Day 62: Not Goodbye

Course: Bethesda, MD to Washington D.C.

Distance: 10 miles

Terrain: Irrelevant

Conditions: 90% chance of men crying like boys.

Today was the day. The be-all and end-all. The big kahuna. Everything came down to this. Every pedal stroke, every heft in our lungs, every drop of sweat, every ache, every pain, every tear - it all came down to this. It's funny because deep down no one even wanted it. 

I woke up and rolled up my air mattress thinking, "Boy am I not going to miss this." I continued to nostalgically get my things together as I looked around at the guys in the room with me. We were noticeably not the same men as we were the day that we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge. Everyone had cleaned their bikes, taken water bottle cages off, and prepped their new jerseys for arrival. Busting everything out at once made us feel pretty cool. 

It was an overcast day again. Slight winds hit my face as I broke open the doors of lodging. I regretted taking every step as I didn't want it to end. The team gathered in the parking lot to circle up for the last time of the summer. Holding the hands of the guys next to me for prayer put a lump in my throat. We kept our congratulations to a minimum. It was sort of everyone's way of prolonging the goodbyes. 10 miles was a piece of cake, so we did it together.

Michael, Derek, and I rode together. We started together and wanted to end that way. The next 10 miles were the strangest I've ever ridden. For the first five miles, no one said a thing. Not a single warning call for a stick in the road, not a single joke nor random question. We were truly soaking in our final moments together. Eventually we caught up to the inevitable peloton that was going at a whopping 5 mph. When we did, spirits picked up and everyone started cracking jokes left and right. Every inside joke that had already been run into the ground was instantaneously fair game and hilarious. We rode as one peloton until stage up, where we met up with Trans and South routes. 

North didn't have much interest in socializing, so a lot of us walked to Starbucks for coffee since we had about an hour of downtime. By the time everyone had their coffee and had eaten their pastries, we headed back to stage up. It came time to form the double pace line and everyone reluctantly shuffled their feet over to the line. Earlier Jeff had asked me to ride in with him, and I couldn't have been more honored to ride next to anyone up to the Capitol. We departed, riding through the city streets of D.C. We could see the Washington Monument to our right slowly pass by. The Capitol wasn't in sight though. We kept pedaling until we came to our first turn. We rounded the corner, and there it sat. Peering down at us like it had been waiting for years was the Capitol. Suddenly, you could hear a pin drop. I can't describe the feeling very well, but all I can say is that it's like the ultimate, "Woah.." moment. That's when it hit everyone - we've made it. 

We rode up to the lawn and dismounted. Friends, family, crying mothers, and the like were all there screaming and waving. It was surreal. I had held in my tears until I reached the foot of the lawn and looked up at the top of the Capitol. I actually just did what I think I did. Then I couldn't help it anymore. Tears were streaming down my face. I kept my face turned though, and went to put my bike down. Chad Coltrane spoke and the team did one last cheer together. It was all a blur though. Before I knew it, I was lifting my bike above my head in celebration of the summer of a lifetime. There will never be a greater feeling than that. In that moment I could see the faces of the people that had touched my life throughout the Journey - all smiling as they had my back. Every memory was flashing before my eyes. The tears that had previously subsided were back for round 2. 

We finally said our goodbyes and headed over to the hotel. Later that night we had our closing ceremonies and did one last Every Time We Touch dance to close them out. When the festivities were over, a handful of us walked to the Lincoln Memorial and just sat on the steps looking back at the Capitol building. The question, "What's it going to feel like when you come back to the Capitol lawn in 50 years?" was posed. No one knew the true answer. All anyone could mutter is, "Awesome." We walked back together and said our final goodbyes. It was tough, but we all knew it wasn't goodbye.

I guess that's the story of JOH. Your job is to touch lives. Maybe not change them, but definitely to touch them. You touch them then you move on to do it again. The reward is something intangible. Those who have done it can never explain, and those who haven't will never understand. 

