Today we arrived in Homewood, IL, which is a suburb 35 miles south of Chicago. We were blessed with another tailwind today, which made the 60 mile ride feel like 30. Other than the small stretch of road filled with gravel and potholes, the ride went smoothly and most groups managed to get here before noon. We were welcomed with snacks and beverages at the Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church on Dixie Highway. The people at the church were extremely hospitable to us. They offered us access to the entire church, dinner, and even showers. Tomorrow, we will be riding to Millennium Park in downtown Chicago. We will be taking a tour of the UIC Oncology Center and have dinner with the Chicago Alumni Club afterwards.
ILL-INI
As we finally reached Illinois yesterday, an overwhelmingly comfortable feeling came over the team. Excited and so happy to finally reach Illinois, we rode into Champaign-Urbana, after a short promotional detour at Mooney Chevrolet in Chrisman, Illinois.
As we pushed through the wind, struggled over potholes, gravel roads, and washed out streets, we made it to our amazing alumni event. With speakers from American Cancer Society, Camp Kesem, Dr. Long (a University of Illinois cancer research professor that receieves funding from ACS, and cancer survior stories our fundraising and goals that sometimes seem to be trivial, where positively reinforced by enthusiam and support from the Champaign-Urbana community.
After the event, Jon and Nick jumped into the fountain, as they did last year. With a hard days ride and so much excitement, Sandy, Dana, Andrew, Matt and I all jumped in too! As we shivered our way home to dry clothes and to meet up with friends in the area, team bonding and the spirit of what we are trying to do across America became reinforced within my mind.
Reconnecting with my roommates and friends in the area I learned that it isn't the inital level of expertise or excitement that makes a trip such as this successful, rather the passion and effort day by day to get us one step closer to our goal!
Today from Champaign to Homewood, we had the wind at our back and a great, fairly easy ride. Reaching speeds in the upper 20s we cruised into Homewood, being welcomed by the Schlesinger family. Having fun on the road today, from racing one another on our highest gears to just cruising and enjoying the scenery, we learn to not take life for granted.
Laugh a lot, learn something new each day, talk with someone you never thought would understand you, listen to your heart, never take something for granted, and continually challenge your own world!
Sweet home Chicago in 2 days!
goodbye Urbana
It was so unreal to bike to Urbana. We came through a long way. Sadly, I didn't ride yesterday to Urbana because I have to buy a new back wheel. My original one is dead from a crash on US-40. T.T
Today was an easy ride. The whole team is going beyond 20miles. Thanks to the tail wind. I had a conversation with Xixi and Ben about how this ride changed or going to change our life. One thing we all agreed on is that we became mentally stronger than before. We learned to push ourselves harder. Many people think biking across the country is impossible, but now I think anyone can do it, if they are mentally strong enough. We also leared to appreciate. The food gave us strength, the water keep us away from thirsty, the wind carried away our body temperature so we won't feel like boiling under the sun, the hills in Penn made us so much stronger, the generosity people had, the strength that the survivors showed us...
It is also amazing to experience so many different life style that people had in different town. In Baltimore, the freesby house, the people there are PUNX; in Mt. Pleasant, the church is the center, everyone is so faithful and grateful... there are so much to see and so much to think about.
It is sad to say bye to Urbana, but we will be in CHICAGO in 2 days !!!
IL
This is my first blog entry. 17 days have passed since we left Nwe York! As I expected, this trip is physically tough and exciting. In addition to this, I would say it is mentally exciting trip for me! Today we rode about 80 miles from Chmapaign to Chebanse. Today's ride was really fun because of the tail wind and the good weather of Illinois. Yesterday we had a great oppotunity at Almni center. It was just great! I never imagined that I can attend such a nice event. Though I am exchange student, I am really proud of riding as a member of Illini 4000 and being a student of U of I.
Ridin' on 27s
I've realized a couple days ago that my wheels are bigger than dubs. That's pretty stellar.
I also realized that I have a lot of time to think when I'm riding. And most of the time, I'm not thinking too much about anything. But the other day, I thought about my thoughts and decided that I need to start thinking more productively on the trip. So I thought about Romans 5:3-4:
3Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope.
