Ann Arbor, Michigan

Woke us this morning in our hotel and did not want to get up. I went to bed a little bit later than I wanted to because I was working on my bike. I got out of bed and went through my normal routine to get ready for a day of riding. Once I got my luggage out to the vans and pumped up my tires I sat down on a couch in the lobby and waited for everyone. There has been a bug going around the team and I have been doing a pretty good job avoiding it until today. While sitting down, Nick came up to me and realized I was under the weather and told me to sit the day out to rest up for Ohio. So unfortunately I missed a day on the bike and had to ride in the van for the day. I napped for most of the day and then after about another hour we arrived in Ann Arbor and made our way over to the Pi Kappa Phi house at the University of Michigan. While there we ate some lunch and put our bikes inside where they were going to be kept over night. By the time all the cyclists got in we were running out of time so we made our way over to lodging at some of the University dorms and had to get showered up.

We had two friendship visits today, the first being with PEAC, which helps all people learn how to ride bikes safely. We rode with one of their classes with participants skills ranging from very good riders down to a boy who earned how to ride on his own for the first time today. It was awesome to se the smile on his face when the instructor let go and he pedaled on his own. Another thing we did while we were there was split up into groups and do community rides. With Luke, Michael, Colin and a girl named Katelyn we rode around the neighborhood and worked on making calls. Katelyn is a 12 year old with Spina Bifida. She is a prime example of someone who instead of letting a disability effect them, they adapt. Because of her disability she uses a hand cycle, and she is pretty darn good at it. We all had a lot of fun hanging out with her and the rest of the participants at PEAC and this organization is one that I know will continue to grow. 

David Iles riding a tandem bike with Ben

In between our friendship visit with PEAC and our next one, the guys headed back to the dorm to rest up and hang out. I went to my room and ended up watching Tennessee Football videos which got me very excited for the fall. Around 5:30 we met downstairs and loaded up in the vans for our second visit of the day at the Eisenhower Center, which serves people with brain injuries. While there we planned to eat dinner, and participate in what the center called Mock Rock. There were several groups which planned danced and would then be judged on them. Our team had two dances, one with the song "Single Ladies" by Beyonce and the second being "Every time We Touch" by Cascada. Although we didnt win, the JOH team always has a blast when it comes to dancing and it was awesome to see the clients get out there and dance after working so hard on their routines. 

I feel like on this trip we are always hungry even though we eat so good at sponsored events so once we got back to lodging and changed about 20 of us made our way over to Buffalo Wild Wings for boneless wing. Wings are one of my favorite food and we have yet to eat them thus far on the trip so I was very excited. It was nice to hang out with some of my teammates in such a chill environment for a little bit and we all left very satisfied. Once getting back to my room and hung out for a little bit and then went to bed. We leave Michigan tomorrow to head to Ohio. Excited to ride through another state, but I am not thrilled that we are getting so close to arriving in D.C.