Wanted to give everyone an idea of the people I've spent the last 70 days with: my 4K family. All are incredible people, and I am honored to know them. They are going to go out and change the world. So I thought I'd share a few blurbs about each person's personality, their role on the team, memories I have with them, etc. I think it will also be fun for my teammates and me to come back to later on to reminisce. If you want to read about each rider's personal connection to cancer and their reasons for doing the ride, click on their 4K page link. Turned out I had so much to say that I had to split the team up into 4 posts.. so here are the under-21 boys!
************************************************************************************************
Gavin Shulock
Age: 19
Hometown: New York
Gavin didn't turn 19 until the last week of the trip, and much to his frustration was therefore the "baby" of the trip, along with Julie, who was the only one younger than him. Gavin's age didn't stop him from being an awesome athlete, though. He's a runner at home, can run a ridiculously fast mile and 5K, and frequently went on "casual" runs even after a day of biking on the 4K. That translated to being really good at cycling too, but what I liked about Gavin was he was that although he was capable of riding fast all day, he didn't mind taking it slow, either. Also, a special shoutout to Gavin's commitment to sunscreen reapplication... despite his slightly pasty skin tone, he actually managed to never get burnt too badly. Pretty impressive.
For some reason Gavin and I rode together like every day in Indiana. We both preferred to hang in the back usually, and since we were on a ton of trails for some reason in that state, we'd get to ride side by side and we had some long conversations about deep stuff. He's really easy to talk to.
Once we got to the Rockies, we realized Gavin's true prowess. He beat everyone up the mountains! A couple of the other guys were really close, but Gavin won the title of King of the Mountains on our team. FYI, King of the Mountains is a real thing- it's a title given to the best climber in a cycling road race. The award is given in races including the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, and other smaller races, and King of the Mountains gets to wear a distinctive polka dot jersey.
Gavin has a lot of good ideas, such as when he suggested we go swimming in the Colorado River on the hot ride into Moab:
He was alone in one of his other ideas - biking not just TO the ocean, but INTO it as well:
 |
| We have no idea how he got that far into the wet sand on those skinny tires!! |
And he has one weakness: Doughnuts! Whenever we had doughnuts, everyone knew to save multiple for Gavin. His face when we had them was priceless!
 |
| Devouring doughnuts at Voodoo Doughnut |
************************************************************************************************
Age: 20
Hometown: Maryland
 |
| Zach doing a photoshoot for Jen the photographer- I have no idea where this is! |
Zach attack!! A quiet guy, but he has a really fun-loving attitude. He was also one of the strongest cyclists on the team but also flexible, meaning he could be happy going super fast all day and he could also be happy just taking his time. And he has the BEST facial expressions.
 |
| One of my favorite photos of the entire trip |
 |
| Typical Zach |
 |
| Zach picking potatoes somewhere in Idaho with Meredith |
 |
| Zach being dared to eat a slug |
 |
| Proud father with his son |
************************************************************************************************
Tom Grisanti
Age: 20
Hometown: Long Island
 |
| One of my favorite pictures of the trip. Thank you, V, for this great photo!! |
Tom.... what should I say about Tom. He was one of my first friends on the trip, because my family hosted him the night before send-off. He was coming from out of state and needed a place to say in (or close to) Baltimore. As soon as I met him I noticed and appreciated his witty and quick sense of humor. He's also extremely determined and competitive. And he never hesitated to voice his opinion when he disagreed with something.
 |
| I believe this day they put sticks in their helmets and called themselves Team Jackalopes |
Tom's early attempts to flirt with every girl on the team were no secret (sorry Tom), but that didn't last long before he realized it was better to be friends with everybody. I made fun of him for being fiercely alpha male, but hey, it's both good and bad.
In the first few days of the trip we were riding together at the same pace, but by only about week 2, he was worlds too fast for me. One of his main goals was to improve significantly as a cyclist, so he often liked to ride with a fast group that wanted to get to the host quickly, take short breaks, and push each other's pace.
Tom also received a lot of support from his school, Mansfield University, and in return he had to take pictures with his Mansfield flag at all the cool places we saw. The Mansfield picture was a given at every tourist attraction, mountain view, or state sign.
