Sunday, June 16th, 2013 @ 5:59PM

Total Time: 3:39.34(About 4 hours total)
Miles: 61.50/63
Avg Speed: 16.8 mph
Max Speed: 39.3 mph
Status: racked due to flat tire

Today was the first day embarking on the desert. My team woke up at 4:30 which was earlier than usual. The sun was still dark and it began to slowly rise around 5 am. Waking up and packing our bags in the vans gave us a taste of the Colorado weather in the morning. It was very cold and unpleasant. Being born in Boston and still dealing with the cold for most of the year I am still unable to get accustomed to the cold. I hate it with a passion. We went to a sponsored breakfast and had pancakes and sausages from a local group and it was pretty cool.

The ride for the most part was pretty boring and bland. The terrain was practically flat for 60 miles so nothing really stuck out as being interesting other than experience cycling in the desert.

The my ride came to a halt at the end when my tire got flat again 2 hours away from lodging. I lost count how many times that has happened. I got racked and I was not really too upset since most of my ride was flat and the final 2 miles were also flat.

After racking I had to go back to the loneliest road because one of the vans were flat. The driver of my van began to help transfer some if the bags. During that work a random cyclist came through. He n knew abou free JOH, wAs a former Pi Kapp alum and was cycling across the country with one of his friends. It was the first time I came in contact with a random Pi Kapp.

We had a 3 hr break and I took a nap. It was enjoyable. The friendship dinner was awesome. There was karaoke and chances to dance. The songs were passable but interacting with everyone while on the dance floor was very entertaining. There was a boy named Cody who always put moose horns on our heads and I kept on playing around with him. Some of the brothers thought it would be funny if I sang karaoke and surprised me by putting on Aretha Franklin ???Respect???, man that was embarrassing. All in all, the friendship visit was a highlight of the day. Now ifs time to prepare for the century ride in the desert. I hope all goes well.

Posted by Reggie Quaye
Categories: Journey of Hope, Philanthropy