Loooonng day. 6 am wake up for a practice pack and skills assessment. I had all this fear about a tough judging, but it was a piece of cake. Picked up a bottle on the bike on the first try, did some pacelining and changed my tire. Alot of my relief was lifted instantly. What was harder was getting 60 college guys organized for a picture! It took us almost an hour to PRACTICE for a picture at USF before going across the Golden Gate Bridge for our official team photo at Ft. Baker. We were freezing in our jerseys but the view was spectacular. In one horizon Alcatraz, the GGB, Sausalito, and the coast of North San Fran were crammed. My PKP brother from Virginia Tech Ryan Cole and I used the opportunity to take photos with a sweet VT flag.
We ate lunch at USF after the photos and headed to the Janet Pomeroy Center, which is a very nice facility that provides programs for people with disabilities. On our tour we got see classrooms for art, music, theatre, cooking, a basketball court, a weight room, and a 90 degree therapeutic pool. 90% of the JPC attendees do not have to pay a dime to use the Center. Suprisingly, one of the original units there was a playground that had been built years ago by Push America! Following the tour, we all played basketball against the undefeated JPC Wildcats. Maybe instead of biking we should be shooting hoops because they whooped us 46-6! The best part was a half-time dance party.
I was fortunate enough to meet some really great people at the Janet Pomeroy Center. Andy was the first to greet us. He was fine until he recieved a traumatic head injury a few years ago. He would jog around the Center and tell us the same story every five minutes. Word for word. "You got on short pants, doin' it right, doin' it up right. Thanks for comin'. You ever been to Stern Grove, San Francisco? Real foggy. My parents raised seven there, six guys and my sister. I've been off booze and cigarettes for two years now. My uncle died of booze and my father lost a lung from cigarettes." (It seemed his only vice now was a handful of Snickers bars). "Lord, when you gonna send me a pretty girl? I've been lookin'. Well, come back y'hear?" Every time.
Waiting for food, a woman named Susan entertained us. She lead us in a variety of lectures, warnings, prayers, and called on Shef to make a speech on the spot. He had no idea what to say and it was pretty funny. She also coordinated rousing versions of "take me out to the ballgame," "Oh, Say Can You See," and "America the Beautiful." In return, we sang her the rose.
One man named Don, was a blast to talk to. From his wheelchair, we discussed the NBA playoffs and joked with Pace about him being robustly sized. Don told us he had lived in San Francisco his entire life, but had been to Texas to visit his uncle. He was a real easygoing guy posed for pictures. Overall, for our first friendship visit, it was a success!
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