Delta, UT

The town of Delta was of similar size to Eureka, NV. The ride to delta was very interesting. The ride was pretty difficult because of the heat. We got to about mile 50 when we realized that some type of storm was coming our way. It just looked like a little rain shower. Instead it ended up being 30 to 35 mile an hour sandstorm tail winds which made the ride much easier and a lot of fun. But the whole team was soon racked due to visibility issues. Our dinner was provided by the local lions club chapter and we also performed Kids on the Block. I think I'm going to do a performance next time.

Baker, NV

I never would have thought that I would have gotten internet access in Baker, Nevada Population 53. We didn't have cell phone reception, but we did have internet access a little odd. A little coffee shop run by a couple of hippies had wifi. We also got to go to the Lehman caverns which was a lot of fun for the whole team. Lodging was provided by the local Baker community center. It got extremely hot, so we left the doors open, but a snake almost slithered in, so I was a little nervous sleeping that night.

Long lost relatives

We rode into Ely, and it was nice to see a McDonalds and some other store chains. Ely has a population of about 4000 so it was a regular rural town. We stayed at the local high school and dinner was provided by the high school student council. I met some relatives in Ely that I didn't know I had. It's nice to know that when you are traveling cross country that you have a relative nearby. So I met my father's counsin, which would make him my second cousin; John Borghoff. I also met his wife Alice Borghoff; who may be my second cousin removed? I'm just taking a shot in the dark on that one. Anyhow I met the both of them after dinner and we discussed some history of the Borghoff family that I had never known. I saw the resemblance of Glen; John's brother in him. John and Alice were very "outdoorsy" I feel like they traveled all over the United States. I hope to be as active as they are when I retire. Alice baked me some delicious oatmeal raisin cookies, which are actually my favorite.



I also forgot to mention that I won my first game of Euker the other night with the help of Uncle Jenkins. It took me a while to understand that game and I still don't quite get the beginning part.



I have also had a recurring nose bleed problem for the last couple days. It's not bad, but I wonder if it's the dry heat, altitude or a combination of the both

Eureka!

So we woke up in the small town of Austin. It was freezing out. I am having trouble understanding this Nevada weather. The terrain of our ride was not too bad, but having a headwind can make cycling extremely difficult.

Eureka was a nice little town. It even had an opera house. Lunch was provided a local diner called DJ's and they even gave us milkshakes. Dinner was provided by the local Lions club chapter, but I think everyone was still full the lunch at DJ's. Going into these small towns I wonder why people live here. I feel like some of these towns are a couple years behind the rest of the U.S. However, they seem to love it and it works for them. They like the feeling of wide open spaces. In fact one member from the Lions club said that if a stop light was put in the town that he would move out. Apparently Eureka is usually in the top ten for richest county's in america, mostly because of their local gold mines; go figure.

1st century ride

Today’s ride was a bit sad, not because it was our first day of riding over 100 miles, but because both the north and south teams went in different directions. It was bittersweet because we formed great relationships with the cyclists on the south route; however, we also knew that by splitting from the south team we would become closer with each other.

The first century ride was pretty difficult for most of the team, especially since a significant amount of our team has been either sick or injured. Some even suggested the 110 mile ride was harder than Kirkwood. One of the difficulties of this ride was the sheer boredom factor. We were on the “loneliest highway” in America; Highway 50. To keep ourselves entertained each pace line tried to think of entertaining topics to discuss. One pace line even sung the entire song of 99 bottles of beer on the wall. Another set of cyclists discussed everyone’s respective life story from birth to present day.

Dinner was excellent and it was provided by Beta Sigma Phi, which is a local women’s service fraternity in Austin, NV. The dinner was basically a Thanksgiving spread of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and loads of other items. I must say that the women were wonderful. The 110 miles took a toll on the North team so we decided to get to bed early at the Austin Town Hall in order to get back on the wonderful Highway 50.

Carson City

The ride to Carson City was pretty easy, it was about 35 miles mostly downhill and the only stop my pace line made was to take a picture of the Nevada state line. We had our first kids on the block showcase at the local boys and girls clubs. Kids on the block is a puppet show we perform to educate kids about people with disabilities. Since we had no riding the next day, most of us went out to discover the small capital of Nevada. Most of spent the night at the golden nugget casino. I learned a lot more about black jack and came out 17 dollars ahead.

