Today was a shorter ride, but one filled with climbing. I rode with Blake from TCU and David from Iowa. The first half of the trip involved making it to the top of Loveland's Pass, the highest highway in North America. Once atop the mountain we were greeted by the Build America guys, who are working at camps all summer working on accessibility projects, as well as our own crew. Atop the mountain I ate snow! Not something you expect to do the last day of June!
The descent from the mountain was awesome as well. After arriving to Camp Rocky Mountain Village we showered, ate lunch, and then took some very needed naps.
For dinner we ate with many of the campers and then headed down to their pavilion for the evening program. Each cabin and group got to do a performance; Journey of Hope dressed in ridiculous outfits and danced to "Every time we touch" which made everyone laugh.
After the evening program we headed into Idaho Springs to a McD's for milkshakes for Michael from TCU's birthday.
Tomorrow is an off day for us where we will be spending the day at the camp interacting with the campers.
Thanks for checking in!
Love & Honor,
Beau
 
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Rabbit Ears Pass
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We finished in a very muddy rain
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The view from our lodging

Today was another century ride for us. We rode 105 miles from Steamboat Springs to Breckinridge. I rode with Mike from Maryland and Kyle from Purdue. Both guys have had various bike problems so yet haven't logged as many miles this trip as others so I enjoyed pushing them on our long ride. We finished as the 3rd pace line which was a big accomplishment, keeping a great pace the entire ride.

About ten miles left in the ride it started to pour down rain. We haven't seen rain since San Fransisco, so it was a surprising change of pace. While muddy and wet, it was fun and have everyone a little adrenaline push to finish.

In the evening we ate dinner with the Rogers family and then went back to our awesome lodging.

To cap off the night I rode with our project manager to scout the route for tomorrow. We figured out turns and checked for any potential hazards. It was great to spend a couple hours talking to Nick and it was awesome to stop at the top of a 12 thousand foot mountain in pitch black and just look out.

Tomorrow is a shorter ride, but thoughts and prayers are still appreciated.

Love & Honor,

Beau

 
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Dancing at our friendship visit
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Beautiful nightscape

Today was by far our quickest ride yet. We met up with Bruce Rogers, the founder of the Journey of Hope who rode the ride solo in 1987, as well as his son Layton who rode today, too. His wife, Sally and daughter, Madison also accompanied us this morning for our circle-up. We started riding at about 7:15am and were off the saddles by 10:00am. This has given us a lot of time to explore the beautiful city of Steamboat Springs.

We went to the Orange Peel Bike Shop shortly after we arrived where I added another laptop sticker to my collection along with a new pair of Colorado cycling socks.Our team has recently fallen in love with all of the cool socks we see along the way, and I guess it is a way that we can customize our look from the otherwise uniformity of our jerseys.

For lunch we dined at a local Mexican restaurant. While a little pricey, it was still very good and it was fun to sit on the patio and talk to passersby and tell them about the Journey of Hope and what we are doing this summer.

After many hours of much needed napping we headed to our friendship visit. Our meal was sponsored tonight by Mark Fitzgerald, a Miami alumni and one of the founders of our Pi Kapp chapter. The entire team got up and active and danced with the clients at the visit.

After dinner we had a little bit of free time so I performed some routine maintenance on my bike.

To cap the night off we were treated to ice cream and candy at Fuzziwigs, a local candy shop in town.

Tomorrow takes us 105 miles to Breckinridge.

Please pray for the team on our long trip tomorrow and thank you for checking in.

Love & Honor,

Beau

 
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Playing basketball at the Boys & Girls Club of Craig
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We received a great welcome into Craig
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Luke and I riding the tandem bike at our friendship visit

Today was much better on the bike. Unfortunately, we were still in the western desert of Colorado much of the time, but we had two friendship visits awaiting us in Craig that kept us moving. We had a tight rack point of 80 miles by 1:30pm today. I rode with Jeremy from Central Michigan and Austin from Florida State. Austin was slightly dehydrated and fatigued today, and after 66 miles we decided that it was best if he was racked for the day to rehydrate for the days ahead. Jeremy and I rode the remaining 6 miles to lunch, made our sandwiches, and rolled out to finish the 8 miles to the rack point by 1:30pm. We rolled up to the rack point at 1:29pm so we got to continue the last ten or so miles into Craig. It was a very fun ride and we really pushed ourselves at the end.

