Park City, Utah

After a great day in Salt Lake City yesterday, the team was excited to keep the trip moving and head into Park City, just 30 miles down the road. Our day started a little bit different than usual, starting with a wake up of 6:30, which is about an hour later than usual. The team went over to McDonalds and has breakfast there, before heading over to a park for a programmed event. Usually we wake up early and ride, and then go to a friendship visit or other programed event, but today was an exception.

The team went to Liberty Park to meet up with an organization called Trails. Trails helps people with disabilities to activities they might not be able to do otherwise such as cycle, ski, and many other activities. Today they allowed us to try out their hand cycles, which were extremely neat to use, and put a strain on the upper body which I am not used to using while on my bike. It really brought a sense of empathy and understanding on the guys, especially when thinking that this is some peoples only option, and unfortunately they aren't able to use their legs to ride normal road bikes like ours, but they continue to persevere. After a great 1:30 in the park, the team road over to Whole Foods Market, where a sponsor was gracious enough to pay for the entire team to eat a healthy and delicious lunch before getting on the bikes to ride to Park City. 

such a great experience using a hand cycle! 

The team was joined by the 5 time Pi Alpha from yesterday, Jeff to ride along with us. The first thing standing in our way to get to Park City was Emigration Pass. Once we passed the Salt Lake City Zoo, Jeremy Osbourne from Central Michigan, David Iles from Iowa, and myself started climbing up this mountain. We ended up climbing around 2500 feet over 8 miles to get to the top. It is always a great feeling conquering a mountain, and even a better feeling going down the other side. After taking a couple group pictures on the top of the pass the pace lines split back up and began the decent. Once we got to the bottom our project manager realized we were in a crunch for time, so we had to all load our bikes up on the vans and get transported the rest of the way to Park City.

David Iles and I on top of Emigration Pass 

Probably the best part of the day was finding out we would be staying in a hotel. Nothing excites the team more than beds, nice showers and WiFi. We all had about an hour to shower and get ready to go get dinner. We went to a fantastic restaurant in what I assume was downtown Park City called Wasatch Brew Pub. The restaurant made us a great tossed salad, some of the best macaroni and cheese I've ever had, potatoes, pork and chicken. And not to forget the best root beer I've ever drank, which is home brewed in the restaurant. After a very fulfilling meal some of the guys headed back to the hotel while others stayed on main street to check out some sights. I decided to go back to the hotel to catch up on some things and catch up on some rest. 

I look forward to our day off of the bikes tomorrow in Park City, and to have a friendship visit again, something I know a lot of the guys have been eager for!