Birthday Time!

Today was an exciting day for all of us because we had a short and easy ride and we got to sleep in until 7:15!!  We are all amazed that we now call that sleeping in but when 5 and 6 AM wakeup calls become part of your life a 7:15 wakeup feels amazing.  So we got up feeling refreshed and rested.  We packed up the vans, ate breakfast, and then started biking towards Missoula.  Since we had only 30 miles to ride today we all were taking it easy and just enjoying the ride and the scenery that Montana had to offer us.  After about only 2 and a half hours of riding we were already at Missoula.  We are staying at the Hellgate High School for the next two nights since we had a day off tomorrow.  Which, we are all looking very forward to so we can give our bodies a break from all the riding.  So we unpacked the vans and headed to Subway for a sponsored lunch.  After that we had a little free time, which some of us used to play basketball or just to relax.  We all then showered up and got ready for a dinner sponsored by a Pi Kapp from UC Berkley in California at The Shack Café.  We had spaghetti with meatballs and mushrooms, which is my favorite food so I thought it was absolutely amazing!!  We had the rest of the night to ourselves.  Some people went to the movies while others were able to enjoy a night out to celebrate Axel Holm’s Birthday!

Arlee, Montana!!

This morning we woke up at 5:30 and got ready for our 75 mile bike ride to Arlee, Montana!  When I got up I had to check on the front tire of my bike to make sure that it was still aired up since I got 5 flats yesterday!!  It was good but I noticed I had a whole in the side wall.  I asked Fred, our project manager, if he thought I needed to buy a new tire or if I could just keep riding on it!  It said even though he knows I don’t want to I probably should buy a new one to avoid any other problems later in the trip.  But I didn’t have a tire so I had to come up with a quick fix.  And that was to put a folded up dollar bill in my tire between the tub to cover up the hole.  I am told it is supposed to work and it is tougher then the tire itself but I have my doubts.  We will have to see how it holds up on the ride today.  When we got on our bikes to start our ride we were welcomed to a beautiful sunny morning sky.  The scenery of Montana was absolutely beautiful and we could see the sun shining off the peaks of the mountains that surrounded us!  We also had the pleasure of biking alongside of a river during our ride!  It has just been incredible the scenery we have been surrounded by and it is by far better than Indiana!!  Overall the ride was amazing and the crew and cyclist just kicked some butt today.  We were flying through the ride and everything was running smoothly.  I am just so impressed on how well we are all working together as a team in just two short weeks.  We beat the rack point and made the easy ride into Arlee at 12:30. Surprising the dollar bill patch worked and I got no flats during the ride!!  Lodging for the night is at Arlee High School which is located on an Indian Reservation!  For most of us it was our first time on a Reservation so we were excited!  But since we kicked butt on the bike today we had a few hours of free time before our sponsored dinner.  Some took naps, others cleaned bikes, and some, like myself played some basketball!  It’s amazing the energy we still have to play basketball after a 75 mile ride, but it just shows how good of shape we are all getting in!  We had a pizza sponsored dinner at 5 that was awesome!  Thanks again to all our great sponsors and supporters! This trip would not be possible without all of you!  After dinner we had a little surprise for two of the guys on the team!  It was Derrick Bassaoud’s birthday today and Axel Holm’s birthday tomorrow!  So we bought them a little cake and sang happy birthday to them!!  After that we had some more free time!  Some relaxed while others went out and explored the small town of Arlee.  I was one that went an explored.  When we did we found out that all they had was a high school, gas station, and a bar and grill in the town.  So we stopped by the bar and grill and played some pool until we went back to lodging for bed!!  Another great amazing day on the Journey of Hope!

Headed to Montana!!

