Hard to believe we made it all the way to DC. When we all woke up from our cluster of floor mats, tears already began falling, setting the tempo for the day. The church sponsored a hearty breakfast, and before we knew it we were tearing up at our last morning circle up. Addison followed circle up with one of his epic pump-up speeches, lightening the mood a bit. Words cannot describe the emotions; anxious, eager, scared, sad, surprised, and excited were common feelings. I rode the short 35 miles to stage up with my friends Wes Drilias (UW), Scotty Hamilton (CU), and Cory Carson (MSU). We were the first South paceline to meet the other two routes and Build America at our stage-up at The George Washington University. I was extremely nervous, and very excited. The police escort arrived around 10:45, and the Build America men led the massive caravan two miles to the Capitol. Behind BAM were our crew vans, and the crew was going loco hanging out of the vans, waving flags, and singing. Behind the crew was a massive double paceline of about 80 cyclists from the three JoH routes. We passed the mall and all the monuments on our way to the Capitol, making the moment very real to me. The capitol had hundreds of family and friends waiting for us, cheering as we rode in and forming a tunnel as we walked our bikes onto the lawn. As we walked our bikes up the lawn surrounded by the crowd, my friend Ethan Wicklund looked back at me, removed his glasses, and said "I think I have chain grease in my eyes," as tears streamed down his face. At that moment I lost it. We didn't even try to hold back our tears as we embraced our teammates on the lawn. It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life.
When we arrived at the hotel, I boxed by bike up and grabbed some lunch at Union Station with my family. I then passed out in my room before getting ready for the Awards Ceremony and Reception. The reception really highlighted how impacting the Journey is. Even though our Journey is over, the impact our team left on people lives on, and the impact left on us will be life lasting. After the reception, the team celebrated throughout the hotel, it was a grand time.
The next morning, we exchanged many teary eyed "see you later's" at the team brunch. These have been the hardest goodbyes I've ever experienced, and these are some of the best friends I've ever had. God truly has blessed us all with such a life changing experience.
This summer, I rode across America on my bike with 35 of the greatest men I've ever met, touching the lives of people with disabilities along the way. This is the Journey of Hope. I've tried to describe it to you the best I can with this blog, but the truth is, I failed. All of us on the Journey agree that it's just something you can't put into words, and won't fully understand unless you've been.
God Bless
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