As I was climbing the Appalachians a week ago, I was really suffering. I'm in pain, my knees kick in, my quads are sore, but as I persevered that moutain, it made me stronger mentally, and the next time I see a hill that size, I know I can power over it. And as I triumph over these struggles I used to have, it gives cancer survivors hope that they can triumph over their own uphills. It's 90% mental and 10% physical.
Several things I noticed about Illinois:
-Pot holes look a lot bigger
-It's super super flat. It's probably as flat as it gets in the US
-Winds matter a lot. We had a tail wind today, and we were flying over 20 mph.
-Feels like home.
Chicago in 2 days! WHOO!
Chebanse, IL
Today we rode into Chebanse from our homebase in Urbana-Champaign. When we rode into Urbana yesterday, we were greeted with a warm welcome reception at the Alumni center with food, drinks, and guest speakers. It was very comforting to know that our own university recognizes our effort and appreciates our work. I got to meet couple of my friends on campus and went to Papadel's for dinner. After having weeks of peanut butter sandwich and pasta, having deep dish pizza again made me feel home. This morning, we got our fancy jerseys at Nick's house and we finally feel like a team for the first time. We all rode across the quad and took pictures in front of the Alma Mater. As much as I wanted to stay in Champaign, the journey must continue. Even though it was an 80 miles ride, we had a tail wind the whole way through, which made the ride rather easy. We will be in Chicago in two days and I'm really excited to see my family again.
We've made it to Illinois!
The past few days have all been long and mostly against the strong midwestern wind, but it was all worth it to arrive to Urbana yesterday and see familiar faces and places for the first time in weeks! It feels like months since I've been there, not only 3 and a half weeks.
Our 110 mile day following our rest day in Ohio was full of challenges besides only the physical challenge of biking so far, about 30 miles more than I'd ever done in a day. The morning was wonderful, we flew with the wind through small roads with few cars. Soon we came across a river for which the bridge crossing it had been taken down. We all managed to cross the river by walking across a log with our bikes. A couple riders slipped in the ditch on either side of the river, but luckily no one managed to fall in the river.
The easy morning took a turn when the weather slowly became more and more windy and rainy as we were biking straight into a storm which was moving straight in our direction. At one point, we were on US 40, a highway we often find ourselves on for long stretches of the day, and we were crossing Dayton, OH which was a busy part of the road, 4 lanes of traffic without a shoulder. At that point, the rain and wind were at the worst. It was extremely hard to bike in a straight line with gusty wind, trucks spraying us as they whizzed by, and rain. This was where I had my second flat of the day, the fifth for the group. Luckily as I walked towards my group preparing to fix my flat, I was met by Dana and Connie with huge smiles on their faces, laughing hysterically. As we fixed the flat and afterwards, all of us couldn't do anything but laugh hysterically at our situation. We were freezing, could hardly stand up straight from wind on the shoulder of a busy road, had 40 more miles to bike into the storm. I realized that humor and having a positive attitude when faced with a tough challenge is a great way to get through it. We were able to fix the flat, grab our rain jackets from the van and continue on our way. Luckily the wind and rain ended up letting up a little and we finished our century plus 10 in relatively high spirits.
The next 3 days were not quite as long but almost entirely against the wind. I have really enjoyed biking on flat land, especially the smaller roads with very few cars. It can be very relaxing, especially when I think back to the days which feel so long ago, when I faced hills, mountains and traffic and was scared for much of the time. We all are now able to reach our destination for each day a little earlier than before when biking through hills, which is nice because I have time for a nap. :)
As I said, reaching Urbana yesterday was fantastic. It was great to cross into Illinois, and later to bike through Homer on our way to Urbana, a route which happened to be our first training ride in March. I loved everything about my short visit to Urbana and only wish I could have stayed longer. Today we began biking north to Chicago, which is great for a couple reasons. One, because I'm excited to reach Chicago in 2 days and see family and friends. Two, because we are finally biking with the wind instead of against it! We also just received our jerseys today after there was a mix up with chemical spills a while back, so now we look like a real team.
