Day 73-Washington DC to Rehoboth Beach, DE

We woke up at TJ’s at 4:40am to pack our stuff, eat breakfast, say bye to TJ and then we drove to the metro and left our bags in Evan’s car and caught the metro back to the hotel where they were holding our bikes for us. It took a lot longer than expected but we got to the capitol with our bikes at 7 and set off to ride the 100+ miles to the coast. We didn’t know the exact miles because we weren’t sure of the exact route or how far we would have to be in the car for to get across the Bay Bridge which is un-bikeable. The first 20ish miles getting out of the city was pretty rough, we were going to try the interstate because it looked like it had a good shoulder from google maps but we realized it was an awful shoulder and then there was no more shoulder so we had to switch to the backup route which had a lot of lights and rolling hills. After we got further from the city, up until mile 30 was beautiful through some woods on a small road until we met our parents at the mall who were being our crew for the day. We had been carrying all our extra road snacks and Chacos with us that we wore on the metro so we finally were able to drop those off with them. After that we had maybe 15 more miles of little hills before we got as close as we could to the Bay and put our bikes on the car to get across. The Bay Bridge was awesome, crazy long and I’m sure we would have been blown right off the bridge if we tried to bike across. Once on the other side it became the easiest century I have ever done. The rest of the ride was all flat and for a while we had a little tail wind just pushing us along towards the coast. I also got to add two states to the list of states I biked through, we did Maryland and Delaware today but only caught the sign going into Delaware. We stopped along the way to get a fresh peach from a farm along the road and continued on. Our parents stopped for a little too long to pick up some food for us for lunch and we were pretty hungry about 35-40 miles out and they didn’t catch us until 12 miles from the beach so we didn’t want to waste time eating. We probably should have just ate when they caught us but we powered through the last bit with a little head wind coming off the ocean and we were completely drained since we ate last at 5am. Finally we turned onto the road leading to the beach and I could finally see the ocean at the end of the road. I had the biggest grin and felt so accomplished looking at the ocean, I biked from ocean to ocean. We just rolled down the street at an easy pace taking it in, riding side by side. We unclipped and walked our bikes down the beach and dipped the tires into the water and jumped in, the journey for Evan and I had finally ended, there was no more ground to ride on, just ocean. What a wild thing to do, bike from coast to coast of the United States in a summer. I was so glad that Evan was with me, I definitely would not have done either the preJOH or this postJOH ride without him, he is an awesome guy and great person to be on a bike with. The total ride today was 108 miles and completely worth it. We hung out at Rehoboth and got some drinks before we drove back to Annapolis to eat dinner ate a super fancy place right on the docks with an amazing view of the water. It was late by the time we got back and Evan ended up just staying with us because he had to drop my bags off. It was the last ride I will have with Evan for a long time but we both plan to continue riding so maybe sometime we will be able to ride together again. Glad I got to hang out with him for a while longer but it sucked finally saying good bye to the last teammate. Now it is time to close the book on this summer, every memory engrained in my mind and as much as possible written down in this blog journal. I will always remember the people I met this summer and the memories we made and the impact we had, this was an incredible summer and I am lucky to have had this opportunity and I will always treasure this summer.

