Journals

From Lakes of Blue to Trees of Green

Today we rode 76 miles from South Lake Tahoe to Pollock Pines.  The morning started out with a scenic ride through Lake Tahoe.  It was a little chillier than usual, but after so many hot days in the desert, the team found it hard to complain. The several groups also got the chance to talk with a couple of fellow cyclists who were also headed across the country to San Francisco! Around mile 10, the ride got a little tougher when we reached the base of a Sierra Nevada mountain range. We spent the next 30 miles climbing through them.  Although the first half of the ride involved much climbing, the views made it all worthwhile. The teams stopped at many of the scenic overlooks to take pictures and just enjoy the gorgeous scenery. From mountains to forests to lakes, there was never a dull moment. In addition to the beautiful views around us, we also enjoyed the many downhills. The turns were wide enough that we were able to zoom down them with ease. In fact, several riders hit personal records for fastest speed on a downhill. Overall, the team enjoyed dour last ride of over 70 miles. From now on, t he rides are going to get shorter and shorter until we ride over the Golden Gate Bridge.We want to thank the Christian Life Center in Pollock Pines for hosting the team. We look forward to our ride into Sacramento tomorrow.

Our Day in South Lake Tahoe

After yesterday’s climb, we all woke up feeling grateful to have a day to rest our knees. In the morning, we explored the town and enjoyed a variety of activities. We were excited to find out that a festival started today! Near the beach, there was a craft show, and on the beach there were food stands and live music. We were lucky to arrive in South Lake Tahoe just as this event started. During the day, some people went out to eat, others did laundry, and some headed to the beach and festival. Overall, it was a well-deserved & relaxing start to the event day.Later on, we all met at the stay over for our Christmas in July gift exchange. It was pretty entertaining to see what creative gifts were given. Some memorable ones were pine cones, roadside debris, and candy. It’s the little things, like celebrating Christmas in July, that we will all look back on and laugh about. After our gift exchange, we had a team meeting to discuss the logistics of our final week. With just one week left, we’re both excited and anxious about the days ahead of us. Ready or not, San Francisco here we come!

San Francisco Arrival Information

With our riders about to begin their final stretch to the Pacific coast, it’s time to think about how we’re going to wrap it all up. Once again, the San Francisco Alumni Club has graciously volunteered to put something together. It all starts at 10:30am on Wednesday, July 31st at Baker Beach:Location:Baker Beach - look for orange and blueBattery Chamerblin Road - off Lincoln Blvd and Bowley StreetPresidio of San Francisco, CA 94129415.561.4323.Riders are expected to arrive around 11am. The Alumni Club is ordering box lunches for the event, please visit the Alumni Club’s website before Saturday, July 27th to place your order. The alumni club will be providing lunches for the riders. Please bring your own beverages and seating. Things should wrap up around 12:30pm. Questions about the event should be directed to Sylva Kung via email vp_events_eastbay@sfbayillini.org or text/call 925-765-7143.We look forward to seeing you there!

Hello California!

Well, the team has finally made it to our final state of the ride. It seems like just when we adjusted to the idea of biking across the country, our adventure is practically over. It is definitely a bittersweet feeling to be this close to our goal. We feel excited to almost be reunited with our friends and family, blessed to have met so many wonderful and supportive people, and proud to have accomplished such an amazing feat.Our ride into California went well. Not only was the weather gorgeous, but the route was also full of breathtaking views. The majority of the ride was spent biking through valleys, so we were surrounded by towering mountains and winding rivers. But don’t be fooled, the route wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Biking through the valleys meant that we would eventually have to climb out of them towards South Lake Tahoe, and boy, did we climb. At times, it was difficult to find the motivation to climb a mountain, especially after having spent the day cruising in the valley. But knowing this was one of our final climbs of the ride, the team wanted to give this mountain everything we had. After all, there aren’t many chances in life to do what we do.Once we showed that mountain who was boss, we were greeted by the beautiful Lake Tahoe. The team could not be more excited to spend our event day here! There is so much to do; from shopping, to swimming, to hiking, the team will have plenty to explore tomorrow. South Lake Tahoe is a great place to spend our first nights in California. 

