Ride debrief - 1 week after beach landing

It is hard for me to believe that one week ago we were in Alpine, CA  getting ready to ride the last 35 miles of a 3,100 mile bike ride. 7 days have passed since I rode through the San Diego hills and onto the beach and right into the Pacific Ocean. Just like that it is over, thrown back into the reality of working 10 hour days and the stress that comes along with it.

In a way it was fun to return to my normal life. It was fun because I was able to share my adventure with so many people that I came in contact with. Everyone has different questions about the ride. Was it hard? Was it fun? Did your butt hurt? Yes, Yes and Yes! It was odd to me that the first question most everyone asked me was, "how much weight did you lose?" I would just smile and tell them 20 pounds, and I did it eating everything and anything I wanted for 42 days. I am not sure why this was always the first question people ask me. Either they can see it in my face that I did drop some weight, or they look at me and think I should have lost more weight? If you have spent any time around the sport of cycling you would know that cyclist are very thin and light athletes. If you know me, you would know that I am not thin and not light. I like to think I am breaking the mold for cyclist all over the world!

But the question that I keep getting asked that makes me really scratch my head is "what did you learn on the trip?" or "what did you think about for all those hours on the bike?" They are hard questions to answer. Most of the time my mind just wandered. Some days there was so much to see and take in you were constantly observing, other days you would swear you were just riding on a trainer and the scenery was on a loop. But there were a few things that stood out to me while I was riding, and I will do the best to describe them to you. I will start with the most obvious and then on to the ones I am still processing.

"Damn good riding with you!" one of my favorite quotes from Young Guns. It is also how I feel about riding across the country with Shane and Shannon Stutzman. It was a heck of a ride. We experienced great days together, we experienced some of the hardest days imaginable together. But that was the beauty of it all we did this together, and made it across the United States one mile at a time. When you think about spending 6 weeks with a small group of people it can be kind of scary. Not only did we ride together everyday, we ate together, bunked in hotel rooms/cabins and church floors together. Even on rest days, we went out to eat and walked around small towns together. I don't know about you but at first glance that seems like way too much time to spend together! But I wouldn't trade these guys for nothing. We went in to this as good friends, and as far I am concerned they are like brothers to me now. We had amazing volunteers from coast to coast. Even after days and days together we would still laugh and tell jokes at dinner time.

It was abundantly clear to me that I love my family through and through. There wasn't a minute that went by that I didn't think about them in some way. It was amazing how many things I saw that reminded me of my wife, or when I rode by a park and would think how much fun my boys would have playing there. Sure we had all kinds of technology to keep in contact with. I would text my wife almost every morning and every evening. There weren't very many days that went by that I didn't speak to my wife on the phone. We would set up a skype date at least once a week. It really depended on where we were and if we had a good wi-fi connection. I spent time thinking of how I want to raise my boys to know things boys should know, like how to start a fire, and widdle a tree branch with a pocket knife, change the oil in a car, replace the brakes in the garage instead of taking the vehicle to a garage.  It made me want to make sure my wife knew every single day that I loved her and that she was special to me. These things made me smile while I was riding my bike, and that, my freinds, is a good thing!

It's just not worth it! So many things, that we spend time chasing in life, are just not worth it! I am not talking about chasing your dreams and that sort of thing. I am referring more to material things that we find ourselves chasing. Or maybe it is a status? Or a certain amout of Facebook freinds or followers on Twitter. Those are the things that just aren't worth it.

Surprisingly I did spend time thinking about somethings that are worth it and it kept being reconfirmed as the trip went on. Relationships are worth it, that is what matters at the end of the day. Starting with my relationship with Jesus. If my relationship isn't right with him, I am only wasting time trying to do the rest on my own. As I mentioned above, my relationship with my wife and kids matter! My friends are worth it! Relationships are worth it. I heard a missionary from Ruwanda speak 3 months ago and his message was "invest in people" and I couldn't agree more. We need a community of people to support you when you are down, to celebrate with you when you are up. It is the way we were created to be, in community with each other. You never know when you are going to have an opportunity to be that person to someone in need. That is worth it, that is something I want to remebered for. Not that I was the guys that had this and that, what will that amounT to when its all said and done. Invest in people!

