TOTAL MONEY RAISED

$8,185

KVOA News story

http://www.kvoa.com/news/2-wheelin-in-tucson-riding-for-a-wish/#!prettyPhoto/0/

Thank you for putting up with me.

Clint, Kingston, and Megheen - Wichita, KS (eastside)
 

Gene and Susie - Lamar, CO

Sarah (Elise, Dana, and Fig not pictured) - Colorado Springs, CO

Miles - Gunnison, CO - Western State College

Jack (Charlotte, not pictured) - Montrose, CO

Lewis and Susan - Dolores, CO

Logan, Michele, Morgan, Griffin (Steven, not pictured) - Flagstaff, AZ
 

Tate, Brady, Mike, Heather - Prescott, AZ

You all made my trip amazing. I cannot tell you how much of a difference you have made.

Dinner Banquet

November 19th, Make-A-Wish Charity Dinner banquet tickets are now available! If you are in Tucson and are interested in a ticket please let me know ASAP, there are a limited number of seats. $15 Adults, $10 Children/Students.

The Hustle and Bustle. Pensive Like Palahniuk.

If you’ve grown up in the same big city, talking with the same people, eating at the same restaurants, sleeping in the same bed each night, and dragging yourself to the same job, what is your secular outlook on the world? Why do you answer to an alarm clock’s demands as it coaches you out of your cushioned, controlled, and protected environment? What is the point of driving on the cramped roads, in a hazardous world, just to find yourself in a familiar, mundane situation? Why take risks when we have the technology to communicate near the speed of light through a galaxy of networked optical cables? Take your medicine, get on Facebook, check  your email, text a friend, start your car, wear a seat belt, wash your clothes, use manners, act polite, gossip, flush a toilet, change the oil in your car, buy a cell phone, blah, blah, blah. You can be spoon fed, don’t worry. You don’t even have to think for yourself, just let your computer do it for you. Why explore, learn history, or do math? It’s much faster and easier to just type it into the algorithm and let a computer solve your problem.

Don’t think freely or critically, it’s too hard and requires too much of a time commitment. It’s about getting from point A to point B as quickly and efficiently as possible, careful looking out the window, you might see the world. Maybe you’ll see someone broken down on the side of the road or a cyclist pedaling along the shoulder. Don’t wave though; they probably just want to remain unnoticed. Don’t offer your help and waste time; you’re already late to your job. The mundane one that forced you to brave the elements. Why do you sit in this cubical all day, shuffling papers? Oh yeah, you need the money to buy things. You need to buy the oil in your car so you can drive to work. You need to buy medicine so you can lose weight because you have been trying to save money by eating unhealthy. Unhealthy food is cheaper. The medicine makes you feel weird but at least you look good. That will save the time you would have spent exercising so you can have more for making money.  You drive to work because it’s too much effort to get there any other way and it’s much faster. You might sweat or get dirty. Got to get from point A to point B, don’t make eye contact, they might start talking and hold you up. The stress is building, especially when you consider how much money you don’t have. Maybe you could take a pill to make the stress go away. Who cares if it causes your appetite increase, won’t the other pill counteract that?

It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything.

Get out, lose everything, and tour on your bike. Here is the recipe.

Touring Ingredients:

3 cups optimism

2 cups confidence

1/2 cup exercise

1 cup courage

2 cups communication

1 teaspoon bike

1 cause 

Preparation instructions.

1.       Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.       Add bike, cause, courage, exercise, and confidence into a large mixing bowl.

3.       Whip into a viscous, yet fluid mixture which will slowly but surely solidify into something larger than itself. Although difficult, you can try force the mixture into a mold (*this may constrain the solution and affect the consistency of the final product.)

4.       Place in oven to finalize the solidification. At this point, cover the current mixture in a thick coating of optimism. 

5. Add coating of communication to the optimism topping and expect interesting results. Listen and learn from the resulting sounds.

6. Don't be alarmed at the formation of blood, sweat, and tears as the solution continues to mature. 

7. Relax, enjoy, and live in the moment. As the product finalizes, the tangible slices of heavenly, serene scenes may melt into the crevasses of your memories but don't be sad, you can gather ingredients at a later date for another tour. 