Rushing to Reno

In Lovelock, the tradition is to put a lock on a chain and then throw away the key to show your love for someone, so we put an I4K 2013 lock there this morning and will throw the key off the Golden Gate Bridge! After participating in that fun tradition, we set out to ride nearly 96 miles into Reno, as carefully as possible to avoid flats. In the past two days, as a team, we unfortunately have gotten more than 20 flats mainly because of the heat and interstate conditions. Luckily, we are all professionals at changing flats by now!How many college students wake up during their summer vacation at 4:30 a.m.? We do! Waking up at 4:30 a.m. to avoid the sun and heat is our normal lifestyle in Nevada. Today, we got lucky and it was cloudy, which protected us from being scorched by the sun and getting too hot. This favorable weather and mostly flat terrain boosted us to the stayover, the Church of the Good Shepard. The air conditioning feels great after a long, hot day in the sun and we are so grateful for their generosity. After we took refreshing showers at the church, some of us went to a bike shop to restore our tube collection and other necessary bike gear. The bike shop in Reno was really cool, and the people there were extremely generous! Thirty new tubes were bought for the team in hopes that we can make it the last leg of our journey without running out once again.Tomorrow, we finally arrive in the last state of our journey, California. We are almost there! 

Flat/Downhills + Tailwinds + Heat Intimidation = The falcon day of the trip

After a 100 degree, 100 mile day yesterday, we were determined to finish our 73 mile day today before the sun had a chance to heat everything up again. A combination of tailwinds, downhills, and rider determination propelled all groups to the finish before noon; some even made it in before 10:30! It was amazing to be able to say "Let's have brunch!" after we completed so many miles. Many riders used the extra time after arrival for laundry, phone calls to home, and patching our countless flat tires.We are so grateful of our awesome hosts at the Bethel Baptist Church that cooked up a fantastic barbeque for us this afternoon. As we were leaving, we were also given goodie bags of snacks and T-shirts from Renown Institute for Cancer.We also got a chance to the pastor of the church about his own cancer experience. Scott Davis was diagnosed with stage three embryonic carcinoma when he was 16, with it being only weeks away from stage four. He was given a 60% chance of living longer than five years. He underwent surgery to remove one testicle only to discover that there was a second tumor attached to and bigger than his kidney. Scott underwent four months of intensive chemotherapy. Before his second surgery to remove his kidney tumor, the doctors found a benign tumor in his lung. After his third surgery, Scott underwent another four months of chemotherapy. Although the cancer treatment caused him to miss his senior year of high school, Scott continued to have a positive attitude. “I know that if it is my time to go, I’m gonna go. Then it’s my time to die. I knew this wasn’t gonna kill me. I knew it right away. I had to convince my parents of that.” Scott gave us some advice as his parting words. “Early detection is the key to the cure. Denying it makes it harder. When I would come home and have to go back for antibiotics, I would look sick, almost dead. I would feel sick, I didn’t want to move and I had no energy. But after that last round, once I had accepted everything, you couldn’t tell that there was anything wrong with me. So once you learn what chemo does, accept it. A positive attitude will take you a long way.” Scott is now a twenty-eight year survivor.It is 8:30 pm as we write this, and half of our team is already asleep in anticipation for tomorrows 4:30 am wake up leading into a 95 mile ride into Reno, Nevada. Wish us luck! 

Fun in the Sun....Or Not...

