and Kristen were gracious enough to take a group of us downtown to enjoy the new Power and Light District in downtown Kansas City. Overall, it was a great day and a very welcoming day. Olathe Kansas loves the Journey of Hope!

Day 41 July 21 Olathe, KS – Day Off

Even though it was a day off, we were booked the whole day. We woke up around 8:00a.m. and walked outside lodging where some nice ladies from the city were cooking us Omelets. They were really good. From there, we went to our first friendship visit at Bethesda Lutheran Faith Home. It was a tough visit because we were surround by a lot of people with severe disabilities. It was really hard to communicate or interact with most of them. After lunch there, we headed to Adaptive Technology for another friendship visit where we played some Bingo with people with disabilities. It was a good time but most of us started to dose off during the thrilling game. After the friendship visit, we headed to Mark Cameron’s house. Mark is a quadriplegic who broke his neck diving into 3 feet of water at a lake. He is an amazing guy who refuses to let his situation hold him down. At his house we were able to see a lot of the adaptive equipment that allows him to function. We saw everything from using the computer to opening the door with his voice. It was really fun and really humbling. After our stop at Mark’s, we headed to Texas Roadhouse for another awesome meal. There I met my grand little from the fraternity, Mike Vosters. Mike is from Olathe and just happened to be in town for 3 days. It was fun to catch up with him and get a Fort Worth/TCU/Pi Kapp update. From there it was back to lodging and off to Costco to go grocery shopping with Chip and Kristen. They collected money from there families and bought the team food for the next three days. They are amazing! After that it was off to bed.

Day 42 July 22 Olathe, KS – Sedalia, MO

We had a 5:30a.m. wake up to hit the road by 6:30a.m. We had a police escort out of Olathe and then it was to the road for a 106-mile day. We stopped in Centerview, Missouri to have lunch provided by my teammate Ryan Shippy’s parents. It was a great lunch and a much

needed stop for this long day. We finally ended the day at 5:00 and got to lodging at a community building. Shortly after I arrived, my brother Collin showed up. He decided to make the 3-hour drive from Branson to come see me. It was a nice treat to catch up with him and spend some time with my bro. We had dinner together with the team and then went to grab some ice cream with the team as well. After that he had to get back to his kiddos but I sure enjoyed getting to spend that time with him. It was then off to bed because I was pooped!

Day 43 July 23 Sedalia, MO – Jefferson City, MO

Today as a tough day because we were supposed to only have 55 miles to go but the road we were going to take had construction so we had to go 30 miles out of the way. It was a very windy and hilly day as well so we were not traveling at a fast pace. We had to make an 11:30 arrival at the Capitol Building so we got “racked” at the 50-mile mark so we could make our arrival. We grabbed our bike off the van and rode 2 miles with a police escort to the Capitol. We were greeted by some friends and family as well as some state officials and some members of the local Special Olympics. After a nice welcome and some pictures, we grabbed our lunch at a nearby church and headed to lodging at Lincoln College. After a shower, I quickly got my sleeping back out and crashed for a few hours. I woke up and we headed to dinner at a nearby park where a former Pi Kapp from the Mizzou chapter cooked us some burgers and hot dogs. After dinner, I rallied some guys to go to Sonic to grab some ice cream and drinks. It was delicious as usual. After an Oreo Blast and a Cherry Limeade, it was to the computer for some blogging and off to bed.

Day 34-38 Garden City, KS - Emporia, KS

Day 34 July 14 Garden City, KS – Dodge City, KS

We woke up and had the continental breakfast at the Comfort Inn. We hit the road around 7:00 to make our lunch in Dodge City at noon. We encountered a lot of side wind that created some frustration, but nothing we couldn’t handle. The wind slowed us down a bit, so we pushed our lunch back to 1:00. I was in the last group so when we arrived we didn’t have time for a shower and had to go straight to lunch at the Dodge City Community College cafeteria. After lunch we went to a friendship visit at a local organization called Arrowhead. Arrowhead had tons of clients, which allowed us to interact with many of them. We played lots of carnival type games with them. It was a really fun friendship visit. That night we had dinner with one of my teammates grandmas. She lives in Dodge City and had us out to her place for dinner. All of her neighbors came out and we had a good old-fashioned barbeque. That night I went back to lodging at the community college and watched the homerun derby on my computer. It was really fun to see Josh Hamilton do what he did but I was really disappointed when he didn’t win.

