Day 50 Glenview, IL to Chicago, IL Woot arrival:)

So today we woke up at like 7am and we racked our bikes and rode about 12 miles closer to the city. We did this because the traffic and city riding would have been so bad and have taken so long that the crew would not have been able to keep up with the turns.

We unracked at a target and got ready for our arrival.  This target was neat as it's shopping cart's wheels locked up if they were taken outside the parking lot. I thought that was pretty neat. So after a little bit we headed out towards the Victor C. Newmann center where we had an arrival and hung out with the clients there for a few hours. My mother, grandmother, and sister came out to visit and welcome us when we arrived at the center. They hung out for a little bit and then took off to go get lunch. We were fed lunch which was awesome sandwiches and then after that we were taken to millennium park and we were dropped off to explore the city.

We walked around millennium park for a bit and then headed off towards the John Hancock building. On the way we stopped at the Garmin store the Nike store and the Apple store. We arrived to the Hancock center and went up to the signature lounge.  The Under 21ers werent allowed in so we took pictures for them and we had some non alcoholic beverages so we werent freeloading but it did save us about 8 bucks and we got a drink out of it.

After that we headed out towards our dinner at Club Lago and on the way we stopped at the hershey's store and as we passed by Holy Name Cathedral we decided to stop in and look around.  We then had dinner sponsored by a Pi Alpha and it was pasta and such and was really good.

After dinner we hopped in the vans and headed to our lodging which was Eaglewood Resort and Spa in Itasca. It was sponsored by an anonymous donor and it was a pretty nice place.

We got settled and I just relaxed and then headed to bed

Peace, Love, and Michigans
White "DJ" Doug

Day 49 Milwaukee, WI to Glenview, IL Wow its been a while since ive updated this

So sorry about not updating this for a while but here goes

Today we woke up at 5:30 and we got out of lodging and had our breakfast and such.  We racked our bikes as the city riding would have taken up too much time so we racked for like 20 miles to get out of the city.

The ride today was really easy and fun. I rode with Alex and Reggie today and we did a great job averaging like 19.4mph the whole way. It was a 72 mile ride and we arrived to the YMCA in Northbrook, IL

There was a little bit of construction and crappy roads but we pushed through and made it safely.  We arrived first and went in and dropped our stuff off and then had some pizza and gatorade lunch.  We then had some free time to relax and do whatever. I started working on things and getting caught up on videos and such.

We had our friendship visit that night with some of the clients of the Y. Most of them were kids and we did dancing and had a hotdog and hamburger dinner.  It was a fun night. I was going to go out and do something that night but decided to just stay in and work on videos which I got a few done.

I then went to bed as we had our ride into chicago the next day

Peace, Love, and Clubs
White "DJ" Doug

Day 48 8th day off

Today we woke up earlier than yesterday and headed out to the Independence First office where we were served breakfast and chatted up with Kathy and the other people that worked there.

After that we headed out to Gaenslen school where we metup with some kids there and did our Kids on the block for them. After that we went into separate rooms and did some coloring and just hung out with the kids for a bit.

After the school we headed to the holy trinity church where we had our lunch and then hung out with Jim and the clients of Milwaukee Center for Independence.  We played some games, Just Dance for wii, Kickball, we did some puzzles and some minute to win it games where we had to pick up and stack cans with pasta

After lunch we headed to the Olympic training facility and did some wheelchair ice hockey. It was pretty sweet. Riding a chair on a ice rink is challenging but fun. we played for a few hours and I dont know exactly what the final score was but we all had fun

After ice hockey we headed to the Nicolet High School where we did wheelchair basketball and adaptive baseball. We also had a pizza dinner.   I played Horse with some of the guys as I cant play basketball standing let alone in a wheelchair. I did enjoy hanging out with the people there and watching everyone.

We then packed up and headed back to lodging. It was a long day and we have to ride tomorrow.

Yay getting back on the bike

Peace, Love, and Beeps
White "DJ" Doug

Day 47 Seventh Day off

So today was crazy as we didnt have to be up till noon lol.  I woke up a couple times but we started getting ready about noon and were cooked lunch.  Lunch was done by the moms of america and it was pulled pork and brats as well as all kinds of other potlucky type stuff.

