atlantic ocean

pack heading towards the beach for our last group ride. even though it was a short one, we still had a few flat tires within the group. im going to miss these days and all of these people.

r4wh singing love shack to close the bar down. the girls part of that song is much better than the boys. what are you doing with the girls josh?

"bibs only bandits" after our dip in the ocean. we did a serious picture but this one was too good to pass up.

another karaoke jam. i think this one was lisa loeb. next one was our encore of gangsta's paradise.

finally in the atlantic. its been a long, memorable journey. two months ago this was me in the pacific ocean.

we finally made it. yesterday we arrived in washington, d.c. and today we hit the atlantic ocean. realistically, our 13 mile ceremonial cruise to the ocean was not at all difficult but it really seemed to wrap up the trip in a dramatic fashion. we all grouped together, dipped our front tires together then all jumped in to the water together. realizing now how much i will miss all the people on the ride as we go about our separate lives tomorrow.

we finished the ride at the beach then headed to our nice condo stays right on the water. bobby's mom was nice enough to cook a bunch of ziti for us. hung out with the group playing games, watching slideshows and just enjoying each others' company. eventually headed to a bar near our stay and was greeted by karaoke sounds. of course, we participated in the action until the bar closed then took a late night swim followed by a short ocean walk to close out the night. i don't want to go back to normal life.

quarters. had enough people to do three cups at once. chaotic but fun for hours (clip's intention is to show the chaos).

real virginia!

group pic at state line. this is at the end of a steep climb - 9-12% i think. rest of the day was easy from this point.

team bibs only. kel in the back didn't have bibs on so he just went shirtless eventually. seth, nate, me, joe with kelton in back. we are trying to look tough. don't think it is working.

hiking team number 2 at the top of seneca rocks in menongahela state park (hindi translation "i shook naked"). me, nate, jen, seth. old lady on trail said to me "oh look at your arms, you are like vanilla and chocolate"


did you miss me? i missed you. sorry about the non-blogging, wv is not the best place to get internet. currently in front royal, virginia, essentially done with the ride except for the ceremonial atlantic ocean dip and a support day tomorrow.





last few days have been amazing. on thursday, we had a long 103 mile day from wherever i blogged last into elkins. it was really one of the more tough days because of a lot of climbing early, an early event in smithville and less than ideal road conditions (including people being run off the road by wv drivers - state is absolutely beautiful minus many of the people and cruel drivers).





next day was a short 60 something mile day from elkins into petersburg with an stop in seneca rocks where we took a nice hike up to the top. again, was a lot of climbing but the short mileage made it much more manageable. have to explain one of the pictures here. we have been joking about riding "bibs only" for some time meaning no jersey, simply wearing the shorts that have straps that go over your shoulders (similar to a wrestling singlet). the sun was shining, we only had 22 miles left in the day so a group of us decided to do it and wow did we get some odd looks. was fun though, evening events included pizza hut pitchers and pizza and bowling. finished the day at this fairgrounds where they were nice enough to place us where they auction off the animals and, get this, there was a circus setting up right next to us. i have to admit i was a little freaked out with the place we were staying and also because of the circus-folk. i slept in the van that night.





today was another beautiful one. we left petersburg and hit a couple nice big climbs to start the day and conclude our mountain adventures. i should have been exhausted today considering it was supposed to be my support day (switched with joe so he can ride tomorrow) and i skipped my last support day to ride into columbus. anyway, i was riding on pure emotion today and tore up the hills despite my body asking me to stop. hit virginia, our 11th state around the 50 mile mark and finished around 75. tomorrow we arrive in washington, d.c.





internet connection is weak, i will try to post more pictures in the days to come. you will notice my tan lines are getting pretty bad. please don't call me a freak.

oh yeah, and that cup from the last blog said "coke". i swore it said "cola" and was actually impressed that the waitress wrote coke on one and cola on another to not confuse them when they got refills - i was impressed for no reason because it was supposed to say coke on both.