Day 35 July 15 Dodge City, KS – Pratt, KS

Another day…another crew chief breakfast. After breakfast we hit the road for an 80-mile ride to Pratt, KS. It was another day of flat terrain, cornfields, and interesting smells. I have developed an appreciation for all the farming and ranching that Kansas does. They definitely seem like they pull their weight as a member of this great country. We arrived in Pratt around lunchtime and had an arrival at the local Arrowhead, the same organization we visited in Dodge. We had a great lunch and some good down time with some of the folks there. We then headed a few blocks to lodging to stay in the City Municipal Building on their gym floor. After a much needed nap, we headed to dinner at the Ninescah Valley Archers. They cooked us lots of steaks and backwoods type food. It was glorious! After dinner they got out there bows and arrows and let us shoot at some targets. It was a really random sponsor but the guys had a blast shooting bows and arrows. It took me back to Kanakuk where I got to dress up like an Indian and shoot arrows on tribal night. It was a great ending to the day.

Day 36 July 16 Pratt, KS – Wichita, KS

Today was a great day. It was a long day on the bike but a memorable day off the bike. It was a long 94-mile day but a day off was waiting at the other end of the long ride. We arrived at the Northrock Suites around 2:00p.m. and settled into our rooms. Our sponsor bought a lot of rooms, so we each had our own bed. We went to our dinner and friendship visit at CP Ranch around 5:00. We walked into a room and sat down with the kids who were enjoying their week at camp. I sat next to a young lady named Kiera. Everyone called her Key-Key. Key-Key was 17 and had Cerebral Palsy. Like most CP patients, she was confined to a wheelchair. We sat and had good conversation along with a good meal. She was so sweet and so thankful for what we were doing. After dinner, many of the kid’s got to go swimming with a lot of the guys. It was really fun seeing Key-Key get in the pool (with assistance of course) and see her face light up. Maybe it was the fact that she was surrounded by lots of cute boys or the fact that she got to do her favorite thing at camp…or maybe both. Key-Key made a huge impact on me and I will never forget her face. That night I got to connect with my friend Liz Adams who lives in Wichita and went to Focus on the Family with me. We went out to a local place and we got to catch up as she hung out with most of the guys.

Day 37 July 17 Wichita, KS – Day Off

We’ve spent the past eight days on the bike and have finally been able to enjoy our first day off since Denver. Our day off here in Wichita has been much needed and much appreciated. Even though we completed our longest stretch of the trip, the team is still in good spirits and everyone is doing well.
We woke up this morning around 8:00a.m. and loaded the vans around 8:40 to go to a sponsored breakfast. Getting to sleep in my own bed at a hotel until 8:00a.m. was a glorious start to the day. It sure beats waking up at 5:30a.m. in a high school gym on a thin thermarest. We headed to the Argetsinger’s residence for the best breakfast of the trip. The Argetsinger’s are parents of a Pi Alpha from KU. They whipped up an elaborate display of eggs benedict, pancakes, sausage links, cinnamon roles, fresh fruit and orange juice. It was a beautiful thing!
After departing from the Argetsinger’s, we headed straight to our friendship visit at Rainbows United, Inc. Rainbows had summer camp going on and they put on a choir performance right when we got there. It was really fun! We hung out with the kid’s in their classrooms for a while until lunch was ready. We headed to the gym and enjoyed some pizza with the kid’s. It wasn’t until desert that things got a little crazy. We had strawberry shortcake with whip cream. The whip cream was the kind that comes in the cans and before you knew it, people’s names were getting chanted and pressured into gulping down the whip cream. It got pretty crazy but it was a good memory maker. We finished the visit by giving Rainbows a grant and saying our goodbyes. It was then off to the bike store to load up on necessary equipment before it was back to the hotel for a few hours of rest.
For dinner we went to the facilities of Wichita Independent Living Resource Center. They work with people with disabilities and help them to live as independently as possible. We had a low-key hamburger dinner with some of the staff there. When we got back to the hotel, we gathered for a team meeting and then it was off to bed to get some rest for the next day. Overall, it was a great day off and definitely filled with some good memories.

