Today the Illini 4000 for Cancer experienced some serious adversity in the form of the Appalachian Mountains. This grueling 80 mile trip challenged each and every rider both physically and mentally throughout the day.First things first. We woke up to a delicious breakfast feast provided by the Church of the Brethren in Everett. After stuffing our bellies with delicious food, we did the mosher activity. Kelsey Lyles had the activity today and chose to lead us in a wake up song from a summer camp she had gone to. What a pick me up!As the groups started to roll on their adventure, few thought about how severe the test was going to be. This was because the first 30 miles of the trip was smooth sailing for the most part until we made a left turn and started to climb. And climb and climb and climb. At each corner relief looked close, only to disappoint with more uphill. And when a downhill finally came it was only temporary and the real climbing began. When we reached the peak, most of the groups had been riding uphill for almost 8 miles and it had taken well over an hour to do so. This, however, was not the only mountain.Many started to dread the down hills after the climbs because although you could go very fast (some groups were well over 40 mph!), they didn't last long and were always followed by more and more climbing.Some spirits were low, but the team came together and cheered in each rider to the rest stops and to the eventual stay over. The team seems to be getting closer and closer by the day and long lasting friendships are being formed.We all arrived at the United Methodist Church in Mt. Pleasant a little after 5 pm and were greeted with open arms by Pastor Hoover and his army of parishioners. We were shuttled to the local YMCA to shower up and then were treated to a lasagna feast! Mmmmm!Everyone is extremely exhausted from such a rough day and it looks as if most are about to sleep and its only 9pm!Pittsburgh tomorrow and then a rest day for Memorial Day! Yay!