I biked BelFAST not BelSLOW!

It was a tough day with the new bike. Learned a lot about biking and a lot about my teammates. They're such amazing people and absolutely hysterical. A few of them are doing a pod cast. I hope to share a link or something with you sooner rather than later. I know it will have some great stories about the people on the trip as well as the journey itself.
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Today, I saw some pretty sights and met some great people. A lot of the trip was near a body of water. It makes the riding easier when you have great sites to focus on. I also was approached by a guy at the first stop fighting back his emotions to talk to us. He said his daughter has MS and he was so appreciative of our efforts. Another lady talked to us when we happened to stop by her house. She offered us free bottles of water, which was great because some of us were low.
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Our campsite is gorgeous. It's a lakefront area. I found out I can't add pictures from my phone to this (sorry). The pictures will keep being posted to Facebook, so I hope you can see them there. We walked around the town tonight, ate pizza, then got rain poured on us. Luckily, my tent remained relatively unaffected thanks to one of the route leaders braving the storm to put a rain cover over it for added protection.
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After being drenched, why not go to the local bar? So a bunch of the team met up with the founder of BTUSFMS and the coordinator (i think that's her title, she is basically does anything any everything that needs to happen) and had some laughs and shared stories. The bar served hard boiled eggs instead of peanuts as bar snacks (*gag*). One of the guys broke their record by eating a dozen of them. It was so funny and he's sure to have smelly gas tomorrow.
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Nice "easy" 58 miles tomorrow. Wish us luck and keep sending prayers our way.

Day 1

Nervous excitement, immense amounts of adrenaline, and soon to be some breakfast... These are what I feel inside me this morning. I'm actually crying as I'm typing this because it's been such a long journey to get to this one day. This journey has started since October of 2014 when I guaranteed myself I would change my life in order to change the lives of those around me. I could not be more proud of what I have accomplished to get to this point and I need to give one more big shootout to the people I talked to last night as well as a few others.
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Shelby. Thank you for being there for me in October. Bringing me to the family and helping me see the good in people. You've changed my life so drastically for the better.
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Meg. You've always seemed like one of my biggest fans and supporters. You have helped me through many issues and struggles along my way, but I've gotten through them with your advice and support.
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Natalie. It has been a short amount of time since we have been close but you're already a close friend in my eyes. We have bonded since day 1 and I am grateful to have you praying for me and my team.
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Aunt Debbie and the boys. It's been 4 years living in Wilmington. I feel like I wouldn't be who I am without your influence on my life. Thank you for the camping gear. It has taken a huge burden off my back. I am so very blessed to have that time with you and look forward to finding some sweet postcards to send your way. :)
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The Seagers. You all have been supportive and kind since I moved down to Asheville. I cannot say enough about your kindness and generosity. From helping me with the fundraiser at church to donating yourself and even providing me extra supplies on the trip, you all played a big part in this journey.
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Those reading. Named above or not, you are why I'm doing this. Not for my pride. Not for the love and prayers. For the people around the world who need help. This trip is to support those who are in need living with multiple sclerosis, but it's much more than that to me. This trip provides a way to show people that they can change lives in such drastic ways. That's where you come in. It might be with donations or it might be with a place to stay. I'm here to try to encourage just one person to go out and try to change the world with their actions. As much as I would love to see it be with Bike the US for MS, it doesn't need to be. My friend Erin Danneker is riding with Bike and Build to help provide people with low cost housing. I have not even been on my bike for a day, but I am so blessed to be able to bike for a cure. I hope you all can find some charities or ways to volunteer and help those who are in need.
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Time to go. I need to shower, eat, and meet by the ocean. 68 miles today. Bar Harbor to Belfast. I will talk to you later.