Day 38 July 18 Wichita, KS – Emporia, KS

We started the day with a sponsored breakfast provided by one of our crewmembers family who are from Wichita. After some sausage and egg casserole, we hit the road for a 105-mile ride to Emporia. It was definitely a long day of riding but it went really well. Today was the first day we’ve had to ride through actual rain. It was actually kind of fun. I felt like a little kid playing in the sprinklers. For lunch we stopped in the booming metropolis of Cottonwood Falls, KS and had a sponsored lunch at nice restaurant in town. We finished out the last 30 miles and arrived at a recreation building around 3:30. We hurried to the local High School to grab some showers and came back to lodging to be welcomed by the local Kiwanis who were serving us dinner. It was a great turnout by the Kiwanis and they brought lots of food for the potluck event. They were also some of the nicest people we’ve met so far. The mid west is full of good people. At most of our sponsored events one of us will give an advocacy program to explain everything we’re doing. I was able to be the representative for the night. After the filling dinner, we headed to the local movie theater for a team event at the opening day showing of Batman. It was a really good movie and good bonding time with the guys. Overall, it was a great day!

Day 29-33 Denver, CO - Garden City, KS

Day 29 July 9th Denver, CO – Colorado Springs, CO

Today was a tough day on the bike but a great day off the bike. We had several members of KRG Capital (our sponsor) as well as some former JOH riders ride along with us. We left Denver around 6:00 and took a bike trail out of the city. We had to take some back roads and hit some pretty fierce headwind. We were going at such a slow pace that we were going to miss our 1:00 arrival at the Olympic Training Center. We ended up arriving at 2:15 which left our visitors and media a little frustrated. Most of those visitors were my family, Mom, Dad, Pop&Nana, Aunt Holley, Shelly, Mark & Jenny, little John and Olivia and Quinn. The Vasquez family was also patiently waiting for our arrival. Eric Vasquez is the young man I met in Colorado Springs through his mom LeAnne, an administrative assistant at Focus on the Family Institute. Eric has Cerebral Palsy and has been in the same wheelchair for 20 years. At the arrival, I was able to speak on behalf of Push America and the team and give them a grant to go towards a new wheelchair. We also gave him a Broncos T-Shirt signed by the JOH Team. After the presentation, we ate lunch at the Olympic Cafeteria and went on a tour of the facilities. Eric and his caretaker Matt joined us. It was really fun getting to hang out with both of them. After saying our goodbyes, the team and I headed to Colorado College to shower up and get settled in to our rooms at one of the dorms on campus. We then headed to the Dean’s house just down the street for dinner. I left a little early to go have dinner with all of the family. That was really a treat to get away and spend some down time with all of the special people in my life. Overall, it was a day I will never forget.

Day 30 July 10th Colorado Springs, CO – Pueblo, CO

We woke up at 5:30 and had a breakfast provided by the big papu himself, John Sparks. Dad bought some breakfast burritos, cinnamon roles, fresh fruit, and orange juice at a local supermarket and brought it to the team. He’s great isn’t he! It was hard to say goodbye but I couldn’t be more overjoyed with the time I had with my parent’s in Denver and Colorado Springs. It was so fun to have them see the in’s and out’s of my journey. We left the springs and headed for Pueblo, CO. It was a gradual down hill the whole day, which means it was a great day on the bike. We arrived in Pueblo and had a sponsored lunch by the local chamber of commerce at a local restaurant. It was really good. The chamber than put us up in a local motel in Pueblo. It wasn’t the Hilton but it was a bed so I was very appreciative. We had dinner that night at a local Mexican restaurant and I relaxed at the motel the rest of the night.