People often thank us for "sacrificing" our summers for a great cause. The truth is, though, that we don't sacrifice much at all. Maybe some sweat, and a little bit of comfort, but nothing else. I'd take a hard floor with my teammates over the comfort of a plush bed any night. I'd take the heat and sweat over the simplicity of laziness. I'd take cold showers, mediocre cleanliness and running around half-naked over a a great night's sleep after a warm shower and a round of video games. This Journey will stick with me for the rest of my life. I'll never forget the people and places I've seen.

The only disability in life is a bad attitude. 

Day 61: That's a PR

Course: Hagerstown, MD to Bethesda, MD

Distance: 70 miles

Terrain: Rolling hills

Conditions: Road hazards

Today was supposed to be the easiest day of them all. I was riding with Reggie and Derek. There were about 5 pace lines that had all agreed to just saunter through the miles and soak it in together. We would stop to get fast food and sit and eat it on a patch of grass and just talk to each other.

None of that happened. My pace line may as well have been the sweeps for the day. The actual sweeps also may as well have been in our pace line. Everything went awry within the first 30 miles. First, I got a front flat. It was my third of the trip and I hadn’t had a flat since Grand Island, Nebraska. 5 miles later I got a back flat. I hadn’t had a single flat off of my back tire thus far. Shortly after that Derek got a flat. 10 miles later Reggie got a flat. Then, Derek got another flat. About 5 miles later I got my third flat of the day. That’s 6 flats in 30 miles. We were at least 20 miles apart from the next pace line. All of my flats were due to shards of glass in the tires. I got three flats in 30 miles when before I only had two in 3800 miles. Personal record broken. The rest of the day we played catch-up.

We were sprinting at about 22-23mph for about 20 miles and never saw another pace line. We missed rack point but were still allowed to continue. It stinks to not have had the day that I expected, but I sure did make it memorable. At least, my tires did.

We’re currently staying at a super nice high school. We’re lodging in a wrestling room and after about 20 minutes of napping people began to wake up and have a giant free-for-all wrestlemania. Everything is padded so people went nuts. Guys were getting body slammed and full nelsoned and all. Once we settled down and showered we went to an all-team dinner with the other two routes and the Build America team.  We had some great BBQ and tried to chat it up with the other teams…..tried.

Tomorrow is the last day of this journey. It’s hard to believe that it’s here already. Cycling has sort of become my “job” and to think that I only have 10 miles left is crazy. I’m psyched for the arrival, but I never want to leave the guys I’ve befriended here. 

Day 60: Into the Fog

Course: Cumberland, MD to Hagerstown, MD

Distance: 65 miles

Terrain: Hills

Conditions: Wet roads, fog

Max Climbing Distance: 5600 ft

Max Speed: 48.7 mph

Today I swept with Luke and Jeff. Any other day we would have killed the ride since we’re all really strong riders. However at this point most of us have vowed to just take it easy and soak in our last rides. That’s exactly what we did today.

We started with a climb right away – a big one at that. When we got to the top we were surrounded by fog. You couldn’t see 300 yards down the road. As dangerous as it sounds, it was so cool. We stopped behind the other pace lines in front of us and filled up water bottles. We just sat and watched pace lines take off for about 5 minutes. They would go around the van and begin their descent by entering the fog. We saw them for about 3 seconds before they just disappeared in it. When it was our turn we took it pretty slowly since we didn’t want to die two days before DC arrival. We eventually poked out of it and finished our ride pretty smoothly.

When we got to lodging, an NBC news reporter asked us to do a couple rounds of pretending like we were riding in so that he could get a video shot of it. They must really know who I am now since they’ve been following me since San Francisco. That’s right, I’m halfway to stardom.

Our dinner was coupled with our last friendship visit of the summer. It was tough to acknowledge, but we all made the most of it. When it came time for it to begin, we walked across the parking lot of lodging to wheel over the clients. They all had severe disabilities, and almost all of them didn’t talk. I took care of Linda. Her disability was pretty severe so I wasn’t able to talk to her. However, I did get to feed her, and I’m pretty sure I got a smile out of her a few times. Everyone did so well with the clients and we all had a blast.

