This morning, Marissa's friend told her that his father had been diagnosed with cancer 15 years ago. Today's ride (the end of week 4!) is dedicated to him. Leaving Sioux City, we thanked First Congregational Church for hosting 20 crazy cyclists for two days. We somehow ended up all taking different routes out of the city - one of the cues was missing! Some groups stopped at a farmer's market near the river and there received both food and monetary donations. Then we left Iowa for good, even though we all loved the state and thought it was rather heavenly. Crossing the Missouri River, we entered state #10, Nebraska. It was a very hot 81-mile ride through the hillier parts of the state, but our stop in Winside made the travels entirely worth it! The only town at mile 60 happened to be the 400-person village of Winside, where they were having an annual festival. At this event, there was homemade ice cream and pie for sale, firefighters playing games with water, and free burgers. Donations went to preparing for the town's 125th anniversary celebration next year.While we were in Winside, we met a lot of the residents and ended up collecting three portraits! Richard and his daughter are both cancer survivors. One woman we met is a two-time survivor of breast cancer and told us how she never lost her faith in God even in the hard times. Another woman, Angie is currently undergoing treatment for cancer, and her biggest advice is to take things day by day. She loves how her family's support helps so much.Upon arrival in Norfolk, we showered at the First Christian Church, which is kind enough to host 20 sweaty cyclists! Then, Scott and Linda, Ellen's parents, brought us to dinner at Prenger's, a local restaurant. We are beyond grateful to their generosity in providing food for 20 starving cyclists! Fun fact: Norfolk is named after a misspelling... It was supposed to be called North Fork but a misunderstanding with the post office resulted in the name Norfolk. Nebraska residents pronounce it "Norfork."
