Monday, June 24th, 2013 @ 11:20PM

Total Time: 5:12.42(About 5.5 hours total)
Miles: 73.92/77
Avg Speed: 14.1 mph
Max Speed: 55 mph
0 days without a flat tire
11 flat tires in
Status: racked due to a flat tire 4 miles away.

Today???s ride was a ride along ride. We had 2 cyclists ride with us and they also sponsored our breakfast and lunch.

Waking up my bike had a flat and I got that taken care of before the ride. The ride today was similar to yesterday. Had to cycle 80 miles, had a very strict rack point. Going into the ride I didn???t want to push myself due to my injuries. For that, I stayed at the back and kept it steady.

The ride was not too bad, it only took a while for my body to warm up but when it did, everything was practically fine. The terrain was standard affair, and I was finally able to be adequately adept at climbing hills since that was mostly the terrain that the team has done so far.

During the ride and being close to rack point, my partner and I began to push ourselves a little more. It became more of a hassle since this we were arriving in the city so there were many traffic lights that halted us. At the rack point we made it by minutes and we were cheering each other. A few miles afterwords, I was unlucky and got another flat tire. Due to that and some time constraints, I had to be racked again. That was no bueno. Upon arriving at the friendship visit, it was tough for me to look like I was in a good mood but there was a not there named Travis who had a tumor and one of his legs was longer than the other. It made me open my eyes on certain things and helped me be more humble.

I did not want to deal with another flat so I went to a bike shop And I got some equipment tha I needed. Hopefully I do not get anymore problems.

Salt Lake City to Park City

Tomorrow was a short easy ride to Park City and we didn???t ride until the afternoon. The morning started chill and we went to a park around 9 am to hand-cycle for a few hours. It was truly a fun and different experience.

Afterwords we ate lunch at whole foods. Since the ride did not seem too difficult, I ate a lot. That was a huge mistake. The ride began with a really steep hill similar to the one on Jackson. I almost fell because I did not change my gears properly. As we hit the top and continued pedaling, my legs were really tight and were cramping. The weather was also at its hottest and I did not have any bottles filled. It was at this moment I realized that even though this was considered an easy day, I should still prepare for these things since something out of the ordinary will surprise me.

When I hit a crew van, first thing I did was stretch and fill my bottles. That really helped out and the ride became another simple standard ride that I was accustomed to since starting JOH. Riding up Immigration Pass would have been challenging but it was honestly not too tough. The biggest challenge I feel are the mental ones we face every day.

Due to some confusion with time, everyone got racked 8 miles away from lodging. Honestly I did not really care because tomorrow was a much needed day off for the cyclists (we still had to ride 4 miles for arrival), and we were also finally lodging in a hotel for the first time in 10 days. I forgot what a bed felt like.

Also before I forget, The cities in Utah are beautiful. Driving through huge buildings we got to see some really nice mountains. It was truly fascinating to see parts of the mountain. Utah has so many cyclists on the road, it amazed me how active the citizens are over here as well as how cycling friendly the state is.

The day off was great. Woke up at 7 for arrival, went to the Olympic center in Utah, and had a friendship visit which I saw some accessible equipment for water sports, horses, and bikes for people with disabilities. It was pretty cool.

Posted by Reggie Quaye
Categories: Journey of Hope, Philanthropy