After lunch and the introductions and everything we went off to a bowling alley to hang out with the Spina Bifida clients and bowl with them. It was a lot of fun and I still barely got over 100 both games. The girl that we were bowling with (Gabby) was pretty good and showed Marpe some dance moves

We had some snacks there and then we left and headed off to a Yacht Club to hang out with the Davidsons (yes relatives of the Harley Davidson family)  and they provided us dinner. They had potatoes, chicken, and pulled pork. It was a lovely dinner I wasnt able to eat too much as we didnt ride today and I had a big lunch.

After dinner we headed back to lodging for some team activities and then headed to bed

Have a great night

Peace, Love, and Porks
White "DJ" Doug

Day 46 Rockford, IL to Milwaukee, WI woot no cycling for 2 days:)

So today we woke up at 5:30 and packed up our stuff from lodging and had our breakfast. Today was another long ride as we rode to Milwaukee which is about 95 miles away.

Today I rode with Alberto and Marpe.  It was a decent ride. The terrain was nice it was just really long. We arrived a little after 2pm at our lodging which is the Immanuel Lutheran church in Brookfield, WI.

So we arrived and showered and changed and then we were given an introduction to what was going to happen the next few days. After that we headed out to the Mayfield mall and hung out with some girls with disabilities and took them shopping.

I hung out with this girl named Shakira who was very quiet but really cool. We took her to claires and got her a pink tutu and then we went to sephora and gave Shakira a makeover which she really enjoyed.

We then had dinner at the food court and headed back to lodging for the evening.  I started working/thinking about the yearbook that I plan on making. I also went out to relax with a few of the guys at one of the local drinking establishments and had a drink or two.

Have a great night

Peace, Love, and tutus
White "DJ" Doug

Me on the news again:)

WREX.com – Rockford’s News Leader

If someone can rip this and send it to me that would be amazing but this is me on the news again.

Day 45 Dubuque, IA to Rockford, IL I made it home!!!! Well for a day

So today we woke up at 5:30 and got fed by the camp.  We had eggs and ham and it was a nice warm home cooked breakfast.

We had lot of miles to go today and well we had a really short time to get there.  We had 110 miles to go in about 6 hours which realistically wasnt going to happen but we gave it our best.  As you might remember my rear wheel was messed up but we have a guy on our team Reggie that has extra pieces for bikes as his first bike broke so he bought a new one so I just used his rear wheel for today to ride till I got to a bike shop.

So we headed out today Alex, Michael Brooks and I and we began our epic quest to get to Rockford (My home town)  We rode and rode and well we rode for about 72 miles (funny as I rode the same roughly the day before) and then we got racked for time. We pretty much knew we were going to get racked it was more so a when not if.

So we got racked and were driven to our friendship visit which was at the Indoor Sports Center in rockford where we hung out with some of the kids at their summer camp. It was a teen summer camp with kids with all sorts of disabilities.  We did a mummy race (Race to see who could wrap up one of us in toilet paper first). Then we did a baloon race and finally some of us and the counselors got pied in the face by the campers.  My mother came out to pick my bike and take it to the bike shop to get fixed and now I am all ready to ride tomorrow.

After that we showered and changed and hung out for a bit. Some of the guys played volleyball and we beat the counselors pretty bad.  We then packed up and headed out.

We drove to our dinner/lodging which was the UAW 1268 union hall.  So the Union told me back when I setup the sponsored dinner that we could have whatever we wanted for food so the food selection was put to a vote and Chinese was the winner 13-12 over Steak and Potatoes. The guys were super excited for Chinese and so that is what we had for dinner.

We then did our introductions and had a group photo taken and then I headed out to get some stuff done. I switched out some clothes and metup with some of my friends.  My parents came out and my brother and they ate with us and then after I got all situated my friends and I went out and hung out for a bit.

I then went and picked up our jerseys and shorts that my mother washed and headed back to lodging to write my blogs and head to bed

Good Night All

Peace, Love, and Chineses
White "DJ" Doug

Day 44 Davenport, IA to Dubuque, IA Sorry this is late I was without service last night

So today was a crazy day. I woke up at like 5:50 and got all packed up from my hotel room and headed outside. It took us a lot longer to get ready today but we finally got on the road.

