In 2002, a ten-year-old Kenny Shaevel stumbled upon the Academy Awards while channel surfing. Fascinated by the rewarding of talent, I watched with scintillation. When Halle Berry won the Oscar for Best Actress, she spoke with extreme emotion about how she stands on the shoulders of all the African-American actresses who came before her. For a child, this idea was novel: so much of what was great about the world I lived in, I realized, I owed to the progress of someone who came before me.As our trip comes to a close, my mind is forced to reflect on the past 74 days, and I find that I often wander back to this idea. The very bike I'm riding on, from the handlebar tape to the drive set, is the culmination of thousands of engineers' work; the paved roads on which we roll are made of materials whose composition has been refined over decades of driving; the 2012 Illini 4000 ride was based largely on the efforts of the five previous rides. I am proud of all that I've accomplished on this trip, but I have to give credit where credit is due. I am rolling on the shoulders of giants who came before me.And yet, this goes both ways. I am (well, we all are) a giant in the making, and this very thought makes me smile. Countless people's work went into making this summer's ride even happen, and countless more made it a success. The main purpose of this ride is to fundraise money for cancer research. We are fighting cancer, and this ride is a step in the battle; we are moving us all one step closer to finding a cure. We may be rolling on the shoulders of giants, but we are becoming giants ourselves.