Hmm. Cortisoned up and ready to go on Sunday morning, we departed from Millennium Park for the family and friends ride along. Aunt Mel and Uncle Ted surprised me to see me off :) and my Dad joined the team for the 30 mile trek into Highland Park. What I thought would be a quiet, easy ride ended up being a bit more stressful than I would have imagined. I experienced my first crash, a head on collision on the lake front bike path. It was interesting to say the least, I ended up tangled in a number of bikes… After hearing a woman yell out that “omg she broke her leg” I ever so eloquently, requested that the bikes be removed off of my body. Fortunately, I was absolutely fine, just causing a show for the surrounding 60 people… and no, my leg was not broken, just missing some skin. Thank you to the mystery man who pulled me out of the bikes! The second half of the ride was much more enjoyable, Dad gave me a run for my money and we were one of the first families to arrive into the train station. We headed out with the Odon’s and Russell’s to a Corner Bakery for a nice lunch before the rain came in. Mary, Steve, and I then finished our ride to the church and per usual, we got lost.The ride into Wisconsin was definitely one of the hardest for me. Leaving Chicago, it was pretty much decided that I’d be heading out to Arizona straight from San Francisco, meaning that I won’t be back in Illinois until Thanksgiving or Christmas season. Megan had the mosher and we all went in a circle each talking about why we are riding, and I think this morning was the perfect day for it. Remembering my Aunt Laura’s drive to live life to the fullest, I was able to take off for the day knowing that life is about taking chances and living while we have the opportunity. 63 miles (+a few extra unmentioned by the cues, typical), a ton of crappy dirt paths, a solid downpour of rain, and a crazy downhill later, we arrived at the Topol’s summer residence in Lake Geneva. Hot showers and burgers were my favorite highlights, as well as sleeping on a futon… and I was out by 8:30 or so…Now, this is the day everyone is probably waiting to read about. One question I’m often asked when speaking about this journey is “So does everyone get along?” or “Do you guys ever get into arguments?” Well folks, I like to keep it real on this blog and since this is slightly hilarious (in my opinion, but it’s a touchy subject), I’ll share one of the first I4K disputes. We often snack at rest stops along the way, and today I was riding in the 2^nd to last group when we pulled up to the 2^nd rest stop. In our snack drawer, there were about 6 half baggies of trail mix. I’m not going to lie about what I did. I ate all the M&M’s out of each of those baggies, I’d guess about 6-8 M&M’s per bag. It was suppose to be a joke… I even convinced Jill and Tracey to join in on the fun. Upon arriving to the lunch stop, the team was collected and well, very upset… no seriously, like mad... So there you have it, our first I4K dispute, and yes, it’s all good now, I believe. I suppose it was selfish of me, and arriving to the stay over I came to 2 conclusions: 1. No one jokes around like the Mazurski’s do and 2. There is a foggy line between serious and funny when it comes to jokes, and this line, wellit's drowning in M&M’s. Lessons learned.Our stay over tonight only has 1 shower, and arriving late in the game soaking wet, I decided to head out for my first run since the knee issues began. While the rain was refreshing, I realize that it’s going to be a while before I’m back to where I was before in terms of running. I ran out in reverse order of our route for the day and once I couldn’t run anymore, I turned around and headed back. As advised by everyone, I promise to take it easy on my knee, but as other runners know, it’s addicting… and I miss it. Mrs. Russell and mini-Mary came up to provide us with some dinner tonight. It was absolutely fantastic: eggplant parm, chicken, green beans, and some other fruits and veggies. I hear we won’t eat as well once we head out west so I’m really enjoying being spoiled while we are!I think that’s the update for now… until I have internet again, peace (: