Day 49-53 Terra Haute, IN - Cincinatti, OH

Day 49 July 29 Terra Haute, IN – Bloomington, IN

We woke up and had a wonderful breakfast prepared by the Pontius’ who’s gigantic house we slept in that night. We hit the road for a 60-mile ride to Bloomington Indiana, home of the Hoosiers. It was a good day of riding with lots of rolling hills and greenery. Midway through the ride, I initiated a farkel. A farkel is where everyone participating throws a specified number and then I tally them up and count around the circle that many times. The farkel today was for the loser to wear a pair of sunglasses that we found on the side of the road and were missing the lenses for the rest of the day. We arrived in Bloomington around 1:00 and staged up for an arrival at an organization called Stone Belt. We weren’t expecting much but we arrived to a crowd of 80 or so individuals, most of whom are living with disabilities. We said our hellos and sat down to a brisket sandwich meal with the folks. After lunch, we joined in for some activities and games that they had prepared. I walked around with a woman named Denise who was excited to walk around and do some of the activities. After saying our goodbyes, we headed to our lodging at the Pi Kapp chapter house of Indiana. We got settled in and crashed for a few hours before heading downstairs to grab some dinner prepared by the house cooks. After dinner we gathered around the T.V. to watch America’s Got Talent. One of my teammates, Andrew Lewis is in a percussion group called “The Cadence” and they performed on the show and made it to the next round. It was really fun and exciting! We like to give him a hard time about his celebrity status. After all the excitement it was off to bed.

Day 50 July 30 Bloomington, IN – Indianapolis, IN

We grabbed a great breakfast cooked by the fraternity cooks and hit the road for a 55-mile day. What was thought to be an easy day into Indianapolis turned out to be a day of flats. I got 3 flats within the first 7 miles and decided by back tire was done for. I had to rack my bike and rely on buying a new tire in Indy. As the ride went on, the team had over 20 flats and we weren’t making any progress. We had a lunch to get to so the whole team racked the last 20 miles into the city. We took quick showers and headed to our sponsor lunch at local pizza joint. Our meal was put on by the step mom of a Pi Kapp who used to work for Push America. After lunch, most of the guys headed back to our lodging at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). Most of the guys took a nap, but I made a run to the bike store with some other guys to get my new tire. For dinner, we headed to the Rehabilitation Hospital of Indianapolis to grab some spaghetti and play wheelchair basketball with the Indianapolis Wheelchair Basketball Team. It was really fun but we got domina

ted. We got beat much worse than when we played wheelchair rugby in Denver. I spent some time with an older gentleman named Tony who was shot by another gang member when he was 15 and has been confined to a wheelchair ever since. He now speaks to kids all over about the dangers of gang violence and other motivating topics. That night, a big group of us headed to downtown Indy to enjoy some entertainment at a Dueling Piano Bar. It was fun to get out of the daily routine and hang out with the guys.

Day 51 July 31 Indianapolis, IN – Day Off

We woke up around 9:45 (which was glorious) and went to the bottom floor of the dorm we were staying in to grab some bagels and fruit provided by the same lady who provided our lunch the day before. After breakfast, we went to our friendship visit at Noble of Indiana. It was a very nice welcome and well-prepared visit. There were Push America posters everywhere, brochures on the tables, etc. We enjoyed another brisket sandwich lunch and split off into groups to do specific activities with some of the clients of Noble. I got assigned to the Karaoke/Dancing room, which is always a good time. The Karaoke machine they had was purchased by the grant we gave them last year. After the visit, we went back to lodging to grab a few hours of sleep before heading to our dinner. We drove 20 miles out of the city to a woman’s house for a Mexican dinner. She is the mother of the young man who used to work for Push America. It was a great dinner and very relaxing to just sit and relax in a home. We’re not around too many homes on our trip. After dinner I spent several hours cleaning up my bike and putting on my new tire…then off to bed.

Day 52 August 1 Indianapolis, IN – Oxford, OH

We woke up at 6:00 and grabbed a bagel breakfast provided by some ladies who work at the university. We headed out of the city and got back into more country riding as we continued to come across more corn and soy crops. After the 85 miles, we got into Oxford and went straight to lodging at a log cabin type building on the campus of Miami of Ohio. We grabbed our shower stuff and clothes and headed to the Pi Kapp house to grab some showers and an early dinner. It was fun seeing another house and hanging out with the 20 or so guys who came out to see us. After dinner, I went back to the un-air-conditioned log cabin to do some blogging before heading out to hang out with some of the Miami guys. When I got back, I took my sleeping bag and thermarest outside because it was much cooler than sleeping inside.

Day 53 August 2 Oxford, OH – Cincinnati, OH

We woke up at 6:00 and packed up our things to ride a mile or so to the Pi Kapp house to have breakfast cooked by the guys. We hit the road just after 7:00 and encountered mostly city riding on our 40-mile day. It was one of our shortest days of the trip and it was nice. We arrived at a park and had lunch provided by a former rider who lived in Cincinnati. After the subway sandwiches, we got back on the bikes and headed to lodging at a local rec center just north of Cincinnati. We set up our beds in the gym and a few of us went outside to utilize the pool and cool off. After a quick soak and a shower, it was to the sleeping back for some rest. Around 5:00p.m., we headed upstairs for a pizza dinner provided by the rec staff followed by a karaoke friendship visit. About 20 clients came out for the bi-weekly karaoke night. It was really fun to see the guys get on the mike as well as the clients who were enjoying themselves. I sat in the back with two men named Tim and Bob. Tim was a really nice guy who was great to talk to but was just a little bit slow. I think he had some complications at birth but he was a super nice guy and really fun to sit with. Bob was a 33-year-old man with Down Syndrome. He was super nice and really liked karaoke. He loves country music and sang several songs while capturing the hearts of everyone in the room. The highlight of the night was probably the singing of the national anthem sung by some of the guys and the rest of the room while standing before the flag. Overall, it was a fun night and topped off with some reading and an early entry to bed.