Sixty-Seven days after I left home for Oakland and sixty-three days after I started cycling over the Golden Gate Bridge, today I arrived at the United States Capitol.
The morning started like many others: a wakeup of 6:15am, a crew chief breakfast outside, and patiently awaiting the crew to mark our turns ahead. I rode today with Alberto from Iona and Chris from GA Tech. Our ride to stage up was only about ten miles and mostly downhill. A couple of miles in the team all waited at the Washington D.C. border and we crossed over it together as one team. It was awesome to all ride together one last time. We arrived at our stage up location at George Washington University in no time. Much of the team went to Starbucks in the interim, and we just hung out on the lawn together waiting to get in to double pace line formation. At about 10:30am we lined up in our double pace line for arrival. Chris and I decided to ride side-by-side which made the whole trip come full circle. We first sat by each other in Oakland at orientation the very first night. We have ridden together numerous times, more than any other teammate, so it was fitting to ride together one last time.
A little before 11:00am we set off for our final destination, the US Capitol. We hit every stoplight on the way there so we ended up a few minutes late. We rounded the corner a few blocks from the Capitol and could then see the massive crowd there to greet us. I could not help but smile thinking about all that we accomplished and all who were there to support us and cheer us on. We dismounted our bikes and walked them through our fans that were surrounding us on both sides. We made our way to the lawn, placed our bikes down, embraced each other and got into our picture formation.
The CEO of Push America, Chad Coltrane, welcomed our families and us to arrival. The top fundraisers for JOH and BAM were recognized, next. Then, each project manager got up and spoke about each route. Nick gave awesome remarks about our team: our trials and tribulations, but also our great successes. We then took one group photo with all of the teams and then divided up and took individual team photos. Once all of that fanfare was over we finally were able to greet our family and friends. There to cheer me on were my parents and sister, chapter brothers Mike, Ben, Tim, Cole, Justin and John, as well as Laura, Lucy, Holly and Cassie. We took a group photo or ten and then headed back to our hotel.
Once at the hotel I showered and then headed to lunch with my family and the Miami gang. We ate at Union Station at Pizzeria Uno. It was a delicious meal and it was great to catch up with everybody.
After lunch I walked with Mike, Laura, Tim, Lucy and Cassie to the Museum of American History. When in DC I think it should be a requirement to visit at least one museum. We saw the Presidents’ exhibit, the pop culture exhibit and the Wild West exhibit.
I walked back to my hotel with Laura and Cassie and got ready for the end of the summer banquet. I met up with my parents at the banquet where we then took our seats. The program started with the BAM team doing some camp songs that they learned this summer. We next heard from Chad Coltrane again as well as Pi Kappa Phi’s National President. Then, the Bruce Rogers Awards were awarded. The award recognizes the person who most embodies the values of Push America on each team. I could not be more proud of Michael Walton for receiving this award for the North team. He was the glue to our team this summer by keeping us accountable. He taught us the moves to our “Every Time We Touch” dance and was the first man out every morning to help start the day off on the right foot. To finish off the night the North team performed our dance to “Every Time We Touch” one last time.
For dinner my family and I headed back to Union Station and ate Chinese food. I LOVE Chinese food and had been craving it all day so my family obliged and let me eat whatever I pleased.
I spent the remainder of the evening hanging out in the hotel with my Miami friends as well as my JOH brothers.
The long summer is over, but I would not have changed one moment of it.
Tomorrow takes me back to Oxford for RA training.
Thanks for keeping the entire team in your thoughts and prayers all summer, we made it!
Love & Honor,
Beau
The morning started like many others: a wakeup of 6:15am, a crew chief breakfast outside, and patiently awaiting the crew to mark our turns ahead. I rode today with Alberto from Iona and Chris from GA Tech. Our ride to stage up was only about ten miles and mostly downhill. A couple of miles in the team all waited at the Washington D.C. border and we crossed over it together as one team. It was awesome to all ride together one last time. We arrived at our stage up location at George Washington University in no time. Much of the team went to Starbucks in the interim, and we just hung out on the lawn together waiting to get in to double pace line formation. At about 10:30am we lined up in our double pace line for arrival. Chris and I decided to ride side-by-side which made the whole trip come full circle. We first sat by each other in Oakland at orientation the very first night. We have ridden together numerous times, more than any other teammate, so it was fitting to ride together one last time.
A little before 11:00am we set off for our final destination, the US Capitol. We hit every stoplight on the way there so we ended up a few minutes late. We rounded the corner a few blocks from the Capitol and could then see the massive crowd there to greet us. I could not help but smile thinking about all that we accomplished and all who were there to support us and cheer us on. We dismounted our bikes and walked them through our fans that were surrounding us on both sides. We made our way to the lawn, placed our bikes down, embraced each other and got into our picture formation.
The CEO of Push America, Chad Coltrane, welcomed our families and us to arrival. The top fundraisers for JOH and BAM were recognized, next. Then, each project manager got up and spoke about each route. Nick gave awesome remarks about our team: our trials and tribulations, but also our great successes. We then took one group photo with all of the teams and then divided up and took individual team photos. Once all of that fanfare was over we finally were able to greet our family and friends. There to cheer me on were my parents and sister, chapter brothers Mike, Ben, Tim, Cole, Justin and John, as well as Laura, Lucy, Holly and Cassie. We took a group photo or ten and then headed back to our hotel.
Once at the hotel I showered and then headed to lunch with my family and the Miami gang. We ate at Union Station at Pizzeria Uno. It was a delicious meal and it was great to catch up with everybody.
After lunch I walked with Mike, Laura, Tim, Lucy and Cassie to the Museum of American History. When in DC I think it should be a requirement to visit at least one museum. We saw the Presidents’ exhibit, the pop culture exhibit and the Wild West exhibit.
I walked back to my hotel with Laura and Cassie and got ready for the end of the summer banquet. I met up with my parents at the banquet where we then took our seats. The program started with the BAM team doing some camp songs that they learned this summer. We next heard from Chad Coltrane again as well as Pi Kappa Phi’s National President. Then, the Bruce Rogers Awards were awarded. The award recognizes the person who most embodies the values of Push America on each team. I could not be more proud of Michael Walton for receiving this award for the North team. He was the glue to our team this summer by keeping us accountable. He taught us the moves to our “Every Time We Touch” dance and was the first man out every morning to help start the day off on the right foot. To finish off the night the North team performed our dance to “Every Time We Touch” one last time.
For dinner my family and I headed back to Union Station and ate Chinese food. I LOVE Chinese food and had been craving it all day so my family obliged and let me eat whatever I pleased.
I spent the remainder of the evening hanging out in the hotel with my Miami friends as well as my JOH brothers.
The long summer is over, but I would not have changed one moment of it.
Tomorrow takes me back to Oxford for RA training.
Thanks for keeping the entire team in your thoughts and prayers all summer, we made it!
Love & Honor,
Beau
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