Ok, so this is my first time I've had access to Wi-Fi since my last journal entry. In fact the only way I have internet now is because I'm sitting here in a McDonald's in Needles, CA which has got to be one of the hottest places in the US. When we finished our ride today it was 112°. Alright, I'll pick up after my previous journal entry.
On Tuesday, June 14th we had our longest day yet and we climbed the largest coastal peak in the contiguous 48 states, Big Sur. I climbed 7700' feet over the course of that day's ride. This day didn't turn out to be as bad as I expected, this probably had to do with the awesome views of the Pacific Coast we had the chance to see as we rode.
Wednesday our friendship visit consisted of spending lunch with a local Special Olympics organization in Santa Maria after cycling from Cambria that morning. Getting a chance to play different games including soccer, ultimate and softball was an awesome experience along with the tasty subs that they sponsored as well.
The next day we cycled to Santa Barbara and had the wonderful opportunity to eat lunch at the Jodi House and get a chance to meet some of the people there. This organization works specifically to assist people that have suffered from some variety of traumatic brain injury. They help adults that may have suffered from a stroke, received their injury because of an auto accident, along with other reasons as well. This center was started by the mother of a college student who received a severe injury when she was hit by a drunk driver while she was walking down the side of a street. Because she was at the age that no youth centers would accept her for treatment, her mother sought out any kind of place that would agree to care for her. Sadly, no place existed. As a result, Jodi's mother ended up creating her own place to care for her daughter, and soon after other adults with brain injuries. While Jodi is no longer alive, her mother and the center continue to care for a large number of individuals who come there and partake in a variety of different social and therapeutic activities. James, one man I talked to for a while during lunch was active in the ceramics programs offered by the Jodi House (and partially funded by a grant from Push America). Also, he was employed by the FAA for the local airport. Learning about the awesome abilities many of the people at this center was incredibly inspiration for me.
On Friday June 17th, we had our first day off from cycling. While this might sound like we didn't do anything that day, in fact we had a pretty full schedule; although sleeping in until 9:30 was awesome! The latest wake-up for the trip up until that point had been 5:30am. That morning the cyclists assisted with a biking camp that the Down Syndrome Association of Santa Barbara County had been putting on that week. This camp utilized bikes that were adapted for those children participating in the camp. The first few days, the camp organizers used bikes with a very wide rear wheel that allowed the children to focus on basic aspects of cycling without worrying about the risk of falling from imbalance. But, during that week, they had progressed to bikes with decreasing width rear tires. Because this was the last day of the camp, almost all of the participants were able to ride on a traditional bike. My job as a volunteer for the camp was to assist those cycling around the gymnasium in regaining their balance should they begin to fall. Let me tell you, this was tough work! This required lots of running as I had to keep to their side as they pedaled around on a set course. Sometimes they would veer towards a wall; this led to some near-misses and a few gray hairs on my head haha. After the camp had concluded, there was a ceremony recognizing all the children that had participated along with the Journey of Hope volunteers. I watched proudly as Liezel and Holly (two of those I had guided as their lost their training wheels) were recognized for their accomplishments. Right after the ceremony had commenced, all of us left to meet a group that was camping at a local park right beside the Pacific Coast. At the campsite, I assisted Eric put together his unique tent called the "Tent Cot". This was a pretty sweet design that I had never seen before in all my years of Boy Scout outings. He and his father were both active outdoorsmen. His father parasails regularly near Big Sur.
Saturday morning we departed Santa Barbara for Thousand Oaks. This 72 mile ride started out as a pretty simple task; Scotty Hamilton and I were cycling between 20 and 25mph for much of the day. But, a incredibly steep, seemed to materialize out of nowhere right at the end of the ride. This three-mile hill behemoth strained my body more than any previous point of this trip. One mile of this stretch was never less than a 10% uphill grade. In fact, a couple instances my GPS bike computer recorded grades as high as 21%! (although I somewhat doubt whether it was quite that steep haha). It didn't help that we got our first taste of the desert as we left the California coast and began to head east.
On the morning of the 19th, we left the YMCA we stayed at in Thousand Oaks and headed for Rosemead, which is a suburb on the north side of Los Angeles. Towards the end of this ride, we got to experience true city cycling for the first time on the trip. The last 15 miles of so of the 65 miles ride we had to maneuver through the congested streets of Los Angeles and its surrounding areas. I learned a couple years ago when my family vacationed in LA that traffic is simply horrendous at almost all times of the day. Now Bradley Fleck, Matt Calardo, John Roman and myself got to experience that on bike...and at rush hour in the morning. But, at least we did not end up cycling through Compton, as some of the cyclists had joked about how they thought that would be a little interesting. I considered the idea, but only if I was able to ride a different bike for that stretch - one that could get stolen and it not matter too much haha. For lunch a couple local people with disabilities came over to where we were staying. One of them, Elliot, had been in a number of different TV shows including Glee and Grey's Anatomy. Also, he had been able to get a private tour of the White House. I felt honored to have met such an important person! That evening for dinner we went to a local home of a Pi Kapp that had previously done Journey of Hope in 2005. The Mexican food they served in their backyard was delicious!
