Biking on the hope

In order to reflect on the Journey of hope in a way that can be digestible I have chosen to break it down into sections. The first area I want to talk about is the biking itself. We would wake up most mornings around 5 am and be on the bike within an hour after packing our bags and a small breakfast. The days ranged from the brief 35 mile ride to the longest of 126 miles one day in Wyoming. The also ranged from the hot flatlands of Kansas to the cold steep mountains we passed over. We rode in some parts of the Cascades, Tetons, and Rockies. I found the Tetons to be the most scenic range we passed through with their sharp jutted peaks covered in mounds of snow that could be seen for miles around. the quality of rides and the events that took place on rides ranged greatly. Some days were short and quick, while others were long and arduous. As difficult as some of the hard rides were, they were almost always the most rewarding. When I would ride into lodging after riding on the bike for over 6 hours and hop off exhausted I felt in my body what I had accomplished. When finishing these rides i would feel wiped out and tired, but also like i had truly tested myself and succeeded. It is easy to finish short and flat rides, because I had no doubt about my capability of doing so, but when I had large climbs and long rides, I was more unsure of a successful outcome, which made finishing the ride all the more rewarding. There were times during a few of the rides where I had completely tapped all my energy and almost felt like i was going to bonk. This was never something a quick drink of water or a cliff bar couldn't fix though. Another fun aspect of the rides was the "Push America Challenges" as we called them that were added in. For the Push America Challenges we would take on such tasks as downing a gallon of milk as a pace line at a crewstop before then biking the remainder of the ride. Other challenges consisted of eating large amounts of food, chugging 2 liters of soda, smoking cigars on the bike, and eating Mcdonald's burgers at a stop. The challenges were a great way to add some newness to the rides. When we werw on the bike for 5 plus hours we would get plenty of time to talk within out pacelines and really get to know the other team members on a personal level. We would also play various games to keep us entertained and disclose some of our more ridiculous stories from college. It was an incredible experience to be able to bike across the country at a nice pace and really see so much of america from that perspective. There were certainly times where ifelt surreal, when no one else was around except us, and all we could see is green grass give way to towering mountains, and all we could hear is our own voices, and the wind blowing by.