Day 56 - Niles, OH

It was still dark out when we left the Children’s Hospital in Cleveland. We all woke up groggy and sad to be leaving such a wonderful place. For some people though, today was one to address rivalries and answer questions long posed—which is the best van? Since the beginning of the summer, everyone on the team has had an assigned van. For each crewmember, a specific number of cyclists are assigned and use that specific van when we go to events, or rack, or run errands. A whole slew of inside jokes and van culture has sprung up since we’ve been assigned. Van 5 (the “real” silver bullet) is by far the best, however. The golden gun, “fake” silver bullet, nugget, rondo, and the grumble-mobile all stand no chance. In an attempt to clear the air, Grant, our project manager, proposed a “Van Olympics” at our team meeting last night. Today’s event: Cycling.

Van 1 (Rondo) and 6 (The other Silver Bullet) were combined because they are both 3 people vans. Unfortunately for the rest of the team, they also happen to have all of the most talented riders. After 10 miles, every other van, including my own, had given up on the competition. We pushed hard enough because we had a tight rack point, but earnestly realized we stood no chance (we accept our flaws, we’re going to destroy on other events). Turns out, vans 1 and 6 finished first by 45 minutes on a day where two teams were racked because of time. That’s a feat.

At 11, we all arrived into the Saturn of Route 422 where the general manager had kindly provided a pizza lunch. Believe it or not, we love pizza on the trip because we get so little of it. After taking a picture and thanking them kindly for their support, we biked to lodging 4 miles up the road at the Fairhaven Foundation School. This school specializes in education for people with developmental disabilities. After setting up the gym, we had a great dance with over 75 clients! By this point, the team is so familiar with the music and comfortable making a fool of ourselves that we always throw a crazy party. There is definitely energy in the room, even just after a few songs. By the end, very few people were sitting on the sidelines and everyone had a great time.

After saying goodbye to our guests and cleaning up the gym, we all left for Olive Garden for dinner. The owner actually encountered the team a few years back in Nevada and after finding out the Journey of Hope passed through his hometown, invited them for dinner at his restaurant. He has sponsored us ever since, much to our delight. The breadsticks and pasta were some of the best we’ve had all summer. We all left full and content, ready to go to sleep early for our last 80-mile day of the journey.