As a team we staged up and rode to the Craig Boys & Girls Club where we had ice cream, played a multitude of sports, and signed autographs for the youngsters at the club. We also did our empathy lesson called “Kids on the Block” puppet show for them where we taught them about understanding people with disabilities.

For dinner we went to the local park and dined with the Horizons group our people with disabilities. Not only did we have great food, but also there was an awesome water balloon fight at the end that cooled us down after the long, hot day.

To cap off the evening we made a McDonald’s run where we all just lounged for a bit before going to bed.

Tomorrow we head into the more scenic part of Colorado, but also there is a lot of programming and ride alongs.

Thank you for your love and support,

Love & Honor,

Beau

 

Today was a doozy. The ninety-six miles from Duchesne to Dinosaur can probably go in the books as most of the guys least favorite rides of the trip. We rode along Highway 40, which is a big trucking route for the oil companies. Many of the drivers were inconsiderate and it made for a stressful day of riding. At about mile 65 my derailleur hanger bent, but luckily we had just left a bike shop a few miles back. I was racked back to the shop and they fixed my bike in no time. I then joined Reggie from Iona and Kyle from Purdue as a sweep, leaving Doug from Northern Illinois and Blake from Texas Christian.

The extra 4 miles that I rode twice made today a century ride for me. After leaving Vernal and Niles behind at mile 65, It was nothing but desert for the rest of the trip. I thought we had left the desert behind, but I was wrong. Eventually there were fewer trucks, but traveling of chip and sealed roads does not make for a comfortable ride.

Once in Dinosaur, just across the Colorado state line, we were treated to dinner at the school by many of the locals. The town only has a population of about 350, but they all have big hearts and love having the team in town.

After dinner we went down to the BedRock and got root beer floats and milkshakes. This has become a tradition for the guys on the trip to find a local ice cream establishment in each town. It is definitely one that I enjoy!

Tomorrow takes us about 90 miles to Craig, the second of our ten days in Colorado.

Thank you for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers!

Love & Honor,

Beau

 

Today was such a beautiful ride. 90 miles through some awesome scenery put everyone in a great mood. The pictures that I took today will likely be framed someday and put in my future home.

I rode with Reggie from Iona and Alex from GA Tech today. Reggie unfortunately had to stop after about 20 miles due to a strained tendon in his leg. Alex and I then completed the climb up to 9475 feet. This was an incredibly steep grade, but a fun ride nonetheless. When we reached the top we could’ve walked up about 200 feet and touched snow; it was that cold on top of the mountain. We then had a very long descent and averaged about 26 mph the rest of the ride into Duchesne.

Once in Duchesne we went to their reservoir and had a great time on the beach snacking on chips and cookies provided by the local Chamber of Commerce. We were pleasantly surprised when we all got the opportunity to go tubing out on the water. It was a great way to unwind after a very long day.

For dinner the Duchesne Lions Club hosted us at the park’s pavilion. There was a tremendous meal of ribs, scones, salad, cheesy potatoes and about 3 square feet of brownies.

Utah has turned out to be a beautiful state and I have enjoyed nearly every moment of it!

Thanks for checking in on me!

Love & Honor,

Beau

 


 
Today was the first off day that we have had after ten days of riding, and it was awesome!
Technically it wasn't a day off because we had to ride 5 miles downhill with a full Park City police escort to breakfast at Whole Foods, but other than that it was an off day.
Breakfast was great, and then we quickly were driven back to our hotel, changed, and went to the Utah Olympic Park where much of the 2002 Winter Olympics occurred. This facility is now open all year. We all got to ride on the mile long bobsled track. It was a ton of fun, and much to the chagrin of my mother I filmed the entire trip down the mountain on video.
After we visited the Olympic Park we ate lunch at a local deli. The food was amazing, and we met former Ohio State and Cleveland Browns center Tom DeLeone at the deli. It's so neat to meet people all over the country and make a personal connection with them back to Ohio.
After lunch we went to a local bike shop and then back to the hotel for free/nap time. I made sure to take complete advantage of this time.
At 4:30 we were on our way to the Nation Ability Center. This center serves all ages and types of people with disabilities. Many of us brought our bikes and rode with some of the clients. We also got to explore the facility and pet their horses. I spent the majority of my time with a young man named Luke. He is about ten years old and does not have the ability to talk. We rode our bikes, pet the horses, and spent a good amount of time of the playground. I had the privilege to meet his family briefly and you could tell that they enjoy sending Luke to the Center so that he can get individualized attention and do many things that are not always possible for people with disabilities.
The rest of our night was given to us to regroup and get ready to get back on the bikes tomorrow.
Tomorrow is our last full day in Utah. I don't know where the time is going, but it is certainly passing very quickly.
Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers for our team.
Love & Honor,
Beau
 
