Pikeville, KY, to Virginia Beach, VA

Team 11 makes it to Virginia.

After Pikeville, KY, we left our home state. With all the rest days and events, it felt like we had been in Kentucky forever, making it much harder to leave. From Pikeville, we rode out of Kentucky and into Virginia. What struck us the most about this ride were the Kudzu vines which covered every inch of the landscape around us. It felt more like being in a jungle than the regular Kentucky climate we are so used to. We rode into Richlands (or Raven?), VA, and stayed at the Richlands Church of God. Funny enough, despite Virginia being our so-called “final state,” we rode into West Virginia the next day to a town called Princeton. We stayed at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Princeton. For lunch, we witnessed Blake Mitchell eat an entire sushi roll in under a minute, and for dinner, we celebrated Grant Johnson’s birthday at Cracker Barrel. On July 21, we rode out of West Virginia and back into Virginia, reuniting with board member Dana Hesse in Blacksburg. He hosted us at his house and the Fiji graduate brother’s townhouse there and took us out to dinner at the Top of the Stairs pub. Shortly after, we toured the beautiful Virginia Tech campus. The following day was a rest day, which we spent visiting a memory care facility in the morning, tubing in the afternoon, and finishing off the night seeing Oppenheimer.

Team 11 on the Virginia Capital Trail.

On the 23rd, we left Blacksburg for Lexington, staying at the Washington and Lee Fiji chapter house. We rode into town, greeted by Kelly Harris, who is affiliated with the chapter at Washington and Lee and has been a supporter of Bike4Alz for years. We would like to say thanks to Beam Me Up BBQ and Sweet Things Ice Cream for donating dinner and dessert to the team. After a great meal, Kelly gave us a short tour of Washington and Lee. After Lexington, we rode to Charlottesville, and ate at Boylan Heights, where we also met up with some Fiji graduate brothers Dana knows. From Charlottesville, we went to Richmond, stayed at the Candlewood Suites Hotel, and ate at the Capital Ale House. We hung out with some graduate brothers and even got to meet Bike4Alz alum Jonathan Greene, who is currently doing his residency in Richmond.

Team 11 on the Williamsburg ride.

The next day, the 26th, we celebrated Dylan Jackson’s birthday by getting breakfast at Shorty’s Diner before our ride. One of the people dining there asked us what we were up to, probably confused by the twelve guys walking in wearing cycling gear; we told him about our journey and our goal, and he decided to pay for our breakfast out of the kindness of his heart. We left the diner and got ready for our ride to Williamsburg, which was short, flat, and on a bike trail for almost the whole way – perfect cycling conditions. That night we camped and reflected on the trip of a lifetime. We hung out by the fire and shared stories for hours before finally going to bed sometime around midnight.

On the 27th, we woke up bright and early ready to knock out one final ride. Mason Alexander’s dad volunteered to drive the van the day, so all twelve riders were together for the first time since our practice ride. We rode through the town of Williamsburg, where we stood out like a sore thumb because of the matching lavender uniforms. I do not think any of the riders would disagree with me saying that it was one of the most enjoyable rides we did. Our spirits were high, and the end was so close you could smell it. We rode into the city, and despite the terrible traffic and sweltering heat, nothing could dampen the joy we had. Even after having the beach in our sights, we still had to go twenty miles south to meet our welcoming committee. We joked, “Come on, it’s right there!” and “Yeah, I biked across the country and then twenty miles south.” But in the end, it was all worth it. We heard our loved ones’ cheers as we rode closer, unclipped one last time, and sprinted to the water. We were all so happy to see everyone there to support us. After jumping into the Atlantic, we celebrated completing our journey with one last event hosted at The Shack on 8th. The team - who had spent almost every waking moment with each other for months - finally parted ways, and having finally achieved the objective we bled, sweat, and cried over, could finally rest.

Celebrating at Virginia Beach.

Blog Post #2 (6/11-6/29)

Two weeks we crossed into Colorado from Utah. On the 11th we biked from Strawberry, Utah to Vernal, Utah, and got to celebrate Jace’s birthday at a Church. The following morning, we woke up and started our ride into Colorado. Along the way, the Chevy Tahoe broke down right outside of Dinosaur, Colorado. Fortunately, a mechanic (who had owned Tahoe’s) happened by us and graciously helped us fix it. We biked against a brutal headwind and ended up in Wrangley, Colorado where the members of Wrangley Christian Church treated us to dinner and homemade ice cream. On Tuesday we biked into Craig, Colorado, and celebrated Trent’s birthday with cake while watching the NBA finals.

From Craig, we went to Steamboat Springs. Once we arrived there, we had the opportunity to meet residents of Casey’s Pond senior living facility. It was an incredible day with live music, good food, and even better company. Each of us got to meet several residents and hear their stories. They offered sage advice and several of them talked gleefully about their children and grandchildren. Steamboat Springs turned out to be a gorgeous town that boasted the Yahmi River which is the longest free-flowing river in the West and hot springs. Eager to try the hot springs out, we wandered our way down to the river where the supposed hot spring was located. A few guys got in, and to their dismay and perhaps disappointment, the hot spring wasn’t so hot. Nevertheless, even if we couldn’t relax in a hot spring, we still could appreciate the beauty and calming sound of the rippling river.