WARNING: Upon completion of recipe for the first time, expect your life to become simplified. Don't be surprised when you throw away large quantities of items from around your house that you now discover to be useless and obtrusive.

TO THE FINISH LINE!

I am alive. I promise. I know, I've been slacking.

Oh BTW, and I have some updates for you.

With the weather in Colorado quickly degenerating, I was forced to push myself harder than I had before. Not only this, but I made an important decision…. the scheduled southern route through Utah was going to be too treacherous and cold at this time of the year.

Dolores, CO

*In Gunnison, Coach VanHee allowed me to stay in the wrestling room at Western State College. 

Blue Mesa Lake, CO

*I camped at Blue Mesa Lake the next night. Afterwards, I set out for Montrose, followed by Telluride, and Delores. I don’t think I could capture the beauty of Lizard Head Pass with words so I’ll let the pictures do the talking.

Serene, CO

*I crossed into Arizona on October 23^rd, near 4 corners. I don’t like to be a hater but I had forgotten how ugly this part of Arizona is. 

Near 4 Corners

*Now for the greatest challenge of all: the Ute and Navaho reservations. Note to whom it may concern: avoid this desolate area if at all possible. If absolutely necessary, bring significantly larger quantities of supplies for crossing this barren landscape which has a significantly low overall population of humans and high overall population of stray dogs. 

Navaho Trading Post

There are some spectacular views of mesas, mountains, and brightly colored “painted” sands so all hope was not lost :)

Near Red Mesa, AZ

*After several flat tires on the reservation, I had a yelling freak-out panic attack in the middle of nowhere. Looking back on it, I wish I had camera footage of it because it would have been juicier than of some of the YouTube bests. I sat on the side of the road in the sand contemplating my options after having turned my inner tube into patchwork quilt of vulcanizing epoxy and rubber patches. In my lowest moment I realized that one of my spokes had ripped from the rim and left a massive, jagged hole in its place. My rim was warped, rubbing, and hardly capable of continuing on.

Spoke FAIL

*Sara Bartels came to the rescue, on her way home from a trip to Vegas. She brought me a wheel, tire, tools and even pizza! I am so fortunate for the kindness of others (without it, I may have become a permanent resident of the reservation...crisis averted). After riding to Kayenta, I checked into a bed and breakfast where I could fix my bike. It was up and running and I was off towards Tuba City the next morning.

*I was forced to make a tough decision. Upon reaching Tonalea around sunset, I asked the woman if it would be okay to camp behind the trading post. She responded that it is too dangerous and that the area had recently been victim to crime due to the high traffic of intoxicated individuals. I said “Well shoot, I’ve been to college and I’ve seen the area surrounding ASU on a Thursday night, now those are drunk people to be worried about…how dangerous could it be?” I moved on, riding into Tuba City at night.

*Tuba City to Flagstaff was another challenging day. As I rode up the hill about 30 miles north of town, the temperatures dropped as I entered a sleet storm. I would say the climax was when I had my second wind near the top of the hill. Rock music blasting, I pushed myself past what I thought I was capable, the sleet stung as it battered my cheeks and, at that moment, I knew nothing could have stopped me.

Rez Rainbow

 *I took the scenic route from Flagstaff, to Sedona, Cottonwood, Jerome, and through to Prescott. The next day I pushed for home. Upon speeding down Yarnell hill, I met my dad near Congress, Arizona.  I unloaded my bag’s into my dad’s truck and was free from the pressures of carrying all of my gear. Now this was truly the home stretch. Past Lake Pleasant and onto Happy Valley Road I sped. One of my best high school buddies, Jamesy McD, met up with me for the last 10 mile stretch to my parents home. 

near Yarnell, AZ

*Cedric Bosch and I decided to take the Phoenix to Tucson leg in a single serving. We timed it just perfect after having food at DQ at Picacho Peak and In-and-Out Burger in Oro Valley, arriving just after 6pm. I was met by 10 awesome friends who had balloons and a finish line set up on the mall right next to Old Main.

