Day 70
August 10th, 2007

After thunderstorms last night the weather has finally cooled off. I decided to sweep today. The ride was suppose to be our last long ride at 80 miles however, it turned out to be much shorter because we stayed at a different place than was originally planned. Riding along highway 1 in Virginia is a lot like riding your bike through a high school American history class. Every few miles there was a sign on the side of the road with text describing significant events in American history that took place at that spot. We rode by a lot of battle fields from the Civil War. Once into Fredricksburg we set up our lodging at the Fredricksburg Christian High School. After lunch I took a nap to rest us as much as I can for the next couple days. For dinner we headed down to the Fredricksburg Saturn dealership for a great BBQ with the local ARC and the big group of Pi Alpha riders. The Pi Alphas are cyclists who have rode the Journey of Hope before and have decided to ride the last stage this year from Richmond to D.C. At the BBQ we also met up with Charlie who is a WSU Pi Kapp who had been working hard at the national office to get media coverage for the Journey of Hope.

Day 69
August 9th, 2007

The day started off on the right foot with a great breakfast. We rode down the street to Country Cookin for one of the best breakfasts of the trip. They opened special just for us and had a wonderful buffet style breakfast. After filling our stomachs we hit the already hot road. Today's ride was about 75 miles and was just as hot as yesterday however, a lot of todays ride was thankfully in the shade. One the road today we were joined by Paul Drake. Paul has ridden the Journey of Hope 6 times! Once into town we had a massive police escort by 6 police cars. Two of the officers had also cycled the Journey of Hope. For dinner the team went to a sponsored meal at a local dinner. After dinner we all exchanged the gag gifts we had bought for one another. It was a lot of fun. After that a few of us went and saw the movie I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. It was a really funny movie.

Day 68
August 8th, 2007

After another amazing night sleep at the beautiful Hotel Roanoke we were ready for the long 110 miles ride, or so we thought. We were warned last night by some local Roanoke residents that today would be a hot one but it turned out to be one of the hottest of the trip. As the day matured and the sun sweltered to the mid sky everything became a little more difficult. Nothing can zap a cyclist's energy quite like the sun. A lot more dangers come into play when the heat index rises. Our primary concern for the say was dehydration. The crew was ready to fight this battle with water and Gatorade additive all the crew stops. As we rolled on through the day the heat from the sun and the reflected heat off the road combined with the high humidity forced a few riders off their bikes and into the vans. When the ride finally came to an end at the Days Inn in Farmville it was a dash to our air conditioned rooms for a cool shower. For the evening we headed to the other side of town for great friendship at an organization called STEPS. STEPS is a facility that caters to individuals with disabilities by providing jobs. The organization does government contracted piece work. The people who work at STEPS piece together military clothing and accessories. When we rolled up in the vans we were treated to a grand welcoming by all the people who worked at the facility. They treated us to a great BBQ and showed us a sweet new way of eating hot dogs. They put coleslaw on them? STEPS also gave us a really awesome gift bag with cool things sponsored by the community such as tshirts and toothpaste. After dinner we all went outside and played some fun games and danced for a while. We all had a great time, this was one of the best stops of the whole trip. After the dinner visit a few of us went to wash our clothes for the final days of the trip. After laundry it was back to our hotel for another night of being spoiled by sleeping in a real bed.

Day 67
August 7th, 2007

The day was started off the right way with yet another spectacular breakfast. We had a buffet style breakfast here at Hotel Roanoke sponsored by the family of a cyclist from last year's team. After breakfast we headed out to Camp Virginia Jaycees. To my surprise the camp was already inhabited by some familiar faces. The Build America team is staying at the camp this week and was working on some projects when we rolled up. It was great to see Shawn again. We spent some quality time mingling with the campers and having lunch. For the evening we headed over to Salem to watch a minor league baseball game. We had the pleasure to go onto the field and Marc threw the first pitch of the game. We were hosted at the game by the Xi chapter of Pi Kappa Phi of Roanoke College. It was a lot of fun to relax for the evening and watch the game. And for the first time this summer we didn't completely melt from the heat at the game and the home team actually won.