Directly above ^ : After coming out of the fog, a lot of people were bunched up so we rode as a peloton for about 50 miles.

Day 59: Flirting With 50

Course: Uniontown, PA to Cumberland, MD

Distance: 70 miles

Terrain: Steep hills

Conditions: Humidity

Max Climbing Distance: 7000 ft.

Max Speed: 49.2 mph

Today was the last of the “big” days of the trip. Every since we finished Kirkwood people would talk about “that one climbing day towards the end.” I decided to ride with Michael Walton and Stephen Blythe. Whenever we ride together we call our "team" pace line the Pine Trees. Don’t ask why, because I couldn’t even tell you. We started out as the last pace line but worked hard all day. The hills were difficult, but nothing we couldn’t handle. It was awesome to know that we had come so far. 8% grade hills felt like 6% most times. My only goal since leaving Kirkwood has been to break 50 mph. A lot of people share that goal with me. My previous record for speed was 48.5 mph that very day. Since then we really haven’t had the hills to reach it.

We climbed for what seemed to be hours, and eventually got to our first summit. We descended and I gained speed as quickly as possible. I went into a tuck position and was feeling it. I knew I could do this. When the hill bottomed out and I checked my speedometer, it read 49.2 as my max speed. Frustrating, yes, but I knew that I would have more chances. Every mountain pass that we scaled ended up with the same answers. 48.7…48.6….49…..48….it was ridiculous. The day ended in vain as I never broke 50, but I danced all around it. I was still satisfied knowing that I have come so far in my ability to quickly go up AND down hills.

The Pine Trees finished as the 3^rd pace line and it felt great to know that the rest of the trip would be easier.

Later that night we went to dinner with the Cumberland Rotary Club and had amazing burgers, hot dogs, and fried ice cream. The people there were a lot of fun to talk to and very interested in what we were doing. They held us in a pretty high regard. I’m going to miss feeling famous.

When we got back to lodging we had a gag gift exchange. A lot of guys got some hilarious presents. I gave Colin an autographed (and framed) picture of myself with an inspirational message. Since I’m kind of known as the guy with little emotion, I was given a shirt that says “I had fun once…….it was awful.” 

Above ^ : Some of the scenery

Above ^: Passing the Mason-Dixon Line

Above ^ : Horned Frogs at the border

Above^: Pine Trees at the border.

Day 58: I'm On a Boat

Course: Pittsburgh, PA to Uniontown, PA

Distance: 50 miles

Terrain: Hills

Conditions: Low shoulders

Total climbing distance: ~3000 ft.

Max Speed: 42.2 mph

We started out the day with a sponsored Chick-fil-A breakfast. People have been raving about wanting Chick-fil-A for weeks, so the chance to overload on chicken sandwiches for breakfast was a great start. I rode with Jack and Austin. It was sort of our “goodbye” ride for each other since we had ridden together a lot early on. We took it pretty easy despite the many hills; we were just trying to enjoy our surroundings and have fun talking to each other. The ride went well and we finished at a local YMCA.

After everyone arrived and we got our stuff together, we ate lunch and then headed out to go white water rafting. It was set up by a Pi Alpha from last year’s North route that works with the rafting company. I was in a boat with Colin, Austin, Jack, Jeff, and Saurabh. We called ourselves the Trail Blazers since we would always try to take the paths that no one else would. We ended up being the only raft to ace every intense rapid without tipping or sending at least one person overboard. I think I found my new calling. The only bad part about the rafting trip was that a lot of us (including me) didn’t have shoes. When we had to unload the rafts we carried them up a giant gravel path, and it was painstaking to say the least.

