Julissa had the honor of dedicating the ride today. She shared with us that her best friend’s mom was diagnosed with cancer and had beat it after two years of battling. Unfortunately, earlier this year she passed away once a tumor presented itself on her spine. Her passing occurred the day before the application for the team was due and this is what inspired Julissa to apply for I4K.Many records were made today. The most amount of uphill climbing in one day, hottest day, most amount of roadkill seen, and arguably best stayover. Our ride from Wooster to Zanesville consisted of 86 miles in 80-degree weather. Although we usually only make two rest stops today we added an extra because of the longer route. Even though it seems that rides are starting to get longer and harder, these past two days have been made easier by being given the ‘OK’ by ride leaders to have music playing while we are riding. Most of the ride today was spent on the shoulder of a road with many trucks and cars zooming past us, and plenty of dead animals spotting the sides of the road. So many, that my bike actually ran over a ‘fresh’ one and I experienced a split second of being airborne.Today we were reminded that we had exited the East and entered good ol’ Middle America as we passed by an Amish village. We watched as farmers plowed their lawn with horse drawn carts and parked their horses and buggies outside of a local restaurant.Everyone was motivated during today’s ride by the promise of catered Chipotle waiting for us at our Zanesville stayover. This Church was actually a stop on the original rider’s route 11 years ago, and they have stayed here ever since. Besides the awesome and plentiful food, we also got BEDS. Well, not exactly beds but cots, and if you’re an I4k-er it definitely counts.Tomorrow’s 60-mile ride seems like an easy day and the team is looking forward to our second stayover next week in Chicago.Excuse me if I smell like a dead animal.MB