I wasn't sure what I would discover about myself on this trip, I thought I would discover what it is I am supposed to do with my life. Not sure why I thought that would become clear to me, maybe that is what I wanted out of it. But that is not what I learned about myself. I am still trying to process so much of it. So I am sorry to say I can't tell you what it is I will be doing for the rest of my life. What I can tell you is that I will be spending it with my family and make the best with whatever situation presents itself to us.

As for my cycling career! I am excited to see what happens next. We have been invited by The Davis Phinney Foundation, to participate in the Copper Triangle in the Colorado Rockies this coming August. What will happen after that I am not sure. I have been asked many times already if I would do it again. My first response is "Yes, on a motorcycle", and then my next response is that if I did pedal my way across the country again I would go from West to East so that I wasn't fighting the currents as much. But my answer would be yes, I would do it again for the right reason!

I am honored to be part of this and want to thank the Stutzman's for allowing me to join them on this adventure. The awareness and money we have raised for Parkinson's Disease is amazing. We don't plan on stopping either. You will hear from us again in the future. Just like our freinds and family with Parkinson's we just can't stop, we have to keep fighting.

Day 42 - Alpine, CA - Pacific Ocean!!!

Last day of the trip. We schedule our departure 1 hour later then normal to try and peg our 12pm arrival at mission beach. Since my family was staying down the road at a hotel we set the alarms and crashed last night. I had a great nights sleep, I still woke up at 4:30am and just laid there and stared at the ceiling, but that is pretty normal for this week.

We may have set a Worley record for getting up and out the doors. We were very efficient today getting ready! We headed to the church were breakfast was as well as the rest of the crew. We got there and ate breakfast with everyone. Rachael Baderman and Melinda Schlosser had joined us around 7am. They had driven up the night before. My wife and Rachael were driving the SAG (support and gear) vehicle today. Once we all ate, we just sat around and looked at each other. We were all ready to go but we still had 45 minutes until it was time to go. So we did things to stay busy until it was time to leave. We all gathered around the RV and took pictures. Today we had the following riders with us, Myself, Shane, Shannon, Kurt, Kerri and Jordan Ames. Jordan is Carl’s son, and since Carl was not able to ride with us today Jordan was picking up the missed miles for his dad. Jordan you are a great man, and a great son!

We rolled out of the church parking lot at 8am and started headed towards the ocean! We rode through the valleys that surround San Diego. There was a morning haze that was quickly burning off. The temperature was perfect; I would have to guess it was 65 degrees out. Hardly any wind blowing, just right.

We made it to our 10 mile out spot we had located the day before. This is the corner that POPs would start riding with us. It also was the spot where Shannon would hope on the tandem with his mom, Mary. We were ahead of schedule by 30 minutes or so. So we waited a few minutes so we would be on time. We also picked up 2 other riders from the local Von's store in San Diego. We have always been excited to have additional riders join us at any point in this ride. That is what it is all about, doing things together.

It was starting to sink in when we turned and road by Sea World. I knew were getting close to the end. I wasn't too emotional; it was just an amazing feeling that we were getting ready to complete a coast to coast bike ride. We finally headed over the bridge that took us to Mission Beach Park. When we crested the top of the bridge I could see the ocean and it really started to hit me. Also on the top of that bridge I saw one of my favorite POPs Riders - Carl Ames. If you remember Carl rode with us from the AZ/NM state line into Phoenix. Carl has Parkinson’s disease and his doctor switched his medication last week and told him not to ride his bike for a while until they got his meds right. So there he was at the top of the bridge waiting for us with a huge smile. He brought with him a bike with two wheels in the back; you know the ones with the baskets back there. It was sweet! That why he couldn’t lose his balance yet still ride with us the leg of the journey. We road right down towards the beach and stopped 2 blocks short to pick us the junior POPs Riders that were waiting for us there. My 2 sons both had huge smiles on there face and where ready to go. Isaac (5yr old) rode his bike. Nathanial (2 yr old) hoped on my bike and cruised in with me. We were met on the beach with a crowd a people holding signs and cheering us on! It was incredible! My family was there, my mom was there. My wife’s family was there as well as a large group of really good friends. Again it was so good to be surrounded by all these people and signs!