Day 66
August 6th, 2007

The best days are often preluded by the best breakfasts. For breakfast we returned to the campus dining center and had a spectacular buffet breakfast. Once on the road it was a quick and beautiful 45 mile ride into Roanoke Virginia. For a lot of the ride we followed a small river as it wound its way through the mountain side. In Roanoke we are staying the the Hotel Roanoke which is possibly the nicest hotel I have ever stayed in. Once into town a few of us headed to the bike shop. I picked up some tubes to be prepared for the last stretch of the trip. In the evening we headed out to a local roller skating rink to skate it up with some fun people from the Down Syndrome Association of Roanoke. I quickly realized that I never really learned how to use roller skates and it showed. After making a fool of myself I headed to the ball pit to have some fun with the kids who decided not to skate. It was a lot of fun.

Day 65
August 5th, 2007

Without a doubt today's ride was extreme. It was the most difficult day of riding second only to a horrible headwind day in Wyoming. It was the highest elevation we have hit since Colorado. The ride also had some of the biggest down hill sections of the whole trip. And it was beautiful! The ride into Blacksburg was a 85 mile day with 10 miles cut off the end for a road that was less than friendly to cyclists. At no point in the day was the road flat. It was either a hard climb or a white knuckle down hill. Once into Blacksburg we had a fun arrival for the local Pi Kappa Phi members. A cyclist on our team, Marc Saint Raymond, went to school at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. For lodging we were put up in one of the school's dorm buildings. Unfortunately the building did not have air conditioning. A few of us toured around campus for a while. Virginia Tech's campus is absolutely the most beautiful campus we have seen so far on this trip. We also headed down to the stadium to check out the football field. For dinner we ate at the school's dining center which had some of the best college cafeteria food I have ever had.

Day 64
August 4th, 2007

The locals told us that today and tomorrow were going to be the most difficult days of riding of this half of the trip. They were not far from wrong. The day had a lot of hills with a lot more climbing than going down. Today was the day we hit the real heart of the Appalachians. The 75 mile ride really was not all that bad until the last 15 mile stretch that had some really steep climbs that put a lot of the riders into exhausted mode. Once into town we moved into some great lodging at the dorms of Mountain State University. The town of Beckley was really glad to have us. For dinner we had a great meal at the Mountain State Center for Independent Living. Unfortunately I forgot my memory card in my camera at the dorm.

Day 63
August 3rd, 2007

After a early morning wake up and a lack luster crew chief breakfast we were on the road. Today's ride was not long at all. It was only about 40 miles. Nick Cramer and I decided to ride together today by ourselves because we did not want to be in a large group on the narrow winding roads at the foothills of the Appalachian mountain range. Overall the ride was really short and easy, we will hit the actual climb into the mountains starting tomorrow. After a short stage up we had an arrival at the Charleston West Virginia Children's Therapy Clinic. The clinic offers free physical therapy to children of families who can not afford the treatment they need. It was a fun time touring the facility and meeting some of the kids who use the clinic for therapy. For lunch the Clinic fed us some pizza. I sat with a young four year old named Emma. Emma's mom helps run the facility. I also met Molly whose mom is the only other regular employee of the center. Molly is 1 year old and did not have much to say. Emma on the other hand was a very talkative little girl, Watch out Amanda. After lunch we headed over to lodging and had a great break time that most of us used to take a nap. Dinner was delivered to us. It was a great meal of Olive Garden salad and Pasta! After dinner a few of us went to the cinema and watched the Bourne Ultimatum. It was a great final movie in the series.

Day 62
August 2nd, 2007

After an early morning wake up and check out from the dorms at Morehead we headed down to a sponsored breakfast at McDonalds. It was a great day on the road. The ride was about 80 miles and continued to display some beautiful countryside. Early in the day we passed by this used car dealership that I thought had an amusing name. I am not sure I would buy a car from Mr. Lying Lee. When we were passing through one of the small towns and stopped at a crew stop getting some more water a man approached us wanting to do a radio interview on us. Media is not rare on the Journey of Hope but this was slightly unusual to have a person approach us to do a story. Jake did the interview. At the last part of our ride we left Kentucky and entered West Virginia. After a couple of days in West Virginia we will head into our last state on Virginia. Only 10 days left! I am excited for the trip to end but I really do not want it to at the same time. I am having the time of my life out here on the road. Once into lodging at Huntington High School we had to do a bunch more media stuff then we had a little break before dinner. For dinner we had a great friendship visit with Mountain State Center for Indipendent Living at a local park. They had a great catered meal for us by a local BBQ catering company. It was really neat to talk to some of the people about how the organization helps them live nearly completely independent lives. We also gave the organization a grant to help them improve their programs. After dinner a few of us headed to the mall to look around at the stores and pick out a gag gift for another member of the team.

Day 61
August 1st, 2007

Typically having a day off simply means that we are having a day off of cycling but today was an actual day off of just about everything. It was great to have very little plans for the entire day. We had a sponsored breakfast at the campus dining center then we had free time until dinner. Most of the guys used the time to catch up on things like laundry and bike maintenance. I went and got my hair cut and went to a movie. For dinner we were treated to a great meal at Buffalo Wild Wings. At dinner we all had fun playing the trivia game on the big screens.

Day 60
July 31st, 2007

The day's ride was about 80 miles and was absolutely some of the more beautiful riding we have see so far. We are starting to get closer to the Appalachian Mountain range and you can really tell. The Appalachian mountain foothills are not big at all but they are some of the more steep roads we have rode. Once at our stage up point outside Morehead Kentucky we met up with a few of the guys from the Morehead State University Pi Kappa Phi chapter. We then rode into town under escort to the campus center and dorms where we are staying for the next two nights. For dinner we drove to a park a few miles out of town to meet up with some great people for a few awesome friendship visit. I met some really nice ladies. The pictures are of Marc and Ethyl and Donna and I. They were both a ton of fun to talk with and share stories. I even convinced both of them to play a little baseball with the rest of the team.

Day 59
July 30th, 2007

another day another state.
We woke up nice and early and had some breakfast sponsored by an alum from the University of Miami of Ohio. We had to rack our bikes out of town because some roads in Cincinnati do not allow cyclists. Once we got to riding the roads were a little scary because of the cracks. I almost lost it a few times. Once out of the populated areas it was absolutely beautiful. Kentucky is easily the most beautiful area we have seen since Colorado. When we got close to Lexington we passed by a lot of huge horse farm estates. They all had giant green pastures and really old big houses. We also got to ride through Paris! And I took a picture of the Eiffel tower, but some people called it a water tower. Once into Lexington we had a great arrival at the people with disabilities resource center. Upon arrival we had a great mexican food lunch sponsored by a cyclist from last year's team. For the evening we had a big party at the center. A lot of people showed up for the event. There was a lot of things to do, anything form dancing to basketball and corn hole. They also had a great BBQ dinner for everyone. A great time was had by all.

Day 58
July 29th, 2007

The ride today was only 40 miles. The ride has without a doubt the steepest hill of the entire trip, it seemed to go straight up and straight down. Unfortunately on the down hill side there is also a really tight turn that caused a few wrecks. Luckily no one was seriously hurt. Once we arrived at lodging we were treated to yet another wheel chair sport, quad football. The game is played just like a traditional game of football but in a chair. It was a lot of fun and quite the work out. After quad football we headed to a Cincinnati Reds game vs the Chicago Bears. It was a lot of fun to go to a baseball game. I had never been to a professional baseball game outside of Seattle. It was cool to see Lou Pinella and Ken Griffey Jr who both us to be on the Mariners. Unfortunately the Reds lost to the Cubs but it may have been a good thing because I think there were a lot more Chicago Cubs fans in the audience than Reds fans. After the game we headed over to a local park for a great BBQ dinner provided by a previous Journey of Hope team member. At dinner we also got to play a great yard game called corn hole. It is like beanbag horseshoes.

