Thacker's Journey of Hope Blog

Links to Great Team Stuff!

thackerjoh — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 19:30:44 +0000

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenkinskchan

http://brettsjourneyofhope.blogspot.com/

http://jenkinskchan.com

Day 25 – Boulder

thackerjoh — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 03:21:49 +0000

Day off. Guys took their girlfriends out, drove up to the flatirons, took naps, and walked around the city. We had a great friendship visit with Sky’z the Limit and played wiffle-ball in a park. My family came up to the visit and got a better understanding of what we do as an organization. My dad cooked for the entire party of people and mom’s homemade Yankee pie was a hit. Tomorrow we head for a two day stay in Denver and it should be a blast.

Day 24 – Fort Collins to Boulder

thackerjoh — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 03:21:13 +0000

It was only 45 miles to Boulder and it was going to be a great ride. A few “Pi Alphas,” guys who have done the trip before, joined us for the ride and even brought us breakfast. My family cheered us on in Longmont and then again in Boulder at my fraternity house. It was so nice to see my Mom, Dad, and Grandma. A few friends stopped by to say hi as well and we had a chance to catch up. Lunch was provided by our project manager’s family and it was delicious. After a quick shower we dropped our luggage off at the Church where we were staying and hit the town to celebrate the 4th. Everyone scattered but I managed to catch up with a few old friends and introduce them to some team mates. When it got dark, we watched the fireworks and then headed down to Pearl Street for some over 21 fun. I got to show the guys some of my favorite places and they loved every moment of it. It was a perfect 4th of July.

Day 23 – Cheyenne to Fort Collins

thackerjoh — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 03:20:11 +0000

After a quick breakfast we headed south to Fort Collins, CO and rode like the wind. We could not wait to get into the CO and rejoin civilization. We had a slight head wind but we powered through it and made it to the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity house at CSU around noon. There were a number of other brothers waiting outside to welcome us and they had even blown up a huge water slide in the front yard so that we could cool off. It was great to see some people in our own age group and the CSU fraternity chapter. Annie, James’ girlfriend, was waiting in the front yard as well and it was great to see them together after hearing so much about her. We headed over to our lodging at the senior center and had a small friendship visit with a local parks and rec organization. When that was finished we all changed clothes and headed out on the town to meet up with friends and family. After a quick stop at the New Belgium Brewery, we had some dinner and began singing Karaoke. The pictures speak for themselves. It was hilarious.

Day 22 – Wheatland to Cheyenne

thackerjoh — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 03:08:46 +0000

Another century ride today….well ok it was only 96 miles. It was hot and we had to make it to Cheyenne by noon because of a sponsored lunch we were having with the cattlewomen on a private ranch. It was a hard day but we arrived at the Cheyenne Community College where we stayed on the gym floor and spread out. The ranch we ate lunch at was luxurious. It was the oldest working ranch in Wyoming and they raised pure bread Herford cattle. The owners of the ranch were gracious enough to eat and visit with us. They told us about their prize winning bull Herford named Lerch and how they made over $1 million from selling his sperm in the 1980’s….very interesting huh? Well they decided to freeze some of this sperm just as an experiment and actually used it to artificially inseminate a female cow about two years ago. Well, Lerch junior is looking good and he should also be a prize bull.

That night we had one of the best friendship visits of the entire trip. We met with the ARC of Laramie County and around 40 people showed up. We ate a spaghetti feast and played numerous games outside in the park. Sometime during the games, someone started a dance party and we circled around a few guys who showed us their skills. It was so fun. The day started out very rough but by the end everyone was in a great mood. Tomorrow….Colorado!

Day 21 – Casper to Wheatland

thackerjoh — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 03:02:59 +0000

Well the longest day of the trip has finally arrived. It is a strenuous 126-mile ride to Wheatland but we are all happy because the cattlewomen will be providing dinner for us. About two miles into the trip, one of our crew mistakenly forgot to mark a turn and my pace line rode a few miles in the wrong direction. A van came to pick us up and take us back to the other riders so we loaded our bikes on the racks and headed that direction. Moments later we were in small accident. The accident did not involve any other drivers but the back bike rack fell off of the trunk and totaled two bikes. Luckily my bike was on the top rack and was unharmed. Our guys dealt with it very well but had to be racked for the next few days due to the fact that they didn’t have bikes to ride. After the incident, Matt Schmidt and myself decided to ride in a two man pace line for the entire day. We don’t know why we did it but it was the nicest ride I’ve had with another member so far. We prayed for the team, each other’s families, the broken bike situation, and many other things. The miles melted away and it felt as if we had been transported to Wheatland instead of riding there. The dinner was unbelievable that night and we got to hear more amazimg stories about Rancher’s lifestyles that we did not know. Apparently, a lot of ranches are going to be going out of business due to a “gas tax” that the government is enforcing for cattle. Every rancher will have to pay $85 per head of cattle for a fart tax on their animals. We were all shocked and outraged by the new legislation. Ranchers have it hard enough; they will not be able to make any profits if trends like this continue any further.