Today was a very fun, very chaotic day.
We started the day by having breakfast at McDonald's to kill time before our friendship visit with the TRAILS organization in Salt Lake City. Trails provides people with disabilities the opportunity to do many outdoor sports, such as cycling and cross country skiing. We were fortunate enough to be able to test out some of the hand cycles; they are incredibly challenging but also a lot of fun.
We then dined at Whole Foods for lunch and departed for Park City. I was privileged to do a ride along with Jeff Perelman, a 5 time summer event Pi Kapp who also sponsored multiple meals for us. He was great to ride with and offered a lot of helpful advice for life on and off the bikes.
For dinner we dined at a pub in downtown Park City and then were able to wander around the town. It is a gorgeous city with a lot of awesome local shops. We got ice cream at a place called Java Cow, a little pricey but totally worth it.
When we arrived back at our hotel (our first in 2 weeks) a lot of us hit the pool and hot tub for the night. We sang, danced, played sharks and minnows and most importantly just had a great time winding down.
Today was our shortest day riding the bikes, but we have finally reached our crammed packed part of the summer. I am loving every minute of the trip and really looking forward to what else our great country has in store for us.
Thanks for checking in!
Love & Honor,
Beau
 
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In front of Lake Utah
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Friendship visit with the Children Tumor Foundation
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Dinner at Iggy's
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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
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Quite an Organ

Today we arrived in Salt Lake City after a 75 mile ride from Payson. I rode with Mike and Matt today, both of whom are from Houston. It is nice to finally get back to civilization after so much desert; we saw our first Walmart in a week today!

After we arrived in town, we are dinner hosted by the Christ United Methodist men and the Carpenter family on behalf of the Children's Tumor Foundation. We met Travis, an awesome 6 year old with neurofibromatosis. He has a tumor on over half of his body, but you would never know it. He was full of energy and so awesome and inspiring to be around.

After our visit we then went to lodging and got ready for dinner at Iggy's in downtown Salt Lake City.

Iggy's was awesome. We had great appetizers and main courses and it was an awesome environment. We were sponsored by a 5 time Pi Alpha, meaning he had done five summer events through Push America. He also rode along with us today and he can really push it on the bike!

After dinner we went to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints headquarters. It was an interesting lesson in Mormon history, and the buildings were beautiful. The chuch is located a block from the Capitol and it honestly outshines the nearby Capitol building.

After that little rendezvous some of us went and got gelato at local establishment and then drove up to the University of Utah's campus and overlooked the Great Salt Lake shortly before the sunset. We are in such a beautiful part of the country and I feel so honored and privileged to experience it!

Thank you to those who have sent mail to our mail drops for me, I love the encouragement and it is nice to hear from people at home! Please continue to pray for our team's safe travels; tomorrow we head to Park City where many of the Winter Olympic events occurred in 2002.

Love & Honor,

Beau

 

Today was a 80 mile ride from Delta to Payson. I wa da sweep today along with Mike from Maryland. There were 3 flats by pace lines in front of us that we had to stop for within the first 8 miles which made for very slow travel from the get go.

Eventually our whole team staged up about 4 miles out and rode in with Natalie, a 12 year old with CP on her sit down cycle as well as several ladies of a local cycling team.

We enjoyed a team lunch from ladies at the local senior center.

Following lunch we got to go to the laundromat which is a blessing after being in the desert for a week.

For dinner we had giant subs and then our weekly team meeting where we go over policies and procedures as well as a recap and foreshadowing of the weeks prior and ahead, respectively.

To end the night a large group of us walked about a half mile to a local dairy bar to get milkshakes. Nothing hits the spot quite like a strawberry milkshake after being in the desert so long.

Tomorrow we head to Salt Lake City and back into civilization so hopefully I will have lots of pictures to post and a lot to talk about.

Thank you for keeping the team in your thoughts and prayers.

Love & Honor,

Beau