It was a tough ride today but extremely rewarding and so much fun. We had 80 miles to do by noon so rack point was 70 by 11am. I rode with Max and Jeff neither of which I have ridden with lately so I'm glad we did. Unfortunately Jeff was hurting and pretty sore from pushing so hard the day before so we couldn't move too fast but we made use of every second on the bike to chat and get to know eachother more and talk about the team and ideas we have and things we want to change which has been a big topic for us on the bikes lately. Again the ride was pretty bland in terms of scenery besides a very cool sunrise and awesome beams of light coming down from the clouds in the morning. Towards the end if the ride it was looking like we were pretty close to being able to make our rack point, we were 15 miles out from rack with 45 minutes when we rolled in Zack's crew stop (our crew chief) he told us we would have to haul it to make rack as we left his stop and without a doubt in our minds when Jeff asked if we wanted to try to make the push to get there Max and I were ready. I started pulling with a 20 mph pace through a light headwind and Max and I rotated a couple turns to give Jeff a break in the back with the most draft to help him out then we all started to take short fast pulls switching every 2 miles, we kept it up really well for 10 miles until Jeff was absolutely burnt out so we took it easy and cruised together at 18 hoping we were close enough to rack that they would let us ride it out, sadly we were too short and had a tight rack time in order to make it to our friendship visit and arrival and another Arrowhead West facility. We racked to stage up and see a beautiful sight of another care package from Parent Ambassadors of all kinds of treats and snacks and supplies.
It was very cool to have another visit with Arrowhead West, they are such a great organization and it was so fun today. It was definitely one of the most memorable arrivals and visits we have had. We ride in to see them all lined up wearing this year's JOH shirts already and holding signs cheering us on, they were so welcoming. On our way in they had a big map of the U.S. For us to sign our names on to show all of our hometowns, it was cool to see the names of guys from my chapter on the map from previous years. I ate lunch with Bryce who was a lot of fun, him and I both really love the Narnia series and talked a bunch about Wichita where he is from originally and where we are staying for the 4th of July. He also makes jewelry that he sells and he had made a whole bunch in preparation for our arrival, a lot of guys ended up getting stuff for themselves or girlfriends and friends, they were gorgeous. After lunch we went outside to play games and play with a bunch of bubble blowing contraptions, they also had a snowcone machine. The highlight of the afternoon was definitely water balloon baseball, you swing at a water balloon, if you pop it with the bad you run the bases and try to avoid getting hit with a balloon from thw fielding team, no one finished the game dry, so entertaining. On our way back to lodging we ran into another group of cyclist, 4K for cancer, who is biking from East to West, we talked to them at a few red lights we hit and exchanged cards to help spread both of our messages.
After we got back to lodging we showered and of course had to make our local coffee shop run which was to Blue Moon coffee which has amazing local brew. Our dinner was with the Ninnescah Valley Archers who provided by far the best meal we have had all summer. They grilled a ton of all natural Kansas steaks, so many sides, cheesy potatoes and peppers, salad, bacon wrapped chicken and cheese, an entire table of desserts, short cake, pies, homemade ice cream, fresh cookies, I had to try a little of everything it was all so good. To make it even better they had a bunch of bows wr got to shoot, really nice long bows and compact bows, i tried both and hit the targets most of the time but not very accurately. They guys that were really good took shots at the moving target range and actually hit it a few times. There they had shirts going back to I think 2005, in 2009 they started having teams sign all the shirts and I got see signatures from even more guys from my chapter who have done this route in past years.
Back at lodging we had a team meeting that was a bit overdue and much needed. It was very productive and really helped to clear the air and smooth out aome frustrations that a lot of guys were having. It was a great conversation that ended with good suggestions to help improve relationships, communication and improve upon the way we do things, as simple as making van keys more accessible to everyone when we get to lodging so people aren't running around trying to find keys to get backpacks out. I am happy with how it went and hope to see some good changes come out of it.
Tomorrow is 90 miles to Wichita for our day off and we are starting our 4th of July Celebration early by sporting our new American flags we got from Arrowhead West on our bikes all day, might even tuck a couple into my cycling shorts. It should be a real fun ride, I hear the rodes are smoothly paved which makes a world of difference on a bike with two thin wheels.
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