This was an incredible day. In the morning our project manager pulled myself and Brandon aside and asked if we would like to ride with Bruce Rogers today, it was an instant yes, I would never pass up a chance to ride with the man that inspired the Journey of Hope by riding solo across the country in the name of Push America to raise money and awareness for people with disabilities. We rode 86 miles with Bruce and it was a tough ride, about 4700 feet of climbing and some good headwind, I think we may have been riding a little harder and faster than Bruce was ready for. We started in the back of the group so we could help direct everyone through a bike path that we rode on for about 15 miles to get out of the city so we could avoid busy city streets and a ton of turns and lights. It was a lot of fun being on the path, followed a creek for a while and over a dam before we got onto the roads again, it reminded me a little of the bike path I trained on in Washington over winter break, the Burke-Gillman Trail that goes all the way around the north end of Lake Washington. We had great conversations the entire ride. Getting to know Bruce for 86 miles, talking about his first ride, Pi Kapp, our lives and what we have taken away from the summer already and sharing stories from past friendship visits was great. He is also a very skilled rider so I learned some new things, most importantly a better position for descents to get out of the saddle but stay in an aerodynamic position, very excited to use that, even though we are about to hit some very flat lands for a while.
After we arrived I showered real quick ate lunch and got to hang out with Emily before dinner. She came and picked me up from lodging and we went to go walk around the garden of the gods which was so cool, it is this area with amazing natural rock formations. After that she dropped me back off with the team and we were going to head to dinner but our sponsor thought it was tomorrow so we got free time earlier which means I got to spend the rest of the day with Emily! We headed over to her neighborhood of Colorado Springs to eat dinner then go to her house where I finally met her mom. The last few days that I have been able to hang out with her have been so perfect. I am really glad that I was able to see her half way across the country on my trip and spend so much time together, it is never long enough but every second was the best. I will see her again tomorrow because we have a day off the bike but a busy day for the team and then we are out of Colorado Springs.
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