"Begin with the End in Mind"

Author and speaker, Stephen Covey, focuses his attention on success through personal efforts that are ethically acceptable. In the book "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People," Covey lists the 7 imperatives that he says make you successful in achieving your goals. The second habit is "begin with an end in mind". Covey focuses this chapter on knowing what you want to achieve so you can make it a reality. This past weekend, I accomplished the goals I have set forth for myself.
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I graduated from the University of North Carolina - Wilmington with a degree in both mathematics and economics. I graduated with a 3.69 GPA (cum laude - almost magna...), university honors, and a highly coveted job at Bloomberg LP. I could not imagine my four years at any other institution or with any other people. I made such great friends through my time at UNCW, most from the honors freshman dorm way back in 2011 when we moved onto the beautiful campus for the first time. Graduating and finding a sense of family away from home were my two biggest goals when I was coming to college. I am proud to say I have achieved both of those things. A statistic I learned in my last class of college was that "there are 7 billion people in the world, but only 8% of them have a college degree." As soon as my classmates, friends, and I moved that tassel to the other side of our caps, we instantly became the 92nd percentile in the world in terms of education. As a economist and mathematician, I understand the magnitude of such a position. We are the people who are leading this world into the future. We are the people who others look to for inspiration. We are those few that people will look to for help. Without going into depressing facts about living conditions in the world, there are many people who are not fortunate enough to have affordable or available healthcare, housing, or food. This is why I believe that we, as motivators, innovators, as world changers, should make a difference in the lives of others. I have focused my life to this point mostly on myself and my education, but now I feel it is my time to share in the wealth that I have accumulated. It is my time to be the hero that my past self always wanted to be.
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My spring semester Junior year was the hardest year I have ever had to handle because I was promoted to manager on short notice while my entire staff was quitting and the job was changing drastically. I worked 30+ hour weeks as well as taking advanced classes in my major like abstract algebra. I was stressed and I was miserable. I wrote a note to myself a year ago right after this semester. Reading a note that I wrote when I was drowning in life, I did not know what to expect. When I started to read it, I realized that it was not what I expected. It was saturated with hope. It was about what I wanted to accomplish in my last year of college. I did not talk about going out with a bang or creating a legacy. All that I wanted was to "shine my light onto others." If I was to be known for anything, I wanted to be known for being a good person. For doing good for others. I ended my letter by saying that: "It is easy to put out the flame of one person. Spread it to others to make it a fire that is much harder to stop." Of the things that I have accomplished in the past year, this is one thing I am proudest to say I achieved.
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With the money I received from graduation, donations from coworkers, my company ProMetrics, as well as family and friends, I have reached my minimum goal for fundraising! I am not going to lie, I am scared. This is the first time I will be doing something that doesn't classify as preparing for the future. My life to this point has been about studying harder to make a better grade, making better grades to get a better job, and getting a better job to increase my ability to help others. Reaching this final place concerns me, because what comes next is nothing I can control. What comes next is sharing this ideology with others. It is spreading joy, compassion, and reason to those who are capable of helping. I am never going to be done helping others, donating or volunteering, but I have nothing left to build on. I would like to encourage you to join me. Maybe not in biking across the country (though, I will be proud and supportive if you do - Erin Danneker), but in making a difference. Helping an elderly person with their groceries at the store, letting a car in front of you when there is traffic, or simply smiling and saying hello to strangers as you pass them. These things are all contagious. All of these things inspire me as I go through my life of helping others. It might be a stretch, but I do not think I would have this goal of giving back without each of those things happening consistently in my life. Many seemingly menial things like smiling at people you pass on the street can make such a difference in a person that they go out there and make that huge action like Erin and I are doing by biking across the country.
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Again, thank you all so much for taking part in this journey and reading this blog post. I have reached my minimum fundraising goal, but I am not done raising money. My personal goal is $6,000! I hope to reach this by the time I arrive in Seattle on August 4th. My friend and one of my role models, Erin Danneker, is not yet at her minimum goal, though. She could use donations that will help her to go out and change the lives of others by providing low cost housing across the country. I promise that it will give you a warm fuzzy feeling inside by donating. Like spreading joy, there is no such thing as not enough. She will be travelling almost the same amount of miles as I am. With an average of about 70 miles a day, $70 will fund a whole day of riding/$35 for a half of a day/$10 for about an hour. Try to see it within yourself to help her shine her light on others. It is greatly appreciated.
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Thank you and God bless!
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Erin's Page for Donations - Bike and Build - Benefit the Affordable Housing Cause
http://bikeandbuild.org/rider/8312
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Zach's Page for Donations - Bike the US for MS - Multiple Sclerosis Research and Awareness
http://biketheusforms.org/cyclists/detail.asp?cid=656