Day 75/76: SAN FRAN!!

Last two days of riding. Since I will not have access to a computer after tonight I thought I would do the final post all in one. Today’s ride was harder than expected and there were many uphill climbs and winding downhills, totaling 4,000 uphill and 3,500 downhill. We finally got out got out of the valley and had pleasant 70 degree weather today. We passed through part of Napa Valley on our ride and saw miles of vineyards. There was an ultimate rule number 1 uphill climb at the final stretch on Cherry road and every group decided to challenge themselves to the 18% grade uphill instead of the reroute…Although not everyone was able to make up all the way up (me).

This evening we took our final shuttle to showers at a local pool as a team and managed to fit 26 of us in Uncle Rico (the van).

Tomorrow is our last day of I4k and I expect it to be very emotional but exciting. We have built up the image of us crossing the Golden Gate bridge a lot and we have planned who we will be riding with on the last day for a while. It feels very surreal that we are finally accomplishing our ultimate goal and we will officially be able to call ourselves cross country cyclists.

This summer has been a whirlwind to say the least! It has been the most challenging yet rewarding period in my whole 22 years of life. Although these days have been extremely tough, it has taught me how to push myself, while at the same time knowing my limits and allowing myself to take a break when I need one. It has forced me to be patient while also giving me a lesson in group dynamics and learning how to put others before myself. It’s hard to put in words exactly how impactful this summer has been for me and I don’t think I will fully grasp its gravity until I am actually done with this trip but overall I can say that it was more fun than hardship and my 26 teammates are the reason for that, I encountered more good kind generous people than mean spirited drivers flipping us off, and this country is damn beautiful and we didn’t even scratch the surface.

To recap the summer, I thought I would a give a highlight reel in the form of some of our favorite inside jokes. Enjoy

1. Mackenzie showing up to Champaign instead of Union Station

2. Leaving Neeca at the DeBlasio campaign

3. “Ehhhhh” (with tongue out) -Julissa

4. “You’re sagging” – Dan

5. “Is the van unlocked” “Where are the van keys”

6. Every city is the Big Apple

7. TBV- Total Bone Volume

8. Is a hot dog a sandwich?

9. David being extra

10.  Soy Boys

11.  Adding ‘boy’ to the end of as many words as possible

12.  Calling out cues while not riding

13.  Debating which utensil is the best for the PBJ

14.  Someone is always farting

15.  Roasting people always (mostly Arturo)

16.  “Mmmm”, “Ahhhmazing”, “Disasterrrr” – Kevin

17.  “It’s happening”!

18.  “Ah, my nickname in high school”

19.  “Pretty cool” – Tyler

20.  “Right?” – Zach

21.  Maryland is now Delaware 2

22.  Nodus not backing down from any challenge

23.  Somehow making everything a challenge

24.  Lil T storm

25.  Operation T storm

26.  Roasting the boys

27.  Analisa’s rendition of 6 foot 7 foot

28.  Communal showers

29.  Dan being vegan

30.  David saying “uhhhh” before anything

31.  “Dirtiest thing you would do for a Gatorade”

32.  “I gotta question for ya”- Dan and Kevin

33.  Boom Boom eating absolutely anything

34.  Mason having terrible taste in music

35.  Mason’s rollout song

36.  “Borked”

37.  Team rankings, the van driver is the supreme leader and the mechanic is the lowliest

38.  Hot Takes

39.  Analisa’s shirt is always unzipped

40.  The snoring tent

41.  The cuddle puddle

42.  The shaggy dog story

43.  “Uhhh mechanic, my bikes making a weird noise” *walk away

44.  Slow boy

45.  “I’m the fastest girl on the team” –Alia

46.  Dylan being the most attractive boy on the team

47.  Kevin’s bleached eyebrows

48.  “Pretty straightforward today”

49.  Tyler is being grumpy

50.  “Take your time” –Nick Su

51.  Lil T is Pierre Tont

52.  “What a great day” – Mack

53.  Neeca dropping the weapon

54.  Me winning the hunger games

55.  Chef Austin

56.  Quitting the team

57.  Spongebob references

58.  Tina Su thinking farting is hilarious

59.  Pixar movie rankings splitting the team

60.  Hating Rapid City

61.  Quarter mile condurum

62.  “Tunac Tunac”

63.  “Ride faster” – Tyler

64.  “My dad has a gun”

65.  David never being at the circle on time

Thanks for being awesome 2017. Even though we were last place when it came to timelieness, you’re all number 1 in my heart.

