Friday, July 31, 2009

Meet Me in St. Louis

The ride into St. Louis, MO was a bit more complicated than a typical city arrival. In fact, we had not one but two different police escorts leading us into the city. I won’t lie – it’s a pretty cool feeling blowing through red lights in a unified double pace line when riding into a metropolitan area. Once in the city, we were treated to lunch by my teammate Whitey’s mom (he is a St. Louis native) at a local golf course. We were introduced to the St. Louis specialty of toasted ravioli (yess) and later in the city had the chance to sample another local specialty, Gooey Butter cake. As a picky eater in the realm of desserts, I was thrilled to finally find a cake to be passionate about. Riding into lodging at the nicest hotel of the summer, we caught our first glimpse of the St. Louis Gateway Arch. It’s supposed to represent the “Gateway to the West,” but in our case I guess East is more applicable.

The next day, we had a friendship visit with two local organizations. In addition to some of the games that have been reoccurring at these types of events (Connect Four, Jenga, bowling), we were also given the option of playing badminton. Badminton and the Hoppey name are quite synonymous, so I was excited to hit back and forth with some of the clients there. I spent our free afternoon walking through the city park (one of the coolest and most interactive of its kind I’ve ever witnessed… see goofiness below) and checking out the arch up close. Sadly, time did not allow for us to head to the top, but we got just close enough to marvel at its structure and take some obligatory artsy pictures. St. Louis is a heck of a city and definitely made up for all of the hills that brought us there!

Leaving St. Louis was a bit chaotic. There was concern for riding through a “bad part of town,” but I wasn’t too fazed (former Detroiter here!). After getting out of the city, we crossed the Mississippi River on a bridge. This same bridge also marked the transition into Illinois and sent us on our way via Route 66. It was so cool to get the double whammy in terms of iconic American sites. After completing our second longest ride of the summer into Effingham, IL (116 miles… nbd), we were invited into the home of a professional couple involved in local disability awareness. We found out these two got married after ten days of knowing each other, which was a fun fact in itself. We also found out some troubling news about Illinois and its statewide stance on disabilities. The state ranks 51st in terms of funding in this area, a fact I did not expect to hear. Hopefully inspirational people like the ones we met will be able to make the necessary strides to right this wrong.





Tuesday, July 28, 2009

The hills are aliiiiiive: Missouri Pt 1

Sedalia – Our team has been extraordinarily lucky in terms of weather this summer. Therefore, it was probably Karma that we faced a great deal of rain on our century ride out of the state of Kansas. While this could easily have put the “miz” in Missouri, the warm weather made it not so bad after all. What was more challenging than the rain was navigating some of the roads en route to Sedalia. One stretch of construction (typically something we would rack for if need be) featured a large number of treacherous holes, which were often unavoidable. I ended up being the only one in my pace line to avoid getting a flat tire, something I did not complain about. When we arrived at lodging, we showered up at the local pool down the street. There was a great deal of gravel to contend with and, being without my sandals, I somehow convinced Moff to give me a piggy back ride. Our crew is too good to us. That night we enjoyed a pig roast on-site (we were told our meal was less than 24 hours deceased) and hosted a friendship visit. We were excited to have lots of clients attend and the event featured ice cream, door prizes, dancing and a hula hoop contest. I have reaffirmed that hula hooping is not one of my finer points!

Columbia – Not too much stands out about this day, to be honest (except Missouri’s love of hills, but we’ll get there tomorrow). However, I can report that a few of us received some generous free food at a local McDonalds after they learned what we were doing. Snack wraps (introduced to me by Tim Graham during our oh-so-classy spring break in Clearwater, FL two years ago) have been among my consistent cravings this summer and so I most certainly indulged. Compelling update, I know.

Union – Remember how I described the “rolling hills” style of Kansas? Well, Missouri takes things to a whole ‘nother level and no day personified this more than this 105 mile ride. About 20 miles in this became evident as the terrain started becoming more and more like a roller coaster. The downhills were such an incredible rush - I even hit 40 mph on one, which is pretty significant considering my low weight. The uphill’s were certainly challenging, and became so relentless that it actually became comical. More than any other day in recent memory, this ride showed how much progress I’ve made since this whole thing began. In my post-ride state (sprawled out on my trusty blow up air mattress), I felt proud of finishing the day strong and in relatively high spirits. That night while driving around town in pursuit of ice cream and “fourth meal” (I’m going to try to limit my rants about food from here on out… I swear), I found myself once again singing along at the top of my lungs to some great songs with some great people. Not a care in the world. It’s moments like these that I don’t think I’ll fully be able to appreciate until all is said and done.


Thursday, July 23, 2009

Rolling with the K Crew: Kansas Pt 3

Topeka – This was another one of the quintessential “rolling hills” rides, and all of the climbing definitely worked up an appetite for the cyclists. In addition to indulging in our usual Cliff Bar products, we were greeted with a surprise roadside challenge toward the end of the ride: fried chicken! Probably not very Lance Armstrong approved, but we went for it. We had a fairly large arrival in Topeka and it was great to see the turnout. After spending some quality time at a carnival hosted by a local disabilities organization called TARC, we checked into our hotel. This one was particularly nice and reminded me of the infamous Desmond Hotel in Albany, NY which my cousins and I remember fondly. I stayed there for my Grandpa’s wedding and it had a very outdoor-while-indoor feel. I wanted to get the most bang for my buck with a comfortable bed to sleep in, so I packed it in relatively early.

