The morning began similar to most as we all packed our bags and headed out to the waiting vans. This morning we were in for a treat as instead of our normal crew chief breakfast it was sponsored by our staff leads mom, Tammy Dodge. After we got onto the road we were greeted by suprisingly beautifully smooth roads, as upossed to the potholed filled roads that we had experienced the day before. For a large section of the ride we were surronded by trees which provided a nice cover from the wind and glaring sun. The ride like the others in Michigan was flat and highlighted by small towns, which made the ride much more interesting. After riding 80 miles we arrived at East Lansing and staged up at a local resturant before making our way to the friendship visit with Helping Hands Respite Center.
At Helping Hands they first provided us with a large lunch spread refueling all of us after our ride, and preparing us for the “olympic games” we would soon take part in. The games which were called the Ability Games was a series of events that included human bowling with water ballons, javelin throw with pool noodles, and giant jenga. Each member was either paired with a client or was assigned to score an event. After we all completed the games we were treated to a root beer float, which cooled all of us down from the summer heat.
After relaxing at our lodging a former Pi Alpha and North Route cyclist, Josh Velasquez, brought us a delicious fried chicken dinner filling all of us up after the long day. Finally many of us ended the day by exploring the campus of Michigan State before heading back to prepare for our ride to Ann Arbor.
Will Krisko
Virginia Tech
Cyclist