We hugged and high fived people. By this time everyone on the beach was wondering what was going on. There was a film crew there doing a shot with us so the camera was attracting some attention. But we didn’t really care. The 3 of us who had ridden the whole way headed down to the water to dip our tires in the Pacific, just as we intended to when we left the Atlantic 42 days ago. It was something special to be out there. This was another moment that will not be forgotten.

After that we posed for some more pictures, talked to some more people. Then I realized that I was just standing there. I wasn’t really sure what I was supposed to do now. I knew we had to get back on our bikes and ride some more for the cameras but that is not what I am talking about. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do. For the last 42 days I have had a mission, a goal to achieve. We had just completed that task, reached that goal – what now? I just stood there for a while and took it all in. My kids with my sister-in-law playing in the ocean, my wife was talking to friends and family members. I just stood there.

We received word that we were going to ride for 10-15 minutes while the film crew took some video of us riding around the area. It was a little frustrating waiting for them to setup and get the shots. It took closer to 45-60 minutes to complete but we just kept reminding ourselves that it wasn’t about us and you never know who this video may reach or what it can do. When we were complete we were about 2 miles from the beach, so we headed back to where we had already been. Everyone had left except our immediate family. We packed up our bikes like we have done for the last 42 days and pulled the RV and the SAG out of the busy parking lot.

After we were checked in to our hotel and showered and cleaned up we headed to our party for everyone that was in town. One of Shane’s co-workers was staying at a beach house about a mile from where we finished our ride. It a cool place right there against the boardwalk and the beach. We had grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and just enjoyed each others company. After we had all eaten, Rachel had presented us with medals for completing our journey across the United States. They were on black ribbon like Olympic medals. We all wore them proudly. Then Keith and his wife presented the 3 of us with statues of cyclist and they had little plaques that had the miles we had ridden and our name on them. Thank you Keith, these are amazing and I will proudly display this at work so I can share the story with anyone that ask!

After we talked everyone for the gifts and hugged Carl Ames presented POPs Ride with BIG check for the amount that his team raised for POPs Ride. The check was for $15,000! We were blown away, we knew Carl was doing all he could to raise money for POPs Ride and he told us one day that he was going to raise that much, and that day was now. He even shared when his daughter was adding it all up with him, it was 14,988 dollars. His daughter asked if it would be okay if she donated $12 to make it an even $15k. It is amazing to see people go out of their way to raise money for this cause.

We had cupcake and cake and hung out on the boardwalk and people watched. We shared stories with each other about the trip and life. A few people went for a walk on the beach, the kids played in the sand. It was a real nice evening. We all headed back to the hotel. I needed to get something out of the RV so I walked down to where it was parked. A few were gathered outside and we talked about what everyone was doing on Sunday. Some are leaving earlier to get back to Phoenix. Kurt and his family along with a few others are heading to Sea World for the day. Our family is heading to a nice breakfast and then maybe we'll walk around the pier for a few hours. Sarah’s parents are flying out of San Diego this afternoon. We will drop them off and head back to Phoenix and back to work tomorrow morning. Still not sure how I feel about having to go back to work tomorrow? The fact that I have been gone for 6 weeks, and I only had 4 weeks of vacation is a major factor in being excited about returning to work. I do miss a lot of my co-workers and will be excited to see them again and share some of my stories.

For all of you that live in Phoenix and want to know more about my trip, please feel free to contact me! I would love to share this experience with you over a cup of coffee or a slice of pie (pizza pie that is)!

Please remember, just because the ride is over it doesn’t mean you can not donate to the cause. Please visit our website if you want to make a donation to one of the charities that we are working with.

So what is next….give me some time to think about this one. Right now I am excited to spend some time with my family. I have missed them! Stay tuned in the next week for a follow up of my transition back into a “normal” life.

You guys rock!

Day 41 - Alpine, CA - Last Rest Day!

