Washington D.C.

8.14.2010

Just typing that blog title gives me chills. I’m writing this entry a few days afterward, after I’ve had some time to reflect on the trip. Thinking back on that last day of riding, that last 30 miles that marked the end of my journey, and the guys I was riding with (in an illegal 20 man double pace line the whole day), it really summed up what the summer had been. I made a special play list for the occasion, and we were rocking out to every cheesy pop song you could imagine. There was one point where our whole team was stopped together at a red light, singing and dancing to California Gurls in the middle of the street, much to the amusement / terror of passers by. I was looking around at all the men I had just come so far with, thinking about how close we had all gotten, and realizing that tomorrow we would all be so far apart. The entire experience was just so surreal.

It didn’t really hit me when we were riding down Pennsylvania Avenue and saw the capitol building looming up ahead. It started to hit me when we were standing on the capitol lawn and I looked over and saw my parents. When it really hit me was when we were all gathered at the banquet, looking around at all the south route boys, rocking our new tank tops and some killer tan lines. They put on a slide show with a bunch of pictures that had been taken this summer. The last picture to come on the screen was one of the whole team standing on the capitol lawn. That was the tipping point. All I could think to my self was, “That’s it. That’s the Finish Line.” I cried like a little boy who fell off his bike for the first time. It was like no emotion I had ever experienced.

The Journey of Hope has given me insights that no other experience could provide. It has taught me more about my limits, my patience, my personality, my attitude, and my relationships than any other single event in my life. It has given me an appreciation for the good fortune I have been blessed with. The biggest problems I’ve ever had to deal with in my life are pale in comparison to the hardship that some people experience daily. I am so happy that I was able to keep this blog, to remind me of each person I’ve met and each of their stories. Their strength is something I can look to for inspiration.

Here’s to the good old southern boys. Best summer of my life.

Manassas, VA

These are the only random pictures from the day...



8.13.2010

Today’s 90 mile ride is another one of those that I’ll always remember. It was our last full day of riding on the bike. It was the last chance for all of us to kick it as a paceline one more time. I was riding with some of the usual suspects, Mo, Dodge, Tyler, Lawrence, and Troy and we were just reflecting on the trip’s memories the whole day.

About halfway through the ride the skies went from overcast to black, and the rain opened up on us. We could see in the distance the “Wall of Death”. This is the demarcation between wet and dry pavement on the road ahead that indicates you’re about to go into a rain storm. I covered up my ihome and shoved my camera and phone into my back pockets and hoped for the best as we plunged into the rain. It took all of about 5 minutes for all of us to be completely soaked but we really didn’t mind. It was sort of a fun little challenge on the last day of riding, because we had never been more than drizzled on in the past 60 some days. Fortunately at the next crew stop a lot of us were able to ditch our cameras. Foolishly, I held onto mine and proceeded to take exactly zero pictures the rest of the day. Totally not worth almost frying it.

Another cool thing about the day was that we got to ride along with a guy named mark, who works as a pilot for KRG capital. He had flown Bruce Rogers out to Virginia from Denver, and was riding along with us until Bruce was finished his business in D.C. He was a really laid back guy, and it was the first time on the trip that I felt totally relaxed and normal when a ride along was with our pace line. We were all just thinking back on our good times and he would ask questions about some of the stories and inside jokes.

When we got to lodging nothing felt different. When we ate dinner with all the other routes nothing felt different. When I was unpacking my bag for the 68th time this trip, nothing felt different. When we got out our old jerseys and passed them around to be signed, however, it was a little strange. I was just looking around at every person who wrote their name on my uniform and couldn’t help thinking to myself how weird it is that after tomorrow I probably wouldn’t see half of them in person again. We are going to Washington DC TOMORROW. Just teaches you to appreciate every second you’ve got, every day.