Day 57
July 28th, 2007

The detour that never ended.
On the schedule it says that the ride was suppose to be 85 miles. Since the trip has never gone to Oxford before it was actually farther than that, plus there was a major detour which ended up turning our ride into what was looking like well over 120 miles. This unexpected added distance made it so no one was able to complete the ride on time and had to be racked up to Oxford. On the ride there we crossed the border into Ohio. We dropped our stuff off at our lodging and headed over to the Pi Kappa Phi chapter at Miami University of Ohio for some showers and a BBQ dinner. The Pi kappa Phi chapter at Miami of Ohio is really involved in Push America and often has many guys doing events in the summer such as the Journey of Hope and Build America. They had a lot of members out to greet the team. We hung out with them for the rest of the night.

Day 56
July 27th, 2007

Today we got the chance to sleep in a little bit before our sponsored breakfast at Marian. After breakfast a few of us watched a stage of the Tour de France. Then it was off to lunch at a very special friendship visit. We headed over to a facility called Noble of Indiana. The organization cateres to people with all kinds of disabilities and helps them by providing a great place to learn and hang out. Unfortunately I forgot my camera. The There was a lot of people there to greet us as we showed up. We had some BBQ for lunch and then headed around to different parts of the big building for games and crafts. I had the opportunity to hang out with a very special girl named Molli Noble. Her mother started the facility and Molli is now on the board. We first went to a room where we played Yahtzee! Then we went to a giant room dedicated specifically to painting. It was great. We painted a giant canvas with lots of color. For dinner we headed over to the house of one of the national Push America guy's mom's house. It was a great taco dinner!

Day 55
July 26th, 2007

Rain Rain
So I was kind of asking for it. I was just bragging the other day how wonderful it is to have such great weather. It rained the whole ride and stopped right when we stopped ridding. The day was started off with a great sponsored breakfast at the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity house at Indiana University. The ride was almost completely flat. In Indianapolis our lodging was at Marion College. Marion is the place that our cycling coach, Dean Peaterson, teaches and coaches. We stayed in the dorms where we each had our own bed and every two rooms shared a bathroom. Lunch was some delicious pizza at a local Indianapolis pizza place. They even had a special Journey of Hope cake! After lunch we headed back to the dorms and a few of us went out to do some errands to WalMart. For dinner we went to one of the local recreation center and had nice spaghetti dinner with a local power soccer team. Power soccer is a game of soccer played in a powered wheel chair. The chair is equipped with a metal guard on the front to hit the ball and protect you from being hit by other players. The ball was a little smalled than a beach ball but was hard much like a traditional soccer ball. We all had an opportunity to play the game but no one seemed to do all that well at it. It was a lot more difficult than it appeared to be. After dinner Andrew and I took a short ride across campus to the Marian velodrome (cucling track). A few groups were practicing. I was interesting to see how different this cycling is in comparison to what we do. After that a few of us went out for a late night snack. We went to White Castle. I had a few little mini burgers and some chicken rings. The food was disgusting! Absolutely the worst fast food I have ever had!

Day 54
July 25th, 2007

Another bright and early start to a bright and happy day! Breakfast was provided for us by Mr and Mrs Pontius who also housed us in their beautiful house. It was a great breakfast of bagels and eggs. The day's ride was a moderately easy 60 miles into Bloomington Indiana. Bloomington is the home of Indiana University. Once into town we had an arrival event at a place called Stone Belt. Stone Belt is an organization that caters to people with disabilities by helping with social abilities. Stone Belt had a great sloppy jo lunch waiting for us. After lunch they had a big carnival set up for us all to play games and enjoy they great day. They had many different stations set up such as bowling, bingo, volleyball and a dunk tank! I spent this time with a guy by the name of Wes. It was funny when Wes and I went to the dunk tank because the person over the pool was a crew member also named Wes. After the great friendship visit we headed over to lodging. While in Bloomington we are staying at the Pi Kappa Phi chapter house. The IU Pi Kapp chapter is HUGE! They have about 180 total members and 92 of which live in the giant house. Before dinner we had a little bit of time to check out the campus with a really special tour guide. Dr Phil Summers is a really well know Pi Kappa Phi who is a previous national president. He showed us the cycling track and a really cool walkway on campus dedicated to the school's greek chapters at IU. For dinner we had a really special dinner at the chapter house. Dr. Summers and the alumni fraternity sponsored the meal. Another special guest at the dinner was a Pi Kappa Phi member from Mercer who was 90 years old!