Day 17: First View of the Mountains For two consecutive summers I’ve been drawn to the mountains. Last summer at this same time, four other friends and I took a road trip to camp through several national parks along the Rocky Mountains. The trip was my first experience with team dynamics in wilderness with poor […]

Day 18: For Purple Mountain Majesties/Above the Enameled Plain! Along our 70-mile day to Colorado Springs, we had a lunch stop generously set up by Mrs. Mary Foerster at the Garden of the Gods. The Garden of the Gods is a massive series of rock formations created millions of years ago by geological forces. Standing […]

It’s funny how we travel 1,200 from Austin, Texad and still receive the worst possible weather in the country. The spurradic change in weather reminds me of the days in Austin when we receive 95 degree weather, a thunder storm, and then 40 degrees all in 24 hours. It’s day 20 in Eureka Springs and […]

As I sat on a park bench, eating the tasty oatmeal that my teammates have quickly perfected and staring one last time at the beautiful mountains that engulfed our campsite, it dawned on me that our time in Zion National Park had come to an end this morning. With so much to do and see, […]

It took 17 days, but physical fatigue finally hit me head on today. After a day of 130 miles in 9 hours yesterday my body was about done. Luckily we only had 40 miles into Little Rock, Arkansas. Even though 40 miles is now considered child’s play for us, every mile was pretty close to […]

Just as things were getting rough and team morale appeared to finally be taking a turn for the worse, we rolled into Zion National Park for a rest day last night. It’s almost as if they planned it that way…. No matter your mood – whether you’re angry, frustrated, disappointed or sad – you have […]

Day 16: Colorful Colorado “…So come on, come on, I’m ready now/I got that feeling honey like I’m ready to roll/…Sixteen days under a southern sun…” – From “Southern Sun” by Boy and Bear Indeed, sixteen days after leaving Austin, TX my ears finally popped. At more 6,100 feet, after 45 miles of cycling, we […]

Day 12: The Harrington Cancer Center The etymology of the word “cancer” begins withthe Greek “karkinos,” meaning “crab.” Some speculate that the fourth-century B.C. Greek physician Hippocrates thought that the toughness of a malignant tumor, and the pain it caused reminded him of a crab’s hard shell and tenacity of bite. Five centuries later, the […]

Day 13: Fast With a tailwind at your back, you can go fast. We reached Dalhart, TX after a quick 80-mile day. West Texas beauty involved mesas, plains, and rock outcroppings. The scenery also included Cadillac Ranch, a public graffiti installation. We spray-painted “Texas 4000” and “Rockies” onto one of the any buried Cadillac cars […]

Our team of 72 has been preparing for over eighteen months for the summer, so it’s hard to believe that it’s been nearly two weeks since the ride began! Our 70 days across North America began with a single ride dedication circle on the UT campus–a tradition that we’ve upheld before every training ride. Alumni […]