west virginia

another state down, i think this is our 9th. day was potentially amazing to start with really good weather and a shorter day at 82 miles. we cruised out of athens after going through the city then headed towards some not so great roads for the next 20 miles, including a delay because of road construction. after a couple re-routes we ended up in coolville, ohio for a rest stop (pics to come, i couldn't find my camara in time). tried to keep up-beat about things but one unmarked road then pouring rain led to a flat for marianne then immediately when we were ready to roll, a flat for me. after lunch the day cleared up a bit and we had some more pretty climbs and descents. finished 87 miles and many hours later in harrisville, WV where we are staying at a 4H dormitory. tomorrow we have an event at an elementary school and another 100+ mile day.


cookies and cream ice cream. tasty but it's no jeni's.

strange street/dam near athens. luckily we didn't have to cross this.

so these three pictures are of this crazy lady who demanded her public street parking spot. she made us move our lunch table and bikes so she could almost fit into her spot. the second picture is of the two open parking spots both on the same side and across the street. town was called sugar grove - ironically the people were bitter.

survey - PLEASE vote via comment page. does this say cola or coke? hint: this was at a pizza joint in harrisville, west virginia if that helps.

ou/athens ride in

finally left columbus this morning. really sad to go, i think i even biked sad the first 2 hrs or so pedaling very slowly. we all thought the weather was going to be terrible because we woke up with rain, but that cleared up within an hr of riding and the weather was perfect the rest of the day. ride was actually quite beautiful with all the hills and creeks we passed over. had slow and fast rolling hills the entire way, and besides the traffic getting out of cbus and the few directional mishaps, the day was perfect. we finished with 93 miles that were really not all that bad. funny how a 90 mile day now seems reasonable. finished at ou where nora (1st yr) had set up a great event where bobby, kem, and seth had a great discussion about poverty and health with many at the med school. they also arranged home stays for us here which is always a treat. a few of us are staying with christina, fourth year at oucom who went to centerville, then osu and knows both vishal and namita. small world. columbus wore me out so im gonna go to bed early tonight and maybe post the few pictures from the day at a later time.

cbus day 3

van diesel haming it up in front of the camara as usual. im using this pic as his goodbye picture since he is waving. gonna miss him a bunch.

guess its getting close to leaving time. really sad about that but also excited about biking the way to the finish. had an incredible time in cbus, met up with some of my favorite people a few times and really enjoyed their company as usual. last night a bunch of non-riders and i went to surly girl in the short north. lalit and i split two meals - one was called sausagefest the other chicken and biscuits - that were both very good, especially with some tasty beverages to wash them down with. was way too exhausted to do much after that so headed to the hyatt with lalit and nadia and slept in bed for the first time since i can't remember when. was pretty amazing, hard to believe that i actually do that on a daily basis with my normal life. im a lucky guy. sadly, lalit and nads had to say goodbye after their dental checkup with dr. chitkara. hopefully no cavities for either. lalit, you are not fooling anybody by flossing the night before (no offense).

today we had our event day which went extremely well. had a nbc newscaster mc the event with joe, seth, dr. souba giving a quick intro outside then dr. lucey (male version - malaria expert) and an msf surgeon giving our lecture series. everything went very well, including the food thanks to the one and only hoopes. later there was an event at bar 23 for us to hang out with some of the cbus people which was again a lot of fun. worse part was saying goodbye to one of our favorite riders, van. really, really sad to see him go. guess a wedding and med school graduation is a good excuse.

tomorrow we head to athens as we continue towards the atlantic. trip is flying, we will be done one week from tomorrow. again, columbus and dayton people, love you and miss you very much. glad i was able to see some of you.

pics from last few days.

nate cuddling with graysville stuffed frog. kem woke him up with the stuffed animal spooning him. nice tan lines nate.


my longest riding day ever. this is the day we hit the ohio border. probably the longest i will ever ride.

surly girl dinner. lalit's hand, duffy, em, kate, vishal, jen, nadia, blaire. good times.

floss party at the hyatt. nadia tries to keep us boys in check. the RA in her will never die.

on the way to the ride in at osu med center. look at that formation. impressive. in san diego we not nearly as disciplined.

short video i took while biking towards med center.

