Saturday, May 18, 2013

We started out the day by riding to Davis Island Yacht Club where we had a fantastic breakfast put on by Dr. Pat Figley, a former national president of Pi Kappa Phi, and a Mr. Pi Kappa Phi. The breakfast was an amazing buffet—just what we needed to start the day.

After riding 50 miles, we arrived at Webster Memorial Baptist Church for our first friendship visit of the day. WMBC fed us lunch and we got to perform a puppet show for the people there. The show went over really well and everyone enjoyed it.

For the afternoon, we went to our lodging at Lakeland Optimist Club and had another friendship visit and dinner provided by LOC. The friendship visit was really fun and we got to dance and LOC’s clients attacked a piñata with a broom until candy showered on everyone. Overall, today was really exciting and I can’t wait to get back on the road tomorrow to head to Orlando.

Kaleb Causey 

Friday, May 17, 2013

Today was our first day since departure in Miami where the team did not have a bike ride. We headed over to Easter Seals for a wonderful breakfast that was provided by some local businesses. We had fresh squeezed orange juice, fresh-baked pastries, and egg and cheese sandwiches.

After breakfast, we toured Easter Seals and saw the classrooms where they care for and teach children with disabilities. Mark Huber, one of our cyclists, almost went home with two infants who clung to his legs. Everybody headed out to the playground and the three to six year olds gave us a workout that made biking from Miami to Tallahassee look easy.  After the kids tired us out with tag and foot races, they started climbing up onto our shoulders and asking for airplane rides. Max got challenged to a wrestling match and was taken down in a headlock by one of the five year olds.

Around lunchtime, the team headed over to the pool at Davis Island Yacht Club for a lunch sponsored by Pat Figley. Everyone ate Cuban sandwiches and drank sweet tea in the shade—a nice break from the morning’s high-intensity activities with the kids. Most of the team relaxed in the pool and soaked up a little sun.

For dinner, Tim Hancock provided a gigantic dinner of lasagna, salad, cookies, and brownies. After that  feast, the team headed out onto the dance floor at The MacDonald Training Center to dance with the people who they care for. Everybody hit the dance floor for three hours, while the DJ spun everything from disco to the Cupid Shuffle. Ty Stewart and Daisy were named prom king and queen, and the rest of “the bicycle guys” as the DJ called us were left to find dance partners. Thankfully, everyone there was eager to have a great time, and if we didn’t have to cycle the next day, the MTC clients would have danced with us all night.

Our second day in Tampa was a complete blast; two high energy friendship visits with a poolside break to split them up. Even though we weren’t on the bikes, our “day off” was anything but. Everyone got back to the gym exhausted but ready to tackle another day on the bike.

Mark Smith

Riding into Tampa was a real pleasure. The weather was clear, and everyone got a great night’s sleep at the Clearwater Community Sailing Center. Some of us decided to sleep out in the open air, where we had a nice breeze and mid-sixties temperatures to enjoy.

Shortly after dawn, we set off on an eight-mile trek to UPARC, a day facility that trains and cares for adults with disabilities. We staged up to arrive in two-by-two formation, and we could not believe the number of clients who greeted us upon our arrival. At least fifty of UPARC’s clients shook our hands, asked us for autographs, gave us hugs, and took pictures with us before we went inside for breakfast. We all sang God Bless America and the National Anthem lead by one of UPARC’s clients. During breakfast, another of UPARC’s clients, Allison, made a list of who on the team she thought was cute, and who she didn’t particularly fancy. Ryan Patrick, Mark Huber, and Curtis Adams made the list immediately, and after a bit of smooth talking, I’m proud to say I was a late addition. Breakfast was delicious, and after some heartfelt goodbyes, we made our way to Tampa.

On our ride, a few of our less experienced cyclists showed some huge improvement. Everyone made good time, and we staged up for a friendship visit at The MacDonald Training Center. At the MTC, adults with disabilities train for jobs in manufacturing, inventory, and other areas. MTC also employs some of its clients to package the SunPass© tollbooth transponder. Their art gallery exemplifies their philosophy, that each person should be able to leave the life that they choose. MTC took several people who had been all but given up on and revealed serious artistic ability within them. Touring the art gallery, it was hard to miss the message—“Never underestimate anyone, because everyone has hidden talents and potential.”

MTC deals with people who have a wide variety of disabilities, some more able to communicate than others. When we met with MTC’s clients, it didn’t matter if they could speak in full sentences, single words, or only hand gestures, one thing was abundantly clear: They were excited that we were coming to the dance tomorrow.

After we left MTC for the afternoon, we headed to lodging at Bayshore Christan School. We showered up and headed out for dinner at Taco Bus, sponsored by an alumnus of Theta Delta chapter: Florida International University. The team filled up on tacos and burritos before we headed over play wheelchair basketball with the Tampa Bay Strong Dogs. We didn’t know going in that the Strong Dogs took second place at the Division 3 Wheelchair Basketball National Championships. To say that they wiped the floor with us would be an understatement. We all went to bed with sore shoulders, full stomachs, and a feeling of relief that tomorrow would be a day off from bicycle riding.

Mark Smith 

Wednesday, May 15^th, 2013

Today was a good day. We woke up a couple minutes before 5:00 am aiming to be on the bikes by 6:00. We ate a great breakfast sponsored by Publix while preparing for the ride to Clearwater, FL.

We then rode to The Undertow Beach Grill where a great turkey sandwich lunch was provided with chips and yogurt. After this delicious food, we took a break from our long rides the previous couple days and relaxed on the beach for a couple hours; this was a great winding down from the last couple long rides. Then around 2:30 we departed for the Clear Water Community Sailing Center where we are lodging.

The Clear Water Community Sailing Center is a gorgeous sailing club with a great view where they serve people with disabilities and teach them water sports. This is where we stayed for the night.

From here we went to dinner sponsored by The Marlin Darlin. This was an amazing five-course meal provided in one of the finest restaurants. Finally we went back to lodging and had some free time while winding down and getting ready or our ride the next day. 

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

This morning we were served an excellent breakfast by Susan Zell at St. Francis, including French toast, ham and cheese sandwiches, watermelon, grapes, yogurt, orange juice, milk, and everything else we riders need to get a good start for the day. We had a huge day ahead of us with many miles to ride and not much time.

The ride today was 95 miles riddled with headwinds and a few hills at the most inopportune times. Despite the time constraint of just under 7 hours, several of us were able to complete the journey. We all had to dig deep in our reservoirs and push through the vicious headwinds with impressive speeds. When there was a break in the wind, there were several miles of luscious green pastures along the highway to enjoy. As we entered the city of Sarasota, we found renewed energy and made excellent time considering the various flats and delays experienced by many of us.

Upon our completion of the journey, we rode in our double pace line formation to our friendship visit and lunch with our sponsor UCP of Sarasota – Manatee.  At the friendship visit, we got to celebrate the birthday of a man named Phillip, who has cerebral palsy. It was incredible to see the smile on the man’s face and how much he, as well as so many of the others with cerebral palsy, enjoyed our visit.  Many of us began to realize just what it is that we are here for and just how much we impact disabled peoples’ lives.

We ended the day by riding out of the friendship visit to our lodging sponsor, the Frank G. Berlin Sr. Branch YMCA, and having a Chick-fil-a dinner sponsored by Matt Robbins of the Eta Mu chapter of Pi Kappa Phi. After dinner we had fun playing pool, playing the Wii, and just hanging out at the Y.