Beckley, WV

Today we had a 70 mile ride to Beckley, WV. We started climbing the mountains today which are much different than the mountains we climbed out west. There are no switch-backs and its pretty much straight up and down with grades reaching 15%. It was a tough day but we all got through it. That night we had a friendship visit and dinner. After dinner we headed over to the local dirt track to watch some good ol' dirt car racing. It was a blast and after the races we all got to bed as soon as we could as we have head that tomorrow is one of the hardest days of the trip.

Charleston, WV

We had a short 45 mile day into the capital of West Virginia, Charleston. We arrived at a friendship visit with a local children therapy center. After the friendship visit we departed for a local community center which is where we were staying for the night. That evening we went to a single A baseball game which was a blast. We got front row seats and I caught two baseballs!

Huntington, WV

Today we had 75 miles to get into a new state and get to Huntington, WV. The ride was full of rolling hills which are a ton of fun to use momentum to get up and down the hills. We arrived at the Holiday Inn which means we get beds again. That night we had dinner and a friendship visit. We headed back to lodging where I cleaned my bike and hit the hay.

Moorehead, KY

This morning we had a 55 mile ride to Moorehead, KY. The ride went quick and we had a great lunch at CiCi's pizza. That evening we had a friendship visit and departed back to lodging where we had beds again! It was another early night as the whole team is getting pretty tired and sleep is a vital part of journey.

Lexington, KY

Today we had a 95 mile ride into Lexington, KY.  It was an extremely pretty ride the entire way with rolling hills going through the horse ranches of Kentucky.  We arrived at our lodging in downtown Lexington and headed to a friendship visit.  We ate and danced the night away with all the clients.  We headed out on to explore the University of Kentucky that night and then headed to bed.  This morning we woke up and headed off to another friendship visit where we painted and worked on art projects with the clients.  That evening we had a sponsored dinner at a local restaurant.  Since we haven’t had internet in over a week, I’m currently sitting at Starbucks typing up all these blogs to try to get everyone up to date.  Bedtime after this one is finished!

Cincinnati, OH

Today we had a 115 mile day into Cincinnati. The team made it about 80 miles and had to rack because the Reds versus Braves game got moved from 7 PM to 4 PM. We made it to the game just in time for the first pitch. Katie met us at the game and we ended up sitting almost as high as you can in the ballpark but it did have a great view. The Reds were down 2 late in the game and made a strong comeback to win 6-2 in an exciting ending. After the game I took my van to Skyline Chili so they could enjoy some delicious Coney Dogs and then headed back to lodging to get some sleep.

Indianapolis, IN

We had another short 50 mile day into Indianapolis today. Most of the day I rode along with Kyle Pluchar, a crew member from Purdue, who participated in his crew ride along. Each crew member is a encouraged to ride along with the cyclist at least once throughout the summer and Kyle was our first of the summer. We had an arrival with Outside the Box at a local park. This friendship visit was one I have been looking forward to the entire summer. In the past, the team did not have a friendship visit on their first day in Indianapolis. I was lucky enough to come in contact with Outside the Box and set up the visit for this year. We had a delicious lunch and then played kickball and everyone had a blast. That evening the team headed over to my house for dinner and then headed off to the local watering holes to enjoy the night.

The next day we headed over to Noble of Indiana for a friendship visit. This was by far one of the most organized visits we’ve had all summer. I mainly staying the art and disc golf areas and just hung out with the clients. It was great to have my family and girlfriend there for the friendship visits so they could see everything that we do on a daily basis for the summer. That evening the Kelly family sponsored a huge taco dinner. We had an early wake up the next morning so everyone went back to the dorms and fell right asleep.