The team had dinner at a Uniontown Knights of Columbus facility. They fed us pasta and meatballs – a fan favorite. We played volleyball, horseshoes, and cornhole. Volleyball was a huge hit since we never actually get to play. For some reason volleyballs always show up at our outdoor dinners, but the nets never do. There were just enough guys to do a 6v6 match, and we did a best of 3 tournament. The team that I was on won in the third game. No big deal, it was a tight match. I coached from the court, which was a pretty tough job. I suppose you could say I put the team on my shoulders. This is going to sound ridiculous, but after I made a really bad play I instinctively ripped some grass off of the ground and shoved it in my mouth. I guess it was a self-punishment kind of thing, but I’m still tasting dirt every once in a while. Just a heads up, if you ever feel the urge to put the earth into your mouth, don’t do it.

Day 57: The Next Beyoncé

 Course: Day off in Pittsburgh!

We woke up and headed downstairs out of the hotel for a sponsored breakfast on the patio. We had everything from croissants to egg casserole to coffee and pastries. It was amazing to have a feast at breakfast for once instead of dinner. We then walked as a team over to our friendship visit with the UCP – United Cerebral Palsy. I remember turning the corner and looking through the window to see a ton of people in one room in wheel chairs. I didn’t really know what to expect this time around. We went inside and were instantly submerged into that very room. I thought to myself that I didn’t have many friendship visits left, so what if I were able to just make one visit the most meaningful for at least one person.

This was my visit.

I went to an empty table and began talking to a client there. Here name was Allie and like the other clients there she had Cerebral Palsy. I began pulling every card I had in the conversation book. Every topic, every joke, everything. I wasn’t letting this one go. Allie liked to sing and play Wii singing games. I told her she was the next Beyoncé and she smiled wider than I’ve ever seen. Throughout our time together we made each other laugh relentlessly. She had a huge crush on one of the caretakers there, so I kept threatening to call him over. Every time I said anything like, “Oooooooh there goes Brian!” she would blush and tell me not to say anything too loudly. When it came time for dinner Allie asked me to feed her and I gladly obliged. Feeding her was a pretty humbling experience since she was older than me. It was tough to say goodbye, but before I left she reminded me that she would remember me. I can’t wait to send someone back next year to see how she’s doing.

We went to dinner at the Woodlands Camp for teens with developmental disabilities. They go there to learn how they can become more independent since a lot of them are losing any funding that they’ve been receiving. A few of our cyclists volunteered to give inspirational speeches in front of the camp. It was great to hear guys talk about how they’ve overcome difficulties this summer.

Day 56: The Mighty Mighty Peloton

Course: Niles, OH to Pittsburgh, PA

Distance:

Terrain: Hills

Conditions: Humidity

Today I rode with Matt and Saurabh (SAR-ubb). I was feeling pretty good out of the gate, but we had some trouble early on. Saurabh kept having bike troubles, so we fell back to about fifth pace line. We kept cooking though, and eventually made our way to third. We joined up with the second pace line, and were riding pretty close to them for a while. Soon our two pace lines caught up with the first pace line, and before we knew it we were essentially a peloton. A car behind us wouldn’t dare pass us, and a truck in front of us was going relatively slowly, so we were pretty much boxed in. We couldn’t ride single file since the cars were so close, so some of us were forced to take the lane. We stayed in peloton formation for about 3 miles until we were able to split up a bit. After all, if a crew van saw us we’d probably be racked on account of the terrible moods the crew has been in lately. That and because peloton formation is way against the policies and procedures.

We all got red flagged at the next stop since there were about 27 turns for the crew to mark. There, we decided to try a six-man pace line out of the gate. My pace line left first, and we slowed a bit to wait for the second pace line. When they finally caught up, we made one giant pace line and began rocketing down the road at a steady 25-30 mph, depending on who was pulling. There was so much time to rest that a one mile pull was nothing. If you were sitting in the back, you could hardly pedal but still draft and remain at the speed of the person in front. We did that for about 12 miles until we hit hills and separated. My pace line wanted to finish first pretty badly since we all hadn’t in a while, so we pushed ourselves pretty hard and came out on top in front of some pretty good riders.

