So last night we were told we could have an extra half hour of sleep, but Jim Rampton's cell phone had other ideas. We all were awoken by his cell alarm about 3 times in a 15 minute span. As punishment he had to put a lot of Icy hot in his pants. I don't think he'll be doing that again. It was a really chaotic ride and the 95 degree heat and 100% humidity didn't ease everyone's tensions, but I had a great time riding the 80 miles to Pittsburgh and I love to get a good sweat it brings me back to my days of wrestling.
After having dinner at Ryan Cole's (Delta Alpha brother) aunt's house most of us went out to explore the city of Pittsburgh. It really is a blue collar town. I was also able to watch the Dankees beat the Red Sox 5-2.
We had a day off the bike in Pittsburgh today. Our schedule contained two friendship visits. The first was at the UCP center. This center's clients had been sending us snacks and letters. I had received a nice letter from Teri Owens, who I got to meet today as well. I must confess that when I write my blog I don't put much in about my friendship visits even though we have them almost everyday. I am really not an emotional person, but I also haven't had many good connections, with the people I meet. I do participate to the fullest, but sometimes some friendship visits are better than others. Anyway the thing that made to days friendship special was the fact that I got to me Teri's father. He even brought his four grandchildren. I felt as if I was allowed into that family's life for a short while. It was a privilege to meet with them today. When I get home I plan to write to their family every so often to see how Teri and the rest of the family is doing.
It's not much longer till I see everyone in D.C.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Cleveland
So today we had a fairly simple ride into the city of Cleveland, where we arrived at the Rock and Roll hall of fame, which is also next to Cleveland Browns stadium. We didn’t have much time to look around the HOF, but it was pretty cool. It’s pretty cool that we meet so many different people along the way. More and more people become aware of JOH everyday. However I feel that it should be a much more known event. A couple cyclists were saying that incoming freshmen should know about JOH before they come to school. That way they would want to rush Pi Kapp to do JOH. Anyway we have two days in Cleveland and were about to go to a sponsored dinner cya.
Niles Ohio
Today is our last day in Ohio, and today we also started the Van Races. So each person has ridden in a van the entire trip and we wanted to do some challenges to see who had the best van. Vans 1 and 6 had to combine for the challenges since there are only three cyclists in each. I am in Van 6. So for our first challenge we did a cycling race. Vans 1 and 6 beat the competition pretty handily by finishing 45 minutes ahead of the second group. Our vans just have pretty good cyclists. But I can guarantee you that we will lose in some of the other challenges.
Time for some emotional stuff. I can't believe a week from today we'll be in DC. It has really gone by too fast. I going to miss these guys so much. I feel like I am not going to know what to do with myself when I get back home. I do miss my family and friends, but I'm probably not going to see some of these guys ever again and that is heartbreaking. I don't think I have ever had a closer bond with anyone than I do these guys. I really shouldn't dwell anymore on the future in fact I'm going to spend more time these guys right now than sitting here and typing my blog.
Time for some emotional stuff. I can't believe a week from today we'll be in DC. It has really gone by too fast. I going to miss these guys so much. I feel like I am not going to know what to do with myself when I get back home. I do miss my family and friends, but I'm probably not going to see some of these guys ever again and that is heartbreaking. I don't think I have ever had a closer bond with anyone than I do these guys. I really shouldn't dwell anymore on the future in fact I'm going to spend more time these guys right now than sitting here and typing my blog.
Sandusky
So no Callahan factory in sight in the town of Sandusky, I guess it Tommy Boy didn't keep it running too well after he was named president of Callahan Auto. So we got into town and had an arrival at Double S Industries. I feel like we have an arrival every day now. We had a great friendship visit and lunch with the people there. They clients at Double S industries also did something pretty unexpected. They raised money for our whole team to go to Cedar Point Theme park that night. They raised almost $1000. The whole team got to enjoy a night at one of the best theme parks in the U.S.
Some of the lines took forever, but it went by fast since we played eucher standing in line. We went on Raptor, which is like Medusa at Six Flags, Millenium Force, which could be confused with Nitro at Six Flags. We also got to ride Dragster right before the park closed. Now this was the only ride I was afraid of. And the fact that they had some malfunctions before I rode didn't help any. So this ride cranks it up to 120mph over a 500 ft loop and back down again.
Some of the lines took forever, but it went by fast since we played eucher standing in line. We went on Raptor, which is like Medusa at Six Flags, Millenium Force, which could be confused with Nitro at Six Flags. We also got to ride Dragster right before the park closed. Now this was the only ride I was afraid of. And the fact that they had some malfunctions before I rode didn't help any. So this ride cranks it up to 120mph over a 500 ft loop and back down again.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Ann Arbor, MI
The ride to Ann Arbor was pretty fun. Jim Rampton's dad was a ride along today and since I was in the sweeps group which has to finish last we took our time all day and just goofed around. Our Lodging for the night was Jim Rampton's house, which was pretty packed, but I got to sleep on a couch instead of the floor. Most of us were able to explore the downtown area of Ann Arbor, which seems to be a pretty big city. I didn't get to see the BIG HOUSE, but I saw the outside and it looked like they were adding more seats. I don't know how they sell out every game.
