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.