I smell bad. Everything I own smells. Every article of clothing, even those that I haven’t worn yet, have been permeated by the smell. I haven’t taken a shower for days, if a quick hose down can be considered a shower. My only comfort in this is that my personal stink is masked by the cumulative stink that is our team. It’s the kind of smell that you can’t shake, no matter how hard you scrub. Rarely do I get a whiff of it, but today I can’t avoid it. It’s everywhere. It’s in my salt-encrusted jersey, it’s in my sweat-stiffened gloves, it’s in my hair, and it’s in my socks (oh Lord, is it in my socks!).It’s no secret as to why. We’ve been cycling through the hot desert heat for the last few days. I’ve stopped looking at the weather forecast, for fear that the temperature is only going to climb higher. Ninety-six, ninety-eight, one-hundred, one-hundred and three, it just keeps going. We’ve started waking up an hour earlier to get a head start and get some miles in before midday and draining our water bottles dry like it’s the elixir of life, which in this case, it truly is. I can’t imagine what our ride would be like without our support van. We’ll see signs on the road, “No Service 66 Miles.” Yeah, good luck finding water out here.But there’s something fun about riding in this, some type of masochistic enjoyment from being able to say, “Yeah, I biked a century through the desert.” Because bragging about the ability to withstand this kind of heat on a cloudless, 103 mile day is cool right? Yeah, isn’t cool how much the human body can withstand?The best part is that water only goes so far. I’ve drank at least three full, 24 oz bottles by every 20 mile rest stop plus a bottle and a half of a 32 oz Gatorade. That’s approximately 408 oz of water. That’s about three gallons.  That’s twenty-six pounds, or about 20% of my body weight.And that’s not even enough.You see, at about 1:00 every afternoon, a 13+ mph wind whips up. And you can put your money on the fact that it’s going to be a headwind. At 1:00pm, we were at mile 84. We had just finished a downhill ride in which we were barely able to go over 10 mph. That does not make for a fun time. At least, I’m assuming it wasn’t fun, because I honestly cannot remember the last 20 miles of our ride. I recall a brief period of delirious joy in which I soaked every bit of my cyclist clothes, from my gloves down to my sports bra, in a rest stop sink. That period lasted for only 7 minutes until the heat had returned my clothing to its bone-dry state. I recall waking up from my daze in a Jack in the Box in Winnemucca, Nevada, 14 miles later.All in all, it really isn’t that bad. My dramatic prose is meant to allow my readers to get an idea of where the devil likes to vacation at. The ride itself is very much enjoyable, but that’s thanks to the company of my teammates. The blistering days are broken up by the frequent, on-the-bike water gun fights, outbursts of singing, and odd conversations. And I mean very odd conversations; the kind that only occurs when you’re spending every hour of the day together and you’re biking across the country. Sometimes, I wonder what someone would think if they overheard us. Then again, I don’t want to know, because that would just be another reminder of how far removed from society I am. But that’s okay, because as long as I’m living this lifestyle with the people I love, I’m fine. I dread the upcoming goodbyes in San Fran that are quickly approaching, but until then, I’m going to enjoy every minute of this, no matter how hot it gets.

Feel That Temperature Rising....

This morning began with an early 4:30 am wake up to beat the heat. The team enjoyed a great breakfast of cereal, yogurt, and fruit to start off the day right, thanks to the Eisenberg family and to the members of Carlin United Methodist Church. After we waved goodbye to an amazing stay over and pastor in Carlin, Nevada, we set out on our 103 mile ride. Teams were eager to keep moving and drink as much water as possible.Around mile 80, when everyone was hitting a wall and getting quite hot, we were excited to stumble on a convenience store and bar in Golconda, NV.It was great talking with the people there. They generously shared Gatorade, their air conditioning and ice-cold water. It was just what we needed to make it the last 20 miles to our stay over in Winnemucca. We thank the United Methodist Church in Winnamucca for letting us stay the night and the local soup kitchen for kindly donating hotdogs, beans, pasta salad, and chips for our dinner.Though the days are long and hot, we are really enjoying our time in Nevada, meeting great people and making the most of our last few days on the road.

Feelin' Hot, Hot, HOT!

This morning, we set out on a 74 mile ride from Wells, Nevada into Carlin, Nevada. We knew it would be a hot one, so we made sure to keep as hydrated as possible. We drank lots of water and even made up some fun water games to pass the time and keep hydrated along I-80. The 25 gallons in the van were just enough to keep us going, but we made it!We are really excited to be staying at the First United Methodist Church in Carlin, NV. Our host, Monique, was gracious enough to invite us into her house for nice, refreshing showers. She even left us breakfast for tomorrow morning. We are truly thankful for her hospitality.Tomorrow, we will be waking up early to set out on a century ride through Nevada. We know it will be tough, but we know we can do it. The reality check of having only 11 ride days left is setting in, but knowing that is helping us make the most of our rides.

The Final Timezone

After arriving at the cusp of the pacific time zone, we found ourselves in quite an awe-inspiring moment. We had finally reached the last time zone in the United States after traversing over 3,200 miles. Changing time zones not only provided a much needed reprieve from early wakeups and sun-drenched days, but for some, it marked the beginning of the end of our journey. Most of us remember a sort of melancholy feeling passing over from Wendover, Utah to West Wendover, Nevada, especially after realizing that the next state up was California. Fortunately, we had some hard climbs in front of us that forced us to think about the present and not worry about the ride ending. We all got through the tough climbs though, and with a shorter day of 60 miles, all of the team made it into the stayover in Wells, Nevada early in the afternoon. Many of us spent our extra time working on our bikes, taking naps, and having picnics. We’re looking forward to a great downhill tomorrow, but you never know what the Nevada desert has in store for you.

A Stung Pride

Riding your bike across the country can teach you a lot of things you never knew about yourself. You get to know your limits and how you can go much farther than you think you can. You learn how to sleep anywhere, for any period of time. You learn how much food you can eat before you get to the “Oh-god-I’m-so-full-I-can’t-even-sleep-because-it-hurts-so-bad” point. You learn how strong you can be and also how quickly that strength can be taken away by the simplest of things. I didn’t discover the last bit until a few days ago.It happened on one of our more interesting days. It was a 50-mile day, which is easy enough, but we were faced with a mountain between us and our destination. But even mountains aren’t a huge problem. What made it difficult were the gigantic rocks covering the road. We had to walk our bikes a mile and a half up to the top because we couldn’t ride over the rocks, only to discover that the downhill was a dirt road for two miles. So after our lunch stop, it was back to walking our bikes. It was during this slow-going decline, that I had the one of the most terrifying encounter in my life with the Bombus aggressiveness, more widely known as the common bumblebee.Yes that’s right, I’m talking about those fat little fellows you see pollenating your garden. Those big, round, happy things that just mind their own business as they tend to the flowers. I’m convinced this one was different. I think it was planning to kill me.It started its attack by flying straight into one of the vents on my helmet and pinning itself against my head and protective headgear. The vibrations of its angered attempt at flight caused me to drop my bike and throw the helmet off my head.“What is it? What’s wrong?” Greg, one of my teammates, asked.“There was a bee in my helmet.” I shrieked.“How do you know that?”“Because I felt it buzzing in my hair!” I stand there trying to calm myself down from the sudden encounter. It’s no big deal, really. My grandparents keep bees, and my grandpa would tell me, “Bees are some of the most curious creatures in the world. They’re not gonna hurt you, they’ll just fly up, take a good look, and fly off on their business. They’ll only get ya if you threaten the hive.” Well, I didn’t see a beehive around, so I have nothing to fear, right?Wrong. Within seconds, I hear its angry buzzing, the sound of its thorax muscles vibrating at 200 times per second, faster than any nerve cell can fire. The insect circles my head, and I dance around, trying to rid myself of the pest. It lands on my leg, I brush it away. It flies by my ear and I swat at it. The buzzing stops. Great, it’s gone. Nope. I look down at my hand to see the little booger burying itself under my glove. I let out a squeal of panic as I tear my glove off my hand.“It’s in my glove.” I scream, stomping on my blue Pearl Izumis. I hear the buzzing again.Elyssa calls out, “I don’t see it. Are you sure it’s still around?” How could they not see it?! It was everywhere. I’d turn to my side, and there it was, just chilling on my hip. I swat at it and it disappears, but the buzzing continues. I blink, and it’s burrowing into my other glove. That one gets torn off to join its sister on the ground. The buzzing continues. I tear my hat off and swing it around blindly in an attempt to knock the bee out of its flight. Maybe I’m going crazy. Yeah, that’s it. There is no bumblebee. I’m just hallucinating. The heat must have gotten to me, and now I’ve dancing like a lunatic, running back and forth in a wild attempt to rid myself of this imaginary insect, as my teammates watch with incredible confusion. I just need to calm down. I come to a standstill and take several deep breaths. No buzzing. I laugh to myself. Wow, what an idiot I was. I continue to laugh as I put my hat back on my head. There, right in the brim of the hat, was that demonic bumblebee. It turns to face me and says, “’Sup bro.”I shriek. It’s a shriek that belongs to a victim of a gruesome murder. Its sound bounces of the rocks around me. I throw my hat as far as I can and take off sprinting in the opposite direction down the hill, still laughing maniacally. I swing my arms around, blindly flailing at the winged terror that assaults my eardrums with its incessant buzzing. There it is again on my arm. I start running yet again, this time uphill. I’m running in circles. I begin to slow, my energy drained from the three minute long panic attack. My soul shatters. I’m done. I give up. This bee can have whatever it wants. I’m too exhausted and destroyed to take another step. Tears begin to fall and I stop, lie on the ground, pull my knees to chest, put my arms around my head, curl up in a ball and begin to shake. Any respect or dignity I had is gone. I’ve lost the game. I’ve been reduced to a sobbing, curled up shell of a person because of this bumblebee. Somewhere, I hear the sound of shoes on gravel, but I don’t have time to process what that means. I’m too busy flinching from each crescendo of buzzing as the bee circles around my head. I hear a quiet smack.“There, I got it. It’s okay Rebekah. It’s gone.” Greg says, trying to calm me down.“Is it dead?” I manage to cry out between sobs.“Yeah. It’s dead. It’s right there, see?” I look between my fingers at the small body lying in the dirt. There it was, lifeless, harmless, and insignificant. “It was a slow bee.” He adds.I sniffle, stand up, and try to pull myself together. I walk over, still hyperventilating, to pick up my things. I pick my bike off the ground, turn to my teammates, and say, “Let’s go.”It’s another ten minutes before I can laugh about it. It’s stupid. I was destroyed by bumblebee. I know I’m never going to live this down. And I had done so well the past fifty days. I had been strong; I had climbed mountains without a complaint, fought my way through fierce headwinds, and earned the respect of my teammates. And now, that image had been destroyed, all thanks to a single bumblebee. I know God has a way of keeping me humble, but I often wish it wasn’t in such embarrassing ways.

Racing Across the Salt Flats

Today, the team had an early wake up to get a jump on our 95 mile day from Grantsville to Wendover, UT. Despite the long distance, the flat terrain and tailwinds made the day relatively easy. Towards the end of our trip, we passed through the Bonneville Salt Flats, made famous by the land speed records broken there. With the recent rain, the water and salt looked like ice and snow. Since this is new territory in I4K history, everyone is excited to be the first ones to experience it. We’d like to thank ABC Pastries and Richard Schuh for providing dinner for the team tonight. We’d also like to thank Wendover High School for hosting us this evening. The team is excited to see what Nevada, our second to last state, has to throw at us!

A Long Way to the Top

Today's 53 miles ride took us from Salt Lake City to Grantsville, UT. Some of us on the team were nervous for today's ride because of the tremendous climb to the flattop mountain, part of the Oquirrh mountain range in Utah. The climb to the mountain top was very steep, and the team anticipated a longer day even though the ride was shorter than our usual days.  Another element that we did not anticipate made our climb even more challenging: gravel on the road. The road was filled with gravel to the point that we had to hop off our bikes and walk the majority of the way. Even the cars that passed us on their way to the top seemed to have difficulty driving over the large rocks that littered the way. However, the picturesque view from the top made it all worth it, displaying  mountains beyond mountains all around. Most of us got to our stayover for the night at 5 in the evening and were fortunate to have our hosts from Grantsville High School provide us with some bread and fruit for dinner. Some of our teammates also bought some cactus leaves and tomatillos from a local supermarket for dinner tonight to add on to our usual palate consisting of lentils and spaghetti . Hopefully this will prepare us well for our 90 mile ride tomorrow.

Just 2 Days in Idaho

I was blown away by the immense love and support we received while in Idaho. On our ride in, we recieved good news after good news. At our first rest stop, 20 miles in, after climbing the Teton Pass and entering Idaho, we'd be stopping at a gas station/ cafe, and the owner was donating our lunch, a sandwich, chips, a cookie, and drink. This much needed meal was so much appreciated and helped us carry on to our next rest stop, where we would find out that our stay over was making us tacos! They'd be providing us with showers, pool, hot tub, and sauna access, as well. Idaho Falls certainly did not disappoint.The following day, we headed South to Pocatello, Idaho. At one of rest stops, a generous woman opened up her cafe for us to use the bathrooms. she also gave us cookies the size of our heads. They were so good. Upon arrival in Pocatello, we met some incredible people. They immediately shuttled us to Idaho State University for showers, and they left some great post ride snacks out for us. Pocatello has one of the largest cancer support groups in the country. It was amazing to meet some of the people in the group and sit in on one of their meetings. These people have not let cancer take over their lives. Their stories and outlooks were inspiring, and I am so glad to have met them.