Thanks for keeping up with us all summer.

Stay golden San Francisco.

MB

Day 74: Hotter Than…

Today I dedicated the ride to Matt Dsouza, a close mentee of my fathers who was his favorite caddy for a number of years. Matt graduated from U of I in 2013 and received his Master’s of Accounting in 2014. He was diagnosed with leukemia a while back and will be undergoing trial treatments at the University of Chicago.

Today was some of the most brutal heat we encountered. Even though we had another 4:45 wakeup, we could not avoid the blazing heat that reached over 100 degrees by 11 AM on the 86 mile day. During the last 20 miles stretch the ride leaders made the call that it was unsafe to ride uphill in the extreme heat and we shuttled groups the rest of the way. Since Lower Lakes underwent a fire in 2016 that burned the church, the place we are staying in in is a 40 by 60-foot facility with all of our bikes, backpacks, and van supplies. Not to mention all 27 of us are sharing a single bathroom. With no AC and all the bodies in one room it became very sweaty ordeal.

Although it had looked like we would never actually have it, at the last minute we decided that we would have prom! Everyone changed into their thrift store bought outfits and took prom pictures courtesy of Mason in front of a sheet. Nick Su, David, Mack, and Dan serenaded us with some choice karaoke songs, and we had a dance circle where Lil T showed off some moves. To close out the night we played Closing Time, and had a circle group up to cherish one of our last nights together.

The worst is officially behind us!

MB

Day 73: Orlandia

Today Christina Su dedicated the ride to a group she ate dinner with last night, five of whom were cancer survivors.

This morning we had a mostly successful departure as we started to roll out at around 6:30 after our 4:45 wake up along with breakfast served to us by the church community members. Although it was another hot day, we missed the worst of the heat as we pushed the rest stops to mile 28 and 53. It seemed like the terrain today was something that you would expect to see an actual desert, with the cacti and yellow fields. 68 miles felt very easy and since we had barely any climbing the day was not extremely challenging.

We arrived at yet another Methodist Church at around 1:00 and headed over to the local pool that had a Sandlot feel to it with painted blue walls and tall diving boards. We got major Cali vibes from the people there as we noticed that every single lifeguard was bleach blonde. When 25 of us rolled up at the pool, we got asked if we were a swim team. An inflatable obstacle course at the pool was the perfect place for races, and some of the little kids there even challenged us to a competition. Orland had a very small town feel to it and the lifeguards were calling out some of the little kids by name when they were messing around.

We have begun to notice that Methodist churches are the ones that usually provide us with potluck dinners and for dinner we were treated to roast beef, rice, rolls, and a plethora of salads. Pretty much all of us helped ourselves to seconds…or fourths (Mackenzie).

Although i4prom was supposed to take place tonight, since we decided to have another early wake up tomorrow we postponed it. Since we are staying at a very tiny church tomorrow it is not looking like the dance will actually take place. Stay tuned.

We are all coming to the realization that we only have three more days of riding and it is STRANGE. In a way it seems like this new lifestyle that we have adopted will go on forever. Sleeping in a normal bed will be weird.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a hard day. Probably the hardest we have left.

Gulp.

MB

Day 72: Redding You Dog

Mackenzie dedicated the ride today per request of his uncle to his Aunt Irene Arciszewiski, who died of melanoma.

Mount Shasta to Redding California. Today was something else lemme tell ya. Although we knew ahead of time that the temperatures would be above 100 degrees, per team vote last night, we elected to keep wake up at a normal 5:45 instead of 4:45 this morning to beat the heat. I regretted being on the 5:45 team at right around 11:00 AM.

Around mile 10 we had to be shuttled two miles because a semi truck had flipped over. It was chilling to pass by the overturned van and see the 40 foot vehicle on its side.  After that two of my group members, Logan and Neeca, had to be picked up by the van because both of their tires got annihilated by an unknown thing. We had lunch at a McDonald’s, where we were all prepared with the downloaded McDonalds app for deals. After that the last 8 miles of the day were brutal. Even on the last downhill of the day, the heat hitting our faces felt like, in the words of Zach, “a hairdryer”, instead of a cool breeze. We pretty much ran inside the United Methodist Church for the air conditioning when we arrived. Overall Interstate 5 was terrible and I think I’ll have nightmares about it.

