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.