Seth Robins, Patient Care Technician, Durango, CO

Day one (The learn-how-to-ride-a-bike all over again day)

The day began with a mixture of excitement, fear, and anticipation, and culminated with excitement, joy, and a great deal of exhaustion. There is not a soul in our tent city who did not finish the day with a sense of pride and accomplishment that would rival the most gifted athletes. It’s incredible to see the sense of pride that only perseverance brings to everybody’s faces, and remember that this is only day one.

As the day continued, everybody seemed to get into their groove and to find their niche within this Moving Village. You could tell on their faces that as the legs churned the mind was churning even faster as to how they were going to pull this week off.

The fear of the unknown, which tomorrow is, can be daunting. Yet every teammate seems up to the challenge and ready to embrace it when it finally arrives. If tomorrow is half of what today was, and we know it will be so much more, then although it will be full of cramping legs and sore shoulders, the energy at the camp will be electric.

The aura of community is hands down the most visible element of this Tour, people helping people, encouragement as plentiful as the humidity is obsessive. At least it is for this boy from Colorado.

I saw only one incident, when James Hann from the Casa was trying to recreate the Chariots of Fire running on the beach scene. With hands off the handle bars he was doing well…until he lost control and slammed into the pavement. A few abrasions here, a cut there, and he has an instant campfire tale that will be passed on to the future Tour DaVita generations to come.

Being the first day it’s difficult to know what to expect of the next, but the one thing that is obvious is that no matter how exhausted everyone is, the excitement will more than overcome it!