Day 31 July 11th Pueblo, CO – La Junta, CO

Today was another good day of riding. We went 70 miles pretty quickly but started to feel the heat around 11:00. We arrived at La Junta HS, had lunch and crashed until dinnertime. Unfortunately, they turned of the Air Conditioning for the summer so we were in a hot gym. We went to a local park and had an amazing pot luck dinner provided by the local Lions Club. It was fun because we all got to go around and tell our favorite moment of the trip so far. It was great to recount all of the memorable moments thus far. That night I played some volleyball with some other guys and we headed to bed. I ended up sleeping outside on the grass because the wind was actually blowing outside and it was better than being in the gym.

Day 32 July 12th La Hunta, CO – Lamar, CO

We woke up in the morning to some local La Hunatans cooking us biscuits and gravy in the morning. It was kind of strange, but the biscuits were great. A cool front had move in so it was pretty cool during our ride. We battled some head wind but as a whole, it was a pretty relaxed cool day on the bike. We arrived in Lamar and set our stuff up in the wresting room of a gymnasium. It was a random building but apparently they used it a lot. All of us opted out of crew chief lunch and headed to local establishments such as Pizza Hut, Subway, and Sonic. I chose Sonic…America’s Drive In. It was a very tasty treat and reminded me a lot of being at Kamp. I miss Kamp. After lunch we all passed out for a few hours and got up to go to dinner. A nice couple and their friends were gracious enough to have us to their house. They are local tri athletes and wanted to help us out with a good Mexican meal. Some of the guys went to the local swimming pool but I opted to stay back and work on some things. i.e. my blog.

Day 33 July 13th Lamar, CO – Garden City, KS

Today was a 105 mile day that would take us into our 6th state: Kansas. At mile 32 we hit the state line and started to take in the beautiful sights (a.k.a corn fields and feed lots.) We had to make it into Dodge City for a 2:00 arrival, which didn’t end up being an arrival anyways. We basically busted it all day for something that really wasn’t. Anyways, we pushed through the long day and arrived at the city pool in Garden City. This pool was massive and was once referred to as the largest free-admission pool in the country. We called the World’s Largest Pool in Kansas. Regardless, it was good to relax and cool off after the long day on the bike. After the pool, we got back on our bikes and headed to our lodging at the Comfort Inn. They supplied the rooms for us. If you haven’t notice, I really appreciate hotels or any bed and hot shower in general. We showered up and got settled in and loaded up the vans for Golden Corral. A Pi Kapp from Kansas State lived in Garden City and picked up the buffet dinner for us. There’s just something about all you can eat after burning 8,000 calories. I may or may not have had 3 plates and desert. After that it was some hang time with the guys and off to bed.

Day 24-29 Cheyenne, WY - Denver, CO

Day 24 July 4th! Cheyenne, WY- Fort Collins, CO

After spending my last few 4th’s with Collin and Rachel on Table Rock Lake in Branson, I was curious to see how the 4th would play out in Fort Collins, Colorado. I knew I wanted to make the most of the day so I went out and did what everyone does to make the 4th of July special; I bought fireworks…smoke sticks and black cats to be exact. As the team was taking pictures at the Wyoming-Colorado State line, my pace line and I stopped 200 yards out and lit up our smoke sticks and rode into the team. It was the perfect way to cross the state line on our nation’s birthday. Towards the end of the ride, I blew out my first tire and had to jump in the van for the last 8 miles into Fort Collins. We arrived at the CSU chapter house and partook in some showers and food. Around sun down, we headed to the local park to watch the fireworks. It was really fun because the whole town was there…it was packed! Later on that night, we went out to some local establishments and celebrated. Overall, it was an eventful 4th of July!

