Illini 4000

View Original

Day 14: Groundhog Days

We rode for Johnny today. Mackenzie stepped up to dedicate the ride to his uncle that is currently battling skin cancer.Today’s 60 miler seemed like child’s play compared to yesterday’s doozy of a ride. Tomorrow will be another hard day for the team as we will complete our first century (100 mile ride) to Richmond Indiana. Now that we have exited New York, crossing state lines seems to come as frequently as the passing of each week. During the first 40 miles of today’s ride we were able to coast. We even got to bear witness to the largest strip of yard sales in the United States. Every year Route 40, which runs from Ohio all the way to St. Louis, hosts an annual yard sale along the side of the road.  With instruction from ride leaders that we had to carry whatever we bought, our group decided against treating ourselves the wares, which mostly consisted of baby goods and old furniture.With the passing of each day time seems to move in the strangest way. Although every day seems long and hard, the routine of it, when looking back, makes it all seem to be passing by so quickly.  Whenever we notice what day of the week it is we feel confused, because when riding, “every day feels like a Tuesday.” Keeping up with the news is a luxury and most of us could not tell you what is currently happening in the world outside of what we see on the side of the road after riding for 8 hours every day. Things are stating to blur together due to our extremely routine schedule, and we are only able to recall memorable things from each day. "Where were we when we happened" "Oh yeah, the place with (that thing), now I remember" is a daily conversation at this point.Although we are only two weeks into our eleven-week journey, I am already starting to get the feeling of wanted to freeze time. Picturing riding into Golden Gate Park is one of my motivators when riding, but in a way I am dreading that day. I think I speak for everyone on the team when I say being a part of this groups is one of the most rewarding things you can force yourself to do, and I don’t want it to end. I know I will miss the ride once it has ended.Pray for our legs tomorrowMB