Today was our last rest day on this adventure. I wish I could say I slept well last night; it would be a lie if I said I did. I haven't had a good night sleep since we left Phoenix Monday. Not sure why, I have been completely exhausted this week. For some reason I just wake up every 2 hours and look at my watch...then sleep for 2 hours and look at my watch. Today, when I was able to sleep in I woke up at 4:30am and just looked at the ceiling. I am staying up much later tonight then I would normally stay up before a ride day. One reason is so I can hopefully sleep better when I actually go to bed, and the other is we have a shorter day so I can sacrifice another hours worth of sleep.

Today went by pretty quick. The group is staying at the Church of Willows in Alpine. My family, along with my sister in law is staying 10 miles down the road in a hotel. I figured with the kids it would be a little easier to have them separated from everyone at night. It has worked to, when we head to the hotel they know it is time to wind down and go to bed.

We headed to the church around 8am to have breakfast with the crew. By the time we arrived Shannon had already had all the bikes wiped down and ready to roll. POPs was cleaning and reorganizing the SAG vehicle. Karen and Jim prepared scrambled eggs, bacon and French toast this morning. We all cleaned up everything that was put out there. After breakfast Shane and I ran into town to find us a pizza joint, a laundry mat and a barber shop to Shane. We found 2 of the 3 places on our trip. What we also found was a small town full of law enforcement. The pastor of the church explained a little of what was going on this weekend. 2 years ago there was an officer involved shoot out in Alpine. The officer fired and killed a hells angel member, the reason why this all took place is information I do not know. This weekend is the anniversary of this incident and apparently the hells angel gang/crew returns to Alpine. I kind you not I saw 25 squad cars driving from one side of town to the other. I felt like I was working security at the Super Bowl in 07 again. However what we didn't find on our outing was a pizza joint. When we made it back to the church we talked to the pastor and he gave a name and number. We called and let them know we would be coming in with a large group tonight, so be ready.

The morning went by very fast and it was already time for lunch. Karen, Melissa and Sarah prepared country ham casserole for us. Again we cleared almost everything that was made. Another great meal by a POPsRide cook! Thank you Karen!

After lunch we talked about the route for tomorrow, answered some e-mails. I took Sarah and the kids and we went to the hotel to try and catch some sleep. It worked for Sarah and the boys, I just laid there as tired as could be and could not fall asleep! We had to wake up my youngest to get him ready to head back to the church for dinner.

We gathered at the church before we headed to dinner. By this time Jerry and Carole Hogg had joined us, they brought their daughter Emily with them too. She is in college and has a feather in her hair. Not really sure what is going on with that, apprentantly it is a California thing. Once we were all there we headed to
Gaetano's Lakeside to enjoy some pizza! The food was great and the company was even better. We were joined by relatives from both my wife's family and Shane's family. Thank you Uncle Dave and Aunt Jann for coming out and seeing us and being part of this journey. You have been extremely supportive and we appreciate that. Also during dinner we were joined my one of our favorite people. Carl Ames and his son Jordan arrived to town and joined us for dinner too. I think we had a total of 26 people for dinner. We shared stories about the trip and life. It was amazing!

This is the 41st day of this trip; we have been out here living on the road out of a duffle bag and a RV for 41 days. It has been much more then I could every have wanted. Just the fact that we have all been together for as long as we have and we still crack jokes every chance we get and smile is something in itself. The different people we continue to meet blows me away. I met someone tonight for the first time and it was like we were old friends. Turns out she reads my blog and was 100% up to date on what was going on. It was awesome!
I do want to thank all you who read my blogs and follow my/our progress. I know I am a horrible speller and my grammar is not correct. But if you know me you know that is who I am, I am far from perfect. But just like me and real life, my blog is similar. You get all of me, bad spelling and all!
Tell you a quick story, about 4 weeks ago one night I was talking to my wife on the phone. I asked her, "Do you think anyone actually reads my blog?" She said I think there is a good amount of people that read your blog. Then she asked me if there was a way that I could check in my blog site. I searched around some and found out that I could find all this information out. It blew me way to see how many page views I was getting. This may not be a lot to some of you "blogger" out there, but to date my total page views is 4,421. My blog has been viewed in 14 countries. I am completely blow away by this and am very thankful that so many would take the time to check it out.

