Miles of opportunities

After spending my undergraduate experience cycling across the United States and traveling to Guatemala I’ve decided to take a job with Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity. This organization has already been a defining moment in my development in a young professional and having the opportunity to travel the country again working with students for varies university is a blessing. This page is going to follow my individual travels throughout the county and focus more on what it looks like to be successful working mostly remotely from my HQ. I’ll also share a few tip and tricks on lessons Ive personal learned from being on the rode. Thanks for your continued support over the years! Here is to the greatest adventure yet.

Much Love,

Thomas A. Marlbrough

 

Day 24 Driggs, ID to Dubois, WY 125 Miles

Today was a quick and early wake up because we need to drive out of lodging. Once we all made circle up Mike and Chief told us because of some construction and traffic we would be riding over the first mountain pass. After going about 15 miles on the route, we unload the bikes and I headed out with Muse, Scott, and Josh. The riding started out great, we didn’t have too much climbing and had a great pace. Around mile 40 we made our way into a national forest and then the fun really began, we had a 20 mile stretch of up hill. It was crazy hot and the best part (not) was the massive horse flies that followed us the whole way up. At this point we made it to over 10,000 ft above sea level and crossed the Continental Divide (again). All that climbing and suffering soon paid off with a massive 6% grade downhill; we made rack time and made it into the city with no problem. I am amazed to say that I am getting use to these 100 mile or 100 mile plus days. It’s still hard work but it’s mostly attitude that makes is possible. Dinner was provided by the Kiwanis of Dubois and greatly appreciated after a long day of riding. Thanks to St. Thomas Episcopal for providing our lodging.

Day 23 Driggs, ID. 0 miles

Today was a day for the boys. I rolled out of bed to a wonderful breakfast and then quickly headed off for a kayak trip that would take us to an amazing view of the Teton mountains. That last about an hour and a half which was perfect because it started to heat up as soon as we got off the water. We headed back up to the ranch and I had some time to chill out before we got to take the rifles down to the range. So naturally I did what any 21 year old college student would do with a 2 hour break, I took a nap! We had a great lunch followed by some time at the range (and might I say I was the best shot on the team). I was also lucky enough to take a Hummer ride right after that for about 2o minutes. I didn’t get to drive, but it was loads of fun running over small tress and shrubs. Just when I thought my day was over, I got the chance to ride a horse around the ranch and stopped by the lake to learn how to fly fish. It was a super packed day but it was great to see a group of our alumni really come together and give back and treat everyone on the Trans Team like family. I’ll never forget their generosity and hospitality. Once the long day was over, we helped clean up the house and gear up for the next day. Before I went to sleep I heard that the first climb for tomorrow was super dangerous because of the construction and we might have to rack 20 miles into the route before it would be safe to get on the road.

Day 22 West Yellowstone, MT to Driggs, ID 100 Miles

My pace line got off to a slow start today. Our pace line was going to sweep (last group riding) and got out of lodging last after a climb to the Continental Divide. We had some great riding for about the next 20 miles until Tom got a flat, luckily we had a crew stop not even a hundred feet in front of us. After changing the tire we knew we had some ground and time to make up so yet again we started grinding it out. We made it about another 20 miles and Tom again had another flat and he realized that he needed a new tire. So we rolled and racked up to the rest of the team, got Tom a new tire, and continued on with our adventure. It was a slow day but it was a beautiful ride. As we started climbing up,  we saw our first view of the Teton Mountains. These mountains looks like the ones that kids draw. They had three massive peaks and was super jagged and steep all around. We got to mile 85 and had a quick lunch because lodging was only 15 miles away and had some motivation for a day off at the ranch everyone had been talking about for the last two days. Once we made it into town we had to rack to lodging because of some gravel roads, once we pulled up to the ranch I could see why everyone was talking about it.