UMC has been a stayover for our team for the past five years, and for good reason. While eating the potluck dinner of enchiladas, beans, watermelon salad, and other luxuries, we were able to speak with some exceedingly friendly and interesting church members. One person in particular that stood out to me was Mabel, the kind of 82 woman who everyone in the community knows. With dyed red hair that “makes everyone remember her” Maybel is a former Korean War marine veteran that was quick to make a joke, offer us advice like “I have a lot of friends, everyone I like I call my friend, even if they don’t like me back”, or poke fun at the other church members like referring to Peggy, the Director of Ministry, as the “the caption”.  She was very entertaining and made us wish that we could have the same level of pizzazz as her when were that age.

From the dinner conversation I also learned that Northern California and lower Oregon have a movement to succeed and form the state of Jefferson. It doesn’t seem like the proposed new state will actually come into existence, but it is quite interesting if you are curious: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_(proposed_Pacific_state)

Yet another day that started out comically hard and ended with a feeling of fulfillment.

Eyes on the prize.

MB

Day 71: Mount Shasta

Today Mack dedicated the ride to a family friend of his, Hayden, who at only the young age of 23 is going through chemo treatments for a rare form of brain cancer.

There were mixed reviews on today’s ride. With views of beautiful snowcapped Mount Shasta, the second tallest mountain and potentially active volcano in the US, and our first glimpse into California scenery. It’s weird to think that we have gotten used to seeing mountains as opposed to cornfields.

Wikipedia information about Shasta: “There are seven named glaciers on Mount Shasta, with the four largest (Whitney, Bolam, Hotlum, and Wintun) radiating down from high on the main summit cone to below 10,000 ft (3,000 m) primarily on the north and east sides.”

We crossed our last state border today and took our very first team picture together (haha not). However, California is noticeably hotter than Oregon and we really began to feel the heat during the last 10 miles of climbing

The Mt. Shasta descent was something that was talked about in ride meetings, but turned out to be a bit disappointing. With headwinds, we really did not get to experience the full extent of the 6 miles of downhill that we had anticipated so much.

The scenery in California is actually quite different than Oregon, and only 5 miles into today’s ride we began to spot tall Redwood trees along the side of the road.  Although Mount Shasta, the town where we are staying in tonight is a bit small, it has gorgeous scenery surrounded by forest and views of the mountain top.

At this point in the ride every rider is experiencing soreness and we don’t really know what it feels like to not have a sore behind. We are all looking forward to a break from biking while simultaneously dreading being separated

Don’t let me down California

MB

Day 70: I4Khristmas

Rest day in Klamath Falls! Many of us started the morning with the I4klassic of the Daily Bagel, a local breakfast joint that serves, you guessed it, bagels. They were the best we have had so far, sorry Missoula. Luckily for us the Yeti’s Lair is conveniently located right near the main street and we were able to make a lot of stops today including: the farmers market, some thrift shopping for last minute Christmas gifts, the riverfront park, and the frozen yogurt shop. Once again Mike and his wife spoiled us with a pasta and salad dinner on the sidewalk outside the gym.

This week we will be graced with a celebrity driver, I4k’s very own, Jeff Bogue. Where does this leave van driver rankings, the world may never know.

After dinner we had our last (of about 3) team meetings where we talked end of ride logistics and sadly began to accept that this trip will actually end. After dinner we exchanged Christmas gifts around a computer generated fire and Christmas music courtesy of self-appointed DJ, Mason. Some notable gifts included *possible * anal beads, a used glove, an old hat, a pinecone, a whistle, and a jacket sanitized with a ton of Lysol. After the gifts David finally popped the question (prom) to Madeline with a drawn out magic trick involving making toilet paper disappear into a cell phone. He got a standing ovation by the rest of the team as he finished.

So many mixed emotions about the final stretch of the trip. Slightly worried about California’s terrain where in the words of Kevin “everything wants to kill you”.

David’s always right.

MB

Day 68/69: Crater Lake

We made it to Crater Lake! After climbing about 4,000 feet we saw the deepest lake in the US. It was the bluest and most pristine body of water I have ever seen. This particular National Park might have been my favorite just because it was not overcrowded with tourists like the other parks we visited on this trip. It was nice because during our multi hour rest stop at the top we were pretty much the only ones around, and the only activity taking place on the water was a singular boat riding to the island in the middle of the lake (that is actually another volcano forming).

After our extended rest stop we had to be shuttled to the top of the mountain because the roads and construction made for a dangerous combination for bikers. At the lodge at the top we ran into some PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) hikers looking like they had been through a long journey. (Next adventure?) As we rode down 1000 feet to our campsite the noticeable chill at the top of the mountain got warmer and we were able to take off our jackets.