The next day was our second day off from cycling. For brunch we went to IHOP and enjoyed a nice big meal there. I couldn't decide on one thing to get, so I got the Split Decision. But, being the picky eater I am, I didn't want the sausage links or eggs, so I had my own "Split Decision" of extra bacon, pancakes and french toast. Also, I couldn't decide on just one syrup, so I went with a combination of traditional, blueberry and strawberry all melded into one tasty mix. The only way I could rationalize eating a meal this fattening was the fact that I was burning thousands of calories all the other days thanks to the cycling. Later that afternoon, we all loaded up in the vans and traveled over to Ability First. This is an after-school organization that primarily works with school-aged children in helping them develop their social skills by interacting in small groups of other children overseen by a volunteer. After we got a turn of their facility, we helped set up for the carnival they were putting on for the children of that organization and another local branch of Ability First. They certainly turned this into a full-scale event with lots of games for those in attendance, snow-cones and popcorn being served, along with face painting all managed by Journey of Hope participants. In addition, one of the center volunteers played some dance music and many of the children there got pretty into it! Many of them knew the Thriller dance far better than I did, and some of them were even break dancing. That evening me and a few of the other guys traveled from our lodging and went to Hollywood Boulevard to check out the city a little. We walked along the sidewalk there and I got my picture with a few of the stars on that walk. Later on we drove up the windy road that leads to the Hollywood sign. As it was already dark when we got to the sign (and for some reason it is not lit at night), we were unable to get any quality pictures with it in the background.
On the 21st, we left Rosemead and traveled a full 36 miles to Ontario. Compared to some of the other rides we had up to that point, this was nothing. About the first half of it was on a bike path, which made it even easier as we didn't have to worry about watching out for vehicular traffic. After getting settled into our sweet lodging for that evening, The Doubletree Hotel (aka not a high school gym), we attended a City of Ontario Town Council meeting. One of the members of the Town Council is a Pi Kapp. At that meeting, the mayor of Ontario presented us with a Certificate of Recognition because of the positive effect we had on his city!
On Wednesday we left for Victorville. This was probably our toughest ride up to that point. Not only was the temperature continuing to climb day after day (at lunch it was around 105), we had to deal with the other type of climbing - lots of elevation ascent. The hardest example from the day was a 10 mile stretch that increased over 1800' during that span. I just kept my pedals moving along at an even pace even though I had no idea when this continuous climb would end. We were rewarded with a pretty sweet downhill on the other side of the crest; I hit 43mph without even pedaling very hard.
Thursday we had a pretty easy ride going into Yucca Valley. It was flat pretty much the entire way, so we were able to average 20mph or higher for most of the 75 mile ride. I bought a pretty sweet American t-shirt at Walmart that I am looking forward to wearing on 4th of July. That day we will be in Reserve, NM. I don't know much about it, but I'm sure they will be shooting fireworks there so that's all that matters
On the 24th, we cycled to Twentynine Palms which was only a 21 mile ride (our shortest so far, and probably the shortest we will have all summer). Since it was pretty much all downhill - there was only about 200' of ascent that whole day - my paceline (consisting of Cody Poplin, Patrick Sullivan and Alex Everline) and I were able to average 21.6mph. So, if you do some simple math, that results the total riding time being just under an hour - a luxury that will be enjoyed no other day on this trip I am sure. That day was the first time that a crew member participated in a "Ride Along" with the other cyclists. Addison rode Graham's bike for the day. That evening we visited Joshua Tree National Park nearby. Climbing up some of the rock formations there provided us with some pretty spectacular views of the surrounding "forests" of Joshua trees and desert.
Today (at last!!) our destination was Needles, CA. But, before we could reach this lovely little resort in the middle of nowhere we had to cross the Mojave Desert...approximately 100 miles of it. Needless to say, this was one of our toughest rides. Riding a century is tough on its own; adding in the temperature at the finish (112°) didn't exactly help either.
You will notice some of these days do not include any mention of a friendship visit we got to partake in. Unfortunately many of these smaller, more remote areas do not have organizations that work to assist people with disabilities. So, on those days primarily consist of only biking. Although over the years the Journey of Hope has been organized there has been a substantial increase in programming in this area of the country which is very positive to see.
Hopefully I will have more regular internet access from now on, so I do not have to write these marathon blog entries. Maybe I can sneak away to McDonald's more often from now on; the Sweet Tea I'm sipping on now is starting to remind me of home all other good things Southern...Hope all y'all back home are doing well! Shout out to my cycling group back in Fuquay-Varina, The Spiritual Spinners!
Location: Needles, CA
Total mileage traveled: 540.5
Total calories burned: 31653
Today's temperature: 107°
Today's humidity: 3%