After the ride, we staged up and did an arrival at the Three Rivers Association for people with developmental disabilities. It finds ways to keep them active. Build America was there so we got to see those guys again. They’re goofy, but all pretty nice.

Later that night we went to a pretty cool bowling alley to just have fun with the team itself. It wasn’t a friendship visit, so guys got pretty competitive. The alley was really cool, too. It was sort of old-timey and the balls were returned above ground. That’s something I’ve never seen before, so if you’re reading this and thinking, “That’s not that ‘old-timey’….” then I’m sorry.

Day 55: Fu Manchu

Course: Cleveland, OH to Niles, OH
Distance: 55 miles
Terrain: Some hills
Conditions: Upper lip growth

When we first went outside to pack our Thule bags into the truck it was pouring rain. Luckily it cleared up and got sunny before our takeoff. I rode with Derek and Jason. Before we left, Jason supplied our pace line with fake mustaches. Our plan was to ride with them all day, but it got really difficult about 6 miles into the ride. Jason's literally flew off of his face, mine got so annoying that I decided to throw it on the ground, and Derek's was so filled with snot and sweat that it was hanging by a thread at the first crew stop that we came to. Maybe someone who has always wanted a mustache will stumble across one of them.

We got to lodging and had a ton of fried chicken waiting for us. Nothing like fried chicken after a long bike ride! I mean that, too. Right after lunch we showered, changed, and then went into the gym of the school we were at for a dance. Everyone went berserk not knowing whether or not this was our last dance together. Our DJ was a man that had a developmental disability and had been given a grant by Push America to buy his own equipment. He played a four-song tribute to America. The guys dug it so we all circled up, held hands, and belted out some good ol' American anthems.

For dinner we went to Olive Garden. The puppeteers sat together with every intention of breaking another bread record. However, this waitress wasn't nearly as cool as Melissa. As soon as she brought out our third basket in 5 minutes she caught wind of our plan and disappeared for the rest of the meal. Someone else had to take our orders. Afterwards we went to the mall to shop for the gag gift exchange. My idea is terribly clever - I just can't release it yet.

Day 54: That's a Lot of Cheddar

Course: Day off!

We woke up and headed out to the Cleveland Children's Hospital for breakfast and a friendship visit. We split up into small groups and then were given a tour of the facility. They showed us their pool, gym, therapy rooms, and dialysis rooms. We didn't get to interact much with the kids, but I did get to talk to José when we went to dialysis. He's a 15-year-old whose kidneys don't work. He has to go to dialysis so that the machines can do the work of his kidneys for 3 hours, 5 days per week. I struck up a conversation with him and was able to find out a lot about him in just that 10 minutes that we were together. He loves English class and loves writing. He's not much of a video game kid; I thought that was impressive. José keeps a journal every day and wants to write a book one day about his battle with cancer. He already has a title for the book picked out and everything. The guy was really an inspiration.

After the tour we were asked to give an encore Kids on the Block performance. We had thought that the show was done for the rest of JOH, so we were pumped to be able to give one more. Again, we went all out with it and made the audience laugh a lot. Unfortunately, that performance was truly our last one. I had a blast doing the puppet shows, and as I said before, it will be one of my fondest memories of the trip.

For dinner we went to a place called The Melt. They specialize in grilled cheese sandwiches of all sorts. I got a deep fried grilled cheese with shrimp and aioli. It. Was. Amazing. I enjoyed my meal, but a couple of the crew guys (Jesus and Josh) decided to make their nights miserable by taking on the Melt Challenge. They're our biggest guys, but our server said he's seen 80+ people attempt it and 3 people finish it. It involves eating 3 1/2 pounds of every cheese that the place has, and then eating a combined 1.5 pounds of fries and coleslaw. Seriously, guys? They plan on doing a ride along tomorrow too...yikes.

Josh quit about halfway through. Jesus, the underdog in the competition, made it til there was about half of the pile of coleslaw and not too many fries left. He then proceeded to get up (forfeiting the challenge by doing so) and go hurl in the bathroom.