Tomorrow we ride to the beach. I am not sure how I feel about this yet. I am excited to get back to a routine that I get to see my family daily again. However the transition is going to be harder then think. As for tomorrow I am not really sure what I will feel, I will be excited to complete this journey and cross this off my list. Will I be emotional tomorrow when we hit the sand? Maybe? Will I be numb to the experience, probably. I am not really sure. What I am sure of is I will be surrounded by people that I care for and I know care for me.

After we hit the beach and smile for a million pictures, we have to ride some more. A film crew that Safeway (Shane's employer) hired asked us to ride some more and get some riding footage. Not sure how I feel about that. We have pedaled across the US, now you want us to pedal some more? I am going with the mindset if it helps get the word out about our cause, then let’s do it! Anything we can do to help those with Parkinson's I am happy to do. We are having a party at the Sandbar from 4-7pm, I am sure that will be a good time. I am looking forward to kicking back with family and friend and reflecting on the trip!

If I am not able to blog tomorrow night, I am sorry. It will probably be because I am staying up late watch Justin Timberlake host SNL; don't take it personal, that dude is just funny!

Next time I post I will have completed my journey!

Day 40 - El Centro, CA - Alpine, CA

This morning after we went through our routines, we made it to our starting point. We were 50 feet below sea level when we started riding. We had to climb back up to sea level and then into Alpine today!

Our route took of on I-8 and the Old US80 today which basically mirrors the I-8



We spent the majority of the day climbing hills, our total ascent for the day was 7,000'. That factors in all the times we climbed to 4000' and then dropped back down and climbed back up.

We stopped for lunch at noon. We were only at 36 miles on the day, that is how intense the climb was. We are normally around 50-60 miles by noon. At this point it was looking like we may have to split this ride up I into two days. Non of us wanted to do this, not sure why. It would be easier to get up with fresh legs on our rest day and ride 20 miles or so? I think it is a mental thing, we don't like not completing something. Since we have hit all the rest of our date and miles we didn't want to end the last full day with not completing our miles. We pressed on!

The afternoon was long, the hills were still there but the grades were not as intense. We pedaled along the US/Mexico border for a while. We saw the fence over in the distance, went through another inspection checkpoint. By 4:30pm we new were about 18 miles out and by this point we knew we were going to complete this ride tonight! and not have to come back out tomorrow. We had one last climb and then according to our logs it was all downhill into Alpine. We climbed up to 4100' again, and then we had a choice to make. We could take the interstate again, or take a smaller highway. We decided that we would take the interstate to save some time.

I tell you the best sight I saw all day was when we started heading down that interstate and saw a sign for a down grade the next 16 miles of 6%. What that means for Kyle is, I can go very fast without pedaling! What that also equates to is I do not have to put out a lot energy and the miles still go by quickly. My energy level was down pretty low by this time, so this situation was perfect.

We finished the ride just after 6pm, another 11 hours day. But we didn't care because we were only 35 miles away from the beach and the completion of this journey. In a way it almost feels like we are complete. Think about it 30 miles away from the end. We have riden 3065 miles in 40 days with rest days mixed into those days. That is something to be excited about!

My family was here yesterday to cheer us on! We have more family and friends coming in tonight. We are planning a dinner for anyone that is around tonight in Alpine! Should be a good time to reflect on the trip!

This past 5 days we have also had the my wife's parents along to drive the RV and cook us meals. It has been fun spending time with them on this adventure.

Thank you again to all of you that have helped along the way and all the encouraging words that you have given. What a blessing this adventure has been!!! 

Day 39 - Blythe, CA - El Centro, CA

The word of the day today is TEAMWORK!

I slept extremely well last night at the KOA park model in Bylthe. I did wake up a little early, but because I was out like a light the rest of the night I didn't bother me any.

The first thing I did notice was the wind when I looked outside. It was already blowing pretty well and it was only 6am. Since we had our little "cabin" we had all the breakfast foods in our little kitchen. Once we were done eating we packed it all up and returned everything to the RV.

Today we were doing something new! Today we did a relay ride. Meaning that we all took turns on the road the others rested until it was their turn! The reason we did this is because we knew it was going to be windy today and we knew the mileage was high. We wanted to make sure everyone was involved and we also wanted to save as much energy for the hills tomorrow. The plan was to ride in 20 mile rotations and knock it out! Kurt took the first shift. I went ahead and rode in the RV because I was the 4th rider. Kurt rode his 20 miles plus a few extra. Next up was Kerri and Shannon. They had some hills to tackle and the wind kicked it us a notch. They stuck together and made it through their shift. Next up was Shane - His shift was a little more challenging then the others. He had some more hills and a lot more wind. By this point the wind was up to 20-25mph and gusting into the 30's. It was brutal but he pulled through like a champ. Like I said I had the 4th leg and by this time the wind was really moving. We were sitting in Glamis and at the base of the Imperial Sand Dunes. I started pedaling right into dunes. The wind was gusting at 40mph and the sand was beating against my body. It was really intense. I am not sure I have ever ridden in something as windy and crazy as what I did today. Once I cleared the dunes and the sand stopped beating me up, the ride wasn't that bad. The wind was still there, but it wasn't too abusive!

Shannon pulled double duty today and took the remaining 25 miles. He was my hero this afternoon. He cut through that wind like it wasn't even there. We made to El Centro around 5pm. The RV Park was 5 miles from our end point.

Karen fixed us a great meal tonight! Chicken Enchiladas in a skillet = wonderfulness! Thanks Montana Momma for another great meal.

Everyone is wiped out from the wind and ready for bed. Pops went out for a few things and is getting milk shakes from IN and OUT burger. Looking forward to that, and then some sleep.

Tomorrow we ride into Alpine, CA! 30 miles from the beach! Tomorrow ride also includes a big climb at the end of the day. Should be fun! The weather forecast is calling for my wind tomorrow. We are praying for the winds to blow tonight and be calm tomorrow. We will see what happens!

All I know is that we are ready to be in Alpine, and it will have to blow pretty hard to stop us from getting there.

Day 38 - Aguila, AZ - Blythe, CA

I had the worst night last night trying to sleep. I went to bed extremely exhausted and was positive I was going to sleep the night away. When i Laid my head down I was out like a light. I woke up and thought it was time to get up and looked at my watch and it was only 11:45PM, my first thought was great, I slept really good and I still have the rest of the night. The problem was I kept happening every other hour all night long! It was a long night. My 5:30am alarm finally rang and we got up and ready for the day.
As I mention yesterday, the Coyote Flat cafe and bar was serving us breakfast this morning. We all headed over there just after 6am. The staff was there with smiles on there faces and ready to cook us some breakfast. I went with a half order of french toast and it was the right choice. Everything that came to the table was delicious!

We walked back to our motel and started getting our bikes ready to leave. Shannon went ahead and put his skirt on!!! That's right Shannon pulled his skirt up and was ready to ride. You see a while ago Shannon issued a challenge on Facebook that if his friends came up with $500 he would wear a skirt on a bike for 1 day in Arizona! His friends quickly raised the money and that was that, Shannon had to wear a skirt - I am having issues uploading pictures on my blog, so I added a picture on my Facebook account of Shannon and his skirt! Go check it out! If we aren't friends, then I guess we should change that, send me a request!

The ride this morning was perfect. The weather was just right, in the mid 60's, the wind was hardly there and the road was flat. You could see for miles. We burned off the first 15 miles pretty fast. We met the RV and had a snack and regrouped and headed out. We decided to keep the RV closer today, so Jim drove it up 20 miles from our morning stop. Those next 20 miles took forever! The wind had picked up and made the ride more challenging! When we finally arrived at the bus it was approaching 11am. We decided that we would just break for lunch since we were at the bus and it was close enough to lunch time.

