The horror. The terror. The greatest trial of being an Illini 4000 rider. Each year, the brave individuals of the Bike America Team must withstand one of the toughest tests known to mankind. Advised and warned by those who came before us, we follow in the path of the courageous former I4K riders who have already endured the trials of the most challenging, grueling obstacle the country has to offer. Dear readers, the 2024 I4K team has at long last arrived in the state of Ohio. And no, it did not disappoint.
Ride Overview
Mileage: 83
Elevation: 5,133’
Points of Interest: The Ohio River, Bridgeport, OH, Kennedy’s Cakes and Donuts, Great Guernsey Trail
Quotes of the day
“I specialize in anxiety and adrenaline.” - Emma
“I don’t wanna see this road ever again in my entire life.” - Michael
Tales of the Trail
Following the briefest of stops in West Virginia, we took to the road after a quick safety lesson (courtesy of Kavin) for our morning activity. Our last truly mountainous day for a while, today was sure to be a long and difficult one, but brought with it some excitement — another new state! The downside? This new state is Ohio, a legend within I4K for being a short but somewhat miserable stretch of the trip due to its dullness and knack for bringing bad luck to the team. However, this year’s crew was ready to welcome the challenge after a good night’s sleep, as we’ve finally hit the groove of living together in this new lifestyle.
The day started eventfully with a lengthy climb at a 10% gradient at mile five. With hard climbs always comes a beautiful view — we loved getting to see the village of Bridgeport, OH from the top. We took an extra moment to appreciate this, knowing it would likely be one of our last beautiful views for a while as we re-enter our beloved cornfields of the Midwest. The mini-rest stop also came in handy for healing our tired legs and knees.
The exhausted but obligatory “we made it!” pic.
Part 2!
The gorgeous view minus the sweaty cyclists, courtesy of Olaf.
Time to use our favorite phrase — what goes up, must come down! We were greeted with an extremely steep descent on the other side of the mountain, which unfortunately did not pass the I4K Descent Safety and Quality Test™️ of not causing any crashes (Maaike was the lucky rider who discovered this. Whoopsy.) An honorable mention needs to be given to Dylan, for being the only rider to descend the mountain safely, then having to walk back up to meet with the team to consult, and walk all the way back down again after. After a slow but safe walk down for the rest of the team, we continued on our merry way.
Not continuing quite as merrily along was the van. In an attempt to join in on the fun, the van naively meandered its way down the narrow descent only to be met by a fallen tree blocking the road. Riders were able to walk around it, but the bulky van — bless its heart — was forced to turn around. Massive shoutout to Michael, our van driver for the day, who used his former EMT ambulance-driving skills to perform the maneuver. He did so lodged securely in the middle of a steep drop on one side and muddy trenches on the other. At one point, the van’s rear wheel got stuck in a patch of some particularly adherent soil. The rest of the van crew — Emma, Izzy, Riddhima, and Tommy, who had all wisely sagged during the dangerous descent — got out and manually pushed the van back on track. The endeavour was the definition of a team effort, and yet another example of the multifaceted chaos that is a day on this ride. We feel it earns its own mini-photo essay to truly capture the event.
Van encounters tree. Driver Michael strikes the dad-who-is-on-a-roadtrip-and-way-too-tired-for-this pose.
The van crew inspects the tree situation as a group moves through. Emma is showing some doubts.
Never doubt Michael’s EMT driving skills and four cyclists pushing skills. The van is freed, and victory is celebrated.
A second celebration pic — Michael is also very happy with the outcome.
After the first mountain adventure, we were mostly done with our hills for the time being. A second large ascent was made up a not entirely pleasant unpaved road — although we do always enjoy our Bonus Gravel! The team has gotten much more comfortable riding on gravel throughout the ride, although no one in this year’s group brought a gravel bike to use for the summer. A big thank you to the construction workers of Eastern Ohio for their kindness in directing us and advising us on roads that are currently being worked on — we love talking with the only other people who are awake as early as we are in the mornings :)
Our first day in Ohio brought us somewhat of an abundance of mechanical issues, leaving a team stranded about halfway through the ride. This created the first true use of our Zoleo satellite communicators, as the van was out of reach and not contactable by text. Day after day, this ride continues to consist of different problem-solving situations that we always conquer together, as a team. Everything that Ohio threw at us, from the return of Midwest headwinds (we did not miss those!) to bike problems galore, we took on and figured out together. The 2024 I4K team is a group of truly unique individuals, and our combined skill set hasn’t let us down yet.