This morning we rolled out pretty much on time (7:30) and made it to Klamath Falls at around 1:00. We will be staying in the Yeti’s Lair, the famous i4k rock climbing gym stayover. Mike the owner had been hosting the team for a few years and was nice enough to wip up some burgers and allow us a running tab at Dutch Brothers coffee shop. After dinner Mike belay certified myself, Nick Nodus, and Mack and we belayed and rock climbed the rest of the night.

Anyone wanna be belayed?

MB

Day 67: Ahh My Leg!!

Today was a doozy. Another near-century (we’re gonna call 96 miles a century at this point) with 5,000 feet of climbing. The elevation map looked like a right triangle. It was mostly a gradual climb but at 60 miles BAM it started to get extremely steep. At one point there were 7 people sagging in uncle Rico (the van). Although our expected time of arrival at the stayover was 8PM we got in at about 6:00.

Crescent is a town of about 300 people and it is so small that the people at the grocery store knew our stayover contact Gil from us just mentioning his first name to him.  After some last minute changes, we ended up staying at an old haunted out of use restaurant for the night. Complete with a bowling alley, a bar, a banquet hall, and a full kitchen straight out of the 1970’s, this place could pretty much be the set of the Shining. The strange thing about this place was that it seemed like it had been the local hangout one night and abandoned the next day. There were bowling balls and shoes still in the bowling alley and cups still in the bar. We couldn’t resist the haunted charm and ended up playing a game of hide and seek.

We had a surprise today, Jessica returned. After flying all the way to Eugene and then taking a two-hour cab, she showed up at our stayover and surprised us all. After about 15 minutes of just going around and hugging everyone, she was finally able to get settled in for the night.

Tomorrow we have loads of climbing into Crater Lake and we will not have service while camping at the top. It is a famously hard I4k ride and I am quite scared for my knees. We expect it to get extremely cold at the top and tent groups are actually trying to recruit more people into their tent for added warmth.

What goes up must come down right?

MB

Day 66: Blizzards for Days

Today Zach dedicated the ride today in honor of former ride leader, Catherine Kemp. Catherine’s friend Shae, passed away 5 years ago today from Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

Today was one of the best rides we have had in a while. There was a slight tailwind for the whole 75 miles, great sunny weather, nice views of vineyards with hills in the background, and the best van driver, Rebecca, who generously supplied us with apples at the first rest stop.

Since today is July 25 it is officially i4Christmas!…Except we had to postpone it. This is an annual tradition where riders gift each other things that they have found on the side of the road along with another more personalized gift that they spend a maximum of $5 on. Since this team just can’t seem to get our sh*t together on pretty much anything, we had to postpone it since none of us felt that we had enough notice to get good enough finds.

Since today is Phil’s birthday his dad kindly got Dairy Queen to donate the team blizzards. Some of us wiser riders took advantage of the any size fine print and balled out on a large.

We visited the University of Oregon campus where we had a donated pizza and cake dinner at their student union, organized by Zach’s sister.  After dinner we had time to explore campus and avid runner Arturo had the chance to do a lap on the campus’ famous track.  Although their union is much more modern than U of I campus, with much better restaurants, overall the campus was not as ‘green’ as I expected.

Now that we are this far along in the ride our relationship as teammates has evolved from being really good friends to practically siblings. We engage in playful arguments about just about everything from whether the peanut butter is better served with a spoon or knife or who gets to sit where when we shuttle a group of 26 of us in our 15 passenger van, to who gets the couch at the stayover (usually Kevin).

At this point in the ride we are entering single digits of days left, as of tomorrow. I had a conversation with Micheline today and I compare my feelings towards the trip ending to being similar to graduating. While it is very bittersweet to be leaving this amazing group of people and having fun filled days and laughs every day, the days are growing harder and my legs are starting to give out.

Not looking forward to 6,000 feet of climbing tomorrow.

MB

Day 65: And on Mondays We Nap

We had somewhat of a rest day yesterday as we rode 15 miles from Troutdale to real Portland city limits. We stayed at, or rather outside in tents, another alumni’s house, Jill. After we rolled in at around 10:30 Jill was nice enough to offer to do the team’s laundry. Then most of us headed into the city for the day, hitting all the famous destinations such as Voodoo Doughnuts, Powell’s bookstore, and the Salt and Straw ice cream.

Today’s ride was only a little longer than yesterday’s at 49 miles, probably one of the last short days for us. It was nice to have all the donated goldfish and cookie snacks from Illinois alumni and i4k alumni who met up with us at Miranda’s house. We went back to seeing mostly rural farmland with the occasional view of hilly pines in the distance. By the time we arrived most of us were still very tired from the lack of sleep from yesterday so we took multi hour naps on the gym floor of the First Methodist Church where we are staying today.