Reminder, I will be arriving to Chicago on Friday around noon at Millenium Park and would love to see anyone and everyone there!
We'll dance in Chebanse!
Today we left Urbana with Allison Heim, a rider from last year, and Geoff Merritt, of That's Rentertainment. We all left after breakfast from the Spanish House for a couple of photos and then headed for Rantoul. At Rantoul Allison and Geoff returned to Urbana and we continued for another 60 miles to the Chebanse Zion Lutheran Church, where we were welcomed with cold drinks and snacks. The wind at our backs lightened the load on our 80 mile ride today. One of the groups saw two acrobatic airplanes chasing each other through the sky. Luckily, none of the groups had to outrun the Champaign-Urbana area dogs, like we did during the training rides. More to come, see you in Chicago!
We're bubbly over Champaign!
Today's weather appeared at first to be ominous. We packed our bags to fierce rainfall, and gladly returned to the haven of the church for a delicious pancake breakfast. We were pleasantly surprised upon our return to the road with great weather, and smooth sailing all the way into the Mooney car dealership, crossing the Illinois state line along the way, where we met the generous gentleman, who loaned us our vital support vehicle. We continued into the wind after a short break, and arrived in Champaign county after some intense peddaling.
Lunch was eaten in the cool shade at one of our cues, and we enjoyed some leftover pancakes from the morning's breakfast. We pushed onward into the wind, traveling northwest toward Urbana. We reconnected with familiar people and terrain at Homer Lake, and were reinvigorated for our final approach to Urbana. Upon arriving at the alumni center, we were received with generous support and generous helpings of food and water. We enjoyed reconnecting with campus, and are excited to be traveling toward Chebanse tomorrow!
For those about to Rocksville, we salute you!
We left Carmel, IN, in high spirits after our restful night in the beautiful Carmel Lutheran Church. Though many of our mileage cards read 108 miles the ride ended up only being 78 miles. One rider, who will remain nameless, decided to adjust the mileage on the cue board, and everyone was preparing for a longer day. The weather through most of the day was very hot, we were refreshed in the later portion of the ride with a breif sun shower. It escalated to lightning and we were forced to take shelter. Fortunately we saught shelter in a small ice cream store and finished the last 7 miles of the ride full of delicious ice cream. We arrived to friendly greetings and a delicious meal in Rocksville. We have been promised pancakes for breakfast tomorrow and are excited for this delicous breakfast. Stay tuned for details about our Champaign reception tomorrow.
Warm day in Indiana
We have made it to Carmel Indiana just outside of Indianapolis and are spending tonight at the Carmel Luterian Church.
Today began in Richmond Indiana. Wake up seemed to come a little earlier then normal due to the fact that I was still rather tired from yesterdays 110 mile ride. After pulling myself from my sleeping bag and packing my stuff Brad Moshered me- marking the first time I have had the Mosher card this summer. It was right before breakfast as well so I ended up giving the Mosher speech with little time to prepare.
Once on the rode it warmed up quickly as the morning progressed. We stopped for lunch shortly after mile 50 at around 12:30 pm and arrived in Carmel shortley after 3pm with 75 miles on the day. After unpacking the cooler I walked to the grocery store with Praveen, Stephe, Jay and Matt and bought ice cream and pop tarts.
Someone from the Indianapolis area who is an Illinois alum took our laundry home to wash it while the church and another area alum provided us with pasta for dinner. The church has also provided us with food for breakfast ensuring we will leave with full stomachs in the morning. Tommorow we ride 80 miles to Rockville Indiana-another warm day on the road.
Sweet sweet Carmel
Today was a warm, blustery day on the road. We kept up on our water consumption to avoid dehydration. Fortunately, we arrived inclement weather, and the ride was slightly shorter than yesterday's century. We enjoyed our lunch by the road side and arrived to Carmel Lutheran Church to a warm reception.