Day 20 – Shishomi to Casper

thackerjoh — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 03:28:27 +0000

Man was it a scorcher outside. We rode on a two lane highway for 98 miles and probably saw 3 trees along the way. It was a desolate place but a great ride. I got to know some of the guys a lot better today. We play a lot of different games on the bike such as “favs” where we name our favorite things, the movie star game which involves naming celebs in a certain sequence, and then just tell embarrassing stories. We passed the Texas 4000 team today and it was fun to know that they will be riding all summer long as well for a similar cause. Today’s miles went fast and we arrived at our lodging around 2 pm. One of our guys took a pretty bad spill today but was only bruised and scraped. He will be off the bike for about a week and then get back on and continue cranking out the miles with us. The team has really become a team and we all really enjoy being together. There aren’t any cliches or trash talking and it is so refreshing to be surrounded by such a selfless group of individuals.

Day 19 – Dubois to Shishomi

thackerjoh — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 02:40:32 +0000

105 miles to Shishomi and it was blisteringly hot outside. We had a 50 mile continuous climb at about 1-2% uphill grade and it was a doozy. After we reached the top we got to descend for about 55 miles into the Shishomi. The entire town looked as if it had been abandoned except for the drive-thru liquor store, the bar, the gas station, and the senior citizens center that we stayed in. It was an erie sight to see but we were so grateful to interact with the locals and have a great meal. The people were so nice and took good care of us. We played pool and had a few beers at the local establishment and hit the sleeping bags to get fresh for the next big day of the Journey….to Casper, to civilization!

Day 18 – Jackson to Dubois

thackerjoh — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 02:30:39 +0000

We hated leaving the ranch but it was time to keep on moving. We packed the vans up and headed back in to Jackson and once again unpack and get back on the bikes. We had to back track about thirty miles up the same hill we rode in on in order to get on the right highway to take up to Dubois. The town is pronounced “DO – BOYS” which was the brunt of many new and fun Michael Jackson jokes. Needless to say we entertained ourselves for a little while. The day was incredibly foggy and we couldn’t see more than 150 yards in front of our faces. It was a little dangerous to ride in without lights but we managed ok. Sometime during the middle of the day the clouds broke and we began to see sunlight once again. We stayed in a high school and were once again honored to have a sponsored dinner by the Cattlewomen’s Association. It was so gooood. Just a little information for everyone reading out there: Eating is the most important part of our day….and we look forward to it like a little kid looks forward to Disney World. On a normal day, we consume enough food to feed a small country and manage to always go back for more when available. If it were up to me, I would institute National Cattlewomen’s day and celebrate it annually…maybe even monthly. They told us that they had been having problems with grizzly bears and packs of wild wolves eating their herds and that they couldn’t do anything about it because both species are protected. They truly live a hard yet purposeful life. Dinner was followed by a symphony of slumber and snoring…

Day 17 – Driggs, Idaho

thackerjoh — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 02:18:48 +0000

After the arrival in Jackson we packed the cars up and headed to a ranch on the other side of the tetons for a little rest and relaxation. We went to Twin Creek Ranch and were spoiled with a day of horse back riding, skeet shooting, golfing, swimming, hot tubing, relaxing, eating, etc by a couple of alumni from my chapter in Boulder. They were so nice to let us all come to the ranch for the night and were incredible hosts. We ate on a deck that over-looked the entire Driggs valley with the Tetons in the background. We were all in heaven. Dinner consisted of grilled chicken, angus beef burgers with all of the fixins’, smoked barbeque beans, spinach salad, and much more. We all had a bed or a couch to sleep on (multiple houses and cabins on this property) then woke up to a Neil Diamond album playing over the ranch speakers. It was a perfect stay.