Olathe, KS

Today was a short ride and an almost perfect ride until about 300 yards from the rack point we had a flat. The ride out of Topeka proved to be a tricky ride with lots of traffic lights and rush hour that kept us all on our toes. Once out into the countryside we all enjoyed some more rolling hills with a few moderate climbs before arriving at our rack point around 10:30.

For the most part we're always very safe on the road an obey all laws and traffic signals, however today we rode on a highway which had this sign...

This passed us at 25 MPH today!

Lunch was provided at our rack point and the team devoured Chipotle and a few dozen cookies before saddling up for the arrival. A short 2 mile police escort to the Olathe Stagecoach stop on the Santé Fe (the last working stagecoach stop on the Sante Fe) where we had the most warm welcome we’ve had all summer. The mayor of Olathe and director of independent living in Olathe spoke to us and the mayor declared July 19, 2009 Push America Day in Olathe.

The mayor and his sign language translator

Afterward we had an opportunity to walk the grounds of the stagecoach stop enjoying a horse drawn carriage ride and watching a blacksmith work. We hopped back in the saddle and headed to the Kansas School for the Deaf where we would be staying tonight and tomorrow night; we’re getting very spoiled with another night in beds.

Danny enjoying the stage coach ride

We had a real treat for dinner as the Texas road house donated dinner vouchers and we enjoyed an amazing steak dinner. We had the rest of the evening to relax and wander about the town, a few of us went and got coffee and then headed back to lodging to watch the replay of stage 13 of the Tour de France (Go USA!!!).

Topeka, KS

Our ride into Topeka started later than usual and since the day was only 60 miles we were able to take our time along the way and really enjoy the day. For some reason the random number generator seems to select me frequently and again I was chosen for sweeps. Brian volunteered to sweep so that he could ride up front for the TV arrival for his family who live in Kansas. I felt bad letting Brian ride sweep for me so I stayed back with the sweeps and Brian’s uncle Herald.
The ride was gorgeous and reminded me the rolling hills of Purceville back home that I frequented while “training.” We took our time and averaged about 15 MPH for the day and when we arrived had time for a nap before our 1PM TV arrival.

Topeka Arc Group Photo

A few of the guys catching a nap before our arrival

We arrived at the Topeka ARC, or Tarc and enjoyed a street carnival that they had put on for us with live music and games for the kids. We shuttled guys to lodging so everyone could shower and clean up and then returned to Tarc for a dinner with the Board of Tarc. All the guys enoyed playing on the new playground and swings and I made for some fun pictures.

Boys will be boys

After dinner everyone relaxed and enjoyed our beds and rested for our ride into Olathe, the last stop in Kansas.

Emporia, KS

Another day on the Journey of Hope, another century behind us and one day closer to our DC arrival we arrived in Emporia, KS today.

It was a slow moving day on the bikes due to wind and lack of crew vehicles we struggled to make it 10 miles without waiting for a crew van to jump ahead so we could continue riding past. The day began with us making excellent time but quickly began to drag on and by 11:45 we still had to go 22 miles to our rack point of 80 miles by 1 PM. We made the rack point and the Argetsinger family continuing their generosity took the entire team out to lunch at a historic restaurant in a very small town called Cottonwood Falls. Everyone enjoyed several helping of salad, lasagna, and dinner rolls that didn't sit very well after we got back on the bike and rode another 26 miles but tasted so good!

Waiting at a crew stop for vans to jump forward, I actually caught a nap at this stop.

Shadow Games

106.92 Miles

The total mileage for the day was 106.92 and we all felt great after having a few rough windy days in Kansas. I made a quick trip to the bike shop in town and had my bike tuned since I was having some shifting issues today. A potluck was sponsored by the Kiwanis club of Emporia and we enjoyed their company and giving us the opportunity to get to know them.

Terry at Dinner with the Kiwanis Club

Two news articles about the Journey of Hope, one of which has video.

Emporia Gazette

Evening News
(CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON ON THE RIGHT OF THE ARTICLE IN WINDOW!!!)

Day Off-Wichita, KS

A day off on the Journey of Hope is never truly a day off, but it was nice to give our bodies a rest. Today was awesome, and it all started with me waking up early to do laundry and finding out our hotel didn't have laundry in house but the hotel behind us did and was generous enough to let me use their facilities. The family that provided dinner at the bowling alley the previous evening had asked friends and family to help by doing a few loads of laundry and did the entire teams laundry; the people we meet are incredibly generous and willing to help in any way possible.

We all piled in the vans at 8:45 AM to head off to breakfast at the Aregetsinger house. The team dined like kings and had eggs Benedict, Einstein bagels, breakfast casseroles and every imaginable fresh fruit all while watching the Tour de France. Adam, who rode the Journey in 2005 is now a Shimano rep. and had a very cool bike with the brand new Dura-Ace component group and was kind enough to let me ride it; it's not every day that you get to ride a 7k$ bike! This truly made my day and everyone could tell that I was all giddy after and couldn't seem to hide my smile all day.

Immediately after breakfast we headed to Rainbow United an organization that is a summer camp for people with disabilities and focuses on singing, we were welcomed with three very fun songs and the entire team enjoyed their performance. We split up into the different classrooms with the children where I met Josh and Chris, two children with down syndrome that I spent most of the afternoon with. We ate pizza for lunch and afterwards had strawberry shortcake with whip cream for dessert that turned into a whip cream fight. After it was the teams turn to sing and being put on the spot we sang our fraternities song "The Rose," Backstreet Boys "I Want it That Way," and Aladdin's "A Whole New World." The Journey of Hope has become a cycling mens acappella group singing where ever we go.

