Day 24: Empire, CO to Denver, CO

Dunkin' Donuts breakfast makes for a great day ahead! Rocky Mountain Village will always hold a place in my heart and if I had a free summer, I would 100p move out to the Rockies for a summer to work at the camp. Today, we finally headed to Denver, the halfway point in our journey, where my parents were waiting for my arrival. Along the way, our team often has ride alongs, which are past Pi Alphas who complete the day's ride with the team. Jim Karlovec, the other co-founder of Journey of Hope, flew out from Ohio to come see us into Denver. Last spring, I was required to travel to Ohio for a regional team training and there, he taught me the basics of the road, so it was cool being able to ride with him in his paceline again. We finished the very last climb in the Rockies, and we will later hit the Appalachian mountains. The descent took nearly 20 minutes as we encountered switchback after switchback before finally hitting flats. We passed by the national Coors brewery and met up with the Trans route in a park a mile from the capitol building. There are three different routes, and our North route crosses the Trans route through Denver. Trans has 2 Purdue brothers, and it was nice hearing about how their summers have been. We rode side-by-side into the capitol as dozens of parents awaited to cheered us on. My parents flew from San Francisco to spend 2 days with me, and it was an awesome visit. We had catered Chipotle, checked into a hotel (yay, a bed!), and went to the big friendship visit and charity event, Pedals for Pennies. There, hundreds of people gathered in a park in Denver where Journey of Hope paired with Colorado Special Olympics to raise money and awareness. The night consisted of bike races, soccer, food, water balloon tosses, and a huge dance party. It was a ton of fun meeting with the people of the Special Olympics and seeing their passion for sports. The big dance competition between North and Trans route was also a hit. Our team performed Burning Up by the Jonas Brothers while the Trans route did Old Time Rock n Roll. At the end of the event, the Ability Experience presented a check of 12,000 dollars to Special Olympics of Colorado. It was one of the best nights of the summer, and we ended the night by watching Mr. Bean in my parent's hotel room.

Business in the front, party in the back

All smiles at pedals

Dance party!

Bike races! I rode my first ever tandem bike today

North and Trans teams

Lookout pass overlooking Denver with Joe from Purdue and Jim Karlovec