Day 25 July 5th Fort Collins, CO – Boulder, CO

We woke up and had breakfast provided by a team member’s family and headed for Boulder. It was a pretty easy 30-mile ride. As we got closer to Boulder, we were on a road that had hundred’s of cyclist on it. Typically, we are the only one’s on the road with the exception of a few, but this was a sight to see. We road through the University of Colorado campus and arrived at the Pi Kappa Phi house. 4 of my teammates are Pi Kapps at Boulder. We showered up, grabbed some lunch and headed for lodging at a church annex. After taking some naps, we headed to a local rec center to spend some time with the Denver Harlequins: a wheelchair rugby team. This is one of the better friendship visits we’ve had. It was pretty crazy because almost all of the athletes had suffered injuries that caused them to be disabled. (i.e. diving in a pool, falling off mechanical bull, car accident, etc) These guys were all competitive athletes before their accidents and this was there new outlet. We got to get into the chairs and play a little bit. At the end we put our best 4 against them and they smoked us. Two of the guys were headed to Bejing at the end of the summer to be on the paralympic wheelchair rugby team. After the friendship visit, 11 of us went to dinner at an amazing pizza place called Beau Jo’s. Then it was off to bed.

Day 26 July 6th Boulder, CO – Day Off

We slept in to 9:00 and headed to a sponsored breakfast at the original pancake house. This was the first normal breakfast I’ve had in a long time. It’s typically half a bagel, one pop tart, and one bowl of cereal. I ordered a blueberry Belgium waffle with two eggs and toast. It was glorious! After breakfast, we went back to lodging and put on our swimsuits to go tube Boulder Creek. We purchased our tubes and started to walk up stream to find our entry point. As we were walking alongside the creek, we noticed it was flowing really fast and wasn’t exactly calm. When we got to our entry point, we hopped in the freezing cold water with a few looks of reluctance. Oh well here it goes. After a few drop offs and several de-tubing’s, most of the guys weren’t too keen on floating the rest of the way down. I got back in later on down the river but decided it wasn’t worth it. I considered it a success because I walked out of there without any scrapes and all of my possessions. At the end of the float, some of the Boulder guys bought us burritos at a local burrito joint. That evening we had a friendship visit with a local organization. I helped with the cooking at the grill. That night a few of us went back to the Pi Kapp house and hung out with some of the guys living there over the summer. It was an eventful day off.

Day 27 July 7th Boulder, CO – Denver, CO

We woke up and started our 30-mile ride to Denver. It wasn’t a tough day physically but it took its toll mentally. City riding can get pretty strenuous when cars are whizzing by you and missing you by a few feet. (Sorry mom) As we got into downtown Denver, we started to get rained on. We arrived at Invesco Field at Mile High where we were meeting up with the North Route and staging up to ride into the capital. With an awesome police escort, we arrived at the capital where my parent’s and my Aunt Nat met me. It was so good to see family! We took pictures and hung out for a while and then headed a few blocks to the downtown Marriott where we were staying. After showering, I met up with the family and we chatted at a local deli. I met back up with the team and we headed to a local park for our friendship visit put on by the local Special Olympics and our main sponsor, KRG Capital. My parent’s and Aunt Nat got to come as well. It was a fundraiser for the local athletes called pedal for pennies. About 10 of the athletes rode their bikes around the lake at the park. I got to be one of the cyclists who got to ride with the athletes. I rode with a 30 year old man with Down syndrome named Ben. He was awesome! I loved being the center of attention and always loved crossing the starting line where everyone cheered him on. After the race, my family and I sat down and had dinner with Ben. There was a brief presentation and then a dance afterwards. Ben loved the dance and loved the attention. It was also fun to see all the cyclists dance and make fools of themselves. Everyone was having a good time and it was an awesome event.

Day 28 July 8th Denver, CO – Day Off

We didn’t have anything scheduled today so I slept in to 11:30. It was much needed and felt extremely incredible. I showered up and met up with my parent’s. We grabbed some of my teammates and headed to ESPN Zone to grab some lunch. My gracious father treated all of us to good fellowship and good food. After spending some more quality time with my parent’s in the afternoon, the team headed to a local Chipotle to grab some dinner sponsored by a former rider from CU-Boulder. After dinner, a group of us went to see Hitchcock. It was really good and entertaining. I then took advantage of the Mariott Pool, Hot Tub, Sauna, and Steam Room. I wish I always had access to those things throughout the trip. They sure make the body feel so much better. It was then off to bed for our ride into Colorado Springs.