On July 6, at about 5:30 am, we loaded our gear into assigned trucks at the convention center in Minneapolis where we had registered the day before. After a touching opening ceremony that reminded me why I was there and had a lot of people, including me, crying, we wheeled our bikes outside and began to ride. The streets were blocked off for us until we got out of downtown, which was a good thing because we pretty much filled them curb to curb. It was quite an impressive site.

That day we pedaled 105 miles, my first "century." By the end of the day I could only think of one thing: dinner. Well, that and saying hi to my girlfriend at the time, Lisa, who was on the crew at camp. Seeing her bright, sunburned face was something I found myself looking forward to every day of the ride. Dinner that night was spaghetti, some of the BEST SPAGHETTI I HAVE EVER EATEN (that's how hungry I was)! After I showered and assembled our tent at home sweet home, tent address K35, it was already time for bed. It had been a long day and I think I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

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