Day 46-Olathe, day off the bike

The day started off amazing with a omelet breakfast right outside lodging. A group came with camp stoves and everything, we just picked what we wanted in the omelet and they made it for us right there, it was so delicious. That put us all in a good mood and well fed after the cinnamon rolls and fruit salad. Right after breakfast we headed out to go tour the Garmin International headquarters in Olathe where they were founded by two men Garry and Min which is where the company name comes from. There we met up with Mark Cameron again for the tour and they showed us a bunch of their bike related products, multiple computers and cameras that are really cool, I already wanted one of their bike computers but they also made me really like their action camera called the Virb which is like the GoPro but way cooler, more features, has a screen and it has GPS so you can overlay maps and speed and other data with the video, ideal for videos of long mountain passes like we have had. They also showed us around their massive shipping and receiving area and explained the system to us and then the manufacturing area and the assembly line it takes to put together all the circuit boards and parts that go into a single unit. I was very interested in this part, just seeing how the machines work and accurately and rapidly place parts in the right spot on the circuit board so quickly. We ate lunch there and talked a little more, a few engineers on the team are very interested in working there or getting and internship.

Right from Garmin we left to go to our friendship visit with Inclusion Connection. They are a very new organization that was started just a couple days ago and focuses on connecting kids with disabilities to the community. We went to their facility which is in a small mall and played lots of games and hung out. The big hits were XBox Kinect bowling, which I have never played before, cup stacking and ping pong. One of the kids, Cody is amazing at cup stacking, he actually competes and apparently does really well from what I was told. I played a lot of Ping Pong with two of the girl there, Emma and Rachel. They were a blast to play against, they were team bull dogs with Brandon, my teammate, and barking every point they scored. Rachel had a mean shot when she got a hold of it and kept getting it past me. It was so fun meeting those three ther and I hope Inclusion Connection continues to thrive and grow as an organization to support more kids in the area.

Once we left Inclusion Connection we headed over to meet up with Mark again at his house. He wanted to show us around his home and explain all the amazing things that allow him to live so independently which was one of his biggest goals after the accident. It was very cool to see his house, he has a sliding lift basically that can be hooked up to him and he can slide around from his bed, desk, bathroom and shower. He also has a massive shower and bathroom to give him room to maneuver his chair around. His computer is rigged so he can control everything and type using a reflective dot that he sticks to his forehead or a mouse that he can bite and control that way, he prefers the dot though. His favorite tool that he has though is a bike machine, he straps his legs into it and attaches pads to the muscles in his legs, the machine starts spinning itself at a specific RPM and then transitions to using the pads to contract the muscles in his legs so he is physically doing the work to pedal the bike, he ride 40 miles a week on it and by the end has worked up a sweat, he loves that machine more than any other he owns. He is an incredible guy, he puts so much effort into helping others, he says it is because he feels so fortunate to have such an amazing support network of friends and family that he does what he can to help others in his situation.

After his house we had a little down time before a Tailgate for the Kansas City T-Bones game which is an independent professional league baseball team. A bunch of the people who helped plan these two days for us where there including Mark and the city councilman who is also a Mark. The game was a blast, hanging out with the team and chatting with Mark and his lady friend who I never got the name of. During the game they announced to the crowd who we were and what we are doing and throughout the rest of the game a couple people came by to thank us for the cause that we are supporting and shared some stories about how it effects them, it was so amazing. Right before we were about to leave a lady from the promotions table came up and asked if we wanted to win a free phone, of course we say yes, so she says she will put 4 of our guys in a competition they are doing for a smart phone in the next inning. Well, one of our guys, Zack Ruby had his phone stolen so we were going to win the phone and give it to him. They all go out and do this text lingo competition where they go down the line and say a text abbreviation and if you stutter or blank out you loose, Buddy ended up winning but they still all got phones and unfortunately they are verizon phones and Ruby has AT&T so we haven't figured out how to deal with that.

It was such an amazing do, so busy but so phone and meeting Mark was definitely a highlight of the trip, what an amazing guy and incredible spirit and personality. Tomorrow we are off to Sedalia on a 110 mile ride crossing into Missouri.