The Indianapolis alumni treated us to a nice dinner, and offered to clean some clothing for us. We are enjoying our stay in Carmel, and looking forward to another day on the road!
Welcome to the Century Club!
What an achievement!! Today we rode over 100 miles. 108 to be exact. This means that I am now apart of the Century Club, basically anyone who has logged in 100 miles or more in a ride. I never thought I would see the day where I could do this and love it, but the ride, although long was also quite interesting.
The weather leaving Dublin this morning was perfect, slightly overcast and no wind. Leaving a half an hour earlier than normal we were on our way to Indiana at 6:30 AM. After one road block was overcome by forging a river, where a bridge was out, we continued our trek towards our first century of our trip. The first 67 miles seemed to breeze by, so fast that most of us were in awe how fast we really could go and how flat the land was. The weather, however, had a surprise in store for us.
As I rode in the first group up to lunch I then stayed back, in what became the second group, which included Matt, Praveen and myself, to battle the extremely gusty winds which threatened to push us off the road, the torrential downpours, thunder, and the most exciting the hail storms. We were forging ahead in the winds and rain, when all of a sudden the left side of my face started to hurt. Traveling West on US route 40, as the wind whipped around us from the East and South, the rain felt much harder. Than we all noticed at once that the rain became hail. Trying to find shelter in the middle of Ohio proved much harder than we anticipated when instead of finding cover we battled our way through the hail because there were only wheat fields surrounding us.
As the hail subsided we trudged on through the rain and I was also thankful that John lent me his jacket because without it, I would have frozen while changing yet another flat tire. As we started to near the border of Indiana (where we are staying the night in Richmond), the rain cleared and the blue skies came through. As the weather got better the three of us finished the over 100 mile trek!
As the rest of the riders pulled in, we were all exhausted from the early start and long day of riding and battling Mother Nature. Tomorrow will be a hot day with temperatures calling for 91 degrees of hot sun, which will also be a test of our strength, battling from the rain and hail to the hot humid heat of the Midwest.
As a group we have been able to rely on each other and push each other to be the best we can be. We have worked together as an entire team, we have worked in smaller groups, we have individually pushed ourselves to learn and become better people, but no matter what task has been put in front of us, we always know that we have the support of one another.
“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.”
-Henry Ford
Welcome to the Century Club!
110 Miles
We made it! Today we rode 109 miles from Andrews home in Dublin Ohio to Richmond Indiana. The day began with an early wake up at 5:30am giving us extra half an hour riding time. We were on the rode by 6:45am and had covered 20 mile by 8:15.
The excitement of the morning came when the entire team met up on a road with a bridge out. We decided to take on the challange and forward the river- actually we all picked up our bikes and walked them across the wooden plank at the bottom (pictures to follow when I get actual internet acess). The morning passed rather qucikly and we rolled into lunch at mile 65 around 12:30pm. I rode with a number of different groups this morning before hanging with the caboose for the afternoon. XiXi had a bad back tire and for the final 20 miles of the ride we stopped every 2 mile so she could put air in it. When we reached the century mark (100 miles) we stopped and celebrated with a caboose photo. Around mile 104 we crossed the Indiana state line marking our 9th state in 16 days!
Once we arrived at the church we showered and relaxed while Brad and Yiming made pasta for dinner. Tomorrow is a short day compared to today- 75 miles.
And a century later
We started our day earlier than usual, at 5:30 A.M. to promptly leave the comfort of the Erikson's home. After a relaxing rest day, we were ready for the "Century Challenge"! The outset of the ride was comfortable. As we progressed through Ohio, we encountered a bit of a challenge along the way . . . Although we had not trained for river forging, we met the challenge head on.
Soon after the river forging we were met with a rain that lasted the entire day, and was intersperesed with hail. Though this added to the challenge of the century, our riders were up to the task. We arrived in Richmond, IN, to a warm downtown area. The friendly people at 5th Street Bagels donated an ample supply of bagels for the team's breakfast. Saint Andrews Catholic Church furthermore provdided showers, a computer with internet, some food, and of course, shelter over our heads. Until next time, team I4K.
day fifteen
REST DAY! This has been the most wonderful, relaxing rest day of my life. We arrived at Andrew's house last night, to a warm welcome, delicious food, fresh towels, hot showers, and i could go on forever with how great Mr. and Mrs. Erikson have been to us! Mrs. Erikson even gave me flowers to plant on my bike...I'll put up pictures later, if they survive the winds of the great plains...
