Today Mason dedicated the ride to Aubry. She had neuroblastoma at a very young age and was treated with chemo and radiation. Although she doesn’t remember the treatment, she remembers how tough it was. After this she had no further fights with cancer.
We arrived in Gillette Wyoming this afternoon and were greeted by some exceedingly friendly church members. One woman was even nice enough to take us to all the hotspots in town which included an active coal mine.
Meet Christina Su. The nicest person on our team of loving a**holes, as we like to call ourselves. She is a ray of sunshine and it is impossible not to smile around her.
Where are you from: Bloomington, IL. It’s a good town to grow up in and I really like the people there.
What first got you interested in I4k: My Uncle passed away my senior year and going into college I knew I wanted to do something in honor of him. I first heard about I4k at sights and sounds which is part of freshman orientation. I turned to my friend and said “wouldn’t that be crazy if I did that” and a month later I was signed up.
What were your feelings before we left for New York: It was a mix between excitement and nervousness. I was super excited thinking about all the things we were going to see. I didn’t know what to expect really.
How are you feeling about the ride now: I am loving it! I never want it to end.
How do you think you’ll feel once we reach San Francisco: Not sure. I try to imagine it, sometimes, and when I think about it I get really sad because I’m having so much fun. It’s sad to think that once we get there we’ll all be going our different ways. There’s so much so see still and so many people to meet, so the ride still has a lot to offer from here to SF.
What do you do to get you through hard ride days: My teammates help me get through a lot by encouraging me or telling stories and asking each other questions. Remembering who we ride for and why we ride keeps me going. Almost everywhere we go we meet people who have been affected by cancer and talking to people along the way encourages me even more.
Do you see yourself doing anything after the ride that compares to this: NO (haha) it still is super cool for me and I still kind of can’t believe that were doing it. Day 32 it really hit me that we are actually biking across the whole country.
What has been your favorite place so far: Really hard, definitely the most special was Rochester New York because that’s where my parents first came, and the police escort and the mayor, and on top of that I cleaned my bike on my own for the first time (haha). All the little things made it really special. When we were visiting the Hope Lodge there and seeing the wigs that they donate to cancer patients meant a lot to me because I donated my hair. That day was one great thing after the next.
What is one moment you’ll never forget: Watching the sunset in Madison Wisconsin with the team. Everything about it was super pretty.
Describe i4k in one word: life-changing
LOVE YOU TINA SU
MB