Onward to Idaho

From Cody, we made our way into Yellowstone National Park, where we would be spending 2 days. The ride was a long and hot 80 miles. Upon entering the park, we made about a 3 mile climb to the top, to look out over Yellowstone Lake and the beautiful expansive park. After a day of no cell service, I was excited to reach the top and call my parents to share the experience with them. The day and climb were long and hard, but we made it to our campsite and enjoyed a spaghetti dinner cooked over a fire while celebrating Heather’s birthday.The following day, I decided to spend the day relaxing at the campsite. I slept in and enjoyed the day and surrounding nature. The park was gorgeous and filled with wildlife; a buffalo was resting just feet from our tent site.Our ride the next morning started out in the freezing cold. The team huddled together to warm up before the ride. It was almost difficult to breathe, because we were so high up and it was so brisk. I bundled up in all of my cold weather gear – arm and leg warmers and my rain jacket. As we descended the mountain, the views were breathtaking. The fact that Yellowstone is a major attraction became apparent as we were descending and counting the states represented by license plates. It was exciting to see so many far off tourists from all across America enjoying Yellowstone.Atop the mountain, we met an incredible family of an inspiring cancer survivor, Sam. Sam is 14 years old and two years cancer free. He suffered from a sarcoma in his leg bones. His advice to other kids with cancer is to, “eat a lot and stay strong.” His family was a pleasure to meet and just the motivation we needed to continue riding.On the ride, we entered the Grand Teton Nation Forest, which was absolutely beautiful. The mountain ranges are unlike anything I have ever seen before. Along the mountains, we battled some tough headwinds, but we were so excited to arrive in Jacksonhole, Wyoming.Jackson is essentially a valley, surrounded by mountains on every side. It is an adorable, touristy ski town. I wish I had the opportunity to spend more time there. I hope to return at some point. From Jackson onward, we forge unknown territory. Our route is all new to I4K. The 2013 team is the first to experience it. That morning we set out on what will likely be, for me, at least, the hardest climb of our ride. We climbed 12 miles up the Teton Pass, about a 10% grade and 4,000 feet of elevation to the top. It was such an accomplishment to reach the top of the pass. That Saturday morning, a friend of mine, Jackie Hudzinski, got married. Her father passed away from a rare stomach cancer about 5 years ago. He was a big part of our family's life, as he coached my sister in softball for about 8 years. I dedicated my ride to the Hudzinski family. His battle was one of my first experiences with this terrible disease. Knowing his fight helped me push my way up the mountains.The downhill afterward led us into Idaho! I never thought I'd find myself in Idaho for any reason at all. However, I am so glad our journey led us there, because the team was blessed with good news after good news and surprise after surprise! 

Salt Lake City Event Day

Salt Lake City has proven to be an oasis in the desert state of Utah. With temperatures exceeding 100 degrees and no shade in sight, it looked like Utah was going to be rough. Fortunately, our stay over at the Newman Center at the University of Utah is an air-conditioned godsend, especially on an event day. Most of us can’t remember the last time we got over 6 hours of sleep, but boy was it glorious to not be woken up by the mind-numbing drone of 22 individual alarms. Our event day took us to the Huntsman Cancer Institute just off the University of Utah’s campus where we meet with three researchers who were beneficiaries of Damon Runyon Research Grants. We discussed research triumphs and ideas over tacos while meeting the future of cancer research. It was incredibly inspiring and motivating to meet the researchers who are using our hard earned fundraising dollars directly. After a brief tour of their labs and an invitation to visit next year, we ventured back into the Utah sun.Our last week of travel has been marked by a pungent odor that I can only assume has been the direct product of hard biking, sweat, and camping. Luckily, there was a laudromat within walking distance and the team was able to round out the afternoon and evening by doing some laundry and checking out some local college town eateries. (Emphasis on the oreo cheesecake shake and bacon bleu cheese burgers at B & D burgers). Concluding a brief team meeting and a shocking realization that we have less than 1000 miles left in our journey, we all relish the air conditioning at the Newman Center knowing full well that the unforgiving heat and sun await us tomorrow.

Not Too Hot to Handle

We started the day off with the morning Mosher, where the team sat in a circle and gave the person to our right a back massage. On top of that, we had to tell the person who was sitting in front of us what we liked about them. Definitely a great way to start off our trip on Day 52! We rode out from crystal springs campground outside of Logan, and headed towards Salt Lake City. There, we will be having a day off from biking and will be hosted by one of our beneficiaries Damon Runyon at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. In comparison to the rides we did in the past week, our 75 mile ride was a breeze without any major headwinds and climbs and a beautiful bike trail. On the other hand, there was barely any breeze to cool us off on our way to Salt Lake City. As we head further out west, we have been hearing from people we meet along the way tell us of the extreme heat that we will be experiencing as we get closer to Nevada. That will probably mean more rest stops along the way while biking to keep ourselves hydrated in the scorching heat. In the meantime, the team is looking forward to having a well rested day in the city before continuing on our summer journey.