Today was supposed to be 85 miles but things didnt go as planned.  We started off cycling me Saruabh and Mike Jones. It was a long hilly day and I made it about 72 miles before we noticed that my back wheel was messed up So I ended up getting racked for the day. I thought at the time damn I was only like 13 miles away but I was so wrong.  Due to construction and everything they had to reroute and they added about 12 miles to the trip so the 85 mile day turned into a 97 mile day in the 100 degree weather that people werent prepared for.  It was pretty crazy but we all got to Albreght Acres one way or another and got to relax in the AC and shower and change.

So after we were all showered and changed we headed out to Dyersville, IA and explored the field of dreams movie site. Some of the guys took pictures of them coming out of the corn like in the movie and while it wasnt the coolest thing I have seen this trip it was pretty neat as we say.

We then headed back to Albrecht Acres and had our dinner which was some kind of pasta and salad and it was good.  We then went to dance mode as we headed inside and the lights were off and the music was blasting and all the campers were dancing their hearts out. A lot of us put on some costumes (I wore a wizards robe) and then we got so hot we took them all off lol.  So we danced for about 90 mins or so and then took pictures and said good bye.  A lot of us went out afterward to hang out with the counselors.

Now its bed time have a good night

Peace, Love, and Dreams
White "DJ" Doug

Day 43 Iowa City, IA to Davenport, IA So close to IL:)

So today we woke up at 5:45 am and had our breakfast after we cleared out of the Rec Center gym. Today's ride was about 57 miles and it was a really decent ride.  I rode with Chris today and we were sweeps but we kept a nice 17mph pace the whole way. It was pretty flat and what not so all in all it was a good ride.

We arrived about 1120am at the Clarion Hotel in Davenport and checked into our rooms. This time we were only 2 to a room instead of 4 so we have our own beds tonight though its sad that I dont get to cuddle with Steve today lol.  

We showered and changed and then we headed out to dinner which was sponsored by a Pi Alpha at a place called Happy Joes. It was a pizza buffet which was amazing. I had so much food lol.  After the pizza we had free time which most of the guys including myself used to take a nap.  

At about 6pm we headed out to get gas and then off to the local pool/waterpark for a friendship visit with some people with disabilities. It was fun and I think that I have spent more time in a pool in the past 3 weeks then in the past 10 years lol. I went down the slide and spent most of the time relaxing and talking to people. We had hot dogs for dinner and then we said our goodbyes and headed out.

I am updating my blog and headed to bed lol

Peace, Love, and Joes

White "DJ" Doug

Day 42 Cedar Rapids, IA to Iowa City, IA College Town??

So today we woke up at 615am and got out of the Arc that we were staying at and headed outside for breakfast.

We headed out on our exciting 27 mile ride to Iowa City as I rode today with Travis and Blake.  It was a very short ride and we got to our destination a little after 9am so we were there really early.  We arrived for our stageup at a park in Iowa City.  We relaxed for a few hours and we left for our arrival at 11am. We had a police escort and all and we rode to the old capitol of Iowa and were welcomed by the Arc of Southeast Iowa.  It was a really nice welcome and we hung out with them for a little bit and then went off to lunch

We had lunch at one of the residence halls of the University of Iowa. It was a huge buffet and we all ate a lot of food which was awesome.  After we ate lunch we rode to lodging which is the Robert A. Lee Recreation Center. We showered and changed and a lot of us went swimming.

I took a nap after swimming till dinner which was nice.  Dinner was at like 5ish at the Arc of Southeast Iowa and it was a pizza dinner which was nice. We got to hang out with some of the clients of the Arc and then afterward we headed back to lodging and some of the older crowd went out for a drink or two and now it is time for bed

Have a good night

Peace, Love, and Walls
White "DJ" Doug

Day 42 Banana

Day 41 Marshalltown, IA to Cedar Rapids, IA Arc of East Central Iowa

So today we woke up at 6am and packed up from the hotel and got some nice hot breakfast provided by the hotel

We then headed out on our 86 mile ride for the day. I rode with Sanjeev today and we went on this nice long ride with rolling hills and everything.

We were going a little slow and with media coming to our arrival we got racked 6 miles from lodging so that everyone could make it for the media. It kinda sucked but only 6 miles so it wasnt too bad.

We arrived and headed over to the YMCA to shower and then we took naps on the floor of the Arc while we waited for dinner.

For dinner we were served pork and beans and potatoes and it was delicious.  We then hung out with the Arc clients and had a dance and then we packed up and got ready for bed

Today was a very simple day but tomorrow should be a lot more

Have a good night

Peace, Love, and Wobbles
White "DJ" Doug

Day 40 Des Mones, IA to Marshalltown, IA Waves of fun!!

So today we woke up at 5:45 and got packed up and what not.  We were fed breakfast by Dave Adickes and it was some good cereal and bagels and whole bananas this morning.

We racked our bikes as there was a bunch of construction or traffic on every route out of West Des Moines so we had to be racked for about 20 miles or so. We unracked at the Adventureland park in Des Moines. We then headed out from there and it was Colin and Alex that I rode with today.  Alex pulled us pretty hard and we got some pretty good speed.  We arrived in about 2.5 hours and had some sandwiches right outside the aquatic center of Marshalltown.  After the food we all headed into the water park for a few hours.

It was a lot of fun they had slides, diving boards and a lazy river. We were supposed to meet up with clients of ARC of Marshalltown but it was a sunday and so we only were able to get one to come out, his name was Oscar and he was a cool kid.  We left the pool about 2:30 or so and headed to our lodging which is a small hotel.  Its cool though as they have hot breakfast in the morning so I am excited for that.

We checked in and got settled and then I took a nap for about an hour before dinner and our friendship visit.  We left at about 5pm for the local bowling center in Marshalltown. We met up with the clients of ARC of Marshalltown and were given a proclamation by the Mayor of Marshalltown.  Proclaiming that today is Push America day in Marshalltown.

We helped serve and then eat dinner which was cheesy potatoes and  beans and pork slices.  It was a good dinner and then afterward we bowled and danced for a few hours.  I didnt do that great with the house ball and only got like a 113 but had a lot of fun bowling with Rosie and Tomi.

After we were done with bowling we said goodbye and headed out for a team washing the vans event. The vans are now sparkling clean and then we headed to Burger King for some late night snacks.

I am now getting caught up on videos yay

Have a good night

Peace, Love, and Gatorades
White "DJ" Doug

Day 40 Breakfast

Day 39 Griswold, IA to Des Moines, IA Long ride:)

So today we woke up at a nice 5am and got ready.  We had to have our bikes shuttled out due to the gravel road/driveway that leads to the retreat center.

So we got to the main road and headed out.  Today I rode with Marpe and Jeff. It was a long ride today at almost 95 miles. The first 30 miles or so the roads were really crappy. They had lots of bumps and were just horrible to ride a bike on.  We got to learn a lot about Marpe as he told us his life story till we realized that we were behind schedule (or so we thought) and took it up a notch.

After a little while longer we encountered some rain. It didnt last long but it did get us wet.  We made it late to rack point but we didnt get racked which was nice.  After about 77 miles we had a little snack on the side of the road provided by Saurabh's family which was pretty nice.

We arrived to our location at about 1:20pm ish and had our lunch and then showered and changed and what not.  Then I took an hour nap or so and then got ready for dinner.  Our dinner was provided by a Pi Alpha Dave Adickes which was pulled pork and funeral potatoes plus a lot of other things. We ate our dinner and then introduced ourselves to the sponsor and family that was there and then after our picture we headed out for gas and then back to lodging.

I got a few videos done and now I am headed to bed

Good Night all

Peace, Love, and Lemonades
White "DJ" Doug

Day 39 Breakfast

Day 38 Omaha, NE to Griswold, IA We are in Iowa now:)

So today was a 5:30 wakeup and we all got out of the church and got up and packed our stuff up and headed out for breakfast and such.

We rode out me, Steven and Beau and had a metric crapton of rolling hills and we were not really happy with them but we pushed through. About 15 miles in we crossed into Iowa and well the terrain really didnt change very much still a lot of rolling hills.  Also about another 10 miles later we had to be racked as there was some unforeseen road construction so we got carted about 8 miles ahead and then continued on our path through the rolling hills.

