I've realized a couple days ago that my wheels are bigger than dubs. That's pretty stellar.
I also realized that I have a lot of time to think when I'm riding. And most of the time, I'm not thinking too much about anything. But the other day, I thought about my thoughts and decided that I need to start thinking more productively on the trip. So I thought about Romans 5:3-4:
3Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope.
As I was climbing the Appalachians a week ago, I was really suffering. I'm in pain, my knees kick in, my quads are sore, but as I persevered that moutain, it made me stronger mentally, and the next time I see a hill that size, I know I can power over it. And as I triumph over these struggles I used to have, it gives cancer survivors hope that they can triumph over their own uphills. It's 90% mental and 10% physical.
Several things I noticed about Illinois:
-Pot holes look a lot bigger
-It's super super flat. It's probably as flat as it gets in the US
-Winds matter a lot. We had a tail wind today, and we were flying over 20 mph.
-Feels like home.
Chicago in 2 days! WHOO!