Charlottesville, VA

Charlottesville, VA

8.12.2010

Today was a beautiful ride. The plan was to go about 80 miles on the day, even though the town was only 50 miles away when using the interstate. I didn’t mind that we were taking back roads the whole day, because the scenery was gorgeous, and after all we don’t have too much more time on the bike. We were very lucky too, because Bruce Rogers was doing a ride along with our route today. Bruce Rogers is the man who served as the inspiration for the Journey of Hope. He was the first Pi Kapp to ride his bike across the country to raise money for Push America and today is one of the trip’s biggest sponsors. The legend himself was riding in our pace line, and we got to find out all about how he did the trip when he rode. It’s incredible how he made it the whole way without a crew supporting him.


Unfortunately for him and for the rest of us, we had a record distance wrong turn today. We went an absurd 20 miles in the wrong direction. There was one crew stop where we made a left turn instead of a right turn and just kept going for another hour or so. We were getting suspicious when we saw our shadows in front of us at 9:00am, but we figured we were just headed a little west to get through a mountain pass or something. Soon we saw the Blue Ridge mountains looming in front of us, and we were sure something was wrong. We discovered that after riding for 45 miles, we had gone a total of 10 miles outside of Lynchburg. It was really frustrating, especially for Bruce who flew out from Colorado to meet up with us. Eventually we got back on track though and hammered out the last 20 miles to lodging. It was a frustrating day, but the chipotle we got at the end of the ride made up for it a little.


The friendship visit that night made me forget about the day’s frustrations. It was at the Charlottesville Arc center, where we had a huge spaghetti dinner followed by dancing. I met a 14 year old girl named Victoria who was hearing impaired, and I was able to communicate her a little bit using the sign language I’ve managed to scrape together over the summer. I think she got bored with my three year old level of English after a while, but it still felt good for me to be able to try signing a little bit.

It’s our last day of riding tomorrow. It feels so weird that this is coming to an end.

Lynchburg, VA

8.11.2010

Maybe it’s just the fact that I’m savoring the rides more now that the trip is winding down, but for the past few days the riding has been really nice. I was sweeping (last man in) today, with Zach Wilcox. Zach is a true southern gentleman. We talked for a little bit about deer and duck hunting, as well as the sex appeal that comes with having a southern accent. The conversation seemed very fitting as we rode through Virginia tobacco fields. The road was pretty hilly in the beginning and Zach was having problems with the Tendonitis in his knee. He made it to mile 45 before the pain became too much and he had to rack up.

Steve brought me up to the next crew stop, and I was able to meet up with the last pace line and continue riding. I made it about 5 miles with the new group before I blew a spoke in my back wheel. We stopped to check it out, and Hurvey described it as “A big pringle”. I couldn’t ride any further on it, and had to rack up my bike to lodging. It’s at the bike shop getting fixed right now. I ended up doing about 50 miles on the day, out of a possible 70. That means I’ve got some extra pushups to do tonight.

When we got to lodging I did an interview for ABC News on channel 13. Hopefully it will be on the internet and I’ll be able to find it later, because we don’t have a TV where we’re staying tonight at the local High School. It would be a cool thing to have to remember the day, in addition to the pictures I took of the scenic ride.

Our friendship visit was at the Lynchburg ARC organization. We had a huge pasta dinner and some dancing later on. I was sitting at a table with two 4 year old twin boys, who spent most of dinner pretending they were robots. It was one of the few chances I’ve had to interact with kids on the trip, so I had a lot of fun. Avery ran on alternating current, and had to be plugged into the wall every once in a while. Averit had batteries that ran for maybe 5 minutes at a time and needed to be changed regularly. When we got out on the dance floor, I got to dance with a girl named Tammy who was in a wheelchair and a girl named Sarah who had been coming to the ARC for 2 years. Tammy was the conductor of our “Soul Train” conga line for a little while, and Sarah explained to me that this was her second favorite dance so far. Her favorite was one time last year where the news crews came to cover the dance. I’d say we are doing pretty well when stacked up against that one.

Danville, VA

8.10.2010

The ride today was about 60 miles, and we crossed the state line into Virginia. Today marked the official beginning of the end. We have no more days off before we get to Washington D.C., it’s a 4 day push of 60 then 70 then 80 then 90 miles. The next day we get to D.C. I knew it had to end eventually, but part of me just thought it would go on forever. Today my odometer clicked over to 3,750 miles. It’s unreal.

The first 10 miles of the ride were pretty tough, but I have no idea why. The terrain wasn’t different, the roads were smooth, and there was no wind. The worst feeling is when you’re confused about the reason your legs hurt. Whatever the reason, the riding got easier as the day went on and before we knew it we were at the Virginia state line. We were way ahead of schedule, so we goofed off for a good half hour just taking pictures. From there we headed to stage up, and proceeded to have the most interesting arrival of the trip. The good part was that the participants at the Stonewall Therapeutic Center came out to cheer us on at different turns along the way. The bad part is that the arrival was super hilly, and the cop who was pacing us was alternating between 8 and 20 per hour the whole time. The stop and go pacing made it impossible to gain any of the momentum that was necessary to climb the hills. Just adds to the challenge I guess.
The friendship visit was a bunch of fun, and came in two chunks. They served us lunch during the first part, where we got to meet the participants for the first time. I got up to get some food, and a group of the girls I was talking with took some pictures on my camera that I just discovered.

Later we came back for a pasta dinner and more visiting. I was speaking with a man named Danny about his home made “Liquid Love” fragrance. Apparently it doesn’t work on everyone, only on girls who are well suited to your personality. It was a fun conversation, and after dinner we got up to do some dancing. The dancing visits are always my favorite, and it got me pumped up about getting back to school.

Chapel Hill, NC

8.9.2010

Today we had a day off in Chapel Hill. We had to be ready to leave lodging by 11:30AM, so naturally my room woke up at 11:15AM. From there we went to lunch at subway, and we got not only some money for lunch, but money for the breakfast we slept through. Thanks Push!

From there we headed over to a friendship visit at Extraordinary Adventures, a day camp for kids with disabilities. A few of us were playing “The Price is Right” on the Nintendo Wii with a boy named Ewan. He was parading around the room acting like Bob Barker, holding the Wiimote up to his mouth acting like it was a microphone, asking people if they would like to spin the giant wheel.

After hanging out with Ewan for a bit, I made my way over to where they had a karaoke machine set up. I started talking with a guy named Quentin and his caretaker. I asked him if he was going to sing and he said no, but he told me his favorite singer was James Brown. He heard me beat boxing to one of the songs and asked me if I knew how to rap. I faked it for a little bit while he spit me a hot beat. I then proceeded to apologize to him for my lack of street cred. He had to leave kind of early, but hanging out with him was some of the most fun I’ve had at a friendship visit this trip.

When we were done at Extraordinary Adventures, we headed back to the hotel for a bit and then later went over to the Kappa house of Pi Kappa Phi for a pig roast dinner. It was cool to see a bunch of the guys that I had met last night again, and to meet some people I hadn’t got the chance to before. The people you meet along the road are really what makes this trip special, and the men of Kappa chapter are a perfect example of that.

Chapel Hill, NC

8.8.2010

We rode about 70 miles today through more North Carolina countryside. There was one point where we were riding through some fog, which made for a really pretty scene with the forest on both sides of the road. Starting when I woke up this morning I decided to attempt a challenge where I would remain silent for the whole day. That lasted until about mile 10, when I involuntarily called out the signal “Standing” on the way up a hill. It was completely involuntary, but I’d been used to doing it every time I’ve stood up on the bike this summer. It’s kinda funny how the mind works, I feel like one of Pavlov’s dogs.

When we finished up the ride, we arrived at a local Pizza Hut for lunch and a friendship visit. We helped out with a car wash being held to benefit The ARC, an assisted living center and camp for people with disabilities. I got to stand on the corner by a red light holding a sign and heckling people to come get their cars washed. I felt like I was back on Ho Plaza handing out quarter cards, except now if someone wanted to ignore you and walk by they would be breaking traffic laws. I was able to guilt about 16 bucks out of various drivers, in addition to the ones I convinced to go to the car wash. It was a lot of fun

Tonight we’re going to hang out at the Kappa chapter of Pi Kappa Phi here at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. It’ll be cool to meet some guys from Sandberg’s chapter.