From the second we crossed a beautiful bridge into Pennsylvania from New Jersey yesterday, I knew I loved PA. We rode across right into the FANTASTIC town of New Hope. It was so quaint and perfect with ice cream shops and fun little places to nose around. At least they seemed fun but we only had time for a bathroom break. But within the 8 minutes we were stopped there, about 7 different people walked up to us and asked what we were all about. Everyone was so interested and caring with words of support and advice. The residential roads were gorgeous with huge forests filled with little stone cottages as well as huge fun houses tucked away in the trees.Overall yesterday was pretty good! We all survived, just had some injuries and complications. Kicking off the chain of unfortunate events was Jeff’s tire getting caught along the side of the road flying down a hill sending him skidding on the road and his carbon fiber bike to be cracked. Then we had some knee injury issues, a few more falls, a flat, demons escaping from bike tubes (haha), and a few wrong turns. Oh somewhere in there was my wipe out in a confusing intersection. By this point my group was getting a little bummed by our bad luck, but then a super nice lady came running out of her minivan, first aid kit in hand, saying “I was on my way to pick up the kids from soccer practice and I saw you fell!” She was incredible and helped me fix up my scrapes. Out of a bad situation we got to see the good in the friendly people of PA. The end of the ride was 15 miles on a great bike path free of traffic so that was great!We stayed at a beautiful church last night and the Illini Alumni Association brought us pizzas and soft pretzels. That pizza tasted amazing after the 85 mile ride!Today in PA was even more beautiful than the last. We were out in the rolling hills and farms with some great views. Along with the “pretty rolling hills” came riding UP the “pretty rolling hills.” Today got more than a little rough for some of us. I remember one specific moment where I was in the middle of working my way up (what seemed to me at the time) as the biggest hill I had ever seen, crawling at 4.3 mph, with the blazing 92 degree heat beating down on me. At this moment in time I couldn’t help thinking to myself… “Why in the world am I doing this voluntarily?” Its times like that when we really have to remember who we are riding for and why we are struggling and pushing our selves our hardest to make it across the country. We eventually made it up all the hills (and some we didn’t need to go up at all…) and were quite proud of ourselves!We had a PREFECT lunch stop at a huge farm house with a barn, big shady tree, and a gazebo. The family there made FRESH HOME MADE STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM WITH STRAWERRYS FROM THEIR GARDEN and were nice enough to offer it to us! It. Was. Delicious. To say the least! They invited us in to pet their horses -- and their dog (who didn’t take to some of us so well). They were fantastic and so kind to let us use their yard for a good portion of the day. Just more great people we got to meet in Pennsylvania!The church we are staying at tonight is very nice. They have showers for us all, its air conditioned, we had a yummy full meal of real food, and there plenty of rooms for us all to spread out and get some sleep. Which I really should be doing!!! Tomorrow should be a slightly lighter day, only 65 miles. However I hear there are much more and much bigger hills to come as we make our way into Gettysburg. Hopefully The Lady Pack can make a few less direction mistakes and wrong turns tomorrow so we can get it before 8!Well I need to go zonk out now, but I do want to say one thing. I am SO lucky to be on this trip doing this amazing thing with all these amazing things. With the 12 hour riding days my group has had, the flats, the falls, the tough hills, and the craziness of it all it’s easy to get discouraged. But everyone in I4k is so supportive and positive. Even though we have rough moments, were all there for each other for a good laugh or pick-me-up to keep us going. We have done so much laughing in the last few days I can’t even tell you!! Everyone is so much fun and I can’t wait to spend the rest of the summer with them!Sorry this post was so long, I have to find a happy medium for length here. I’ll work on it!!Love you all and thank you so much for reading these! It really means a lot to me!