cbus day 2

so glad to be here, have i mentioned that already. had an absolute blast last night. cory and lindsey threw a killer bbq at their place with the one and only PBR. later a group of us, including steph (last night until dc - miss her already), went out to the one and only spice bar for a wicked good time. were joined by some favorite people including, nadia and lalit (cutest couple alive), jen and vishal (another very cute couple), neil, duffy, kate, manju, emily and others. probably had a little too much fun because waking up this morning was not easy.

had an amazing event at roll: at easton with a great turnout for both rides, fantastic weather, and great food. glad my parents and family were able to join us again. tonight we are going to surly girl for some more fun with some of my favorite peeps and tomorrow we have our big osu event day. i don't want to leave cbus. cheers.

COLUMBUS!!!

gonna keep it brief and pictureless. arrived into columbus at about 4pm today after a nice ride in. yesterday had my all time high with 116 miles as we arrived to the ohio border ahead of the sweep vehicle. had a really nice cook out at jen and jon's place (joe's sis and bro-in-law) in waynesville last night.

today left waynesville through some familiar territory in dayton then met the family + joshi's in london, ohio for the best lunch break thus far (indian grub). cruised the last 35 miles with a nice tailwind most of the time through more familiar territory. so glad to be here.

more rain

i realize i complain about this a lot. we were rained on again today. funny part about it was that i somehow really enjoyed it. within about 5 minutes during our last 20 miles i became soaked to the bone but was warm enough that i didn't get cold. literally splashed around bloomington watching a handful of people get flat tires during the downpour. finished in bloomington with about 75 miles. really fun day though with all the unexpected hills we encountered.

events today went really well. the kids at graysville were really excited about having us come in and speak to them. later in the evening we had an event with UCGH at IU with this guy, tyler, who has seen the ride come through each year. overall another good day, tomorrow we ride to ohio on a route that is 157 miles long. there is no way we are going to make it the whole way. im really exhausted, gonna go to bed. hopefully see many of you very soon.

illinois departure, indiana arrival

another day on the bike, another day in the rain. i swear we can't get out of the rain. started another day with gray skies, dark clouds, misty rain and humidity. wasn't actually all that bad because we cruised with a tight paceline for the first 30 or so miles then just relaxed for the next 30 while we stayed soaked. for some reason i had that sheryl crow and kid rock song stuck in my head, possibly because of the weather - i was constantly thinking of the line "since you've been gone my world's been....dark and gray"(which also reminds me of kel and nate's similar version of the song performed in monticello, CO). on the second leg, got my first riding flat tire that i had to replace on the road, guess i probably shouldn't have jinxed myself by saying i haven't had any yet. oh well. near the end of the ride, we crossed the indiana border and finished just a few miles past it in graysville, IN. overall about 93 or so flat miles. arrived to the smell of lasagna in the building as the teachers of rural community academy put together an amazing dinner and dessert combination that was delicious. the kids of the school also made some placemats for us while we ate.

i think i am finally feeling the effects of weeks of biking. i started the day feeling pain from both knees to hips as i tried pedaling quickly, could be just fatigue or could be a lack of proper stretching. either way, i am really excited for a few days off in cbus.



me at the welcome to indiana sign. i know, i know, i look skinny. lost a few pounds on this trip so far but making a conscious effort to eat more. tough when you burn 4-6000 calories a day.

group of us at indiana/illinois border. back: dave, jen, katie, chris, carissa, caitlin, me, bobby, josh, tammy. front: joe, van, kem, jamie, nate.

we turned around and walked to the illinois welcome sign for a group picture since we missed it from missouri. if you compare the two, you will notice some differences between what people are wearing. we were trying to make it look like it was done on two separate days. also funny if you read the phrases for the states. seems like there is an intense battle for claims to abe. top: joe, dave, chris, carissa, tammy, caitlin, jen. bottom: josh, van, me, jamie, katie, kem.

warm welcome at the school. tomorrow we have events for all of the students from k-8. jamie, chris, carissa, jen, me, nate, van, josh, kem, katie.

dessert spread, definitely the best selection we've had.

