So I have a quick confession to make: I haven’t been blogging at all during this trip. I always mean to, but I wasn’t exactly much of a blogger or journaler anyway and it’s taking longer to get into the swing of things than I thought. I also was not at all prepared for the kind of schedule we keep! Just a quick rundown of a day: Wake up (whenever a host is fixing breakfast or when we cook it, so anywhere between 4 and 6), on the road between 6 to 8, arrive at destination (this can range from 3 to 6 depending on mileage and when we left), we then meet our new hosts, shower, eat, maybe do a program, try to do bike maintenance, I have to log donations and expenses from the road, and then try to get some sleep so we can do it all again. Needless to say, I really didn’t know how busy this ride was going to be on a daily level, but the good thing is that I’m getting used to it. My problem with blogging is that I let the first few days get by without doing it, but I’ve pretty much been blogging daily ever since. I just haven’t been posting them because I’m really anal about that kind of stuff and I want them to go in over. So to solve this problem, I’m not in Cuba, NM trying to sort through whirlwind that has been this summer so far to get a blog written up about the first few days of the trip.

Day 2: The biggest thing about day 2 was that it was the last full day that Sierra and Rockies were together. All joking about which route is better aside, I have to say that throughout the course of this year, I have made some really close friends on the Rockies route, and I was not looking forward to leaving them behind. So from Lampasas to Brownwood, I basically surrounded myself with Rockies riders as much as I could because I knew that we were going to be spending 60 days away from each other…60 DAYS!!!

Day 3: ….So this was the day that we all had to say goodbye. I really should not be this sentimental about this anymore (remember I’m writing this in Cuba, NM almost a week and a half after we’ve split), but it still gets me that I’m not going to see my Rockies riders all summer. Think back to your first day of kindergarten: you’re all excited about going to school and ready to be a big kid, but then as you’re walking up to the school you realize you mom or dad won’t be there and you’re all by yourself lost in a world you don’t understand. You got that feeling in your head? Now take that and multiply it by 20 and you should get an idea of how sad I was to have to say goodbye to Rockies. I’m going to miss those guys and gals so much, but our reunion is going to be one for the history books up in Whitehorse.

DISCLAIMER: The amount of Rockies love in this post is pretty high, and I want to take this time to say even though I will miss my Rockies riders, it should be made completely clear that the Sierra route is the better route in every aspect possible and that my sadness brought on by leaving the Rockies team is outshone by my excitement for the Sierra route and being honored with the opportunity to spend it with the AMAZING Sierra team.

After saying goodbye to Rockies, we set off to ride to Winters, TX where we were received by members of the chamber of commerce who cooked us hamburgers in the park as we swam at the city pool (they started our T4K experience with a bang!) That night, it was revealed to the team that our current assistant ride director, David Navar, would be promoted to Co-Ride Director with Jon Stringer, and that Emily Sawtelle and I would be appointed as Co-Assistant Ride Directors. I knew that it was going to be extra work to act as an assistant ride director in addition to my duties as finance chair, but I’d do anything for my fellow riders in order to make sure that we have a great summer biking across North America and spreading our message to everyone we meet. I’m honored to be able to work for this great group of people, and my only hope is that I do them justice.

Day 4: The best part about day 4 is that my family in Snyder came out to visit at the church that donated our dinner and they also stayed to watch our program. Thanks Aunt Nina and James, Karen Sue and Amanda for coming out and seeing me!