Tomorrow we are heading to Eugene, home of the University of Oregon

MB

Day 63: Portland, We Have Arrived…Kinda

Today Ben, an alumni and former ride leader from 2015, dedicated the ride to Colleen, a friend of his who has been diagnosed with stage four breast cancer. Colleen has a one-year-old son and husband.

Today was a complete spectrum of both emotion and challenge. We started our ride in Hood River and rode 75 miles and 5,500 feet of climbing to a suburb of Portland, Troutdale, Oregon. We had a majority of the climbing in the first 30 miles of the ride and it was extremely hard. We pushed our limits and pulled up a gravel road for 5 miles uphill through tall trees and small waterfalls. At the top we had amazing views of Mount Hood, the snowcapped wonder that is visible from both Portland and Hood River. Once we reached the top we even passed a trailhead for the Pacific Crest Trail.  After the torturous uphill climbing we had stunning views of endless pine trees and hills. It was amazing to ride downhill at 30 mph, smelling fresh pine, and seeing all the amazing views. The last 10 miles of the ride was also very challenging with much uphill climbing as we made our way to the stayover, Melinda’s house, an Illinois alumni who will be hosting us for this evening.

As we pulled up drenched in sweat and grumpy we were greeted by the Portland alumni association with cheers and signs and a backyard already stocked with appetizers. The mood completely changed as we pulled off our shoes and soaked our feet in the small kiddie pool and chatted over lemonade in the backyard chairs. The Portland Illinois alumni are a tight knit community, and there were even guests in attendance who had no direct ties to Illinois, but just came out to show their support. It was an intimate night as we chatted and ate quintessentially Portland all-organic grub. There was even a bike-powered smoothie machine that we had a blast with.  It was some of the best food that we have had, and very nice to have a home cooked meal after a streak of donated restaurant pizza and pasta and lentils. The next morning the breakfast was amazing again, but the coffee really was the star of the show. Thanks for the donation Starbucks!

We did a Portrait session with Molly, the bubbly and positive social worker fighting cancer. Even though she sat before us with a shaved head, she talked of being happy to be surrounded by her loved ones and reflecting on what is important in life.

It was a crazy day filled with literal ups and downs but overall it was an i4k day I will always remember.

Smiling from the inside.

MB

Wyoming and Montana Were Pretty Cool

Every day in Wyoming and Montana were a treat. We got to climb through the Grand Tetons, ride through Yellowstone, multiple national forests, and got to see some all around great views along the way. Everywhere we go now is completely surrounded by mountains and I love it. Some of my favorite sights were in Montana as we just watched the forest covered mountains roll by. My personal favorite ride so far on the trip has been the Wind River Canyon leaving Thermopolis, WY. We followed a modestly sized river at the bottom of a large, forested and rocky canyon for 20 miles. Even though it lived up to its name and it was indeed very windy, I was smiling ear to ear as we slowly made our way through that breathtaking canyon.

Once we left Montana though the days have been rough. Shoulders have been pretty much non-existent, roads are pretty bumpy and crowded as well. Especially route 12. Fun Fact: Rand road sucks in Illinois and it sucks in Idaho too. I’m very glad to be out of that state.

Even though Idaho and Washington were pretty awful, things appear to be looking up in Oregon. The ride into Hood River, OR today was spectacular with good views all around. We ride into Portland tomorrow and I hear Voodoo Doughnuts has some of the best in the country. I’m excited to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner there.

Phil “Doughnuts will make you go nuts” Kagebein

Day 61/62: Wait are We in Washington or Oregon?

Neeca dedicated the ride today to her high school security guard. She found out recently that she died of pancreatic cancer.

Yesterday we rode 85 miles from Umatilla to Hook River State Park, and it was an extremely hard day filled with climbing and headwinds through a river gorge surrounded by yellow hills. It seemed that wind was characteristic of the area since the door of a convenience store we stopped in said “pull close if extremely windy”. To break up the long day we had 4 rest stops since the headwinds were so hard. Also groups split up leading into 3 mile interval pulls. Everyone was glad to be done with the day once we got back to the campsite at a staggering 8 PM. By the end of the day, fellow van driver Rebecca and I had spent 14 hours in the car after a brief stint waiting for some riders cuts to be bandaged in a local clinic.  However, the stars yesterday night were the brightest that we have seen on the trip and Nick Nodus and Analisa and I even saw a shooting star as we lay out before we went to sleep.

Today was infinitely better with only 55 miles, barely any headwinds and perfect crisp breeze. Since we were all so exhausted from yesterday’s ride, we took over a McDonalds for lunch, obviously using the McDonald’s app to get the best deals (major i4k key). We rode into Hood River Oregon, and it is absolutely beautiful. For me, it is one of my favorite cities we have visited. With views of snow capped Hood Mountain, a river dotted with wind surfers, hilltop lookout points, and tons of bikers and breweries (for the 21+ crew) we all are impressed with Hood River so far.

Making a decision on which state is the best is going to be very tricky in the end.

We all can’t wait for Portland tomorrow

MB

Day 60: Oregon!

Julissa dedicated the ride today to momma Burton, a mom of her friend who has breast cancer.

Today we crossed yet another and second to last state border into Oregon. The scenery was pretty much the same as yesterday, yellow wheat?* and rolling hills followed by deserty hills. The 71 miles today felt like an easy day, however the mid afternoon heat made the last part of the day the hottest. Umatilla is a quiet town of only 7,000. For our first dinner we got a community dinner of salad, fruit, and pizza for only $2. Usually on i4k we look at the cost of food based on cals/dollar. And in our eyes the pizza dinner was an extraordinary deal.

Tonight we are staying at the McNary Elementary school. Once we arrived in the gym we noticed that there was a climbing rope. Christina was the only girl to make it to the top! To reward ourselves after the long day, some of us rode our bikes two miles to the ice cream joint in town. “Dairy dependent” Kevin, even finished a 44 oz shake.  After the long day of riding, Micheline was able to finesse showers for us at an aquatic center a few miles away.

We will most likely not have service tomorrow since we are camping in Mary Hill state park. IN only a few short days we will reach Portland. It is crazy to think that teams in the past finished their rides there. It’s so sad that this trip is winding down.

10 more days here, Oregon, what you got?

MB

Day 59: Dad’s Time to Shine

Today we rode for a friend of Michaeline’s ‘grammy’ who passed away from cancer two months ago.

Lewiston to Waitsburg today. We crossed another state border into Washington state, our only night here. Although I expected greenery, our views today were mostly pastures and yellowish hills. Picture the scenery in the movie The Hills Have Eyes. Although it was not the green trees and mountains one thinks about when they picture Washington, it was still nice to see a different terrain in my opinion. During the last 30 mile stretch today it got extremely hot out, which made the 3,000 feet of climbing that we had even harder. Luckily Tyler donated Powerades to all the riders today to make up for the tough stretch.

What’s your hometown like? Wheeling IL. Pretty suburban, not much happening. Occasionally you got some happenings, we got a couple famous people out of the town. But really, nah nothing happens.

How does this ride compare to your last? Oh Man. It’s different. It’s hard to pinpoint what’s different. I think a lot of it has to do with the role as a ride leader. A lot of the time I forget that I am the ride leader.  I’m used to being concerned with a lot of things, every rider, food, small things. For the most part after a couple weeks people got the hang of things and Zach and I really only have to step in when necessary. That’s my favorite type of leadership. Only having to jump in when things need to be changed. It might not be the most efficient, but I think it leads to the most satisfaction for the team.

How does being a ride leader compare to being a rider? Constantly thinking about everyone else. The smallest things like whether they’re feeling well, if they’re having knee pain, whatever. As a rider I did best when I only had to worry about myself, as a leader I do my best when I’m concerned about others.

What the most challenging part about being a ride leader? Getting to know all the riders. I wish that there was enough time and enough ease to get to know everyone on the team. Though I do get to talk to everyone, it’s hard to get to know 26 people. But part of the role as ride leader you are watching everyone, and that creates a degree of separation, its different than I expected. I’m always observing how things are going sometimes.

What is the most rewarding part for you? Seeing how much the ride means to everyone. In Daymon Runyon in New York when they asked us why we are riding I winged it. I said I was doing it for everyone else. It’s one thing to have a life changing experience, but if I can do that for others, at least to make people think more, and make people appreciate others more, that’s why I ride. If I can do that for 26 other people I think that’s really powerful.

What are habits you have picked up during the ride that you wouldn’t do normally? A dumb one is that I’m addicted to sugar now. I usually have control, but I’m at the point where I’m buying a liter of Dr Pepper every day. I hope I get rid of this habit later. Right now all my body craves is sugar sugar sugar. A more profound one: I’m more willing to express my feelings and being more proud to share who I am. It’s pretty easy to open up on this team. No one judges or assumes anything. The way I act now is how I want to be in the future.