Yellow Stone Day 21 0 Miles

After the ride yesterday everyone was ready to have a day off the bike and away from the wind. Luckily we got tickets to go Yellowstone and drove out there around 8:30 am to try and see as much of the park as we could. Let me put this into perspective for everyone, there is no away that one person can see all of Yellowstone in one day; we maybe saw ten percent of what it had to offer. First stop was Old Glory and we only had to wait about 15 minutes before it fired off. I got a great video of it that which I will post! We took the south loop and saw buffalos, elk, dear, but no bears. I also got super close to one of the smaller falls and talk about a great view. It was a nice change of pace that I need after a brutal day yesterday. This was one of the first days that I looked at Google maps on my phone and started to notice how far we have already made it across the country. It was almost unreal to me. I spend so much time telling other people what I am doing this summer and talking about all the amazing people I am meeting, but I hadn’t thought about it until that moment – I had over 1,000 miles done on the trip. I was also proud  that my ACL was holding up to these long days. This trip is the first time that I pushed my physical ability in about a year and a half since my ACL reconstruction surgery. I also had some time to talk to my family on the phone that afternoon and was kind of surprised when my parents said they would be seeing me in 11 days during our arrival into Denver Colorado. After dinner it was off to bed, we have another 100-mile day to Driggs ID tomorrow.

Day 20 Bozeman, MT to West Yellowstone, MT 125 Miles

Today was a tough ride that ended up being 125 miles. The first 56 miles were not hard at all, and I rode with True and Beeks. After a great lunch that was sponsored by Ennis Lions Club, about 3 miles into our ride, we hit the fastest, strongest, and most unpredictable winds I’ve experienced since Hurricane Katrina. We had a fast speed on the bike of 5 mph. The wind had completely stopped the whole team in its tracks. We knew we couldn’t make rack point and my pace line came together and realized there was only one thing to do; we put our heads down and just began to grind out as many miles as we could. We had a few down hills on this part of the ride but we never made it past more than 10 mph. It just felt like a wind tunnel with mountains to our left and right with no protection. After making it 95 miles we got racked and drove the rest of the way to lodging. Everyone still had high spirits after the hard day knowing we would have the next day off in West Yellowstone National Park. We cleaned up and headed off to one of my favorite dinners put on by a local church (they had some great spaghetti, did I mention how much I like spaghetti?). Then we explored the town. I think the biggest take away for me was that I didn’t get off the bike even when failure was standing at my doorstep. I was able to look past the fact that no one was going to make time, and I made the best of the miles we could finish.

Day 19 Butte, MT to Bozeman, MT 105 Miles

Riding into Bozeman we not only reached our 1,000 mile mark into the ride, but also climbed just over 4,400 feet in elevation. The ride was a very interesting but demoralizing ride when at mile 70 we were going to cycle 30 miles towards the town to get in and then cycle the same 30 miles out the next day to head towards West Yellowstone. But after having a wonderful crew chief lunch it was pretty much downhill (riding I mean) and I was excited to get to lodging. Once we got into lodging I soon had to leave to make it to the bike shop to get a new chain for the “rig”. We were a little late to lunch, but still made it in time for the sponsor meal (spaghetti), one of my personal favorite meals. We had our second team meeting of the ride, which was overall positive but needed to fix some small things like waking up and being on time, as well as following policies and procedures on and off our bikes. After the meeting, I sat outside with my friend Matt and talked about cycling across Europe, he shouldn’t have told me that because now I think I’m going to cycle across Europe! Can’t wait to tell Mom and Dad! Everyone went to bed relatively early because of the 125 mile ride into West Yellowstone the next day, which would soon become one of the hardest days on the bike, for both myself, and the team.

 

Day 18 Philipsburg, MT to Butte, MT 60 Miles

It was a quick ride into Butte where we are staying at the YMCA. Since we have a little extra time, anyone who needs their bike serviced stop by the local bike shop. Where ever we go, the local bike shops are so helpful and often give us discounts. So THANKS to all the independent bike shops across the country! My paceline and I had a pretty decent day there wasn’t much climbing and most of it was a steady downhill into flats. Mike told us in the morning that we would be looking for a large statue at the top of the mountain, that way we knew we would be in town. Probably about 2 miles out we could faintly see it but from further distance it looked quite small standing on top of the continental building. The statue was “Our Lady of the Rockies” and was a monument to show gratitude for all of the women in the world. After making it into town, we cleaned up and departed to go to the bike shop, which was very interesting because the gentleman who owns it, has a brother who was recently in the Tour de France and finished third keeping an average speed of 33 MPH. After the bike shop, we left for dinner at DSW incorporated, and had a live band for an awesome dance party. We also received a shirt from the organization which everyone loved including myself, because we finally had a clean shirt! Plus it was a tangible part of my Journey that will be with me for as long as I have it which will keep those memories fresh when I wear it. We also received care packages from home so that really lifted everyone’s spirits. Then it was off to sleep, next up is Bozeman MT a place where we heard there would a great dinner at Eagle Mount.