So today we rode to Toledo Ohio where we had one of our more larger arrivals. There wasn't an Ohio state sign, hopefully we can get one when we head into Pennsylvania It's always nice to hear people cheering for you after a long ride. We had a great dinner at Outback Steakhouse followed by a massage clinic visit. So one of our sponsors allowed us to get each get an hour massage. It was a little interesting, I mean I have never gotten a real massage before. So I go in there hop on the table in my clothes. The lady says I can dress down to my comfort. I'm like okay. I get down to my boxers hop on the bed again, but then she tells me to hop under the sheet. I was a little nervous and confused. About 20 minutes into the massage I had to use the bathroom. I thought I could hold it, but it would not have turned out well. Anyway another half hour later I felt so relaxed. Tomorrow we head to Sandusky Ohio, yes it's the same town from "Tommy boy" I feel like I should watch that before I ride tomorrow. I bet there is a lot of stuff to do there "throw stuff off a bridge, late night pitch and put, maybe cruise the 4-h babes". I also uploaded some pics on my facebook
So today we rode to Toledo Ohio where we had one of our more larger arrivals. There wasn't an Ohio state sign, hopefully we can get one when we head into Pennsylvania It's always nice to hear people cheering for you after a long ride. We had a great dinner at Outback Steakhouse followed by a massage clinic visit. So one of our sponsors allowed us to get each get an hour massage. It was a little interesting, I mean I have never gotten a real massage before. So I go in there hop on the table in my clothes. The lady says I can dress down to my comfort. I'm like okay. I get down to my boxers hop on the bed again, but then she tells me to hop under the sheet. I was a little nervous and confused. About 20 minutes into the massage I had to use the bathroom. I thought I could hold it, but it would not have turned out well. Anyway another half hour later I felt so relaxed. Tomorrow we head to Sandusky Ohio, yes it's the same town from "Tommy boy" I feel like I should watch that before I ride tomorrow. I bet there is a lot of stuff to do there "throw stuff off a bridge, late night pitch and put, maybe cruise the 4-h babes". I also uploaded some pics on my facebook
Sunday, August 2, 2009
East Lansing Michigan
So today we had an easy 65 mile ride. We had a tail wind for a good portion of the ride and decent amount of the roads were in good condition. So our Lodging tonight is at a bunch of different houses in the same neighborhood. These families have been very generous for providing lunch, dinner and lodging for us. We had a short KOB presentation today as well. K I gotta go take a nap. Naps are key to JOH
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Getting out of Chicago and Touchdown Jesus
I was sad to leave Chicago, it was such a fun city and still so much more things I wanted to do, but we had to head to South Bend. The first part of our ride was along the lake shore bike path, which is right next to lake Michigan. There was a little confusion on the route since we hit a dead end. We eventually got on the right path and head out of Chicago and into Indiana. We rode through Gary Indiana, which was one of the more financial distraught cities in the U.S. After the ride we had a KOB performance for the local children's museum.
So we had another challenge to accomplish that night at McDonald's; the 10,000 calorie challenge in one sitting. The four of us were all amped to do it. We tried to strategize as best we could, and one of us actually dropped out of the competition. It was actually me I would have done it, but I wanted to see the Notre Dame campus, which was totally worth it. I got to see Touchdown Jesus, which is one of the most iconic symbols in college football. I was able to catch the end of the 10,000 calorie challenge, none of the participants looked happy. It seems impossible. The highest anyone got was 6600 and they all through up.
By not making the 10k mark each participant me included since I backed out had to put Icy Hot in the chamois for the entire ride to Kalamazoo. It started out to be pretty tingly, but a couple minutes later lots of pain. It eventually subsided and eased into a more soothing feeling. Sam Leaf and I wanted to go to Captain Clutch's house since he went to high school in Kalamazoo, but that plan was unsuccessful.
So we had another challenge to accomplish that night at McDonald's; the 10,000 calorie challenge in one sitting. The four of us were all amped to do it. We tried to strategize as best we could, and one of us actually dropped out of the competition. It was actually me I would have done it, but I wanted to see the Notre Dame campus, which was totally worth it. I got to see Touchdown Jesus, which is one of the most iconic symbols in college football. I was able to catch the end of the 10,000 calorie challenge, none of the participants looked happy. It seems impossible. The highest anyone got was 6600 and they all through up.
By not making the 10k mark each participant me included since I backed out had to put Icy Hot in the chamois for the entire ride to Kalamazoo. It started out to be pretty tingly, but a couple minutes later lots of pain. It eventually subsided and eased into a more soothing feeling. Sam Leaf and I wanted to go to Captain Clutch's house since he went to high school in Kalamazoo, but that plan was unsuccessful.
First night in Chicago
Our sponsored meal that night great. It consisted of fried chicken, hot dogs, and bratwurst. We were also able to watch some of the Yankee game while playing ping pong and pool. That night most of us enjoyed the night life of Chicago at Kincades Karaoke bar.
We had a day off in Chicago as well and I used this as a full advantage. After breakfast a group went to the Sears Tower, which is known now as the Willis Tower. Anyway we had a mini video on the history of the historic building and then we went up in the elevator to floor 103 from floor 2 which took about 60 seconds. The view was pretty amazing, the photos should be on facebook soon. There were also 4 glass boxes at the top of the building where people could stand and look straight down. So picture a glass ledge that you can walk out on and you can look straight down and see over 100 stories down to the ground. I was a little scared at first, but it was pretty cool. I heard that Donald Trump tried to build his tower bigger than the Sears a couple years ago, but the city would not let him. I wouldn't let him either that guy is turning into a joke. Our group still had a little time before lunch so we headed to see the giant bean and Millennium park, where an orchestra was rehearsing. It was also where Obama gave his acceptance speech.
I wanted to go see a cubs game and even though I would be a little late I went anyway with two other guys. We hopped on the redline and went over to Wrigley, and bought 15 dollar standing room only tickets. We made it at the top of the third and were able to see the entire game. Wrigley field was really neat, it had such a welcoming feeling to it. The cubs also have a good song for when they win a game. "Hey Chicago what do you say the cubs are gonna win today". We hopped on the redline again and headed to dinner, which was at Lou Maltanis, which specializes in deep dish pizza. It was good, but I prefer my New York style pizza. After Dinner I was able to meet up with the McGarry/Rorick clan for some more pizza and drinks. And since the Yankees and whitesox had an hour rain delay I would be able to catch some of the game. So Erin walked me down to the nearest redline, which was a bit too far, but she insisted protesting that I am like her little brother. I hopped on that and was over to US cellular field in a jiffy. I didn't have a ticket, and I wanted to buy from a booth since It worked our well earlier, but as I was running a scalper asked me if I needed a ticket, and even though he looked pretty sketchy, I did need a ticket. It was the fifth inning, and I tried to barter with him and eventually got a box seat for 20 bucks, but I really could have gotten it for 10 I mean who else would have been there in the fifth on an hour rain delay. I actually didn't even use the box seat, I just wanted to get in and sit next to my friends who purchased 40 dollar upper deck seat earlier that day. We had to leave before the game ended and missed Nick Swisher's solo shot which tied it in the 9th, but we also missed the game winning single in the bottom of the 9th by Jiim Thome, I think. It was pretty easy getting back to our Hotel. I must say that the transportation in Chicago is much easier in than New York. I am still surprised I got all of that stuff done in one day. I mean two baseball games and the Sears Tower in one day is impressive.
We had a day off in Chicago as well and I used this as a full advantage. After breakfast a group went to the Sears Tower, which is known now as the Willis Tower. Anyway we had a mini video on the history of the historic building and then we went up in the elevator to floor 103 from floor 2 which took about 60 seconds. The view was pretty amazing, the photos should be on facebook soon. There were also 4 glass boxes at the top of the building where people could stand and look straight down. So picture a glass ledge that you can walk out on and you can look straight down and see over 100 stories down to the ground. I was a little scared at first, but it was pretty cool. I heard that Donald Trump tried to build his tower bigger than the Sears a couple years ago, but the city would not let him. I wouldn't let him either that guy is turning into a joke. Our group still had a little time before lunch so we headed to see the giant bean and Millennium park, where an orchestra was rehearsing. It was also where Obama gave his acceptance speech.
I wanted to go see a cubs game and even though I would be a little late I went anyway with two other guys. We hopped on the redline and went over to Wrigley, and bought 15 dollar standing room only tickets. We made it at the top of the third and were able to see the entire game. Wrigley field was really neat, it had such a welcoming feeling to it. The cubs also have a good song for when they win a game. "Hey Chicago what do you say the cubs are gonna win today". We hopped on the redline again and headed to dinner, which was at Lou Maltanis, which specializes in deep dish pizza. It was good, but I prefer my New York style pizza. After Dinner I was able to meet up with the McGarry/Rorick clan for some more pizza and drinks. And since the Yankees and whitesox had an hour rain delay I would be able to catch some of the game. So Erin walked me down to the nearest redline, which was a bit too far, but she insisted protesting that I am like her little brother. I hopped on that and was over to US cellular field in a jiffy. I didn't have a ticket, and I wanted to buy from a booth since It worked our well earlier, but as I was running a scalper asked me if I needed a ticket, and even though he looked pretty sketchy, I did need a ticket. It was the fifth inning, and I tried to barter with him and eventually got a box seat for 20 bucks, but I really could have gotten it for 10 I mean who else would have been there in the fifth on an hour rain delay. I actually didn't even use the box seat, I just wanted to get in and sit next to my friends who purchased 40 dollar upper deck seat earlier that day. We had to leave before the game ended and missed Nick Swisher's solo shot which tied it in the 9th, but we also missed the game winning single in the bottom of the 9th by Jiim Thome, I think. It was pretty easy getting back to our Hotel. I must say that the transportation in Chicago is much easier in than New York. I am still surprised I got all of that stuff done in one day. I mean two baseball games and the Sears Tower in one day is impressive.
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