#btc200

Had a fun early morning ride with THE @abemill this morning! I also had fun showing him my urban loop that goes to downtown Des Moines. Fun 35 or so miles on a gorgeous Saturday morning! That 200 mile ride is sneaking up on me quicker than I realize! Just over a month til go day! #ridingwithhydrocephalus #praypedalrepeat #btc200 (at Downtown Des Moines, Des Moines) https://www.instagram.com/p/CAQnix3AIZk/?igshid=1y1kf2w3dhz36

As many of you know. I had plans to ride @breakthecycle200 this year. God had other plans for me though. Last year on #btc200 I had the AWESOME privilege of meeting the executive director of #endscycling @allpraisejc. We shared our stories together and I expressed interest in riding on one of his #cyclingtours. Little did I know that I would be presented with the opportunity to ride on TWO tours in ONE summer. With this summer coming together quite nicely I had to pick and choose. I still wanted to do #BTC200 but riding it was out as I don’t want to burn myself out. So I decided to be a support crew. My heart was, and always will be in the peloton. So I was a floater. I started in the peloton with mission control. Then I switch to the photographer car and finally setting up rest stops. This shot by far was my favorite shot. As I get ready for the second part of my season I give thanks to everyone who has pushed me and encouraged me to go after what God has in store for me. #endscycling #ridingwithhydrocephalus #btc200 @endscycling (at Grand Junction, Iowa) https://www.instagram.com/p/BzipjwYAc0J/?igshid=1jnrbc3awfryo

Beautiful but yet chilly night for miles last night. Rode around Saylorville lake and then to Bondurant. Wind was north at 7 miles an hour so climbing was fun and challenging. #ridingwithhydrocephalus #btc200 #praypedalrepeat @endscycling (at Ankeny, Iowa) https://www.instagram.com/p/BwosqP5giip/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1rivkk4cg1czj

RAGBRAI day five was a blast in more ways than one. For one, I got to spend the day riding, worshipping and spreading the word about an awesome cause! The second reason why it was a blast is because I got to do the ‘optional’ century loop, or in my case ‘mandatory’ as I like doing the ‘extra’ miles. The third reason why yesterday was so awesome is because I got to ride with some pretty awesome friends while riding the century loop! We started our morning off at a bright and early 6 am like usual. We flew thru Reasner and Linnville, and Sully. When we got to Sully we turned off the regular route and on to the Karras loop. The Karras loop is named after one of the co-Founders of RAGBRAI, John Karras. It is one day a year on each RAGBRAI that makes it a century for the day. When I started doing RAGBRAI I made it optional until I could do a century. Now that I do centuries regularly it’s mandatory for me to do it. I love it. It started as a challenge but then it became easy. When we got to the loop we started at a hard pace. A little too hard, we were dropping guys like flies, so we backed it off to regroup. Once we rode in to the town we got our commemorative patch to mark the occasion. We also got a photo with John Karras, always a highlight no matter how many times I do it. We then rode through a blip on the map and pushed back to the regular route. Once we got back to the route we got water Sully and headed to Mr. Pork chop, we stopped, naturally, and had food and pushed on to the next town of Montezuma. We all checked in to our stops and kept rolling. On to the overnight town of Sigourney. We made a couple more stops for water and popsicles and kept on trucking. It was a fun day had by all, and we got a few more guys for the 200 miler next year. Such an awesome day was had by all. We had a tail to tail crosswind from the northwest at 10-15 mph. It was fun and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

After the first hill I caught a gentleman from Spencer Iowa, who asked me about my OK200 jersey, now known as break the cycle 200. We rode for about 10 to 15 miles and had a pork chop and slushes together. We also exchanged contacts. After I had my pork chop I had not planned on turning the jets on, but I did. I blew through the next two towns. I stopped in Ogden yo use the facilities and fill my water bottles up. While I was there I met a couple from Harlem Iowa, home of Daytona 500 champion “Tiny” Lund. I then cruised in to Boone and signed some shirts for some people at a retirement center. That gave me the chills! After I signed shirts I rode to our Adaptive Sports Iowa team tent to let them know I was in town. I stayed for a few minutes and had a snack and it was spicy. Some sort of spicy sausage. I left Boone with the intention of not pushing to Ames, but as we all know, that didn’t happen. I ran in to a friend from Florida and we turned the jets on! We did 10 or so miles in about 35 minutes. I then rode past Luther Iowa which had nothing really so I turned north and headed in to Ames. When I got in to Ames the route took us through Jack Trice stadium, home of YOUR Iowa state cyclones! That was awesome! From there it was a short half a mile to our camp site at the recreation center! The weather today was mid 80’s for a high with winds west to northwest at 6-12 mph. It was a beautiful day for miles and smiles! And an awesome day to reconnect with friends and meet new ones!