illinois arrival

another bad weather day for us. we were set to leave early from st. louis but were stopped by about two hrs of rain, thunderstorms and hail - was especially because we had a group of riders that were set to join us for our ride out of the city. was pretty sad we had to cut the ride out of st. louis as we were set to pass busch stadium, the arch, and the stadiums where the rams and the blues play, and cross the mississippi river (still got to see them by car - not the same though) on the bike. ended up driving to the arch for some photos then driving to our lunch events in greenville, IL with some showing a slideshow and others (me included) going to a preschool and basically playing with the kids while we continued to watch the t-storms. eventually 3pm rolled around and the weather cleared allowing us to bike about 50 miles into kinmundy, IL with a crazy headwind. arrived to the lions club where they had a great dinner set up for us. all in all a good day though, think the flat terrain will get boring very shortly. not sure about tomorrow but a good guess would be 100ish miles in flat terrain with rain likely. i do know we arrive into indiana (our 8th state) and have our last time zone change.


group at arch. bobby, marc, joe, seth, jen and kel. what is joe doing (white hat on one arm)?

vertical arch shot.

me with arch. tough to get a picture with the full arch and a person.

goodbye show me state.

cheers to calorie replacement - even if it is a support day. i went with the rocky road/peanut butter cup combo. a great choice.


nice sushi spread. much of the sushi, apps and drinks were half off! best was probably the spicy hamachi in bottom left or the mango yellowtail. the sushi chef had some facial hair, long hair and a headband. i think he was chef by day, ninja by night based on his moves.



peeps rockin the new hoodies. these have been highly argued and long awaited. i think all but three of us wore them out to dinner.


chris, andrew, van and nate at kaffee haus in the cool town of hermann.

sitting in a gymnasium at wash u's school of medicine after the end of a short biking day. yesterday continued with the nice tailwind into the city of washington, MO. i think this was the first day where i really felt like the wind was in our favor for the entire day. about time. finished the day with about 80 or so miles after exploring the town for local brews and espresso. ended up staying at the ymca where we got to enjoy all the benefits of membership and were given a great dinner from a local italian place.

for the short day (around 55 miles) i was lucky enough to be on support as we rolled into st. louis. was tricky because the directions we had were a bit terrible with roads that didn't exist. probably one of the more challenging days for our support team as we had dozens of roads to mark with pretty heavy traffic. riders did great though and didn't openly complain about the wrong turn we took them on. finished with a nice event to high school students that went really well.

after getting settled and a quick starbucks run, had some nice sushi with nate, katie, and jen. then joined the others for some ice cream (others went to indian and mexican - this area is very cool with many food options) at one of the coolest coffee shops i've been in (open 24 hrs, internet, pool, and great ice cream). tomorrow will be a long one around 110 with a midday event as we pull stay our one night in illinois before entering indiana (can you believe it?).

Happy Mother's Day!

mom just a few months ago with baby sonia.

happy mother's day momma! sad i cannot be with you mom, but thinking about you. also a big happy ma's day to our only mom on the trip marianne. currently sitting in a cute little coffee shop in a cute little town called hermann right on the missouri river just over half way through the day. a bit of a gross day with wind, rain and dark clouds but so far the winds have been pushing us towards washington.

rain delay

jefferson city - capital of missouri

left sedalia, MO knowing we had to book it to get to jefferson city prior to the storms. things were going well at the start then quickly the likelihood of a rainout increased. first the highway we were supposed to turn on was poorly marked causing a waste of about 10 miles then the bridge we were supposed to cross was impassable. did about 62 or so miles of steep rolling hills into lunch when the thunderstorms started forcing us to call it.

today was one of those days that i was not at all upset about stopping early. the entire day it seemed like we had some sort of headwind or crosswind and my legs started to hurt around 20 or so miles. the terrain was beautiful the entire time but a few days of these continuous hills are more painful than a couple really big climbs. i think i was just pooped.

arrived in jefferson city to first united methodist church with great showers, internet, a full kitchen, laundry and games to play. an A+ accommodation - probably the best part is walking out the back door and seeing the capital building a few hundred yards away.

another day, another century

lunch stop in strasburg. they changed the front sign for us when they found out we were coming. marianne and erin in picture.