Day 71-Manassas Va to Washington DC

Today was the day, arrival in Washington DC the day everyone has been looking forward to but dreading at the same time. We had a very early morning to get to stage up at George Washington University before 9:30am which was a 35 mile ride. The ride was honestly pretty tough but it was all in my head, just being so excited to get to arrival made the 35 miles feel like they were only inching along. It didn't help that we hit almost every red light on the way, it was so frustrating. On the other hand I didn't exactly want the miles to fly by because I was enjoying the time on the bike especially because I was riding with Dean and Evan, the same way we started when we left from the coast. It is crazy to think back to that ride from the coast was like with them before orientation, kind of awkward, I hardly knew them at all, even though Dean is from my chapter (we were only active for a semester together) and now on this ride they are two of the closest friends I have. They are also two of the funniest guys so the frustration of the red lights was pretty comical with them. Finally we cross the bridge and get into DC and as we ride through the streets it becomes more and more real that the trip is quickly ending. A few blocks from GW a couple cyclists ride up to us wearing Push America Jerseys and welcome us to the city and congratulate us on the ride, the light turned green pretty quick so we didn't have time to talk but they were meeting us at the arrival. in the last bit we see the guys from the North and South routes riding in, the South route was in a 8-10 man pace line the last few blocks. Finally we get to the last turn and see a huge crowd of cyclists from North, South and the Trans guys ahead of us. It was an awesome feeling, so much excitement. After our whole team arrived we walked over to the GW Deli that Scott took us too which has amazing breakfast bagels, the pile it with bacon, throw some cheese on it and cook a couple fresh eggs, one of the best breakfast bagels I have had so I had to get two. After that we headed back to the lawn for stage up and circled up with all the teams to go over arrival and figure out what the order will be, sadly our route went second behind North. We clipped in and lined up on the road behind the police escort for the last time as a team everyone was screaming and yelling shooting water all over the place from our bottles, arrival was finally right in front of us. The ride down the national mall was insane, everyone was having a great time screaming and yelling and checking out the looks we got from everyone on the side of the road. As we get closer friends and family start lining the side walks taking pictures and we can see the capitol right in front of us. Finally I see my parents and my sister at the end of road right in front of me, we get off the bikes and walk onto the lawn and our rose, Liz Rodie, and Ben Jackson and Daniel Wilson were in the tunnel of people we walked through. We lined up in our full team picture and waited for Chad Coltrane, Mark E Timmes and the Project Managers to give their speeches then we got to run over to see our family and friends, my parents, sister and Aunt Ellie and Uncle Jeff were there. Of course my mom couldn't hold the tears back, my dad almost couldn't either and my sister had already let it go when she saw me ride in. After that it was crazy, families and teammates all over the lawn scrambling to take pictures with people and the epic picture in front of the capitol.
After that was all over we slowly moved to the hotel to check in and grab bags. They didn't have my room ready so I walked across the street with my family in my chamois and sat down at a restaurant outside to grab a drink and wait for the other big event we have been waiting for at arrival. It has been hard not to blog about it because of how much we have talked about it with the team but Brentley Wells has been planning to propose to his girlfriend all summer. He told us he was thinking about it after the first ride out of Seattle and we helped him set in stone by the time we got to West Yellowstone, get the ring box from a jeweler who decided to make it a donation to him, we helped him figure out a good way to pop the question and some guys drove into DC yesterday to scout out a good spot that they could walk to and we all pitched in to pay for a photographer to capture the moment. To add to the moment, after she said yes, they walked back to the hotel where we were all waiting on the sidewalk and as soon as she got closer we all got down on a knee in our chamois with Brentley and sang the rose song to her. It was an amazing moment for them and I was so happy we got to be apart of it not just today but all summer long. Talking to Brentley about our relationships has been such a good time.
I got to check in and shower then went to meet my family to go tour the Capitol Building, it was probably not the best idea, I should have just slept but we went anyway and it was very cool despite sleeping through the intro video.
The last event was the reception where they gave out the awards for fundraisers. They also had the teams go up and read the creed of the Pi Alpha. What really got to me was the slideshow, it really sunk in that it was done, we got the too quick recap of everything that we had done and all the places we had been and we had reached the end of the journey.
I don't think I will every be able to describe it all well enough to anyone but it I will always remember how it has effected me. I made it from Cape Flattery/Seattle to the Capitol in Washington DC on a bike with the Trans America route of Journey of Hope. This was the most incredible adventure I have had and I have never made closer bonds with brothers as well as people with different abilities that we met. It was an unforgettable summer and I am so proud of the entire team. It will be sad to see us split up after tomorrow. But for tonight we are still all together and it is time to celebrate with everyone.

Day 70-Charlottesville to Manassas VA

We had our second to last circle up this morning, everyone was really excited to get on the road and get just one step closer to arrival. As usual at the end of the circle up we dedicate the ride so someone and today our Logistics Coordinator Zack had the idea of dedicating this ride to ourselves and to everything we have done as a team and the impacts we have made across the country this summer. That really set the mood for me for the ride and I spent a lot of the 42 miles with Hayden and Max just in my head thinking back to friendship visits that were really meaningful to me, made a lasting impact on who I am, and brought me very close friends like Denis and his family. I was remembering all the times with team that I will never forget and all the tough rides we powered through together like getting into Yellowstone with Randy and Dylan, probably the most mentally and physically drained I have been on any ride. The ride today just disappeared before we knew it, over some hills and through some street lights and all of the sudden we were at lodging.

After showers we sent the vans to go get cleaned inside and out so they look real good riding in arrival tomorrow. We also had to consolidate everything we need into our backpacks because we are dropping off our duffel bags tonight and won't see them until after arrival. While we were waiting around to go to dinner the South team came to our lodging to shower, it was the first time we have seen their team so I got to see Keegan and Zack finally, the guys from ASU. It was very cool to meet their team but they have a very different team than us and it makes me feel very lucky to be on the route I am with the guys on this team. 

Tonight we had the full team dinner with both the North and South Route. It was a blast getting all ASU guys together and meeting the guys on South route. We just hung out until we had to take care of some business items to prepare for arrival. We set up our picture with all the routes and crew members to take at the capital and walked through what the arrival will look like and where to go during and after the arrival. Just about 12 hours left until my tires hit the capital lawn with the entire Journey of Hope team. We were hoping to learn the arrival order at dinner but we will find out at stage up right before we leave, the anticipation is killing me but I also will not really care either way, I know we will be first or second to North route. We also got to see KT again at dinner who, before we left, complimented our team on how great we are doing and the respect we showed and that he could tell we had the right attitude. His respect for us is an amazing compliment to me and the team for how hard we have worked so I am so proud of everyone.

Tonight we had a short team meeting to wrap up our leadership development with a few quotes and then talked about arrival and the ride tomorrow, 35 miles to stage up. After the meeting we laid out our jerseys and got them signed by everyone on the team, this one will be getting framed for me to carry with me for the rest of my life along with every man who signed it.

 At stage up we will have an hour and a half or more to hang out, the stage up is at George Washington where Scott goes to camps who wants us to go to this really good deli for lunch that is nearby. We ride into the capital at 11 and all hell will break loose after that, speeches, pictures, hugs, crying, family, friends, chapter brothers, our rose, it will be insane. I can't wait to take it all on. I am also very excited for the 35 miles because we are finishing it off the way it started with Dean, Evan and I riding together.