Today our bike ride was from Kellogg, ID to Thompson Falls, MT, which was 72 miles.  Every morning we circle up and talk about the days events.  It’s when we find out how many miles we have for the day, when our rake point is, where our sponsored lunch and dinner is, and if we have any friendship visits or any other activities.  Also every day we do a disability of the day where someone researchers a disability and informs the group about it and we do a dedication for the day where we dedicate the ride for the day to someone that one of us knows.  Today we were able to dedicate the days ride to my Uncle Rich.  Like stated in previous blogs he had a stroke about two years ago and is now a person living with a disability.  So we said a little prayer for the day and us and Rich and his family and then we all keep him in our thoughts while we bike.  This makes us push ourselves knowing that there is someone out there that would love to take our place and that the tiredness or soreness we feel is not that big of a deal when looking at the whole picture.  It was really awesome that I was able to make the dedication today for him.  Today we not only entered into our 3^rd state which was Montana we also were able to switch from Pacific Time Zone to the Mountain Time Zone, which brought our time zone closer to the time zone back at home!  Other than that the ride consisted of two mountain pass climbs.  One pass was about 4 miles long and the other one was 6 miles long.  They were pretty tough but still nothing compared to the two mountain passes that we had to climb on day 2.  After getting up the first mountain pass we stopped and took a break at the top of it before descending down.  While up there we took pictures of the great viewpoint we had.  As we were descending down the hill we were going around this curve when this loud bang happened! It sounded like a gun shooting and it made us all jump.  It turned out to be my tire popping while I was going 25 MPH.  It was a little scary and I almost wrecked and was able to stop before falling.  I changed it just for it to pop again.  So we had to walk up to a van to get a new tube and the pump so I could change it again.  Then we started going down the hill and around the same corner where it popped the first time and it popped again!!  Trying not to get frustrated I just stopped and changed the tire for the third time! Then we got going again and made it about ¼ of a mile before it popped for the fourth time.  Not wanting to give up and rack my bike I searched over my bike looking for the problem to find out that my brake was pinching the tire every time I tried to brake.  So we adjusted my brakes changed my tire and I was on my way again but for the rest of the ride I didn’t use my front brakes to avoid getting another flat!!  We got up the second pass in about an hour and then we went downhill for about 20 mills before we got racked to go to lodging.  Since it took an hour and fifteen minutes to fix my bike we had to rack to lodging so we wouldn’t be late for our sponsored meal.  I missed out on only 10 miles but this was the first day that I didn’t do all the miles.  It was disappointing but alright because it wasn’t me racking myself and it was due to timing issues.  As long as I can keep pushing through and not give into the pain and tiredness and rack myself I will be happy.  But so far so good but I have two months to go!!  Other than the bike issues the ride was amazing and we had beautiful scenery.

Bike Trails!!

Due to unsafe riding conditions we had to rake our bikes and drive 45 miles to where we could start biking safely.  After that we had a 45 mile ride into Kellogg, ID and it was all on a paved bicycle trial that used to be railroad tracks.  It was around a lake and was absolutely beautiful.  Since we didn’t have to worry about traffic for the first time on the trip we were able to be more relax and have a little more fun while riding.  We stopped and took pictures of the lake and surrounding scenery.  Since we didn’t have to worry about traffic we were able to make 6 men pace lines instead of the normal 3 that we were used to!  We also played different games while riding to make the time go faster.  We were riding a little slow just so we could enjoy the ride and have some fun but it started pouring down rain on us with about 15 miles to go.  And since it was 45 degrees outside we instantly all started freezing so we booked it as fast as we could to our lodging so we could warm up and get out of the rain.  The last part of the ride was pretty miserable but fun at the same time I was just so relieved when we got off the bikes.  We ate lunch and then played some full court basketball.  At 5 we went to a local pizzeria for dinner that was sponsored by Wes Clarkson’s parents.  Wes is our Crew Chief for the summer, or as we like to call him our mom!  We then went to a local McDonalds for some ice cream and free wifi so we could do our blogs!  

Twin Lakes Camp!

Today was our easiest day of the trip.  We woke up at 6:30 and started our bike ride to Rathdrum, ID.  We had a day off so we were all feeling really good and rested.  Also we had only 35 miles to bike today so it was a very easy day.  It’s kind of weird thinking that we a 35 mile day is nothing compared to when I first started biking and thought 25 miles was a long ride! It just shows how far we have come!  But since it was a short day we all stopped at the Washington and Idaho border and took some pictures.  Besides the 45 degree weather, the ride was a piece of cake.  When we got a half a mile outside of Twinlow Camp, which is where we were staying for the night, we all staged up and rode in 2x2 behind the vans.  When we got there a bunch of kids were there cheering us on and clapping for us!  Since we had no friendship visit for the day we just unloaded the vans and had the rest of the day free.  We all took a little nap and then headed to Red Robin for lunch.  For dinner the camp sponsored us and cooked a meal for us and it was delicious.  In return we helped them with the clean up.  After that we went to a little place called the Lighting Bar so we could watch the Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals and play some pool!! While there we talked to some locals and got a donation which was pretty awesome.  Then we went to a campfire that was put on by the camp counselors.  We just hung out for awhile and talked.  After about an hour and a half we said our goodbyes and went to bed.  It’s crazy the number of people you meet and can just sit down and talk to for hours but then have to say bye and will probably never see again!

