Sunday, June 19th, 2016

We have arrived in Chicago!

We ate a delicious breakfast in Oak Forest and dedicated our ride before heading out for Millennium Park. We dedicated today to two dear friends of mine and Sarah’s dad. Kevin McDowell and Coach Nolan beat their battles with cancer, and I liked thinking of them as we rolled into our home city. Sarah’s dad, Slavko, passed away from lung cancer. It was wonderful to be able to honor him on Father’s Day. I think it is special to be able to celebrate battles of all kinds, and recognize that no matter how the battle ends, we can celebrate the lives of those we love.

It was a shorter 35 mile ride, and a good chunk of it was on the lake shore path. It was a beautiful ride and fun to see the skyline get closer and closer as we approached.

We all rode to the Shedd Aquarium and regrouped there before making our way to Millennium Park. There are no bikes permitted by the Bean, so we all got off and walked two by two to meet our friends and families that came to support us. It sounds very anticlimactic, but it was super cool to see familiar faces so excited to see us.

We took some team pictures and all went our separate ways. Many of us are from the Chicago area, so we went home. Those of us that are not from the area are staying at the UIC dorms and have the opportunity to explore the city tomorrow.

Since we do not have an event day tomorrow there will not be a blog post. I’ll see you back here on Tuesday, Day 24!

DR