We stayed pretty close friends throughout the trip because we had that tie from the beginning. We had sort of a teasing relationship where we poked fun at each other, etc, (ok, it was mainly Tom coming up with jokes about me that I would roll my eyes at), but all in good fun. He was one of my better guy friends on the trip.. and I already do miss his jokes!!
************************************************************************************************
Jared Champion
Nickname: Princess
Age: 20
Age: 20
Hometown: Cleveland, OH
 |
| Princess & I on Day 3 |
Princess! The one many of you were wondering about, given this unique nickname. Some of my friends thought I was the one with the nickname of Princess, but no, I assure you, Jared is way more of a princess than I am!!
Jared got his nickname bright and early on Day 1, when we were all self-consciously getting ready for bed, blowing up our air pads and setting up our sleeping bags. All of a sudden we hear from across the gym a really loud "BZZZZZZZZ." We look over to see Jared inflating a twin-size air mattress with an electric pump.
Not only that but he also had TWO blankets... and a cat pillow named Diego. I have NO idea how he managed to fit all of that in his duffel. Ashley went over and called him a princess... and that's where the nickname was born. It was one of the few nicknames to really stick until the end of the trip. I have to hand it to Jared, though... he did have the most comfortable sleeping accommodations. Until it got a hole in it!
Of course, there was more to Jared than his nickname... he was also one of my first friends on the trip as we hosted him for send-off weekend. He's kind of shy but once he warms up to you he's super friendly, fun, and always smiling. Jared's family is awesome as well; I got to meet his aunt and uncle in Baltimore, Pennsylvania, and Ohio (when we stayed at Jared's house for a night) and then his sister and a bunch of other family in Portland when they took in my brother and me for a night. Jared had the most unfortunate connection to cancer on the team. Both of his parents died of cancer. I can't imagine what he has been through, but I was happy and inspired to see what a friendly and fun-loving person he is in spite of it.
The story behind the above picture is that we were fed dinner by the Pan Ohio Hope Ride (POHR), who, surprise surprise, also loves Jared! He's done that ride twice, and raised a lot of money for them. They had that big poster of him and they let us take it... it was referred to as "Jared," and although it took up substantial space in the van, we held on to it all the way to Portland! We would do funny things with it such as put it in random places, put speech bubbles on it, or as you can see there, Ashley is holding Jared out the window to motivate riders.
His family is also very well established in the nursery business and their company is well known throughout the nation. That's how Jared somehow had connections in so many random places across the country. And everyone that knew his family even distantly was thrilled to see him and loved him. Jared is studying business and horticulture and knew a lot about trees.. he plans to go into the nursery business as well.
************************************************************************************************
Dave White
Age: 20
Hometown: Maryland
Ah, Dave White. Probably the funniest guy I've ever met. He thinks of the wittiest comments and jokes to make about a situation, practically before a sentence has even been finished. I don't know how he does it but it's brilliant.
Dave has a "quietly scheming" face that we all came to know quite well by the end of the trip. It entails his eyebrows twitching, and his mouth curling into a mischievous smile. It usually means he either has one of his jokes in the making, or he's trying to decide if what he wants to say is too inappropriate. I wish I had a picture of this face, but unfortunately, it was not captured on film!
Because of this, he was charged with coming up with the embarrassing/funny introductions and questions for each team member at our banquet, and did a great job, leaving everyone practically in tears from laughter. He's also good at public speaking.. so we always chose him to give the talks about the 4K at host dinners.
When he wants to though, he can put on a complete poker face. He'd make the best businessman or politician for sure. And we all voted him most likely to be a white-collar criminal.
Because of this, he was charged with coming up with the embarrassing/funny introductions and questions for each team member at our banquet, and did a great job, leaving everyone practically in tears from laughter. He's also good at public speaking.. so we always chose him to give the talks about the 4K at host dinners.
When he wants to though, he can put on a complete poker face. He'd make the best businessman or politician for sure. And we all voted him most likely to be a white-collar criminal.
Mary -- This is priceless.
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome! I wish I had done it....Although I will say I think some personalities go across 4K trips. I found myself reading these thinking about who they were equivalent to on my ride :)
ReplyDelete