Day 17 Philipsburg, MT 80 Miles

Wake up was at 6 am and today I was riding with Skevy and Rascal Paschal. Which I was super stoked about because this was my first time riding with both of them, and Skevy always makes me laugh while Paschal is always a positive influence and is just great to be around. The ride wasn’t too bad, mostly flat with a small incline, and Rocky near the end –  which deflated the team a little bit (but not my tires) – but nothing we couldn’t handle. We pushed on, and finished at a reasonable time and arrived at the surprisingly small town. We were staying at a local high school which was small, and looked like it was built in the 1900’s. After showering up and putting everything away we had a quick walk down to the Rotary club where they had wonderful bbq and some nice cold drinks, which were needed after such a long hot day of riding. I’m always amazed by our sponsors, it seems that the second they know we are heading into town, they will do anything to make sure that we are taken care of. It amazes me that these sponsors are so willing to do everything to help strangers every year, and I know now that this ride would not be possible without them and so many others like them, who help us every day. After dinner we thanked the sponsors and made it back up to lodging, where I spent my night cleaning the “rig” (bike) and was able to walk into town and spend a little time with some boys at a local restaurant. Side note: the world’s best candy shop was in town, but we were not able to make it because it was closed, but I may venture back to make it there after what I’ve heard about it from past teams. Then, it was off to bed for the next day which would be a  beautiful ride to Butte MT.

Day 16 Missoula, MT 0 Miles

I found it particularly hard to wake up this morning, but woke up at 8:30 to some sweet pancakes that Mike and some other team members help make. But I was extremely upset (ha) because there was no milk and milk is the only thing that helps quench my thirst after pancakes – life on the road. Soon after, we made our way to the first stop of the day which is the Adventure Cycling Association Headquarters, it was really cool to hear some of the stories about how people came up with the idea to cycle from coast to coast, west to east, and east to west. Personally I felt that the best part of the tour was the team picture that was going to be on the hall of fame saying we had cycled from Seattle, Washington to Washington D.C. After the tour we went to a local restaurant and had some amazing tacos, and people made their plans for the day. I decided to go with Kevin and Barbie to the local mall because Barbie needed a new phone, and that seemed like a great idea because I wanted to be with just a few guys chilling rather than with a big group. For an hour or two it was just another day of summer without having to worry about an event, or a rack time, just a good day with good bros during the summer. For dinner we went to B-Dubs, for game seven with Serjibro and watched the Cavalier Warriors final. Definitely pulled for the Cavs and was extremely glad to see them win the championship. It was during dinner that I looked around and realized that we had become a team and everyone watching us there thought that we had been friends our whole lives. A realization that the team had become to me, and the others around me, something more than just friends – we were all brothers. After dinner we went to bed early because we had a 80 mile ride to Philipsburg MT.

Day 15 Thompson Falls, to Missoula, MT 105 Miles

It was an early wake up today because of a hard ride. This was going to be a mentally challenging ride for the entire ride time. I rode with Rob and Peter – both great riders. The day kind of started off slow, and before I knew it was lunch and we definitely knew we needed to pick up the pace to make ride time. So we all agreed to just put our heads down and grind it out for the last few miles. We made it about 20 miles out and then all of a sudden I felt like I just hit a wall. My legs felt like they where going to fall off and my muscles started cramping and I was in this horrible state of feeling completely uncomfortable and exhausted. Now cycling is just as much mental as it is physical, and when I know that I am stuck in that feeling, I start to get happy. Because I know I have hit the hardest part of the ride and my day. After that moment passed the ride and my legs felt amazing. Ten miles of complete pain was finally rewarded by a massive downhill for about 6 miles. I looked back and told my pace line to get behind me because I was about to fly down this hill. My cycling computer told me I had a max speed of 50 miles an hour. We made it to rack point because Chief pushed it back a few minutes so we pushed on the last 5 miles to get to lodging. But Mother Nature had a different plan for us. We could see the storm moving from the mountaintop and it was closing in fast on us. 3 miles away from our housing we saw lighting and had to get off the bikes and as soon as we did that rain and hail started pouring down. I got my bike on the rack and we made it lodging a few minutes later only to be greeted with the coldest shower of my life. Once I finally got warm, we headed over to have a great friendship visit with the Special Olympics of Montana. We played basketball most of the time and got to meet some amazing people. After a wonderful dinner we head back to lodging and then head out to enjoy the night off and the extra sleep.