We started the day off strong, battling forceful winds in the beginnings of the Black Hills region of South Dakota. But halfway through, we noticed gray storm clouds bristling with thunder and lightning in the direction that we were going to be riding. To save the team from the danger of biking in the elements of the rain, we decided to shuttle the rest of the way to the stayover. As a result, this journal entry is going to be quite brief!

Ride Overview

Mileage: 72.9 (only about 45 miles actually biked)

Elevation: 3,791

Ride Dedication: Charlotte Graham, pediatric cancer

Points of Interest: Black Hills Bicycles, Our Savior’s Lutheran Church

Quote(S) of the Day

“‘Dance Moms’ first.” - Michael

“Okay, time to go out of my comfort zone!” - Olivia, nervously opening a bag of sour cream and onion chips

Tales of the Trail

We rolled out this morning into another stretch of interstate riding, swatting away the surprising amounts of mosquitoes present in South Dakota and weary of the winds our weather forecasts told us were yet to come. In spite of these conditions, the first fifteen miles of the route were breathtaking. The landscape grew more varied and mountainous, reaching across distances that we struggled to fathom. The peaks of the Black Hills outlined a formidable shadow in the distance no matter what direction we turned. 

Then, the dreaded crosswinds and headwinds began. Their gusts blew relentlessly in our faces as we crept along the roads. Once we saw the upcoming weather on the horizon though, our focus shifted to unloading the van and packing it with ourselves and our bikes so everyone could safely make it to the stayover. 

We arrived in the small town of Hermosa (this time the 18 of us make up almost 5% of its humble population) unexpectedly early, and were immediately overcome with the kindness of our stayover hosts. Despite not expecting us until hours later, they readily offered us laundry, warm showers, snacks and lunch (on top of the dinner and breakfast they are already generously donating to us!), as well as ample space to sleep. On days where things don’t go to plan, communities like Hermosa restore our faith.

As I write this, some of us are going to a nearby bike shop and Walmart to complete errands, others are watching an episode of “Dance Moms,” and the rest are relaxing in the warmth of the stayover. All in all, the team is taking the extra rest in stride. 

Cyclist’s Corner

Today’s Rider: Olaf Schwink

How are you feeling today?

Today was an extremely pleasant day. I really enjoyed the scenery today. It was rolling hills like we’ve had for a while in South Dakota, but then there was this hill we climbed where at the top of the hill we suddenly saw a mountain range and it was really frickin’ beautiful. Then, the entire rest of the day was just rolling hills through grasslands with huge pastures full of cows and horses, which were super beautiful and we stopped and pet the horses. And we had the mountains in the background the entire time with this crazy-looking storm and it was really awesome, so today was really cool! Chill vibes.

You’ve fundraised thousands of dollars for our cause. What has been the most impactful fundraising experience you’ve had?

My most memorable experience when fundraising would certainly be canning outside of the bars on campus. It was a few of the other members of the team and we just had a ton of snacks and sold them during Dad’s Weekend to people out on Green Street. We just had a little wagon and were carrying a sign and wearing our shirts and everything, and it was just really fun and cute and I think a lot of people enjoyed it. Also, working concessions was super fun and I really liked all the people there! Also I got tips which was really cool, and I put those straight to fundraising too. 

What keeps you going when it gets difficult to put in all of those miles or even to get on the bike?

I think that it’s because I have so many teammates who are pushing themselves. It can be really easy to give in to the difficulty, but then I see my entire team getting on their bikes and pushing through the difficulty and I’m like, “what reason do I have that they don’t have to SAG?” I’m tired, maybe I didn’t get enough sleep, or my stomach hurts a little bit, or I’m sore — but so is everyone else, they’re sore, their stomachs might hurt, or they didn’t get a lot of sleep either. So it’s really the camaraderie of it. 

Do you have a favorite accessory to wear with your ride uniform?

My favorite accessory on my bike is when I have flowers on it… my favorite thing that I wear are my sunglasses because they work really well in low light conditions and if it’s raining my eyes don’t get wet. And it’s very convenient. 

What’s your rest stop routine?

We’ve been told to make rest stops as efficient as possible sometimes, but to be totally honest the second I get to a rest stop I’m not thinking about putting on sunscreen or Chamois Butt’r or filling my water bottles — I am thinking about food and sitting down for a minute and giving my butt a break! So I’m definitely grabbing a snack and goofing off. If there are animals nearby, I’m finding them. If there are flowers nearby, I’m picking them. Berries — I’m eating them, you know? Like, whatever’s around, I’ll find something to entertain myself for a little bit and then when everyone’s like “Olaf, it’s time to go!” I’m like, alright hold on, I gotta put on sunscreen, I gotta put on Chamois Butt’r, I gotta, you know, fill my water bottles! 

In the remaining portion of the ride, where are you looking forward to visiting the most?

I suppose in this moment the place that I'm thinking about the most is the Grand Tetons, because our teammate Jack mentioned summiting the Tetons on a rest day — does not sound like a restful rest day! But, I think that it sounds like a really fun challenge, and also right up my alley and I’m very interested. 

Anything else you want to talk about?

I’ve known about Illini 4000 for years now, and for a long time… I didn’t want to do Illini 4000. I thought that it sounded hard and just crazy to do something like that, and my sister did it twice, and I didn’t decide to do Illini 4000 until pretty much the last minute of applying. But then, as soon as I went to the interviews I knew that I was going to do it. I think that anyone who is on the fence or unsure should just come and they will probably do it if they come to the interviews, because they’ll meet a ton of amazing people and learn what it really feels like to be part of a team that encourages you and pushes you to work as hard as you can.

(A reminder that any unfamiliar terms can be found in our handy I4K dictionary.)