3558.09

That is the total mileage for me since the official start on May 23rd. I've also done that many push-ups.

We all dipped our front tires in at the same time. Many parents taking lots of pictures.

Closing "ceremony" of sorts, a toast, food and our last ride together to the church where we cleaned out the trailer and van. One last hose shower as well.

I was the first to leave and said my goodbyes that night. 

This trip was awesome! Through thick and thin we all made it. Memories that will be with us forever and a summer that will never get old to tell.

I was looking for answers but I think I've got more questions now. But through this I know I can do anything I set my mind to. If I push hard enough I will get to the finish line.

I'd like to thank everyone who donated! I could not have done this without you. I hope you realize the impact that this has brought me. I will remember this summer forever.

I hope you enjoyed this blog. Following me on my journey and seeing evidence that there is a God. The pictures I took do not do the landscapes justice. I encourage you to see the country at a slower pace. Life moves way too fast. We all should slow down. Remember, you've only got one life to live.

Dave

Dan and Me

Tommorow, our last day...

The view from the awesome climb this morning

Rode through the desert the last couple days. Like sand dunes. Hot and sometimes tough but we made it through. I haven't been taking a lot of pictures because the landscape is rather depressing.

Today was an awesome ride. 52 miles and some nice descents and hills. Only 5-10 miles of climbing so I powered through it.

We are in El Cajon and tomorrow we hit the pacific ocean. An awesome accomplishment but I'm sad to see it end. Everyone has been awesome and we've gone through so much.

Until next time,

Dave

Yeah, kinda hot

Crazy, we're in Cali!

So we just hit our last state. What a bummer! I don't want this trip to end. Seriously. Sorry everyone back home.

After cruising through state inspections, 8 or so of us swam in the colorado river. Nice and warm. I was sweep with Maggie and it was our last sweep day. It was great though. No pressuring the people in the back. Just a nice, easy 65 mile day. Started out in the rain though but it stopped at lunch, 30 miles in, at 8:30 in the morning.

The previous day was exciting but I can't talk about it. We did sing a lot of songs though.

We had  a part two of the talent show tonight. Scott W wrote more to his previous song which was awesome! I wrote a poem yesterday because we had lots of time and I shared that. Turned out pretty good. I will not post it because you wouldn't get any of the references. Sorry.

I'd like to thank Lance's Mom for sending him the cookies. He did share them and they were good!

We only have a few short days left until we have to part ways and work our way back into reality. So lame! 

I haven't been taking a lot of pictures so here are some from the previous week or so.

Daryl(our supervisor), Ben, Hannah and Scott W on our last build day

Is he strong or what?

Anna on a locals bike. Part of game day

The sunrise in Wickenburg, AZ

Grand Canyon, +30, a whole lot of rain and our last build day

Dennis and some bug. If you know what it is, leave a comment

The other day we rode through the Grand Canyon National Forrest. It was awesome! Got some nice shots before the storm came and then we got caught in a downpour. A downpour and approaching 7:30 at night is not a good combo. But we made it to the campground safe and sound.

Though it was still taking a dump on us. The two I was riding with and I hung out in the trailer until it died down a little, changed out of our wet clothes, had a couple bagels and finally crashed in our tent until morning.

Oh and we did 95 miles instead of 60. Full campgrounds made us ride 30 more miles through the Grand Canyon and into a not packed one. But we had only 50 miles today instead of 80. We found out at lunch so we had to psyche ourselves up for 30 more.

Also we are now on Pacific time! No more adding hours to my bike computer to find out what time it is.

Yesterday we had a scavenger hunt of sorts as it was a 70 mile, not that good of scenery day. Divided into 3 teams and had objectives that had to be captured by a camera.

We had a blast the first half. My team got a ton of objectives. Some crazy some not. It started to get hot and all the teams had like 15 flats combined at lunch. We decided to call the second half after lunch off. In the next couple days we are going to look at all the teams pictures and see who won. Also the last 15 miles, Lisa and I switched bikes and shoes. We wondered how different it would  be. Wasn't that different for me but my bike was a little too long for Lisa.

Today was our last build day, here in Prescott, AZ. Landscaping of sorts. Digging up rocks, large rocks and putting them back after we get what little dirt there was out. Good work but it was hot! The sad thing is we only have a week left! We have to go back to reality. I get butterflies thinking about it.

Tomorrow we head down. Down into the hot desert. Should be great!

Dave

A bunch of people climbed out onto the rock before the storm started moving in

Suz and Lisa behind the sign, before the downpour we got caught in

Grand Canyon

Arizona, your roads are horrible! But the views, pretty cool.

The ride to Durango, CO I believe

So we are now in Arizona. The last state before we hit California. So sad.

We are here in Kayenta, AZ and just got back from Monument Valley. Super cool valley of rock formations. For $25 we got a 3 hour open window bus tour. It was awesome! Oh, I got my 3rd flat. Lame!

Here are a bunch of pictures:

Here is a picture of Lance at 4 corners for Lance's Mom

Me at 4 corners

Lisa contemplating the beauty of it all

Beautiful Disaster

Long time, no post. Sorry. Internet shortage. After the 4th we had a 103, 84, 101 and 70 mile days. These were miles going over mountains in Colorado. So long, tough days with beautiful landscapes and great descents.

We went over Monarch Pass which is 11,300 feet. Stopped for lunch and hot chocolate(Thanks Angela!) at the top. A storm started brewing as usual and I left for the 10 mile descent right before it hit.

Rain, wind, taking up the whole lane, going 25-35 down and saying f-it at the bottom where others had stopped to wait it out. I just kept riding and killed it the last 30 miles. Staying around 25-30 the whole way. Getting in first and calling some guy to open up the school for us.

We also had a build day. Doing more flooring just outside of Durango.

These are pictures from my new camera. My old one broke one morning. Just stopped so when I had a chance to go to wal-mart, I picked up a new one. I would have been kicking myself if I didn't get one so the expense was justified.

We go into Arizona tomorrow and I think I'll have even less chance of internet. So it might be awhile until my next post.

Miserably Great!

Rays of light!

Happy Fourth of July! We are now in Colorado and today is our day off. Our last day off...(sad). Yesterday we had another build day. Framed a house. A two story this time. That was cool.

The day before that was our longest day of the trip. 123 miles. It took many many hours. It also didn't help that we got caught in a storm.

The group I was riding with decided to stop when we were almost blown over by the wind. There were no structures around so we found a ditch next to a barb wire fence.

It was raining, really cold and lightning. We huddled together trying to keep each other warm as the storm was passing over us. It was miserably great as the title says. Though we were freezing, wet and pretty uncomfortable I think we all had a good time. We started playing the grocery store game and we thought of warm items we would get.

We were there for about an hour and it started to calm down enough to continue riding. It was tough getting out of the ditch and ride. We were all shaking from the cold and all the roads were wet. Not a good combo.

Others got caught but found shelter of some sort. In all, that day was awesome! Another century and a good story to share.

The next three days are going to be good ones. 100 tomorrow, then 80 and back to a 100 mile day. All of this through the mountains of Colorado.

I'm not sure what I'm doing tonight. Maybe fireworks, maybe not. I biked to the bike shop a couple times today. Got in 14 hilly miles.

Also, the talent show did go on and it was awesome. People that had talent actually performed. We got video of all the acts but I'll show you mine when I have a better connection to upload it. Horrible but nessesary for all the people back home. Told some I'd do it. It's almost 5 minutes so you probably don't want to waste your time.

Later!

Dave

A funny sign and Dream Sweep!

Shot at the same spot as the top picture, minutes apart, just a different direction