A mega group of nerds in orange shirts has formed along the Great Guernsey Trail!
After a long day, we have arrived safe and sound at Westwood Baptist Church in Zanesville. Our kind hosts have provided us with an abundance of delicious food (I4K should be sponsored by Chipotle at this point), and we’re settling in for a good night of sleep before a 70-mile day tomorrow that will bring us to Ohio’s capital. We’re well motivated with a rest day on the horizon and are thrilled to be getting closer and closer to Champaign every day.
Cyclist’s Corner
Today’s Rider: Kev Murphy
How are you feeling today?
I’m feeling pretty good. Today was a very long day, there was a really big climb early on that was rough and then there was a descent that we ended up having to walk down because it was unsafe to ride. And then, we had a lot of climbing. In general, it was just a long day. But, I’m feeling good — tomorrow hopefully should be shorter, which is exciting.
What make and model of bicycle are you riding?
I’m riding a Cannondale Synapse 2 aluminum… I love the bike, it’s a nice bike.
Before joining Illini 4000, how much bike training had you done, and did you have any other athletic background that you feel prepared you for this ride?
I have not been sporty in a while. I played sports in middle school and then I didn’t play anything in high school, but I’ve been going on bike rides with my mom since I was nine, ten years old. I remember we biked 20 miles sometimes to get ice cream, and at the time I was on a tiny bike and it was such a fun ride. So ever since then, my mom got me into biking for exercise. And I got more and more into it, and I wanted to get more into cycling cycling… I’m also involved in Illini Cycling. I go on a couple of their group rides and stuff, so I’ve had some more cycling experience — I’ve been cycling for the past two, three years now.
What has been your favorite part of the ride so far?
I don’t think I have a favorite day of the ride or anything like that, but I think just in general getting to know my teeammates and getting to know stayover hosts. We meet really interesting people along the way, and I also get closer with my teammates along the way. So that’s really nice. It’s really good bonding experience and we’ve also been meeting the most interesting people. Yesterday I met a guy named Dave who’s biked across the country — he’s such a cool guy. You meet people in the most random spots and they’re always the most generous. It’s just realy nice, and getting to know our teammates has been just amazing.
Is there anyone you’re doing this ride for, or any specific person you think of when you’re on the ride?
Cancer runs in my family, so I’ve had a lot of family members affected by cancer. My grandma, two of my aunts, my uncle who passed away, my dad… and a lot of extended family too. I am doing this ride for them and for anyone that’s been affected by cancer.
Is there anything you want to say to the people who are cheering you on during this ride?
Thank you for the kind messages and all the support, it’s been really amazing to see. And some of it’s not directly to me — my mom has been posting on Facebook all the time, and it’s been great to read the comments on the Facebook posts when I’m having a rough day… all the people who are like “good job,” “amazing,” “oh, this is so cool that Kevin’s doing this!” So it’s just really nice. My parents are definitely a great support system. My friends, my roomates. It’s really cool how much people have been texting me and asking me how it’s going. Some people I didn’t even think would ever reach out have reached out that I haven’t talked to in years… they’re excited that I’m doing this type of thing. It’s been really cool and I just wanna thank them for being so supportive.
Is there anything else you’d like to talk about?
I really enjoy singing on the road! That wasn’t something I mentioned in my favorite parts of the ride, but I really love when we just break out into song. We sing random songs, and we never know all the lyrics to the song so we only do 30 seconds of it, but then we switch to the next song and the vibe just keeps changing as we’re on the road… I really like that.
(A reminder that any unfamiliar terms can be found in our handy I4K dictionary.)