Today was a pretty fun day as far as training goes. We all woke up and barely made it downstairs on time. I don't think any of us wanted to get up half an hour earlier than we did today so we definitely did our best to get there on time. Once we got the team gathered together we did our morning meeting and then headed to breakfast. After breakfast we loaded up the vans and set out for Marymoore Park which is where we did our practice ride today.
Most of the early afternoon was spent on the practice route. It was a twenty mile stretch of road that circled a lake we were on. The lake was gorgeous. As crew we were required to set up stops every so many miles and we also marked turns for the cyclists so that they didn't get lost. They said this year was the first time they haven't had any cyclists get lost on this route so that means the crew was doing something right! I think our crew has pretty great chemistry though as far as communicating though.
After the route was finished we headed on over to the velodrome. A velodrome is an outdoor track for bicycles. It's mainly used for races but can also be used to work on speed and techniques on a bicycle as it goes in an endless circle. It was really cool to see the cyclists on it. Once everyone had gone a few laps on the velodrome we all headed to the vans for lunch with the crew chief. Most of our lunches consist of the same thing. Two meat, one cheese sandwiches, chips, an apple, or cookies. Tides you over, that's for sure.
Once we all made it back to the hotel we were able to have some free time which I absolutely indulged in by taking a nap. Once I woke up and all the other guys had gone to swim or something they regretted it and said they wished they had taken advantage of it as well. We then gathered the team again and headed out to dinner. We decided to go to a place called Bucca de Beppo. It's an Italian restaurant a few blocks from the hotel and they do what's called family style. We ordered spaghetti with marinara and another pasta that was absolutely delicious. The way family style works is that you get two big bowls of pasta and then you all share it at the table. It was truly an experience since I claim to work at an Italian restaurant.
After dinner, we all introduced ourselves to the parents and family friends that came to dinner and the CEO of Push America, Chad Coltrane, spoke. The first thing he spoke about was how he was probably going to tear up during his speech. He recounted his experience on the bike riding in the Journey of Hope years ago and how he wishes so bad that he could have another chance on the bike. He spoke about this gentleman that rode a few years back and how he only rode for himself. He didn't help his brothers or his crew. He rode for the soul purpose of self-fulfillment. Late in the year that same guy talked to those at the Push America office and said that he regretted that. He said he regretted doing it only for himself because he missed the opportunity to make the Journey of Hope one of the best memories of his life.
Once Chad finished the story he did in fact start to tear up. He discussed how this summer has the potential to become one of the greatest memories of our lives and how if the opportunity comes to step out of our comfort zone that we need to take it. That opportunities may come around again, but not the kind that we'll experience on this trip. He highly encourage us to take that one opportunity because it can mean the difference between a summer of hope, a summer of memories, a summer of putting others first or a summer of regrets, a summer wasted, a summer that a Pi Kapp that really wanted to be there could have had.
I plan on taking every single opportunity the Journey of Hope throws at me. I may have to step out of my comfort zone but I worked far too hard for this to end up regretting anything I do this summer.
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