What is something that you will always remember about this ride? Watching firsthand day by day, as you guys experience i4k. During the school year at the meetings we talk at you about what the actual ride is like and all the boring logistics stuff and what not. And everyone is like “yeah wow that’s cool”. But not until day 1 do you actually realize what it means. And watching that realization of what the ride actually is is pretty memorable for me.

How has i4k influenced your life and how do you think it will in the future? I plan on going into non-profit eventually. The first time around made me realize that I need some kind of work that is fulfilling, and directly related to helping others. I don’t really have a preference, but I know something will happen in my life that will make me realize what direction I want to go in. But also how nice people are. It’s crazy how little we expect, and how well we are treated by others who have no idea who we are. People who let us stay in their school, church, whatever, it’s pretty amazing thinking that people are willing to do that. It pushes me to be more like the people we meet on the ride. Giving to us even when they have no reason to.

What has been your favorite day so far? 96 mile day in South Dakota. Most i4k feeling day. 96 miles and pretty hilly, but it felt like the ride. At this point we were very familiar with everyone and very open. Of course tailwinds help. Everyone was in a good mood, everyone was having a good time. We had good conversation, good miles. Riding was fun, it was very open and you could see very far in the distance. I was just happy to be there at that time. My group, Tina Sua and Nick Su, stopped at some abandoned house and explored that. It felt like the experience that I was waiting for. I knew the feeling that I wanted, and that was the first day that I reached peak happiness, or the most enjoyable day. Definitely a turning point on the ride.

What has been the hardest day for you? Day 1. We were the mamma birds letting the baby birds fly for the first time. There were a lot of miles and we got in at like 7:00 PM. I was already nervous going into the day and everyone was out riding on their own, and there was nothing that I could do about it. I just had to be confident in everyone’s ability to ride safely so it was very stressful.

Describe i4k in one word: inspirational

MB

Day 58: Riding Easy

Today Mackenzie dedicated the ride to Sharon McRoy, a relative who passed away from triple negative breast cancer on October 30 2013.

We started our day on a somber note this morning and reflected on our dwindling time together. For the Mosher, we took turns talking about our favorite memory with Jessica, who functions as both the team clown and confidant.  Although the team oftentimes jokes that “it’s happening”, meaning that we are hitting our breaking point where we erupt in chaos and fighting, we have been pretty lucky in terms of team dynamics, injuries, and weather. Overall this ride has been ideal conditions and it has made this experience pretty sweet. For our last three weeks, I think we all want to make the most of it.

Today was our last stop in Idaho, but the views today did not disappoint. We continued on highway 12 along the Lochsa river in between a valley of pine hills.  We spotted many lumber trucks chugging alongside us on the highway carrying wood to the factory in Lewiston.

Although 66 miles would make us sore for days during our training period while we were still in school, today seemed like a breeze. We are spending the night in Lewiston, which borders nearby Clarkston. According to Wikipedia Lewiston is, “At the future townsite they encountered settlements of the native Nez Perce. Lewis and Clark passed through the valley on the return trip from the Pacific in 1806 also.” We also learned that the region was once inhabited by the Nez Perce Indian tribe, the group that helped Lewis and Clark on their expedition and provided them with horses that very likely helped them survive their journey.

We arrived at around 2 PM at the First United Methodist Church where we were served a lasagna and spaghetti dinner with kale salad. After dinner we gave a presentation about our organization. Later in the evening I was lucky enough to get a prom-posal from Mackenzie. In my opinion his rap with backup dancer Dylan, Logan and Zach clad in black getups was the best one yet. Although prom was originally planned for tomorrow, our only day in Washington, we have decided to postpone it until we have a full team together once again.

Washington, here we come

MB

Day 56/57: Idaho

Yesterday we camped in Clearwater National Forest in Idaho. Today we had another century day. Compared to the first one, today was much easier in comparison and we arrived at 4:00 as compared to 8:00. We stayed on highway 12 for the entire day today and followed the Lochsa river into Kamiah. Kamiah is a small town of only 1,500, we even saw a man with a cowboy hat on casually riding his horse casually as we rolled into town.

We only have one more stop in Idaho before we enter Washington. Crazy to think that we only have 19 more days left.

Don’t want the trip to end.

MB

Day 54/55: Missoula for the Win

We arrived yesterday in Missoula before noon after a short 55 mile day. The ride was dedicated to Kelly and Lisa, friends of Jody and Kevin who are currently battling cancer.

