Waukesha, Wisconsin

After a great day in Rockford, the team was taking a turn North to travel into Wisconsin for the day. We woke up at the Union building around 5:45 to get ready for our last 90+mile ride of the summer. After getting ready for the day the team went outside to see 35 McDonalds Steak Egg and Cheese bagels waiting for us. Thanks to Doug the team was able to switch things up this morning and have a different breakfast. The bagel was a nice change, and everyone was very thankful for Doug’s generous contribution. I rode today with Jeff Watson from Colorado University, and Jason Milliken from Miami of Ohio. I was riding with another strong pace line so I was excited to get in the 95 miles of the day. We started as the fourth pace line and quickly moved up as the second one and after 20 miles we arrived at the Wisconsin state line. As tradition everyone stopped and took their pictures with the sign. When I walked back over to my bike I realized I had a flat back tire so after changing it the three of us were back on the bikes. We kept a pretty steady pace throughout the day, but the crappy road conditions slowed us down a little bit. Having to go back and forth between the shoulder and road because of potholes and debris can get dangerous at times so that made the ride challenging at times.

Jeff, Jason and I talked a lot on the bike today, especially about how bittersweet being in D.C. is going to be. Another thing we talked about was how awesome our team is as a whole. In past years we were told that a lot of times cliques form within the team and thankfully that is something that hasn’t happened in our team. We have all stayed very close and I can honestly say I love hanging out with every single one of my teammates.

After 95 miles we arrived in Waukesha, Wisconsin, which is a very nice suburb outside of Milwaukee. After 11 straight days of riding we get the next two days off the bike so we will be staying at the same place for the next three nights. We are staying in a church, which is very nice so far. As soon as we arrived we were rushed to shower up and get ready so we could meet the lady who set up our events while we are in the area. Kathy has done a great job of keeping us busy while we are in Wisconsin. Although we wont be riding, our programming is increasing drastically. She showed us a lay out of what is going to be going on the next couple of days and oh boy, we are going to be busy. But before we could get into everything going on tomorrow and the following day we had to finish off today!

We loaded up in the vans and went over to the local mall for what was called a “girls night out.” When we arrived there were about 6 girls who we would be shopping with for a few hours. The team was split up evenly and was given about 1 ½ hours to hang out, shop and eat. Along with a few others, I got paired up with a beautiful young lady named Cate. As I was walking over to her I noticed a checkerboard orange and white Power T on her wheelchair and I got very excited. After asking her parents why she had the Power T on her wheelchair I was told that three years ago Cate connected with a member of Journey of Hope and instantly I knew they were talking about Houston Carbaugh. Houston is the former president of my fraternity and an all around great guy. When I was first getting ready for Journey of Hope I talked to Houston a lot and while doing so he told me about a girl he had met that he still keeps in contact with to this day and coincidentally enough it was this lovely young lady I met this afternoon. While walking around we all had an absolute blast. We went to Barnes and Noble and read her a book, went up and down the wheelchair which she loved, and made her a bear at Build-A-Bear which we named Giggles after her adorable laugh we heard very often. Our visit at the mall was absolutely amazing and I know I will remember meeting Cate for a long time.

 

We left the mall around 6:30 and drove back to lodging to enjoy the rest of the night as we wanted. Michael Walton and I went straight to the Laundromat to do some much overdue laundry. Our duffle bags sit in the bed of a truck for hours at a time every day and the humidity doesn’t do our clothes well. While at the Laundromat the two of us caught up, and I typed up some of the blogs I had been slacking on lately. Once all of our laundry was done we walked back to lodging and I look forward to just hanging out for the rest of the night. I would also like to say thank you to those who sent me packages in the last mail drop. Getting to lodging today and seeing mail waiting for you is a great feeling. So an extra thank you is necessary for my Mom and Lynne for the wonderful packages full of all sorts of goodies and Elisabeth for the awesome letter!

Tomorrow we have a full day of programming ahead of us that I am very excited for. We were told that wake up isn’t until 11:00 but I am sure that I will be up much earlier than that. Excited for a good nights sleep and some rest for my body after a long stretch on the bike.wau