The next two days were some of our most challenging so far as we climbed the infamous “rabbit ears pass,” that we had been forewarned of prior to our even leaving Bowling Green. We climbed 6,000+ feet on our first day and ended up in Gould, Colorado where we met with our incredible board member Dana Hesse who had reserved cabins for us. The next morning, we woke up and continued on to complete the “bunny ears.” The area is known to be the moose viewing capital of the country, so it was no surprise when we saw moose, though it was a pleasant surprise when we saw droves of elk along the ride as well. We arrived in Fort Collins on Thursday and set up a table at a brewery shortly after arriving. At the Brewery, we were presented new jerseys and a goodie bag from RideforAlz founder, Brian Tatum. We had a rest day in Fort Collins the following day and several of us hiked and got to check out Colorado State’s campus while others went to see a showing of the new Top Gun movie.

W then we biked into Denver, Colorado, tabled at a Farmer’s market, and spent the afternoon at a Rockies baseball game. Shoutout to fellow Fiji, Doug Draper for buying our tickets. The Chevy Tahoe also broke down again, but we got it resolved only to lose the truck keys the following day. Nevertheless, it all got worked out and on the 23rd we completed our 120-mile day that took us into Kansas. We had four days that were made to be challenging with the heat, the wind, and higher mileage days. Despite this, we made our way into Kansas City, Missouri yesterday and enjoyed a Royals baseball game! We had a much needed off day today and look forward to seeing our family in Kentucky within the next week.

Blog Post #1 (5/18-6/10)

The last two weeks have been nothing short of incredible. We left on Wednesday, May 18th and drove two days straight until we arrived in Berkeley, California: but not before taking a quick pitstop at the Grand Canyon. The Delta Xi Chapter of Phi Gamma Delta graciously hosted us at their chapter house just off of the Cal Berkeley campus for two days. In that time, we had the opportunity to explore Berkeley and San Francisco. On the first day, while walking through the Berkeley campus we saw the filming of the 2023 movie Oppenheimer starring Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., and Cillian Murphy to name a few. The same day, we saw the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz from afar. Several of us went to the Full House, house, and others went to a Giants game. On Sunday morning we started our journey by dipping our back tires in the Pacific Ocean. It was a special, memorable moment that I will not soon forget. We biked across the Golden Gate Bridge and ended the day in Vallejo, California where we stayed in a Church.

The following day we biked into Davis, California where our Board member and friend, Dennis Whitcomb, hosted us. We had a rest day in Davis and had the opportunity to tour the Biking Hall of Fame while we were there.  The evening before we left, we had the opportunity to visit Carlton Senior Living Facility and meet with residents. It was wonderful getting to sit down and listen to them- each of them had wonderful stories and advice to share. The gentleman that Logan and I spoke with was 94 years old and had so much wisdom to impart on us; the visit served as a powerful reminder of why we ride. After Davis, we biked in the 103-degree weather to Somerset where we ended up camping and celebrating our teammate, Cade Morgan’s birthday. 

Over the next two days, the Sierra Nevada Mountain range was in view, and it was absolutely breathtaking, just as the elevation was. We started at near sea level and climbed up to 8,650 feet through El Dorado National Forest, which made for a challenging two-day stretch. After reaching the peak, we descended into Kirkwood, California where we were allowed to stay at a Ski Lodge that still had snow on the ground. That evening we saw a grizzly bear outside the restaurant we ate dinner at. The following morning, we woke up and it was 39 degrees, we made the trek into Nevada where we spent the Memorial Day weekend with our incredible hosts Chuck and Sukeshi O’Neal. In Nevada, we camped, stayed in Churches, and even slept in a City Hall on one occasion. 

The place we camped at had a population of 16 people in Middlegate, Nevada, and we spent hours in a dive bar there that claims to have “the best Burgers in Nevada.” The burgers were great, but the best part of that stop in my opinion was the stars- with little to no light pollution, I have never seen stars so bright. We were on Highway 50 all the way through Nevada which has been dubbed the “loneliest road in America,” and I wholeheartedly believe that. On Sunday we crossed into Utah and arrived in Salt Lake City on Wednesday for a rest day. There, several of us checked out BYU’s campus and explored the surrounding area. Our ride yesterday was the most scenic in my opinion as we rode along a river that eventually led up to a waterfall. We are now three weeks in, three states in, and have biked 750 miles to date.

We will be uploading blog posts every 2-3 weeks moving forward, so feel free to check them out to stay up to date with Team 10’s ride. 

Team 10 at the Grand Canyon

Team 10 on Day 1 (San Francisco)

Eldorado National Forest

At the California-Nevada state line

Sunset in Middlegate, Nevada

Starry sky in Middlegate, Nevada

Team 10 at the Nevada-Utah state line 6/05/22

Bridal Veil Falls 6/09/22