Today we have another Kids on the block event and a local children’s museum, which was a lot of fun because we got to play their toys. Later on most of us did our laundry for the first time in the trip. It’s nice to have clean clothes.

I also want to add that I am having an amazing time on this trip. I already know that this trip will be an important time in my life where I will learn a lot about myself and things I need to improve upon before I enter the real world. This trip has shown me to never let a good opportunity pass you by. We head to Fallon Nevada tomorrow; hopefully the heat won’t be so bad.

It's all about the climb

Cycling 85 miles up a bunch of mountains is no easy task. But the ride was simply amazing. And I don’t care what anyone says about this country, it is absolutely beautiful. The ride was difficult, but the views were unreal. Especially during the downhill part of the ride, where we topped out at 46 MPH. It was a little nerve wracking knowing that if I messed up even a little going at that speed that it would not end well. The Lions club members made the drive up to Markleeville to cook us dinner when we finished the days ride. We slept in an extremely small rec center that was absolutely freezing. You can check out some pics and videos on my facebook page from the Kirkwood ride.

Crank it up

Onward to Jackson, Ca. I decided to ride with J-Post and be in a faster pace line in order to make the ride. Everything was going fine until Jimmy’s tire ripped from a bunch of glass on the road. I stayed with him until changed the tire tube which took about 25 minutes and let the other two cyclists in are pace line go ahead. I really wanted to make rack point so after Jimmy changed his tire we started booking it averaging about 20 miles an hour. Jimmy’s tire ripped yet again and since we stopped to grab his new tire at a rest stop we attempted to change it, but for some reason the tire didn’t fit his rim. So about 30 minutes later a J-Johnson stopped to pick us up because we couldn’t finish the days ride, but then he realized that he didn’t have room for our bikes on the car. So one of the injured riders in the car offered to let Jimmy use his bike to finish the days ride. So once again amid another bike problem Jimmy and I booked it to the end of the days ride in time.

Jackson Ca was a nice little small town and we were provided dinner and breakfast by the Local Lions club chapter. Dinner that night was amazing and we needed it to make for the epic Kirkwood ride the next day.

Don't get racked

Not making it to rack point made me extremely mad, so I wanted to crank it up a notch in order to finish the ride. However I learned the hard way of the rules of the road. I always want to test myself physically during rides and during uphill climbs I like beast it up that hill, however the “rules of the road” are very important on this trip for our safety. I broke one of those rules by getting too far ahead of my pace line, which is unsafe especially on an uphill climb. Therefore I was “racked” for the day after 5 miles. I was so frustrated, that I didn’t talk to anyone for like a half hour. I eventually cheered up and let it go, especially when I heard that J-Post’s whole pace line got racked for crossing a double yellow line.

We had a great friendship visit in Sacramento and I met Jimmy’s Vaeth’s aunt, uncle and cousin, who were generous enough to bring us two air mattresses to sleep on since we would be sleeping in a middle school gym for the first time.

Napa Valley

I have to say that Napa valley is beautiful though I was disappointed I did not make rack point due to a slow pace group I was still content on the days ride. I wish I had climbed over to some of the vineyards and ate some grapes.

We also had a great friendship visit today in the Napa Valley. The people there were extremely nice and the food really re-energized us. I am definitely learning a lot about myself on this trip and about my teammates. We head to the “Sac” tomorrow cya later.

first friendship visit

So yesterday was everyone got settled and put their bikes together. I must say I was very proud of myself for figuring out how to do it with some assistance.

Today we had our first friendship visit, which was fun and exciting for everyone. We played basketball and toured the facility, which has wonderful programs for people with disabilities.

We also did some skills training on our bikes in the early morning. I "ate it" trying to pick up a water bottle from my bike. We then took the team picture down at the golden gate bridge. I must say the city of San Fran had more smog than I expected. I also feel like it will take me a couple more days to get used to west coast time

My arrival

On the plane ride over I found that I'm so excited, I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it's the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend, and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope.

I got into San Francisco today, it looks like a nice area, but I have not done much exploring yet. Tomorrow is my first day of orientation. I can't believe the yankees are losing 4-0 to the sox. It's weird not being able to watch the game. I going to take nap now so I can get better acclimated to the time change.

Getting ready

Hey everyone, well I'm almost packed for my departure to San Fran on Tuesday. We have four days of orientation and training before we start on Saturday. I also want to thank everyone who has supported me in my preparation for this event. I'll check back in when I get to San Fran