from the start, this day looked like it was set to be a disaster. we had about ten miles biking through a busy part of kansas city, beginning in kansas then mostly in missouri. the worst part was the pouring rain that soaked the clothing within the first five minutes and the drivers who seem to not care about bikers. really wasn't all that bad considering. then started a day consisting of a doozen or so turns and more rain. hit the 25 mile rest stop when the rain started to cease. continued three miles to a coffee shop called "doozen's" (that was a joke in the last sentence by the way) where we tried to warm up, dry off and play some guesstures. continued the long day through nice rolling hills and eventually found the sun and some nice biking weather. finished the day with 107 miles. century felt much worse about a month ago.

arrived at the united methodist mega-church in sedalia to a full meal and great showers. after dinner steph removed my sutures from my elbow. thanks steph.

tomorrow i thought we had a shorter day but i guess it is still 80. will try my best to stay dry though this area of the country seems to hate us as far as the weather is concerned.

i heart kansas city

so i'm growing attached to kc for a couple reasons. a little odd considering it wasn't a riding day but truly this was one of the best days on the ride. city had all the comforts and a lot of charm.

the day started out really well considering our great accommodations at the kcmc fitness center had great showers, free breakfast (thanks josh) and a pool and hot tub. improved when i checked the starbucks website and realized that there was a shop walking distance. after introducing ourselves to the med 1 and 2 classes we had our global health day event that went really well. the med classes were well represented and we were welcomed by a handful of people there. the first speaker was a physician who does a bunch of work with HIV internationally and started the organization INMED. then, a 4th year from ku named micheal oller presented a short documentary about his trip to zambia which literally brought tears to my eyes for the entire length of the film. he showed footage of kids, men and women who were "positive" as they themselves described the unique problems they face.

showers at the fitness center. i thought for a while i was seeing j-hawks while i was riding, but i think i was just seeing vultures. apparently a "jayhawker" was one who was anti-slavery during the civil war period and there is no actual bird. kind of a cool mascot that makes little sense.

probably the most glorious combination of two retail food locations on the planet. 5th avenue in grandview is close but these two were literally sharing parking lots. during the day, i had two coffees and one chicken burrito from these establishments. what made it even better was a cool bike store, another coffee shop (with great espresso and artwork), book/music shop, ice cream shop and indian and sushi restaurants next door. probably one of the better blocks i've ever been to.

thrift store shopping withe kel. i bought this nice white cardigan while kel decided to pass on the identical purchase. store was cool though, would have bought the grey leather drivers cap if i thought i would actually wear it. kel bought the cowboy boots he is wearing (not shown) as did allison.

eventually ended the event and hung out in the fitness center while i tried to get a swimming lesson from jen. after much effort i realized that i can't breath when i swim and my upper body does not coordinate with my lower. i also realized that without goggles, i swim diagonally. was fun nevertheless.

later went to the royals game thanks to carissa's connections. tailgated a little in the parking lot then went in for a royal good time. watched most of the game from the third deck where i found my way to a foul ball. decided to make a young kid's day by giving him the ball just as i was treated one summer day at riverfront stadium with a foul ball. it was completely worth it to see the look on his face. game was a blast even though the royals lost ( royals may be the AL equivalent to the reds. sorry vishal)

making my father proud with peanuts and beer at a ballgame. dad, "i can't believe i ate the whole friggin' bag" (i really did eat most of it).

3rd row seats. probably close to when we were on jumbo-tron. jen, van, chris, nate, samara.

group swaying to and singing "friends in low places" at the game. this is a test video, not sure if it works.

gonna be tough to leave kc. tomorrow we have 106 miles of rolling hills with, of course, am rain showers. mizzou here we come.

kansas city, kansas/missouri

mud group posterior. bobby, van, kem and me. nice legs huh? (the mud doesn't project that well on the picture)

mud group front. left was bobby, in pic, van, kem, jen, and me

lunch at clinton lake.