Amy and I have been working on travel plans for staying in Seattle. So if anyone has recommendations for where we should visit (on a budget), please let me know!
rest day 2...
rest day in dublin at the erikson household -- warm showers, delicious food, comfy beds, and crossword puzzles!
thinking about the last couple of rides makes me realize just how much difference a day can make. it is nearly impossible to make predictions about the number of flats we will get, how long rain clouds will follow us overhead, or what time we will arrive at our stayover location each day. the day before our first ride, i asked sandy, an illini 4000 veteran, if she had any advice for me and the rest of the team. i expected tips about bike maintenance or riding safety, but instead she told me "just be sure to keep and open mind." now i see why this is true.
hopefully our day of rest will prepare us for the 100+ mile ride we will set out on tomorrow morning.
O-Hi-Ohh no
Redo: I started my blog from the previous few days, but unfortuantely the computer didn't load my new entry, so I am just adding an extra day on to this one.
It started, now, three days ago when we were riding from Cadiz, Ohio to Zanesville. The day started off with thunder and lightening which delayed our normal 7 AM departure for half an hour. While the rain poured down, we waited, and at 7:30, while it was still raining we headed out towards Zanesville. This day was filled with rain, leveling mountains into more flattened road, and several flat tires. Not only did my group (Connie, Dana, Fei, and Sandra) get the most flats, 6, getting three myself, but our support vehicle had a flat too. I guess around 800 miles is the opportune time for flats.
Anways, Fei had our first two flats, than I had two. Unfortunately, however, our group ran out of spare tubes that we carried when I got my flats. Being the last group, we had no opportunity to wait for another group to arrive, hoping that they would have a spare tube. To make matters even better we were stuck in the rain while trying to patch some of the flat tubes that had holes in them, hoping that they would get us to the support vehicle about ten miles away. With no luck trying to patch tubes, we than tried calling for help, but being in the middle of a state park in Ohio we had no reception on any of our phones. So three of the riders went ahead, leaving myself and Fei to entertain ourselves on the side of a highway, freezing from the rain and hoping that someone would return quickly.One funny part of this stop, though, was that when we were trying to patch the tubes we needed a dry piece of clothing to dry the tube before we put the glue on. Although most of us were soaked head to toe, I found one patch of dry shirt underneath my jacket in the shape of the United States. It was a good sign! As the rain cleared, my spirits were lifted when the other three riders came back with news that they got ahold of the support vehicle, which would come with spare tubes! Success!
Finally fixing my tire we were once again on our way, only to find that the road was terribly riddled with potholes and rocks. About two miles later, Dana got our fifth flat of the day. It seemed that we were never going to get to lunch. After another fixed flat we rode the rest of the way to lunch, about two and a half hours after the first group of riders already left lunch. Later that day, however, I got another flat tire., however, made it through the rain, thunder, potholes, and flats on a crazy day in Ohio. Needless to say that night, once we arrived in Zanesville I put a brand new tire, a gator skin, on my wheel.
The next day, yesterday, was much better! From Zanesville to Dublin we rode on bike paths, and only got moderately lost. The temperature was hot and humid, but was better than the soaking rain that we had the two days previously. On the ride, which seemed to go much more smoothly, besides the spill that Jay took on bad patch of road, all the riders made it to Dublin on an 80 mile day. Leaving the mountains and being welcomed to the plains with mildly gusty winds, we conquered our first leg of our trip.
