Today’s ride was dedicated to Richard Hill, Sherry Hoon, and Becky Campbell. All three of these individuals are people we met during our ride a couple of days ago into Mullan. Richard is a survivor of kidney cancer who has been cancer free for five years! He means the world to his family and it was an honor to be able to ride for him today. Sherry Hook is a breast cancer survivor (!!!!!!), and Becky Campbell is currently battling breast cancer. We are thinking of Becky and her fight ahead of her and admire both her and Sherry’s strength.

Our ride today was 57 miles (for most groups – one group had a little 10-mile detour and made it a 67 mile day) into Pullman, WASHINGTON! We have officially reached the west coast!!!! We have not seen the pacific yet, but knowing it is at the other side of this state is incredible. The ride today was pretty windy and absolutely beautiful. It is pretty crazy how drastically the scenery changes when we enter a new state. So far we have seen rolling hills with wheat and a lot of pine trees.

Tonight we are at the Emmanuel Baptist Church and it is AMAZING! We are able to sleep in their very comfortable community room and are also able to hang out in their youth room – complete with air hockey and video games. The church members were so kind to us and grilled us burgers and hot dogs and provided salads, chips, cookies, fruits & veggies, and other treats! They are also cooking us some breakfast casseroles for the morning which we are extremely thankful for. There are definitely many teammates who have grown pretty tired of our oatmeal breakfast so it will be extra special to change it up a bit :)

Today I want to highlight the iconic Marie Hubbard! Marie is such a character and adds so much to this team. Her iconic sayings have become integrated into my own vocabulary and will probably always be a part of the way that I speak. Marie is a natural leader who is very organized herself and keeps our group on track so much. She is always one of the first people ready in the morning and is always helping others with their tasks while encouraging people to be a little more speedy (which is very necessary when everyone is groggy in the morning). Marie was only a freshman this past year, which I would never have guessed just by knowing her. She is an incredibly responsible teammate and an excellent rider. I know that I do not only speak for myself when I say that I would trust Marie to accomplish any task and would want her on my team through any type of situation on and off of the bike. She will be on the board next year and will help pick the 2020 Bike America Team and will contribute to the decisions that the organization will make. I couldn’t think of a better person to represent the 2019 team and am so thankful to have spent the summer around her!
(and that’s the tea!)