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.