Tucson, AZ

 

Check this recent article out! 

TUNE IN SOON FOR MORE PICTURES, UPDATES ON THE BANQUET DINNER AND MY BLOG’S CAPSTONE!

13°F Man-sicle

I sat in the driver seat not actually knowing where I was or how I got there.  My friend Jimmy and I were driving down an endless road when I turned to continue our conversation. But things weren’t quite right. I felt an eerie sense of recognition as the surroundings melted and yet we continued. Jimbo looked back and I followed suit. In the rear, I was in disbelief at the scene unfolding. The clenching muscles of a large brown thoroughbred contracted violently and rhythmically. It raced directly at us, behind the vehicle. My foot floored the icy gas pedal. I looked back once again just to realize a detail even more strange than the current predicament. The straining, toothy-grinned horse chasing after our car was wearing my green cycling jersey and on the verge of ripping it with each progressive gallop.

Instantly, the frosty tentacles of reality peeled open my eyes to a dark, familiar tent. What a weird dream. Why? Was it the cold weather? Or the pure-sugar Gu Energy Chomp chewables that I pounded before bed? Or maybe the fact that I told Tess I have been eating like a horse? No clue. I thought you needed to know.

                I was wrapped up in my Northface Cat’s Meow rated at 20 degrees and was uncomfortably frigid. Let me put it this way. I was as cold as the Rockies, and had I been a bottle of Coor’s Light, I would have endorsed a deep-blue, cold activated silhouette of the mountains, ready for your satisfaction. My breath was visible and my feet were stinging, nearly at the point of losing sensation. Urinating on them was not an option at this point. Let me side-track for a moment, considering the fact that you have continued to read my story this far. I don’t know what it is about my pain and suffering that makes for your enjoyment, all I know is that I have had the most positive comments about my instances of misery. Maybe you’re sadistic, I’ll continue with my story.

                Time came to a standstill at 4:05am, as I contemplated my options in approaching the current circumstances as if I had somehow slipped into Inception’s lowest dream stage. My choices were limited considering I did not have a car with a heater to save me. I could…

A. Add on more clothing.

B. Boil water and fill water bottles – place bottles in sleeping bag.

C. Do push-ups.

D. Remain in sleeping bag and start crying.*

(*For those of you who would like the actual answer, you will never know – for clarification, the accounts herein may or may not be accurate depictions of reality. I have to preserve what reputation I have left after earlier postings. Therefore A, B, C were conducted and D is incorrect)

                Something had to be done. I forced myself out of the mummy bag which, although cold, was magnitudes warmer than the rest of my tents interior. I layered myself with clothing which seemed to be lined with a liquid nitrogen interior that branded my skins warm surface. I activated my headlamp and unzipped my tent, exiting into the dark, desolate arcticland the locals called Sergeant, CO. Stumbling, I made my way to the iced-over picnic table which housed my Whisperlite International backpacking stove. Violent shivering took hold as I scoured my pouch for my Boston Red-Sox lighter I had picked up in New York along my route. Here it is, please please please light. After rotating the fuel-injection system clockwise I smelled fuel and Flick[ed] [my] Bic. Flick. Flick, Flick. Flick, Flick, Flick. Please light. You don’t understand how important this is to me little guy, please just this once. Flick, Flick, Flick. Nothing. I’ll do anything for you, ANYTHING. Flick, Flick.

                Flick. I was Tom Hanks in Castaway. FIRE! I was the prehistoric man celebrating the creation of something magical.

I boiled water, placed it in my water bottles, and slipped them inside of my bag. Just before weaseling my way into the comforts of my Cat’s Meow, I did push-ups. Helpful tip #26: Contracting muscles creates heat, so push-ups will help to raise your bodies temperature. I meowed upon entering my thermally sufficient, water heated man-cave of a sleeping bag.

Daybreak. You know the end of a scary movie where the sole survivor recognizes the long-awaited appearance of the sun, backed by light-hearted music signalling the end of something horrible? That was me. I woke up at around 8am and the sun was up. I immediately darted to the comfort of the nearby convience store where the locals told me that the temperature had dipped to 13°F just before dawn.