My chapter brother that loaned my brother and I the same bike to ride for the trip, Rudy Granaghan, was one of the sponsors for the meal. It was great to see him and catch up.

Day 53: Cleveland's Most Wanted

Course: Sandusky, OH to Cleveland, OH
Distance: 70 miles
Terrain: Mostly flat
Conditions: Poor roads

Our PM flat out told us in the morning that we'd be getting racked at some point. Well, that doesn't exactly motivate us to want to work hard. They told us to just sprint as hard as we can to see how far we can make it. My solution? Become a sweep and get away with not having to work hard. My pace line was in total agreement. Kevin, Beau, and I set out at a leisurely pace for the day. We rode about 28 miles before we got racked. The first pace line only made it 35 anyways.

We were racked in order to make it to lodging and shower in time to make it to the Cleveland Indians baseball game. Not a bad reason to get racked if you ask me. We made it to the game on time and everyone had a lot of fun. At one point we all got on the big screen. By everyone, I mean everyone plus my shins. I was just one row off screen and by the time I figured out that the camera was even on us it was too late.

After a nap the team headed out to a park for a sponsored dinner. We had pasta and meatballs, played volleyball, cornhole, and decided to be "those guys" that go to the playground and hog all of the equipment while kids are around.

Once we got back to lodging, the guys over 21 went out and the minors were left alone - again. I don't mean to say that with a negative connotation though. We always have more fun. Our crew chief (the guy in charge of feeding us) said we had so much food that he actually needed our help depleting it. We all delved into it and made challenges out of what was in there. Guys were taking mouthfuls of gatorade powder and scarfing down gross concoctions of food. However, we weren't satisfied. The Fizzy Monkey challenge still had to be completed. It entails eating two bananas and then drinking a liter of Sprite. It's supposed to fill your stomach and react or something to make you puke. For some reason, we were all down with puking. We walked to the store and picked up the necessary supplies, and then went back to the parking lot of our lodging to participate.

The five of us brave enough to take on the challenge had at it. Everyone got their bananas down no problem. We began to chug our sodas and all of a sudden four cop cars rolled into the parking lot - lights blaring and all - and boxed us in. They did the "Well whadda we got goin on here?" tough guy walk and strolled up to us. One asked us what we were doing and we explained who we were, what we were eating/drinking, and that this is how we pathetically occupy ourselves when we aren't 21. They admired our cause and thought the Fizzy Monkey challenge was hilarious, so they stuck around for a bit to watch the pain continue. They joked around with us for a bit and then left. The challenge continued. Jason, our resident challenge expert, finished first. He did some pushups, ran a couple of lengths of the parking lot, and then did some jumping jacks. The rest of us just stared at him blankly, clearly thinking, "We hate you." We were in so much pain.

I finished second and went straight to the bathroom. Somehow, I didn't end up hurling. The three other guys did, though. Jason and I completed the challenge, and then all I wanted to do was go to bed. Thus, I did exactly that.

Day 52: Steak With a Side of G-Force

Course: Toledo, OH to Sandusky, OH

Distance: 70 miles

Terrain: Mostly flat

Conditions: Slight headwind

Today was the second huge day that we've been looking forward to since the beginning of the trip. We headed over to the Pi Kapp house in the morning to get breakfast. Afterwards, Austin, Brooks and I headed out together to get to Sandusky ASAP. Today, we would be indulging in a little roller coaster action at Cedar Point. After the massages I was feeling refreshed. I pulled at about 23 mph for at least 10 miles on two separate occasions. As a pace line, we booked it and got to Battery Park in Sandusky third.

Once everyone arrived we staged up and headed over to our friendship visit with Ability Works. I got to eat lunch with a guy named Jeff. He had a developmental disability and was in a wheelchair, but he loved to laugh. We talked about everything from motorcycles to forest fires. He couldn't wait to get on the dance floor - he kept busting dance moves at the dinner table. When we finished eating we headed out to the dance and tore it up together. It was great to really connect with someone at a friendship visit again. 

