Dear Generous Contributors,Thank you thank you thanks to everyone who has donated, helped, or otherwise contributed. I couldn't have imagined the amount of support I've received since joining the Illini4000. A hundred thousand thank you's! You will be in my thoughts and thanks this summer, as I am reminded daily that this trip would be an impossibility without your help.Love And Thanks In Bold and Italic,Max--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Dear Team,As I'm a student at UIC, my only face-to-face meetings with you have been through two visits to U of I this past year--one in the winter-time and one in the spring. Both were exciting! Everyone I met was an awesome dude or lady with wise words to offer and/or stories to tell. And your bicycles are all so pretty!You know something? I'm really, really excited to get to know all of you. I've found something to admire in everyone I've spoken to, and I already feel a sense of kinship with all a'you, despite having such limited contact.Excitement, that's at the heart of it. To partake in such a worthwhile cause! To ride our bikes for a long-ass time! To pedal westward of our own determination and belief and volition! This will be a summer to remember.Excelsior!-Max