Day 68-Lynchburg to Charlottesville VA

The ride today was like a hike in through the woods but on a bike. That is the best way I could think of to describe it. A crazy amount of rolling hills but for 90% of the ride we were just weaving our way through the woods over steep hills and back down. It was a really challenging day with all the climbing we had, over 5,500 feet over the 75 miles. We also had a tough rack time so Evan and I were pushing ourselves hard on the bike and shot passed everyone and had the road all to ourselves. The downhill sections were super fun but we were on back roads so some of it was not very nicely paved and the corners don't have the speed suggestions so it is hard to gauge how sharp the turn will be and how fast we can take it. Nonetheless the downhill rides were a blast, I love leaning into the corners and getting up to some high speeds, the only downside was when we get to the bottom and are almost immediately punished with a steep climb, I swear we had maybe a mile or two of flat ground total today. We got red flagged at one stop early on and right as the dropped the flag we got passed by a pace line before we got on the bike, we passed them later on then got red flagged a bit later for a long time and were there until almost all the pace lines caught up to us, not to much later I realized my back tire was pretty low so I stopped and put a new tube in and got passed by the groups we were just red flagged with including our PM Stefan, I couldn't let Stefan beat me today so we took off after them and passed everyone that had just passed us, then I popped my chain off and had to put it back on and we were still crushing the ride. Even after all of that we got to mile 58 just before rack time when we were supposed to be at 65 but they didn't have enough vans up there to rack us because we were so spread out so they just let us keep riding with the intention to rack us just a ways down the road. Half way up a hill 7 miles down the road we see Ryan's van and stop because he said we were racked and after Evan had his wheel off and I had put the back rack up Ryan gets the message that they are letting us finish the ride just as the next pace line gets to us and they continue on up the hill. At the last red flag Bott was giving me grief about being the fastest pace line with Evan so I could not give him the satisfaction of us not rolling into lodging first so I told Evan we had to catch them and we took off up the rest of the hill and went all out with all the energy we had left which was very low at that point but we made it in first, fastest pace line around. In the last 10 miles we also ran into a news crew that was getting footage of us on the ride, they drove by a few times with a camera sticking out the window and a GoPro attached to the trunk, I hope we get to see that footage because I bet it looked awesome.

We staged up for an arrival into lodging with the Arc of Piedmont who is also feeding us dinner and breakfast and we have a friendship visit and dance with them tonight. At the arrival they had a their yard full of staff and clients to greet us and we walked around and talked to them before putting our bikes up in the house next door where we are staying for the night and grabbed our Jimmy John's boxed lunches at Gatorade.

After lunch we showered and a group of us walked to the historic downtown area of Charlottesville which is very pretty and has a walkway with shops on either side and restaurant seating in the middle. Our goal was coffee and Evan knows a place called Mud House so we went there and I had to get the signature Mud Cup which is black coffee with two shots of espresso, it was very tasty. We all hung out there and talked and did a little bit of planning for arrival.

Our friendship visit was a blast, we had dinner with the Arc and a bunch of their clients, a lot are from group homes they run. One guy that stood out to me that I got to talk to and dance with was BowWow, at least that is what he told me to call him. He had some awesome dance moves, he was just taring up the floor. Not only could he dance but he was also raping his own lyrics to the beat of a lot of the songs it was awesome.

The evening was a lot more serious but in a very good way. This was the last friendship visit which was a huge milestone and an appropriate time for a team meeting. We met downstairs in the house we are staying at and Wiles handed back to us the letters that we wrote to ourselves when we were in Seattle. I had completely forgotten about them but as soon as I saw them in his hand it felt like it was just yesterday that I had my pen to that paper. After reading it it gave me a sense of pride that the vision I had and goals I set for this summer that I explained in that letter I definitely accomplished. Reading this letter marked the beginning of the Pi Alpha ritual. To start we wrote another letter to ourselves that they will mail to us a year from now, I included a lot of goals and hopes that I would like to make happen in the next year including the team and my journey after the Journey of Hope. Tonight we all officially became Pi Alphas as a team. Before the night was over we had a chance to go around and individually thank people for what they have done for the team and for ourselves individually, it brought tears to a couple guys' eyes and made me realize just how appreciative I am for the team that we have and the contributions that people made throughout the summer in so many different ways. It also reminded me of a lot of amazing and impact-full moments that my teammates have given me the opportunity to have on and off the bike that I will treasure and remember for the rest of my life. The fact that I will be leaving these guys in just a few days is becoming more and more painful to accept but the last few rides we have together will be the best.

Tomorrow is our last century day with exactly 100 miles and it will also be a tough one I believe. We are on Skyline Drive for most of it which is very hilly, estimated 10,000 feet if climbing. Today was 4,000 in 75 miles and I was struggling. I will be conquering this last ride with everything I have alongside Preston and Jeff because after this we have just 80 or so miles until we arrive in Washington DC.