GEAR UP-Surprise Speaker

One of our Breakfast time speakers was Senator Hillary Clinton. We were not aware that she was going to be visiting so it was a surprise for all 2,500 of us attending the conference. She was an excellent speaker and was very thankful for the work GEAR UP sites are doing as well as encouraging for all of us to continue to find ways to help low income students find their way to college. At this same Breakfast we had Nick and James Cannon. For some of you that do not watch MTV you may have to Goggle them to discover who they are.

Washington DC Pictures

World War II Korea memorial Watergate

These are just a few of the other sites we visited. We took a double decked bus which takes you to most of the sites.(National Cathedral, Union Station, George Town, Fords Theater, Embassy Road, and many other sites) We also took a boat ride on the Potomac river to get a good view of Watergate, Kennedy Center and the Pentagon. We had excellent weather with very low humidity considering the time of the year.

In the past we have visited Mt Vernon the Naval Academy, Harper's Ferry and many other historical sites.

Washington DC Trip

As part of my work with GEAR UP I have had the opportunity to visit Washington DC on several occasions. This year along with attending many conference sessions my wife and I took time to visit most of the sites on the "Mall". Since I am a Vietnam veteran and lost many friends in that conflict I always go to the "Wall" to pay tribute to those who served. I served with the 25th Infantry as a platoon leader from December 1969 to April 1970. I was very fortunate to work with 29 young men who really gave it all. We spent most of our time between Chu Chi and the Cambodia boarder as well as many trips into Cambodia. I was with a mechanized unit so we covered a very large area.

I would have to say that both the officer training (OCS) and the opportunity to serve as a platoon leader was some of the best training I could have had as I prepared to teach and coach as well as serving as a school administrator.

Finding the right wheels

This is the third set of wheels that I have had on my bike in 4,000 miles of riding. The front rims have worked fine but the rear rims have had problems with the spokes pulling out of the rim on the drive side of the rim. My cycle shop, Valley Cycle in Yakima, has been excellent to work with in solving the problem. I'm not sure they make a rim to hold a 240# guy but I will be taking an extra set of rims wih me on the 3,300 trip to insure that a broken rim does not cause me lost time.

The front tire has gone the entire 4,000 miles but I am on my third back tire. Certainly must be much more stress back there than up front. I will put new tires on both ends a couple of weeks before I leave on my trip.

Sunnyside Paper Article

I spoke at the Sunnyside Kiwanis and one of the writers for the Sunnyside paper wrote a very nice article about my up coming ride. It is amazing how many people respond to these articles by donating to the scholarship program. We are currently at $25,000 or 1/4 of the way to our $100,000 goal.

Today I rode to work. It was a great 24 mile ride and I averaged 14.5 mph get here. The ride home this afternoon will be in the mid 90's but there will be a wind at my back and I will be able to average a little over 18 mph. At that speed it is easy to stay cool and still ride for a couple of hours.

204 mile ride-Seattle to Portland

On July 12 and 13th I rode the Seattle to Portland ride along with 9,500 other riders. I started at the UofW at 5:15 and arrived in Centralia 1:00 PM. I averaged 14.7 mph. On Sunday I rode from Centralia to Portland. I left at 6:15 AM and arrived in Portland at 2:30. I averaged 13.8 mph. Both days the starting temperature was 53 degrees with the ending of the day temperature about 95 degrees.

The STP is a very well organized event. Well planed stops for food,water and mechanical support if needed. The roads and trails bring you through some of the most pictorial parts of the state. Mt Rainer, Saint Helen's and Mt Hood were all at there best.

The purpose of this ride for me was to see if riding two 100 mile rides back to back were possible. So as my September 6 date approaches for my ride across America I believe all of the miles I have trained are indeed paying off.

I will now have to take some days off the bike for the rest of July to train for my annual hike up Mt Adams. I have been fortunate to be able to hike Mt Adams every year since 1984. I plan on Hiking July 31 this year.