Updates through the end of Nevada

6/20
I suppose everything is relative. Someone asked me if today was a long ride and, even though today would've been by far my longest ride a week ago, I said that it really wasn't. It's just a testament to how much better of a cyclist I am today when compared to coming into this trip. Today was a 55 mile jaunt from Carson City to Fallon, "The Oasis of Nevada". It's a pretty small town, which is going to be par for the course for awhile, other than Vegas and Phoenix.
Other than a couple of hills, it was a long, straight ride. I think we made one turn the entire ride. I was able to hide my competitive spirit for the day by riding with a slower paceline. Usually when I ride, I'm in a group that tries to get there as fast as possible. Today, however, I rode with some guys who enjoyed talking and singing just as much as riding. It was a fun experience, and it did a lot to break up the monotony of the ride, which was unvarying in scenery.
The challenge now is to not fall into too comfortable of a rhythm. As I get more comfortable on the bike and with the other cyclists, it would be easy to lose sight of the goals set out for this trip by myself and by Push America. I'm doing my best to remind myself daily of the amazing gift I've been given: the ability and opportunity to ride a bicycle across the country to help others. More than once I've heard the phrase "ride for those who can't" and I need to continue taking that to heart.
Tonight's friendship visit is at Fallon Industries, and we've been told its a pirate themed party. Honestly, I have no idea what to expect but it should be fun.

6/20
Today's friendship visit showed me exactly why some people keep coming back to the Journey of Hope. A couple of the guys here have done the trip multiple times and now I understand why. Our friendship visit was at Fallon Industries, which hosted a pirate party for us. When we got there, a lot of the guys were given eye patches and pirate hats and other stuff to help us assimilate into the crowd. Credit goes out to all the guys for getting into the spirit of things and not trying to be too cool for the situation.
Dinner was brisket and chicken, an amazing combination. After a long day's ride, there's little I want to do more than eat, except maybe sleep, and a well-cooked meal is the best thing I could wish for at dinner time. There was plenty to go around and we ate our fill. I ended up eating dinner with a grandmother from Fallon. She reminded me a lot of my own grandmother and she was extremely intelligent. It was from her that I learned about the huge controversy going on in Iran and about all the protests. It was nice to talk to such a smart person from the outside world. Aside from her, the only news I've been getting is from the occasional news article emailed to me by my Pops. (Thanks dad, I can't tell you how much I appreciate it)
After we ate we cleared out the tables, leaving a huge space for us to kick off a dance and karaoke party. Again, all the guys really got into it and as a result, it was a great time. Everybody got into it and acted goofy and enjoyed themselves. I spent my time dancing with my aforementioned grandmother friend and singing karaoke. Time flew by as we did the Cha-cha Slide and serenaded our Project Managers with songs. Too soon, the time came to take our customary group picture and head back home for the night. As we were standing around, preparing to take the picture, we began an impromptu rendition of "The Rose of Pi Kappa Phi", our fraternity's song. Afterwards, we started singing Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'". When we went back inside to get our stuff, the DJs started playing the song for us through the sound system and we all stayed for one last encore. The visit ended with everyone arm in arm, singing and drinking in the scene. I loved it.
In addition to being an incredible friendship visit, it was the last piece of programming that the north and south routes had together. Tonight's our last night, then we split off tomorrow. It's been great to have all the north route guys with us but I think things will be great once we split up too. There'll be less people to keep track of, which hopefully means less logistical nightmares and a more close-knit group. Regardless of any advantages, it'll still be tough to see half the team head in another direction. It's been really enjoyable to meet all those guys.

6/21
It took roughly all of four minute to drive through the entirety of Hawthorne, Nevada. I'm in Mineral County High School, home of the Serpents. It's a class 2-A school that serves most of the county, if that informs you to any degree of the rurality of the area. Despite its small size and dusty demeanor, I like Hawthorne. It's very relaxed place, even more so now that our team is half it's original size.
The ride today wasn't too bad. I started off in a paceline of five towards the back but another rider and I kept breaking away from the rest of the group so we just decided to go it alone. It was really cool to ride with just one other person because you really get the opportunity to get to know someone. In today's case, that someone was Sam Knoblauch, a senior from Iowa State. We hadn't really gotten the chance to talk much before so today was a good day for that. The terrain was pretty flat with enough hills to make us appreciate the downhill parts without dying on the uphills. For most of the ride we had to contend with a desert atmosphere, but about 50 miles in we came across a huge lake that we actually followed for most of the way in. At around mile 55 we stopped and had lunch with the rest of the team. After lunch we took off again. The last 20 miles were probably the hardest just because we were tired and wanted to be finished but we were moving at our slowest pace of the day. It's a lot tougher going with only two riders than with four because you're dealing with the wind more often and there's less of an opportunity to draft. However, the conversation did flow much more easily, which was nice in keeping our minds off of aching legs.
Once we got to the high school, I walked out to the football field, sat down in the stands, and called my dad to wish him a happy Father's Day. I've made a point of dedicating my ride every day to a different person. (Don't worry mom, yours is coming) Anyways, today was dedicated to Pops and I spent a lot of the ride thinking about a lot of the things he's done for me. Without him I wouldn't be here at all. Not only did he make sure I was raised to be who I am today, he has also supported me in everything I do. When all my peers and I were younger, we were all told that we could do and be whatever we wanted when we grew up. My parents actually kept me believing that all my life, even after many other parents stopped supporting their children and tried to instill reality. Thanks dad. You're an amazing man and if I ever become half the person you are then it'll be a life well lived on my account. Happy Father's Day, I love you.
After talking to my Pops, it wasn't long at all before I had my sleeping back out and I was asleep. I woke up from my nap awhile later to hear a big group of guys laughing and cracking jokes. Some of the guys have taken to comparing Hawthorne to the setting of "The Hills Have Eyes", a horror movie set in some middle American desert where a stranded family is attacked by monsters or cannibals or something of the sort. It's my sincere hope that this isn't the case here. Spending time at the school was nice. With just the south route, there's a lot less bustle and a lot more relaxation. A lot of guys spent time lounging about or writing. A few of the guys and I made up a game involving a volleyball and a basketball court called Mamba Ball (in honor of the Black Mamba, the one black van we have in our fleet. All the other vans are white. The one I ride in is called Glitter Fairy. Figures.) It's times like that that are my favorite on the road. Without internet or girls or places to go, we're reduced to a group of guys hanging out, reading, and playing sports while joking around and having a good time. I don't think I'd live my whole life like that, but it sure is nice sometimes to live life without worrying about the frivolous things. Sometimes a good book or a ball is all you need.
Dinner tonight was provided by the Elks Lodge of Hawthorne. We ate spaghetti with a dessert of ice cream, a special treat for us given that we rarely get dessert. I volunteered to give an advocacy presentation to the group, which means that after dinner I stood up and explained to our sponsors exactly what it was that we as a team stood for and what we were doing. A lot of groups know that we work with people with disabilities but they don't know how we go about it so we give the aforementioned advocacy presentations. In return, they explained to us the exact nature of the Benevolent Order of the Elks. A lot of members of the civic clubs that we attend are interested in recruiting us. Already I've learned what it takes to become an Elk, a Rotarian, and a Lion. If you're reading this and you belong to any of these organizations, know that you've got competition, so recruit hard.
After dinner, a lot of guys hung out at the lodge to play poker and pool. I headed back pretty early, carrying with me a box of MREs that was given to the team as a gift. Back at the high school we spent much of the evening playing basketball and knockout. It's a lot of fun, but I think it's funny how little foresight we have. Knowing that we have a 100 mile day tomorrow, we're all careening around the court like we'll never get to play sports ever again. Oh, the joys of being young.
The day has definitely worn me out. Still, I'm doing things now that I couldn't have dreamed of doing a month ago. One thing is for sure, though: I need to get an air mattress. It's nice to be young but even a whippersnapper like me can't sleep on these wooden floors for too much longer.

6/22
Today was supposed to be my first century ride but in the end I found something a little more exciting instead. Sure, it's cool to tell people that you rode 100 miles, but its a lot cooler to tell them you took on a semi and, even though you didn't necessarily win, you survived. The day started off pretty well with the miles flying by and everything going well enough. I rode with some different people and settled into a groove, talking with the other guys and passing time well enough. Joey Haynes, someone I'd met on facebook beforehand but hadn't really talked to much on the actual trip, joined Sam and Josh Star, a friend of mine from the University of Houston. It was a good paceline and it seemed that the ride into Tonopah would be a fairly simple one given that it was our first 100 mile day.
However, about 40 miles in we were passed by an 18-wheeler in the right-hand lane directly next to the shoulder where we were biking. Usually these trucks will slow down a bit or move over for us but when they don't it creates a brutal crosswind that can be difficult to navigate. This was one of those instances and one of the riders ahead of me, Josh, lost his balance and fell. Joey was between the two of us and swerved out of the way but as he moved I clipped his tire and was sent sprawling. My handlebars found themselves inside someone else's back tire and I hurtled past the scene, landing hard on my right side. At first I had enough adrenaline to get up and call a crew member and make sure Josh was okay. After the initial excitement wore off though, the pain started to set in. My elbow and hip were scraped up pretty badly and I landed hard on my right wrist. Moreover, my bike wheel became untrue and unridable for the remainder of the day.
While everyone else rode on, Josh and I rode into Tonopah with our project manager. Coming into town, we saw some roadwork taking place as work crews laid new tar over the roads. We looked around for a suitable detour and the only one we could find involved several uphill climbs (on the tail end of a century day) and an inordinate number of turns. We debated over which route to take, eventually settling on the alternate route.
After this, we went about looking for the Lion's Club that was supposed to be feeding us later that evening. We eventually found them after a little too much searching and were able to talk to the two men at the Lion's Den. One of them was a big nosed retired minister with a doctorate from Golden Gate University who was never wrong and had an affinity for turquoise jewelry. The other was a lean man who, in my first conversation with him, told me the following story:
For whatever reason, he can't keep his food down unless he smokes a bit of weed before he eats. One night, the police showed up at a party he was at because some girl was taking illegal prescription drugs or something; I don't know. Anyways, this guy had some weed and when the police came by, he gave it up to them, saying it was for medical reasons. When they asked him for a card or something to validate his reason, he responded by saying that he didn't have one. They threw him in jail but soon after getting there he began rapidly losing weight because he couldn't smoke before he ate. Eventually, it got to the point that they thought he was going to die in prison, so they let him out. After telling us this story, he excused himself by saying "Well, I need to go lay down some linoleum." And with that, he turned around and walked off, leaving Josh and me confused and a little nervous about the coming evening.
After settling all the questions of logistics between the team and the Lion's Club, I was set down on a street corner where I could tell the cyclists where to turn because some of the new turns needed marking. I marked the turn until everyone finished, then I was picked up and taken back to the school. I had just enough time to shower before we were told to get dressed and get in the vans. Apparently someone at the Lion's Club had graciously set us up with a tour of the Tonopah Mines, which used to be the lifeblood of the city. You know, back when it was still alive. We survived the tour and had dinner with the Lion's Club at a local park where a lot of the guys lost their dignity and ended up playing on jungle gyms and see-saws.
After dinner, we circled up outside the school and split up into two groups: those that needed to go to the general store to get medicine (this ended up being half the team because we're all sick) and those that wanted to eat at McDonald's. I was able to do both and then retreat back to the school for some well-needed rest and relaxation.
All in all, it was disappointing that I was unable to complete my first century ride, but it was a fascinating day nonetheless. Hopefully tomorrow will be better as far as riding goes. Off the bike though, I would be hard pressed to hear more interesting tales.

6/23
Nevada keeps throwing us surprises. Just when we think we've got the state figured out, we get another curveball thrown at us.
Today, just like yesterday, was simple enough at the start. It's 95 miles from Tonopah to Beatty and we did the first 60 at a blistering pace. It took us around three hours to do that 60 and we were feeling good about ourselves when we stopped for lunch. Everyone was making great time and working well together and it looked like we had definitely overestimated how tough of a ride it would be.
However, after lunch the situation took a turn for the worse. Temperatures had been rising steadily all day and after lunch we had to deal with triple-degree temperatures for the first time all summer. The high of the day was 104 degrees but it felt a lot hotter on the asphalt. In addition, we started climbing steadily after we ate. There weren't any major hills to battle, just a slow grade. In several ways, those climbs are worse than the monster hills we come across. You get much less satisfaction when besting them and the downhill segments are often much less enjoyable. The problems we were facing were doubled by the fact that we had to deal with a killer headwind, another first for us. The wind ensured that we went slower on downhills than we usually did on flats and made the entire time miserable and irritable. It was just frustrating to work so hard and feel like absolutely no progress was being made. Much of the time, I felt like I was biking through water. We did eventually make it in to Beatty, where we spent most of the afternoon napping.
Today was definitely one of the tougher days I've had so far. Not only was it physically difficult, it was mentally hard as well because I was surprised by the difficulties we faced at the end. It's much easier to face something when you expect it and prepare for it. When you're caught by surprise, it's a lot tougher to have a positive attitude and be welcoming to the challenge presented. Nevada is an interesting and, in it's own way, pretty place, but all the small towns are beginning to blend together in my mind's eye. It's time for a change of pace and Nevada really doesn't offer that.