On our ride yesterday I had a chance to really think about the purpose of this trip and about anything I wanted. I came to the conclusion after talking with a few other riders that this trip is selfish and selfless. Selfish in the fact that I am the one experiencing this chance of a lifetime going across country talking to people that I would never thought possible. I also think it is selfless in the essence that what we are really doing is promoting the idea of cancer awareness. It has been inspiring to me the sheer number of people that we don't know that stop and thank us for what we are doing. It never really struck me until a few days ago when a woman in a CVS parking lot saw our van and with such emotion thanked us for what we are doing and told us that her co-workers father died that morning from cancer.
It made me realize that flat tires and the rain that we ride through can only last so long. This ride has an end date, but for those who battle cancer they will never really have an end date to their disease. From one end of the country to the other we are all human and have all been affected by cancer. Make each day worth living. Experience. Test your limits. Take adventures and above all love deeply.
With a day off in Dublin, Ohio and a daunting 100 mile ride ahead of us tomorrow, I leave you from the great hospitality of one of the riders houses, Andrew Erikson. With love and appreciation I will see you once again in a new state, Indiana.
Rest day in Dublin
It is our second rest day. I feel so comfortable and clean in Andrew's house. His parents and family friends are so nice to us. We get used to share used bowls and plastice forks, and now we have real bowls, it is awesome.
I went for an half an hour run after breakfast. I need to get in shape, so I can run Chicago half marathon in September with my biggie. My legs were really sore, but it feels good to run.
The whole ride makes my life healthier. We sleep on time, get up on time, exercise a lot. At night, we can write journals and do some readings. I like this kind of life style.
Time flies !!! We've been riding for 2 weeks already, that means we are 1/5 way done. YAYY !!!
I have a feeling that this ride will change my life. I defnintely learn a lot more about cancer; I was amazed by their strength; I have the opportunity to experience different culture in different town, people have different life style in different town; I have time to appreciate the beauty of nature; I met a lot great people through the ride.
I am so excited to meet up with my big sis.
I am happy that Kevin will be back to Champaign on June 7th.
We will have our hardest ride tomorrow in terms of distance. I am a little bit nervous ! haha...
There is no bad day.
Resting in Dublin, OH!
Upon request, I'd like to inform you of our arrivals in Urbana and Chicago which are coming up!
We will arrive in Urbana and June 10 and leave the next morning.
We'll arrive in Chicago on Friday, June 13 around noon at Millennium Park. This would be a great time to come see us as we should have plenty of time to hang around the park. We'll leave Sunday morning, June 15 and anyone is welcome to bike out of Chicago with us! You should join! It should be a nice ride, mostly on bike paths. I would really love to see as many friends and family as possible on this trip, so please stop by the park, join the ride out of Chicago, or call or email me another time!
We have reached our long-awaited rest day at Andrew's house in Dublin, OH, near Columbus. This day is exciting not only because it is our first rest day since D.C., but also because it marks the end of hills and the beginning of flat land! This has come gradually as we've seen less and less hills during the past few days. However, flat doesn't necessarily mean easy riding. Yesterday was our introduction to strong wind, which is sure to get stronger and rarely favor the direction we travel. We also biked on some narrow roads without a shoulder and with heavy traffic. While I hope to find some peaceful rides through the Midwest, there will most likely be many rides on dense roads which require constant alertness, and fighting the wind.
Our ride yesterday was long and the weather was very hot, however I didn't mind the heat at all after 2 days of rain. Two days ago we rode through rain for most of the day, including a thunderstorm. We also rode on a very bumpy rode for most of the morning. It was wonderful to reach a warm church and cuddle up in my sleeping bag on a couch at the end of that ride.
Despite the wind and narrow dense roads yesterday, we also spent some time on bike trails through forest. The first bike trail had some funny obstacles, such as a tree that grew almost parallel to the ground around hip level. We also saw a building or something that looked like a giant wicker bread basket. I wish I could post pictures on this blog...
It was absolutely wonderful to reach Andrew's house yesterday. His parents have been amazingly generous, supplying us with lots of delicious food, spacious sleeping arrangements, showers, internet access, a cute dog to play with, laundry, and relaxation. Thank you so much Mr. and Mrs. Erikson! This is a perfect place for a much-needed rest day. Especially before our first 100+ mile day tomorrow. Wish me luck!