Day 4Newark, DE to Balimore, MDThe team has been surprised at how hilly New York, Pennsylvania and other states have been in comparison to Illinois. We've never even seen hills this big in our neck of the woods, but apparently they do exist! Despite these "hills" that we had seen, our ride leader informed us that we hadn't even seen real hills yet, and today would be the first day that we encountered a true climb. Most people had nerves starting last night and continuing this morning until the ride began. And when it did begin, the nerves turned into exhaustion quite quickly. Apparently, Maryland does indeed have large hills. People were tired, people were hot, but we still rode to Baltimore. To estimate, we probably climbed 13 hills that were larger than any of us had climbed before, which was quite difficult to do in a single 75 mile day!The theme of kindness continued again today, as I suspect it will each day. A group of riders stopped in the parking lot of Guess' pizza on 40 in Edgewood. They were hanging out in the shade and double checking the map as the owner came outside to greet them. He invited them inside to sit in the AC and fill up their water bottles. He then gave them cold wet towels to cool off with and even posted our business card in his shop. All he asked was for us to spread the word about his place. In Baltimore, we had our first event at a nearby American Cancer Society Hope Lodge. We enjoyed a meal provided to us by volunteers and had ample time to interact with the patients. After dinner, we were given certificates of gratitude from the Hope Lodge and they even provided us with special entertainment! A magician arrived and performed some tricks along with some jokes. Even better, he provided us with the support that we are too familiar with, but value immensely. More hills tomorrow! We'll see you in Capital City!Much love,Illini 4000