We arrived and hit up the local favorites from amazing BBQ at the Notorious PIG, Big Dipper Ice Cream, and Thursday live music at Caras park. The church we are staying at broke our pasta and lentils streak by graciously providing us a tasty catered pasta dinner yesterday and chicken pot pie and salad this evening. When we woke up this morning most of us got bagels for breakfast and shopped in thrift stores for our promwear. On our only day in Washington next week we will be having I4Prom, an I4k tradition. The theme is ‘whatever you can find in a thrift store for under $10’.  People have started to prepare by doing ‘prom asks’. Dylan set the bar pretty high by incorporating an ask to Neeca during a morning Mosher involving tapped pieces of paper on people’s backs and Neeca’s characteristic “dropping the weapon”.  If you are not sure what ‘dropping the weapon is” I’m sure Urban Dictionary can fill you in.

We got to visit with Adventure Cycling HQ, a not for profit that promotes bike travel and sends bike expeditions, they even made routes that people could follow across the US and South America. We had a bbq cookout with the staff and got a tour of their modern office. On their walls they had polaroid’s of people that had passed through in 201, doing their own cross country tours. I was surprised that there were three walls filled with adventure seekers riding their bikes across the US. We even spotted a guy we met on the road into the Tetons. I think many of the graduated seniors were low key thinking about applying to the organization because it seemed like an amazing place to work.

Later on today we went whitewater rafting, a Montana favorite. Luckily Jessica got us a group discount and we piled the whole team into a school bus to the Gorge 30 minutes away from town. Our guides were a bunch of college age hippies and they showed us a good time rafting for 4 hours. We had awesome canyon views lined with pine trees and we even got to see a bald eagle in flight. We were lucky enough to be some of the only people on the river.  All of us were jealous of our guides being able to get paid to go rafting on a daily basis.

It’s safe to say that Missoula was the best rest day.

I will be back Missoula.

MB

Day 53: As Far as Small Towns Go..

Today I dedicated the ride to my dad’s cousin, JoAnn. Picture the bubbliest, most loving, generous, Texas woman squeezed into a mere 5’3”. She was always the relative that my sisters and I got excited was staying at our house. She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the fall of 2015 and passed away in her favorite place, San Antonio Texas, this past March.

Even though we had to wake up at 5 AM this morning because the YMCA we stayed at opened at 6, we still were unable to make the 7:15 rollout time, much to the chagrin of Tyler. But it’s okay because what we lack in timeliness as a team, we make up for in fun. The Spanish speaking conversationalists finally got to ride today and there was mucho practica. The ride today was awesome conditions with little to no wind, a cool yet warm temperature, and no winds. We finished off the last 18 miles at an average pace of 19 mph.

Drummond is a small town of only 300 something, however the local diner, Parker’s did not disappoint. With over 101 burger options to choose from, Nick Nodus, the team foodie, even claims that it was the best food that he had on the ride so far. After this pre-dinner before pasta and lentils, we attended a meet and greet at the library, run by husband and wife power duo Jody and Kevin. They both work at the high school we are staying at. After talking about our favorite summer memories from the ride so far, they invited us back to their front yard for s’mores and stories. Their daughter even let us play with her 10-week old golden retriever puppy.

As far as ideal i4k days go, today was pretty sweet. Tomorrow we have a short 55 mile ride to Missoula where we have a rest day.

MB

Day 52: It’s Possible to be Full?

We rode 81 miles from Ennis to Butte today. Once again the west has blessed us with amazing mountain views today we even spotted many sunflowers dotting the sides of the road. Shout out to the 2014 team for the donations of poptarts, cosmic brownies, and cheese balls. They have significantly improved meals for the past two days. The air out west is just plain better and it feels so good to breathe in the unpolluted pine-smelling breeze. At the end of the 80 miles we had 8 miles of uphill climbing followed by 5 miles of downhill. Although it seemed daunting, it was actually not that hard and many of us surprised ourselves at the ease by which our legs were able to carry us up all the elevation.

Kevin and Lil T (Colin T) were able to finesse and get enough pizza donations for every team member to have exactly 5/8 of a pizza, which somehow came out to 6 slices of pizza each. We have all vowed to be “the cool rich alums who donate name brand cereal to future teams” so watch out all you future riders.

We are spending the night at a nice YMCA in Butte and because the gym opens at 6, we have a 5 AM wake up call.

I guess mountain climbing isn’t that hard

MB