Hello fellow I4K members and supporters, I apologize for getting on the blog so late but hey, better late than never. I have never really blogged before but I will try my best to blog as much as possible over the summer. We are one day away from our train ride to New York City and surprisingly, I am as calm as I have ever been. I was really nervous about three weeks ago when we had our last team meeting back in Urbana (that’s when we got our travel bags, team jerseys and so on). But over the last week, I haven’t really felt much because finals, packing, moving and doing last minute shopping have kept me really busy that I haven’t even gotten a chance to play around with my travel bag to see how much stuff I can fit in it.So far, Illini4000 has been an amazing experience. Every time I think about how much we have done and how far we have come as a team, in what seems like a very short time (it’s been about 8 months but time has been going by ridiculously fast) I can’t help it but say, “wow! Man, that’s crazy” every single time. I remember like it was yesterday applying for I4K last summer (10 months ago) and now I am three day away from riding 4500+ miles across the country. Even though I do not feel like I am ready (is it even possible to be "ready" for what is to come :D), all the training we have done all semester especially the Saturday rides we have been doing since spring break have been really helpful. The first training ride was a 37 mile ride and at the time, that was considered a “long ride” but, after doing the 50, 64, 77, 95 mile rides just to mention a few, 37 miles now is a “short ride.” Every Saturday we went riding, the weather was not friendly at all for the exception of one Saturday. I have to say, the winds were the most annoying part of the training ride. But on the bright side, I feel so much stronger and ready to take on whatever mother nature has instore for us.Before I end my first blog, I would like to thank all the individuals and businesses who have donated to Illini4000 through me, my teammates or to the organization in general to help us cross the $100,000 goal we set (we are well past that now). Without your support, all this wouldn’t have been possible. I would also like to thank the I4K board members for their amazing work in running this organization with passion, integrity, and holding us to such high standards has helped us achieve a lot over the past 8 months. Until my next blog from the road, I would like to say thank you and God bless :D and keep checking our website for more blogs!!!