Olathe – I’ll go ahead and give this town the award for most surprisingly awesome stop along the way. Some highlights:

- A living history museum visit that included my first stint in a stagecoach. That must be some sort of rite of passage…


- Lodging at the Kansas School for the Deaf. We had the chance to tour a Deaf Cultural Museum next door and it was very eye opening. We each received a takeaway card with the sign language alphabet and I'm making good progress so far!


- A trip to Mark Cameron’s home. Mark (who hooked up our entire stay in the greater Kansas City region) was disabled in an accident a few years back, and has a home that has truly astounding technological capabilities that allow him to move around and lead a productive life. On a sidenote, he even has that famous lamp from “A Christmas Story” that he can turn on simply by saying “Fragile” (pronounced “Frag-ee-lay” in accordance with the movie). Read about his story: http://teamcameron.org.


- An awesome friendship visit with a local therapeutic learning center for children with disabilities. I got to spend time in a classroom and at recess with the kids there and it was one of my favorite parts of the Journey so far. I particularly clicked with a young guy named Colin (the redhead pictured below). He had such an incredible and fun loving vibe and I can tell he’s going to really thrive in life.


- Promotions for a Narnia exhibit in Union Station in Kansas City. While I was saddened that the exhibit was closed, my excitement at simply being in its presence should require no further explanation!


- A trip to the Kansas City Royals Stadium. Not my team of choice, but we did get to spend some serious quality time playing games in the press room with the quirky “K Crew” staff. Actually, that’s all we did. The game was cancelled, but we still managed to score some time on the field (where we were originally supposed to be recognized prior to the game). I also happened to bump into Gregg Davis and Will Warihay (’07 brothers from my chapter), who are currently visiting different stadiums throughout the country. It was great to see them… small world!


Wednesday, July 22, 2009

All in this Together: Kansas Pt 2

Wichita – I was excited to check out Wichita, as it is one of two cities in Kansas I had heard of prior to the Journey and I was told it featured some excellent friendship visits. After racing against time to beat the “rack point” for the morning, my pace line arrived in the city and prepared for lunch and games with a local disabilities organization. I sat next to an older man named David, who has got to be the biggest character I’ve met this whole summer. He has a very distinctive twang and a self-deprecating sense of humor and it was a pleasure getting to know him (a picture of David and my teammate Chris Thomson is below). That night we were treated by a local Pi Alpha’s family to pizza/bowling at one of the swankier bowling establishments I’ve ever seen. We only played one game, sooo I attribute my score of 90 to simply warming up.

The following day we stayed in town and had the chance to visit with an organization called “Rainbows united.” In a very pleasant surprise, all the kids at the center kicked off our visit with a choir showcase. They sang “O Happy Day,” “As Long as You Love Me” (one of the finer Backstreet Boys hits... see video below) and invited everyone on stage to sing “We’re All in this Together” from High School Musical. I was in the minority in terms of having some lyrical knowledge of the song, but I am okay with that. After a welcome that was right up my alley, we had a somewhat chaotic lunch in which whip cream attacks took a central role. This friendship visit was a blast and will unquestionably stick out as one of the more memorable ones of the summer.

Later in the day we met with a disabilities advocacy organization who told us, among other things, about the fantastic program “Lose the Training Wheels.” This is a national program which operates as a week-long camp designed to help children with disabilities learn how to operate a bicycle independently and boost their self confidence in the process. During the dinner I was sitting next to a woman who I assumed was simply a shy, potentially uninterested staff member. Admittedly out of boredom, I eventually struck up a conversation with her and learned that she was a client with special needs named Tara. We had a really great talk and it reinforced the idea of never judging a book by its cover.

Emporia – A long day of riding (in this case 107 miles), can be more manageable with the presence of a funny group of people in your pace line. On this day, my group included Max and Kevin, two teammates who have long declared their intention to lose some weight on the trip. However, their attempts at “dieting” in the face of endless buffets and Olympic serving sizes have been more comical than effective. Eager to share their unique approach, I encouraged them to write a diet book. They have taken to the idea and I enjoyed listening to them share ideas about book content throughout the ride. What was not so funny was my luck on the bike that day. I had three flats (my first incidents since day two) and eventually had to rack a mere two miles from lodging. In addition to having to purchase a new tire, I had some bike maintenance issues to attend to (including an embarrassingly dirty chain). When it comes to taking care of my bike, I often find myself having to ask for assistance from my teammates which can be frustrating for me. I hate burdening other people to help me with things… something I recognize I need to be more open to. In light of the stress I was feeling on this particular day, maybe it was a sign that an organization in town provided us all with massages at lodging. I usually am too uptight to fully enjoy a massage, but this was definitely an exception. A chance to simply relax (and put everything in the right perspective) can go a long way.