FIRST DAY OFF!!! :)

Today was our first off day!!! And it felt amazing to finally be able to sleep in until 7:30!!  Yeah who would of even though that I would think 7:30 is sleeping in! lol It was a great change of pace from waking up at 5 and 6 in the morning.  We started the day off by hopping in the vans and going to the ARC of Spokane for breakfast and a friendship visit!  While we were eating breakfast the regulars of the ARC started filling up the building.  Over the next few hours we played games, put together puzzles, danced, and watched the variety show they put on every year.  We even were able to help them make a travel journal where we talked about every place they have been and every where they would like to visit.  The people there were so excited and happy to see us it made us feel really good and special.  This one lady Joan walked around asking us all to write her a message on a piece of paper so she could remember us.  Then she spent the rest of the time telling us how awesome we were for visiting them, how long they have been waiting for us to get there, and how happy they are that we are finally there.  It feels amazing to make so many people’s day like that!  But at the same time it’s kind of sad that they make us seem so great just because we are willing to spend some time with them.  But it’s just because they want to feel like they belong and not like they are different from everyone else.  There was another little girl there that I spent a lot of time with making puzzles and she would constantly tell us how happy she was that we were there.  When it was time to leave we all said our goodbyes and took a few pictures to remember the day but in the end I was a little speechless from all the gratitude we were shown there.  After the great friendship visit we headed to lunch which was sponsored by the local Lion’s Club!  They had a great buffet with grilled chicken and amazing cheesecake for dessert!  After being stuffed we headed back to lodging for some free time.  We used this free time to go to the bike shop for and bike maintenance needed and to Wal Mart for anything else we might need!  Then we had a dinner sponsored by the Nelsen’s family.  We were welcomed to an amazing house and landscaping.  They had tennis courts, a basketball court, volleyball, corn hole, hillbilly golf, and ping pong all waiting for us when we got there.  And as if that wasn’t enough they also had a wonderful meal catered from Panada Express!  We had an amazing time there and were able to talk to their and some of his friends that were Pi Kapps at Washington State University.  We were sad to leave the fun filled house that they had provided for us.  It’s amazing how families are so willing to open their homes to 28 complete strangers to provide them a mean and an evening of fun!  For the rest of the night some people went to the movies while others went back to lodging to relax!  "The only disability in life is a bad atttude."

Washington State University

This morning we woke up at 6AM and headed to the Washington State Pi Kapp House where the made breakfast for us. They had bacon, sausage, biscuits and gravy, and omelets ready for us. It was all very delicious! After breakfast we had a 75 mile ride to Spokane, WA waiting for us. So we got on the bikes and hit the road. We mixed up the pace lines again and did even more amazing today, and beat the rack time by almost 2 hours! You can tell that we are all getting way more comfortable on the bikes and we are all slowly getting in better shape! It is amazing to see the progress we have made from just 6 days ago! Having better success on the bike has made the team more excited about the summer and biking every day. You can tell that it is slowly bringing us closer together and making us a better and better team! Ten miles outside of Spokane the Pi Kapps from Washington State University brought us pulled pork sandwiches for lunch. Lunch tasted great and we are greatly appreciated for both meals they sponsored for us. When we all got done eating a police officer came to do our first arrival. We were all very excited about it and couldn’t wait! We set up in two pace lines of 11 riders and then had one van in front of us with the other three behind us. It was amazing to be escorted into the town and made us feel even better about what we are doing. Escorts like this are a lot of fun but also bring us a lot more attention from the city. We were escorted all the way to the Christ Redeemer Church where we will be staying for the next two nights. The building was very old and cool looking. It had all sorts of hidden rooms and secret hallways in it with a basketball hoop in the main room, which we all enjoyed very much! For dinner we were fortunate enough to have the Sear’s family invite us over to their wonderful home right outside of Spokane. They had amazing food including lasagna, which is my favorite! They also let us enjoy their pool and hot tub! "The only disability in life is a bad attitude"