Day 5: Chillin and Grillin in Palmyra
Today the team rode 66.7 miles from Syracuse to Palmyra, New York! Today has been the easiest day by far with very little climbing and less miles. Today was HOT with temps as high as 78 and a beating sun that lasted the entirety of the ride. At the last 20 miles we experience our first head winds of the ride. We can all agree that the head winds from Champaign have not been missed. Everyone on the team is getting to know one another and now the rest stops have become less restful and more fun. Dancing with a portable speaker (tunes cred to van driver Kathy), doing cartwheels and handstands, and abs and arm workouts (gotta keep the balance). Once in Palmyra the team checked out a local ice cream shop called the grill and chill where the quantities of ice cream we're more than generous. The kiddie size cup was the size of a pint at the grocery store!! We were all happy campers.A portrait was conducted today at one of our rest stops. The team met a man named Wally who shared that everyone in his immediately family experienced cancer. He explained that it was a struggle for him to fight the urge to ask, ”why not me?” He chose to share his story to encourage family members to not carry guilt with them. To take life as it comes at you.I would like to thank our hosts at the Shepherd's Heart Fellowship. They had the greatest arrival for our team with posters in the front of the church and Illini colored decorations. The warm welcome was the icing on top of a great day! Jeni our host even took the time to memorize all our bios and surprised us by knowing all of our names and facts about ourselves before we even introduced ourselves. The food they provided was delicious and the company was even better.Tomorrow is a very short 20 mile ride to Rochester. It's safe to say everyone is in need of a little TLC!~Tailwinds~MandyDaily flats: 3Song of the day: DespacitoStory of the day: Kathy drove the van today with her bike on the bike rack on the back of the van. Her wheel fell off while she was driving without her knowledge. A group of riders found a spare wheel in the road and decided it would be useful for the team. They called the van and the wheel turned out to be Kathy’s. A wheel found is a wheel saved!