Bikes, Bibs, and Braaaaiiiins....

Early wakeup. Those two words that you dread hearing the night before a 100+ mile day. As soon as you hear it, your mind begins racing and you ask yourself: “If I fell asleep at this exact moment, how many hours of sleep would I get?” Usually, the answer ain’t pretty. The great food, showers, and atmosphere that Good Shepherd Lutheran Church provided will never be forgotten, but most of us would like to forget the exact moment when our alarms woke us up into a zombie-like state. Fortunately, we were fed a hearty breakfast and with a hearty helping of Chuck Norris facts during our morning Mosher, we were off into the great valley that we had descended into not 12 hours earlier. The wind came from the NNW, but because of the funneling ability of the valley, we fought headwinds for the first 30 miles. I’d venture to believe that nothing is harder than headwinds. One of our rider's even said that she’d rather climb the Big Horn Mountain again.Once the headwinds finally subsided we made great time for the rest of the day after briefly taking shelter in a Burger King as a hailstorm passed over our heads. Now, most of us are fans of camping, but maybe just not after a 106 mile day. Luckily, the weather continued to cooperate and we were able to stay dry throughout the day and night. We’re only one day away from a much needed rest day. Onward.

Wow Wyoming

After leaving Gillette, WY, we continued westward to Buffalo, WY. We met some amazing people there who fed us a great dinner and shared with us their stories about living with cancer.We woke up the following morning to conquer the Big Horn Mountains. I was so nervous for the climb we had literally been talking about since Day 1. In 35 miles, we climbed over 4,000 feet of elevation. It was so difficult to keep the pedals moving at a slow average of 5-6 miles per hour. It was a slow morning, but when we finally made it to the peak of the mountain, we were greeted by Greg in a bear suit, peanut butter jelly sandwiches, cold winds, and a gorgeous view. We rested there and enjoyed our major accomplishment knowing the downhill soon awaited us.At the top of the mountain, our arm warmers, leg warmers, jackets, and gloves went on, as we got ready to descend the mountain.  There were signs that warned of the 18 mile downhill and the grade of elevation loss. We were excited to say the least. The winding downhill was terrifying, but unbelievably beautiful. The surrounding canyon made for a gorgeous and relaxing ride after a tedious uphill. Finally, we arrived at our camp site for the night, showered in the creek, ate sandwiches, made smores, and enjoyed a night of no service or internet with the team.From there, we headed to Greybull, Wyoming. It was a 57 mile ride, and it seemed to fly, considering it was a shorter ride in comparison to previous days. We really enjoyed the open road and tailwind. The following day was a similar 53 mile day that led us in to Cody, Wyoming.  I have heard so much about Cody the past few years, as it is the summer home of a professor of mine. Fortunately, while in Cody, I got to spend some time with that professor, Terri Russ, at one of her favorite local spots. After a great dinner and square dance lesson from the church, I headed to The Dollar to meet Terri and Jamie. I truly appreciated the support and generosity in showing me some Cody livin’ – such a memorable night!

Incredible Idaho

Today we were lucky enough to have a late wakeup at 7:30 AM, which was well needed after a rough couple of days. The ride today wasn’t too long--we only had about 52 miles to cover to reach Pocatello, ID. We were faced with some headwinds, but we were able to refuel at our lunch stop when a café owner donated a bunch of cookies to the team!Before we reached our stay over location, some of the riders came across a car wash, which was being held to raise money for cancer research. When we stopped to talk to the people working the car wash, we discovered that the fundraiser was being held for a cancer patient who was a father, grandfather, brother, and friend to those working at the car wash. We were thrilled to meet this family since we were able to conduct a portrait and help with their car wash.Once we made it to our stay over location, we were greeted with welcoming arms by the members of the Good Shepard Lutheran Church. They shuttled us to Idaho State University so that we could shower and then they cooked us a delicious dinner. We are so thankful for their generosity. In addition to their hospitality, they also introduced us to their cancer support group and the entire team was deeply moved by the stories and advice that these wonderful individuals gave us. We collected several remarkable portraits from members of the support group. We will never forget our stay in Pocatello, ID and we look forward to telling future riders about one of the most memorable moments of our I4K journey!