Illini 4000

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May 27 Mountain Tops

Day 5Chambersburg, PA – Everett, PA65 MilesConditions: MountainousOur day started off to a promising start with a delicious breakfast generously prepared by members of Zion Reformed UCC and a unique tour of the church including a trip up to the bell tower. We kicked off our ride with Yang giving us the Mosher. He gave us a crash course in Chinese and taught us 3 helpful phrases that we could use while riding. He taught us how to call out: “pothole”, “stopping” and “slowing.”Once we started pedaling we quickly realized how tough the day was going to be. There were several steep climbs in our very first miles. However our climbs were made easier by the company of the Zion Reformed Church's own organist who has been a biker for several years. He rode all the way with us until our first rest stop at Cowans Gap State Park. The park was beautiful, complete with a lake that provided a nice cool down for some of the team. We took an extra long and much needed rest at this stop to enjoy the scenery and also to wait for everyone to arrive so we could take a team picture.The rest of the day proved to be one of our toughest days to date with humid weather and through the Appalachain Mountains. Our team slowly, but surely, conquered steep inclines including the infamous Mountain House Road.What goes up must come down. And down we came with a greatly appreciated 2 mile downward slope into the town of Breezewood. Unfortunately this is where our ride came to an end for the day. It seems like bad weather has been following us wherever we go and once we were only a short 10 miles away from our destination, the skies turned black and the wind picked up. We found ourselves right in the middle of another severe storm and tornado warning. All teams quickly took cover in various places in Breezewood. The plan was to wait the storm out but it only got worse and all groups were instructed to stay put until we could be picked up by the van.Even with the series of unfortunate storms in Pennsylvania, we all arrived to the Everett Church of Brethren safe (and a little wet). We believe a huge thanks needs to go out to our organization's president, Connor Canaday, who is our van driver for the first few days of the trip. He has helped us immensely by not only fixing several bike problems, but also by shuttling everyone in the van safely the last couple of days.Our difficult day was rewarded by a generous and warm welcome by the Church of Everett and its pastor, Frank Ramirez. We were provided a delicious home cooked meal (lasagna and salad) compliments of Ella, Anna, Beverley, and Thelma. It was a perfect way to end another day and to also prepare for our next day in the mountains!