We arrived to our second rack point which we needed to be racked for the last 2 miles as it was literally a loose gravel road and there was no safe way to ride it.  We arrived at our lodging which is the Creighton University Retreat Center and setup our bedding and showered and such. Then we had our lunch which was provided by Mr. David William Adickes and it was really awesome deli sangwhiches:)

After that we all took like an hour nap and then headed out for a team event which was hanging out in an old rock quarry.  I thought it would be playing with rock or climbing rock or something but apparently it was an old rock quarry that was filled with water and we played in it for a while. They had rope swings and a pontoon and it was a lot of fun

After we were done at the quarry we went to the house of Dr. and Mrs. Adickes and they provided us with sloppy joes and hommade baked beans and it was awesome. Great dinner and then we headed back to lodging and had a small team event ouside and now we are headed to bed

Have a great night

Peace, Love, and Ropes
White "DJ" Doug

Day 38 Breakfast

Day 37 Lincoln, NE to Omaha, NE Sonic Shakes:)

Today we got to sleep in a little and had a 6:30am wake up. We had our breakfast and headed out from our lodging which was the St. Paul United Methodist Church.  I rode with Colin and Sanjeev today and we had a shorter trek to our destination.

We had some nice scary city riding to start out with as we left Lincoln and then we got into the country for a while which was flat for a bit but then we started to hit some hills and towards the end we got into some hilly city riding which made things really interesting. Sanjeev got two flat tires which slowed us down a little but we made it to the stageup for our arrival.

We met at a parking lot and a random sponsor stopped by and brought their kids and we played duck duck goose for a little bit while we waited for the police to get there for our escort to our arrival.  We then hopped in our double pacelines and rode to our arrival which was at Willis of NE and we met up with Nia and the Spina Bifida of Nebraska.  We said hello and then we showered and changed and had some lunch

We then performed "Kids on the Block" for the kids that were there and then had a carnival. It was a lot of fun they had games for the kids (and us) to play and gave out tickets and they could get prizes. After it was over we did our dance and then helped clean up and headed out to our lodging which was at the Westwood church in Omaha.  We setup our beds and got ready for our second friendship visit with the ARC of Omaha.  We arrived for dinner and dancing. They had a live band and so we ate and then danced with the clients and had a great time.

After the dance we all headed back to the church and I got all packed and prepared for the next day and then went out for some sonic with some of the people we met (cousins of the lady that setup todays lunch and carnival event)

Have a great night

Peace, Love, and Bands
White "DJ" Doug

Day 36 Grand Island, NE to Lincoln, NE Racked!!!

So today we woke up super super early like 4:45am early as we had a long day ahead of us and we wanted to make sure we were up early enough.  So we packed up everything from the hotel and came down for breakfast which was donated by the Grand Island Ladies.  We had some awesome bagels and OJ and bananas and such.

After breakfast we hopped on our bikes bright and early and headed off on our over 100 mile ride to Lincoln, NE.  I rode with Jeremy and Reggie today. We got about 60 miles and we were going as fast as we could but we had a really strict time restriction today so we got racked after 60 miles (though we would have been racked after 70 anyway as there was some crazy construction on the route and it was unsafe to ride though it) and were driven to about mile 89ish and then biked the remaining 13 miles

We arrived in Lincoln, NE at a restaurant called Raising Caine's at about 12:45 and had some awesome lunch.  They are kind of like in n out burger but with chicken fingers. They have amazing chicken fingers and have a really simple menu.   After lunch we rode down the block to lodging which is St Pauls United Methodist Church.  We showered and changed and then setup our sleeping bags and what not. Then we had some free time where I took a nap:) I love naps

At 5pm we headed out to our dinner which is with the Sertoma Club of Lincoln, NE we had some fried chicken and other potlucky stuff. It was a great dinner and then we introduced ourselves and learned more about the Sertoma Club.

We then left to the Catholic church in town for a dance with ARC of Lincoln. We danced for a few hours with lots of clients of ARC and had a great time.  After we left there we came back to lodging and I decided to go out to get some Red Mango but when I got to the area where Red Mango was I decided I wanted more Raising Caines and got that instead lol

Now I am updating videos and such

Be sure to check out the new tracking app that I have its on the upper left of the blog home page click on the "Track Me" link and you can follow us in real time

Peace, Love, and Fingers
White "DJ" Doug