My first blog post! I know that my family and friends back home will be excited, and I’m glad I can finally find the time and energy to share my journey with them.The past two and a half weeks have been amazing. I can’t say everything went wonderfully well, but I have learned a lot so far: sleeping anywhere anytime, gobbling up my food in seconds, being comfortable licking food off chain-greased hands, biking no-hands, fixing flats, living together with a team of 28 interesting and unique characters, etc.During my bike rides, I am constantly reminded of God's power as I take in the stunning beauty of his creation. I kind of miss the mountains, now that we are riding through cornfields and cornfields of flat Illinois. The scenery is way nicer when we are on the mountains, but I guess the trade off is an easier ride. I also thank God for his protection over me and the team so far. There has not been any serious accidents, and injuries have been healing. I fell twice on our 107 mile day due to riding too close to the person in front of me, but other than a few holes in my jersey, very tiny scraps on my legs, and a sore wrist, I'm still alive and kicking. Two days ago I started feeling pain in my left knee while riding. Hopefully these next few days of short rides will give it sufficient rest.I'm at Lauren's house right now. Spent the night here. Lauren's family has been wonderfully nice, and I love it here. Thank you Mr and Mrs Mazurski for everything! You guys are a funny bunch of people. :) We had a yummy steak dinner and watched 'The Messengers' (which was a pretty good movie but we all fell asleep to) last night. I hope the rain will stop for the party Lauren is having later on today.