7/25/08 Shreveport, LA

Oh, man, we had such a bad start today. It's kind of confusing so stick with me. Instead of eating the continental breakfast provided by the hotel, we were going to bike 4 miles out of the way to eat breakfast a diner cooked by a Pi Alpha named Tim. So 8 miles with no forward progress, ok. However, Tim was not able to get in touch with the diner's manager to open the restaurant and so ran to Wal-Mart to get donuts, bananas, and juice. So we arrived to find less food than we usually get from a crew chief breakfast. It got worse when we learned that: a) he never called us to tell us not to come because the diner is closed, b) the Wal-Mart is across the street from the hotel, c) Tim stayed in the hotel with us, or d) all of the above. The answer is d), and we were all upset with him to say the least.
We got red flagged for a bit on the ride because the hand cyclist from yesterday rode with one of the back groups and was having some derailleur problems that slowed them down. It was nice to hang out at the stops and goof off for an hour and a half. Because of time, we had to rack to stage up and then rode an escorted arrival to the Shriner's Children's Hospital where we met some really cool kids. Some only spoke Spanish and I had the opportunity to sound like an idiot with them. We ate lunch at the hospital cafeteria (actually it was really good) and then played with the kids until it was time to go. Matt and I were able to finish a puzzle of a bunny just in time...

7/24/08 Longview, TX

I swept today because no one else wanted to and was surprised with an arrival! Sweeps ride at the front of an arrival. The ride turned into a hundo but it went fast considering. Lunch at mile 70 helped to break up the trip. Texas is now rolling hills and pine trees and humidity. Lodging at a Marriott and a big steak dinner. We meet one gentleman at dinner who uses a wheelchair in is handcyclist. He let us try his bike and it was pretty neat. I can definitely imagine a serious arm workout coming from it.

7/23/08 Terrell, TX

My new wheel is working fine, no problems at all! A quick ride and nice lodging at a Super 8 Motel. The team ceremoniously destroyed my old, cursed wheel in the parking lot. After showers we headed over to a TA truck stop for a buffet lunch with the Terrell Lions Club. They were very gracious to us although we did have to sit through a long-winded speech by some kid from the 4-H club. After it all I still don't know what the organization does, but I do know every position that kid has held in 4-H. Apparently the group was started by a bunch of kids who wanted to crow corn better....
We did a KOB at day care and headed back to the motel for some downtime. Dinner was at Terrell Hospital. The facility is an interim location for people who may be a danger to themselves or others; for example, substance abusers or those with emotional problems. We had Texas Blue Bell ice cream for the first time and is the best ice cream I've ever tried. Way to go Texas.

7/22/08 Dallas, TX

The team began the day off with breakfast burritos and Toy Story, so I would say it was a good start. Our first friendship visit was at a church with toddlers with disabilities. It was my first experience with indiviudals with disabilities at such a young age. Behaviorly, you wouldn't be able to tell a difference. There were about a dozen kiddie pools and slip n slids set up in the yard and we had a blast. I splashed with a kid, Freddy, for about an hour until Peter hit another kid, Jeremy, in the eye accidentally with a frisbee. From then on, Jeremy and I waged wars on the rest of the team by filling up buckets of water and dumping them on everyone. Needless to say, it escalated quickly and pretty soon everyone was soaking wet.
The day was based around water events and from the church, we headed over to the Six Flags water park, Hurricane Harbor. Drayton, PVO, Curphey, Ciani, and I were paired up with a girl with a visual disability and her siblings. Samantha had the opposite of tunnel vision and couldn't see straight out of her eyes but was able to enjoy all the rides fully. Vanessa, Christina, and Gilbert (her sisters and brother) all had a blast with us as we had some sweet water slides.
Dinner was sponsored by a former Pi Alpha, Randy Stillinger, who is now an officer in the Army. We went to Humperdinks Brewery and I was able to chow on a cheesesteak, a JOH delicacy. The resataurant even made up neat JOH specific menus for us. Randy still had one more surprise for us after dinner: Whirly Ball. No one had heard of it before but it is about as awesome as wheelchair basketball. Try to stay with me as I explain it. It is a combination of lacrosse, polo, and basketball but in bumpber cars. We each have our own bumpber car and a hand held scoop. About six or seven on each team. Goals are raised backboards with a circle cut out of the middle. The object is to whip the ball into the holes. You have only a limited amount of time to hold on to the ball and the cars do not have breaks. A crazy game with crazy fun.

7/21/08 Dallas, TX

A loooong 30 miles through the city! Fort Worth is connected to Dallas through Arlington, and we stopped 9 miles in for a second sponsored breakfast by the Arlington community. We did get a motorcycle escort for a few miles and that was really cool. The best part is not having to stop at the red lights, because those slow you down so much. We rode and staged up for a second arrival at the Bachman Rec Center. There we preformed KOB and had a short FV. Great success at the local bike shop were I was able to pick up a new rim for my bike! It was cheap relative to all the other rims in the shop (the first one I saw was $1099!) but still more than I had planned to spend on the trip.
We had really sad team meeting at the end of the day. Andy had to leave the team for a violation of Policies & Procedures and his best friend, Zack, choose to leave with him. Just in one day we lost two crew members. We now only have enough for one per van. I feel Zack's commitment should have been to the team and Push America over loyalty to his friend, but he has a good heart and I was sad to see him leave, he was my van driver. The same night we were informed that the Project Manager and a cyclist were sent home from the North Team.

7/20/08 Fort Worth, TX

Borrowed Drayton's bike for the ride today. Sean, a TCU brother who looks like Jesus, joined us for a ride along and we had a lot of fun on a speedy ride with rolling hills. Chipotle sponsored a lunch and arrival for us and it was really great treat. The TCU guys were there again and had outdone themselves once more, they made us shirts! They are JOH 2008 South Route specific shirts with sponsors on the back and everything. In addition, one of their guys is a runner and he gave us all dry-fit style triathlon shirts that feel great in this hot weather. They even had a mechanic in the parking lot to do minor repairs for us! What a welcome.
More nice surprises at lodging. It was my first time staying in a YMCA and I never though they were so nice! The Fort Worth one has a beautiful facility and even had massage therapists on staff for us! I had my first massage and it was one of the most painful experiences ever. The reason was that each therapist only had about 15 minutes with us and our muscles were so tight from weeks of riding. My lady attacked my legs and neck; I couldn't breathe at all! It felt really good afterwards though.
We played wheelchair basketball against the University of Texas Mavs and were dominated. These guys were jacked and could somehow move from baseline to baseline without spinning their wheels once with their arms--just moving their bodies! I've never had more fun playing a game of sport than I do playing wheelchair basketball, it is truly a great time.

7/19/08 Stephenville, TX

Welcome to the cowboy capital of the world! Last leg of the triple crown today, and I was able to ride Noah's bike after he racked for knee problems about 45 miles in. I wanted to be on everyone else's level, just as exhausted, so I pulled 46 miles for my group---that did the trick! Noah's bike is nice and I was feeling really good. We had a lunch sponsored by the Pi Kapp chapter at Texas Christian University (TCU) and they were real good to us--brats! The TCU brothers were really nice and their chapter consistently raises the most money for Push America (not counting JOH fundraising), around $20,000 annually from what I heard.
The perfect way to cap the last few days of long mileage was to see Batman: The Dark Knight. Stephenville bought tickets for the team and we had a great, relaxing night. The movie was fantastic; Heath Ledger pulled off a convincing Joker and I would strongly recommend it.

7/18/08 Abilene, TX

I think windmills actually make for pretty scenery. There are very many dotting the landscape around this area of Texas, and this has been the only time that I have been unhappy to see them turn because that means winds for us! I read in an Abilene newspaper that there will be a $5 billion wind-power network built in the area over the next five years. It is nice to see a region built on oil invest in alternative energy. I started the day off great, pulling for about 26 miles and reaching 21.5 mph uphills. However, I did break a spoke and was unable to retrue the wheel when I replaced it. The reason I wasn't able to true the wheel was that the rim had begun to crack around the spoke nipples and needed to be replaced a long time ago.
The team was busy with two friendship visits before we even reached lodging. Lunch was at a BBQ sauce factory and chocolate bakery that is staffed by people with disabilities. We were lucky to try the sauces on our food (very good) but unfortunately the bakery was closed to us. I danced with few friends at our next visit, held a a community center. I shared a song with the talented dancer, Rosemary, and sat with her as we watched a KOB presentation. Lodging was generously provided by Hardin-Simmons University.