The visit ended and we headed over to Cedar Point to meet with the parents of a Pi Alpha for dinner. They cooked us steak and potatoes and it was fantastic. We then headed into the park for a few hours. Unfortunately, we literally only had a few hours, so we only got to ride four rides. However, I crossed one roller coaster off of my bucket list - the Top Thrill Dragster. It only lasts 17 seconds, but it shoots you off at 120 mph and then 427' straight up in the air, then you plummet 427' almost straight down right afterwards.  It was awesome! 

Pictures won't do it justice, so here's a video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PuLRQHRzV8

Day 51: Holy Toledo

Course: Ann Arbor, MI to Toledo, OH
Distance: 50 miles
Terrain: Flat
Conditions: Sunny? Poor roads.

Today was the first day that we didn't start out with cold weather gear on. Prior to getting rain, I always thought that rain would be awesome. Now, I hate the rain. Rain + bike = angry Blake. Also, last day in Michigan means last day of terrible roads.

I rode with Derek and Kevin Dubbins, the man of steel. We averaged a pretty solid pace despite the 10-mile story Kevin told us about his crazy ex-stalker of a girl friend. Notice how "girl" and "friend" are separated - he'd prefer it that way. We got racked about 5 miles out from our stage-up location. It stunk to not be able to finish, but it was a big day and we had to be there on time. We gathered up and double pace lined down to our arrival in front of the University of Toledo. There were a lot of people there, including two TV stations and a lot of family and other supporters. We received a proclamation and a warm welcome from all kinds of people.

After the arrival and an amazing Chick-fil-A lunch, we headed over to the dorms for lodging. We cleaned up and then split into two groups. Since I'm a part of the puppet show group, we stuck together and went to a friendship visit to perform for young kids without disabilities. They're always really fun to perform for because they'll always try to ask questions at the end of the show to prove that the puppets aren't real in some way. In one of the plays, I play a blind man.

 One boy kept asking me situations like "What if your cat is loose in your backyard and you have to catch it, how do you do that?" Acting as the puppet, I answered, "Well I don't have a cat, but if I did I would have my mom chase it for me!" He wasn't pleased. "Well what if your mom is blind too?" "Then I would have my dad do it!"
"Well what if your dad is blind too and so are his parents?"
"Well, then I sure hope the cat comes back."

More kids would challenge us, but that only allowed for us to make funny answers. It was a great time as our last KOB performance of the year. That will always be one of my fondest memories of the trip.

After the puppet show we went to Outback Steakhouse for dinner. The KOB puppeteers sat together as a "last supper" kind of thing. At Outback, they bring you bread skewered on a knife as an appetizer/filler. The four of us were joking around with the waitress a lot, so we asked what the record was for loaves of bread eaten. She said that she had heard it was about 12, so we gladly accepted the challenge. Our rule was that no matter where we were in our meal, if she brought out a loaf, we had to stop and eat it. Eventually we had eaten so many that she started skewering two loaves per knife. At one point the waitress made us finish all of the food on our plates before she brought out more bread. Haven't heard that one since I was 5. We broke the record by eating 13 loaves (collectively - each loaf split into equal fourths). Our waitress literally asked us for our autographs, so she gave us a blank meal ticket and we all signed it. Total, I ate approximately 3.25 loaves of bread, a plate of salad, one giant baked potato, an 8 oz steak, and an 8 oz piece of chicken. Yet again, I was still hungry afterwards. Adjusting to college cafeteria dieting is going to be rough.

Dinner was so much fun, but the night only got better. Stomachs full, we headed over to get massages. Heaven. Amazing. Whatever else you want to call it - massages are awesome. When I'm a billionaire I'm getting one every day. Every kink in my legs was kneaded out and I felt like a new man when I walked out of that place. Afterwards the team went to fellow cyclist Saurabh Metah's house for ice cream and basketball. It was a lot of fun!

1) The KOB puppet crew

2) A bread toast....no pun intended

3) After the 13th loaf

4) Proof that Melissa, our waitress, wanted our autographs.