Doubouis, WY

Today we started our long trek of over 500 miles in 5 days of riding.  We had an 80 mile day and it was nice and sunny with no clouds in the sky.  We biked through the Grand Teton National Park and the Grand Teton National Forest which provided great scenery for the route.  We had to rack the bikes for about 10 miles due to construction on the pass.  The team had a 15 mile climb today which brought up so the highest point we will reach throughout the summer of 8750 feet.  My legs felt great on the climb but my lungs were struggling in the high altitude especially when all my training was done below 1000 feet.  Today we crossed the 1000 mile mark of the trip making us 25% of the way complete.  There are 5 cyclists that have ridden every mile and James and I are representing Purdue well by being 2 of those 5 cyclists.  This evening we had dinner sponsored by the local Cattlewomen’s Association and as you can probably guess it was delicious.  We practiced our Kids on the Block puppet show for the Cattlewomen.  I play the part of Brenda who interacts with Ellen who has Down Syndrome.  The puppet show is meant to teach young children how to interact with people with disabilities and to learn that one should never be defined by what they cannot do but rather what they can do.  I spent the night cleaning my bike, re-taping the handlebars, and putting on a new front tire due to a piece of glass that did not get along with my old tire.

Each morning the team has a circle up to talk about the ride that day.  We also have a presentation by one of the team members called the “disability of the day”.  I gave the first little presentation on spina bifida.  Spina bifida is a fetal birth defect that causes an incomplete enclosure of the spinal cord.  When a baby is born with spina bifida, their lower spinal cord nerves are severely damaged and they have trouble using their lower extremities.  The prevention for this disability is for women who may be pregnant to take a prenatal vitamin that contains folic acid.

At circle up we also dedicate the ride to someone we met a friendship visit or someone who has affected our lives.  James Loy dedicated a ride to Donovan Higgins, a good friend and Purdue fraternity brother of ours.  Donovan was supposed to join us on the trip as a cyclist but ten days before we were to fly out he had a severe cycling accident.  The accident left him in the hospital for over a week with injuries to his tongue, elbow, and hand that he is still recovering from.  We are very hopeful that he will be able to join up with the team sometime this summer.  This past week I dedicated a ride to David Feltner.  David is another Purdue Pi Kapp who is currently fighting his third bout with cancer.  He is an incredible inspiration to everyone who knows him.  He keeps a high spirit and great attitude while fighting this horrible disease for the third time.  David shows a desire to live life to its fullest and motivates others to do the same.  Each day that we dedicate the ride to someone, we always keep them in mind while cycling.  We remember that while there are numerous challenges each day on the bike, these challenges do not compare the hardships that the people we dedicate the ride to are facing on a daily basis.