long day but we finally got to kansas city. day started out with a short event at the mennonite church in topeka and ended 82 miles later at the medical center of ku. aside from the rain showers, the day was a blast. steep rolling hills the whole way with an increase as we got close to kansas city. had a nice lunch stop at clinton lake when the rain started and another stop near lawrence where we met up with allison and lost seth for a few days for his own graduation. rain was actually not all that bad as it was only about an hr and a half worth. some people got good and muddy (jen) during the day while others just got thier backs and bikes dirty (most everybody else). were about 2 miles away from the medical center when we were stopped by support because of media coverage so waited for some more riders in some random parking lot until a helicopter started filming us riding in a group in a aerial "bicycle parade" of sorts. looked pretty cool on the local news. spent the evening at a spot called jared allen's (former defensive lineman for the chiefs) where they gave us free wings and trivia. ironically our team called "and in first place" got third place in trivia despite our many clutch answers. tomorrow an event at the medical center during the day then a royals game at night. officially still in kansas but pretty much done biking it. sweet.

topeka/support day

mirror view of rolling hills.

marianne gives the thumbs up as she climbs another hill.

group at rest stop 1 near dwight. bobby, erin, carissa, dave, samara, katie, jen, van, jamie

group of kansas cows that don't like being moo-ed at. they started charging me very slowly until i got back into the van. i think they were protecting the young.

another support day another 90 some miles. lecture that steph and i gave this morning at herington middle school went really well. audience seemed entertained, asked really good questions, and hopefully learned a thing or two. ended up being "sweep" the whole day which i must say was a bit on the boring side. you pretty much drive until you see riders then stop for 15 minutes on the side of the road somewhere. day went well though, the t-storms held off for the whole day and there was minimal rain. the terrain stayed rolling and green for the entire day which was fun to drive in (probably better to bike in). pretty uneventful overall other than the 10 miles of road construction. staying at the menonite church in topeka, which by comparison is a very big city. had some great thai food and now getting ready for another day of riding. smell ya later.

kansas, improving?

talk to me earlier today and i would have cursed kansas again, however, after finishing the ride, i must say that kansas is improving. the first few miles into it i was feeling great thinking the rain was not affecting me. about ten minutes later when my socks, shirt, hat, gloves, and chamois were soaking wet, all i wanted to do was pull over, dry off, and call it a day. the rain continued enough to cause a three person wreck about 15 miles into it (which i somehow dodged), then the next 25 miles had to be called due to lightning.

the day was looking terrible until we drove into the wonderful town of lindsborg. we went there because we heard it had charm, great coffee and great desserts - and the fact that it was thunderstorming meant that we had very few other options. found the town, were treated very well by people we didn't know at the covenant church and waited for the weather to clear. it did (kinda) and we went on to have a great ride finishing with about 69 miles after it was all said and done. the terrain switched from boring flat emptiness to lush, rolling hills with cows all over the place (we play a game called "hey cow" where, while biking, you yell "hey cow!" as loud as possible and see how many cows turn and look - we are on the bike for hours so little games like this really pep us up). the rain eventually slowed then stopped and the sun came out for a little while. had an incredible rest stop where water bottles were magically filled and i had the opportunity to make a delicious peanut butter and oreo sandwich with peanuts and have a juicy tangerine.

i want to say that today was one of those days you remember because it was looking so horrible to start and turned into a beautiful ride. started out in lyons, KS and finished in herington. we came home in time to have a sit down dinner thanks to jen who cooked us enchiladas and quesodillas and kem who made his famous, "life-altering" homemade spicy mango salsa. happy cinco dey mayo!

tomorrow stephanie and i will be giving a group of middle schoolers a lecture on how to become a doctor which should be fun for all.


the swedish themed town of lindsborg. this town was a gem in otherwise, flat, empty kansas (no offense kansas peeps). had this horse theme that i was too lazy to read the significance.

team warming up after a cold, wet day. the people at lindsborg covenant church let us warm up, dry up and fed us hot cocoa and coffee. from left: chris, van, katie, stephanie, kel, bobby and samara sip, sip, sippin on some cocoa.

photo of lion after eating shark. this lion is actually stuffed, but he died of natural causes.

my best lion pose. i am nothing compared to the king of all animals (including land and water).