15-Jul-17

July 15, 2017 – Ft. Worth, TX to Dallas, TX – 45 miles

After a delicious breakfast sponsored by fellow TCU Pi Alphas, our team made a quick hop East to meet the 4.6 million residents of Dallas. It was our first time cycling through a rainy morning and the change in temperature made it an interesting day for sweeping. As sweepers, my pace-line and me ensure that all of our cyclists are on the road in a safe way. When there is rain it’s important to remain vigilant as conditions take a turn for the worst as puddles hide cracks in the road that can cause accidents.

Our short trip ended at a hotel lodging and a delicious lunch sponsored by Pi Alphas from Cal. State Fullerton (brothers who have already participated in Ability Experience programs including Mr. Ross McCollum). Our sponsors entertained us with great stories of their own Journey in the 90’s. As it was family week, many of our guys had their parents and siblings attend our events and we were able to mingle both on our own and as a team. I was fortunate that David Capossela, a brother who was a founding father with me during college, took me on a tour of the city he now calls home. It was his birthday! Before we celebrated we went downtown to visit the location where President Kennedy was assassinated. It was a tourist trap! As we walked around the downtown area we decided that we wanted a more hip scene and went to Deep Ellum where world famous restaurants like Pecan Lodge are located. On the way, I seized an opportunity to “become the I in BIG” and took a photo with the big B&G, a marketing campaign scattered all over the city where you stand between the letters and form the word Big for #DallasBig!

In the evening we did some team builder activities like laser tag and whiffle ball on dodger cars thanks to our sponser Randy Stillinger (a two time Pi Alpha). Overall it was an amazing day.

JP Martin 

Theta Upsilon (Northern Arizona University)