I made a trip to the doctor in the afternoon to seek advice on my saddle sores and then had dinner with the board of directors for the ILRC, Independent Living Resource Center. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing and preparing for our long 100 mile day tomorrow.

Wichita, KS

Today was a mentally demoralizing day on the bike, battling against a strong head wind for 70 miles only to be racked before the rack point in order to make it to our lunch friendship visit.

The day started off early as we left from Pratt to embark on what should have been a relatively easy 85 mile day. Right as we left we felt a strong head wind and immediately knew we were in for a long day. I also swept, AGAIN today and was in a pace line of three which made battling the tough head wind much more difficult. We pushed each other and actually caught the pace line in front of and rode within eyesight of them all day.

To make matters worse there were only three vehicles in rotation which meant that cyclist could only be spaced 30 miles apart which seems like a lot but on a day like today where groups were traveling at very different speeds it was tough to keep things flowing.

It was getting close to rack point and we were about 10 miles away when we were finally racked at 75 miles. It was unfortunate to not get to ride the whole way, but when you're a sweep things are out of your control and you really just have to go with the flow of things, it's somewhat liberating.

Close, but still got racked Bummer!!!

We arrived at the YMCA where we showered and unloaded our bikes. The team headed across the street to Homestyle Buffet where we met Arrowhead West of Wichita and had a delicious lunch with them. I've been trying to eat more reasonably since my body is becoming accustomed to riding everyday and not burning as much, but it's tough when you go to an all you can eat buffet. After lunch we went back to the Y and played games and enjoyed another incredible visit with Arrowhead West. I snagged some more blurry shots of us playing games, I met an amazing woman Carla who was a ton of fun to hang out with and was a natural at basketball.

Lunch at Homestyle Buffet

Playing Games


Carla shootn' hoops

Jeremy, our PM with a Patricia

Jeremy presenting a grant check to Arrowhead West

We stayed at the Fairfield Marriott and each of had our own bed which was a first for the trip and really helped me catch up on some needed sleep. Dinner was provided by the family of two Pi Alpha's and we had endless pizza from a sports bar attached to an awesome bowling alley. Everyone bowled a game of cosmic bowling and then headed back to our hotel for a team meeting before being dismissed for the evening. We caught a 10:15 showing of the new Harry Potter, "The Half-Blood Prince" which was a very expensive nap for me, it's tough to stay awake after riding for 6 hours a day and being awake for 20 hours; the parts I saw I liked a lot though.

I managed to find several articles in the news about previous cities we've been in.

Here's an article from Dodge City with Eric Galdo

and another from the Pratt Tribune

Pratt, KS

80 miles and it was a tough 80 miles. We woke up as usual at 5 AM packed our things and ate breakfast, but when it came time to leave the sun still wasn't up so we had to wait until it was light enough to ride.

Once on the road we faced a harsh head wind for the first 35 miles until we turned to have the wind at our backs, making the later half of the ride much easier; everyone needed it after the headwind.

We were told that if we to make the 80 miles before noon to lodging that we'd be able to shower and change into our "JOH Tux" (Khaki's and our red shirts) instead of having to wear cycling clothes all day, which was a big motivator on the road.

For lunch we had a friendship visit in town with Arrowhead West at the local teen center. We had an awesome arrival and they had made signs for us and were very excited to see us. They had subs and ice cream for lunch and afterward we played air hockey, pool, and some of the guys sang karaoke with the clients. This was a really neat friendship visit for me because I met a young man named Marty, who was non-communicative but Trevor and myself spent most of the visit it with him just tossing a pillow around. The joy that he expressed for us being there and just spending time with him put a smile on my face and really confirmed why were on this trip.

The afternoon was spent exploring main street and visiting a few of the small shops in town. Dinner was sponsored by the Pratt Archer club and we visited their property where we all had the opportunity to shoot several type of bows including recurve, long bow, and compound. They cooked us steaks and it was amazing! It was the first time I've had steak since I left and it really hit the spot. They also had homemade snickers and strawberry ice cream which we devoured.

We made the front page!

Although the ride was tough and tiring, the friendship visits really make up for all the pain we feel on the bike and helps get us through the day. I'm looking forward to tomorrow when we ride to Wichita where we'll be staying in a hotel and each of us will get our own beds, a real treat these days!

Dodge City, KS

Lets the Hech into Dodge!!!

Today we arrived in Dodge City, Kansas the famous gun slinging town of the west from Gunsmoke and also the metal packing capital of the US. Our day couldn't have started better with an awesome breakfast from the comfort inn where I ate entirely too much including an English muffin, yogurt, a waffle, and a banana-nut muffin.

Once on the road we faced a strong head wind all day but managed to complete the majority of our ride before 10 AM, we were all feeling the heat from the road as it continues to get hotter earlier everyday.

Saw this cool Dodge City sign on our way in and had to take a photo!

We arrived at Arrowhead to a very warm welcome from all the clients, Arrowhead is an organization that works with people with disabilities here in Dodge City. We ate lunch together and then played bingo for some of the afternoon. The team also had the opportunity to watch a ribbon cutting ceremony for a new gazebo funded by Push America.

Lunch with everyone!

For some reason the camera is handling inside photos well (probably user error). Here are some more photos, unfornately they're blurry but better than nothing.

This evening we visited boot hill which is a living museum of Dodge City and had an opportunity to visit the museum, a saloon with a musical, and an awesome dinner that really hit the spot. All of this was sponsored by a Grandmother of a Pi Alpha, Donna, who also made homemade cinnamon rolls and brought us fresh fruit for breakfast tomorrow.

The meal and evening really energized us for what is sure to be a tough ride tomorrow if Kansas holds true to its windy reputation.