After we enjoyed our cold cuts and soda we mounted back up on the bike and started riding west. The wind had increased to a steady 15 mph head wind. We formed a solid pace line and cut through the wind pretty good. We were able to knock off 18 miles pretty quick. Then the wind kicked it up a notch and we started to separate. The broke into 2 groups and kept fighting the wind. We finally made it to our turn and got on the I-10 again. The shoulder was not as smooth as the shoulder in Texas, but it was plenty wide enough and still smooth enough for us. The only problem was the road kept heading straight into the wind. By this time the wind had taken it up another notch and showed no sign of letting up. By this point we point we had broken up and everyone was at there on pace. It was a long haul into Blythe but we all made it safely. We stopped and took picture at both the California state line and the "Welcome to California" signs. It was really great to celebrate another state line crossing today! What an amazing advenure this has been.

We are staying at a KOA tonight and have 2 bunk houses. They are really nice, each house has a queen size bed in a room, with 2 bunk beds as well as coach and a recliner. It also has a kitchen, and a little family room. Again I took pictures, but I am having issues! That just means you will have to invite me out for coffee when I get back and I will bring my picture and I can tell you all my stories face to face!

Arizona! See you when when I return Sunday night. California! Thanks for meeting us with a head wind, but I have news for you. POPsRide will not be stopped! We will be on that beach Saturday, and you will like it!

Day 37 - Phoenix, AZ - Aguila, AZ

This morning we had to wake up extra early to be at our starting location. The reason we had to be there earlier then normal is because one of our local television stations was going to have a camera crew on site. We got up early and got ourselves ready. Today there were 4 people from my house traveling to the RV to then travel to starting location. We all made it to the RV on time and pulled out on time. Good start for the day!
As always we were going to start riding where we finished riding on Friday. That was the Bicycle Vibe on 27th Ave and Carefree Highway. The drive up there was quick because of the time in the day. The traffic was really light. When we pulled into the parking lot we saw 2 things that surprised us. The first was the camera crew was already in the parking lot. The second was our good friend Carl Ames came riding in the parking lot on his bicycle proudly wearing his POPsRide jersey. We all embraced Carl, he had driven up to the area and then went for a bike ride. He also wanted to ride out with us for a mile or so, it was so encouraging to see him that early and that excited to see us! For the most part we went about our normal routine, getting the tire pressure just right, POPs was busy getting the water bottles filled and on every ones bikes. It was close to 6:30am when they started prepping Shane to go live with a local TV anchor. The camera man asked all the riders to get in the background and pretend like we were working on bikes, or getting them ready. We couldn't hear what the anchor was asking Shane and it was hard to hear Shane's responses but we were sure Shane did a great job. Later in the day someone had sent us an e-mail with the link to the video in it. We all huddled around my phone and watched it in the middle of the desert....Here it is

http://www.kpho.com/local-video/index.html?grabnetworks_video_id=4696012

The ride today was really good. The mileage was low, i think it was a total of 66 miles into Aquila. The wind did start to blow around 11am, but it was a cross wind and not nearly as bad as it has been in the past weeks. We stopped in Wickenburg to make sure everyone was okay and made the decision to go ahead and go to the end location and then eat lunch. We did that and made it to the RV around 1pm. We had lunch and then checked out our accommodations for the night. We had to make a few minor modifications but was able to get everyone in a bed and comfortable.

Dinner was at the Coyote Flat Cafe and Bar tonight. They had given us 12 meal tickets for both dinner tonight, and breakfast in the morning. They had a great menu and even better food. I look forward to eating breakfast there in the morning. They are opening extra early for us to come by and eat.

Today was also special because it is my wife's birthday! She also was part of our POPsRide crew today too. She was the SAG driver today and was out there on the side of the road helping POPs keep our water bottles full and our energy levels high. Thank you babe for giving up your birthday to come and help us out!

Tonight Auntie M and Aunt B came out to pick up Sarah and to have dinner with us. They also brought my boys out. We all enjoyed dinner and Coyote Flats also baked a cake and we all sang Happy Birthday to Sarah and wished her a happy 21st birthday! Love you Babe!

I am very tired tonight, and I think it is from the weekend and not from today. The ride wasn't hard and I didn't have to burn any extra energy to complete it. I think the last 2 days are just catching up with me. It is only 8pm but I think I am going to close my eyes and see what happens.