Today's ride was dedicated to Ellen's cousin, a survivor of childhood leukemia. Now he is 18 and there is a Relay for Life team in his name called Josh's Jurassic Joggers. His county is one of the top fundraisers. Today as we rode out of Dinosaur National Monument, we remembered his love for dinosaurs and his fight because he doesn't want any other kids to have to go through what he did. We also rode in memory of Grace's friend's father who passed away in the second week of the ride from pancreatic cancer. The memorial service is today.The climb out of the campsite was tough. We knew as we rode down steep hills for 12 miles yesterday that it would be difficult to get out, and it was. As we rode out of the prehistoric-sculpted desert laced with rivers and oases, the terrain changed to look more like Utah. Reddish hues of rock jutted out of the brush, and the road extended into the infinite horizon. Clouds are hard to come by in this desolate land. The weather is upper 90's... With a RealFeel temp of 107... So it was a hard day. We took rest stops every 18 miles, but still the heat was oppressive.We got into Dinosaur, then crossed the Utah border - state #13! So far what we know of Utah is many deadwhite-tailed prairie dogs, an unbearable heat that saps all energy, and a whole lot of roadside trash - ideas for Secret Santa? Also, the road is pretty horrible (bumpy and small shoulder) and there was a headwind. But we survived.Here we are at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, and there is a shower and wifi! Vernal is actually more obsessed with dinosaurs than the town of Dinosaur itself. There are giant sculptures everywhere in Vernal. However, each street in Dinosaur is named after a different dinosaur. Tough competition.In Vernal, we got a portrait from the brother of a woman we met at the visitor's center in Jensen. Susan's father had a rare incurable tumor on his face. He survived as doctors used his case to come up with a cure for others diagnosed with his condition. Susan's brother, Michael, and his wife Aleta came to Vernal to tell about how his father taught him a lot of things before he passed away from colon cancer. Michael learned to be a giving person and that if we were all givers, the world would be a better place. He said to make as many memories as possible.Fun fact of the day: so far on this trip, we have climbed 17 miles in height. Additional fun fact: we are now in the Colorado Plateaus ecoregion, which is a high desert. This means it is very hot.
Found My Chamois
After about 2500 miles I, Joshua Ian Weisberg, have discovered that I have indeed been wearing my shorts much too low, confirming the observations of the rest of my team. Yesterday, for the first time, I actually sat on my Chamois, rather than on the section just above the padding. After pulling my shorts up, I discovered that the chamois actually does add significant comfort to bicycle riding. Then yesterday at a pit stop in Maybell, Colorado, I met Nancy, a mother of 5 who had two kids diagnosed with Cancer. After conducting a portrait with her, I realized the height at which I wear my shorts is not important, and I would ride 2500 miles more for her an her kids without a chamois.
A Conjunction of Groans Simulating the Way in Which David Walder Has an Existential Crisis While Viewing the Hundreds of Dead Rabbits on the side of US-40
UggggghSo much deathBlehhhhhRaaghh
Day 42
This morning, we dedicated today's ride to a University of Illinois journalist's cousin, Luke. He died a few years ago at age 9 from leukemia to be exact. If you would be interested in dedicating a ride to a loved one who has fought cancer, contact one of the riders and we will be happy to ride for that individual on any given day.Today we biked into a desert... Colorado showed us some heat for our century. It was hot enough to melt peanut butter and toast our sandwiches. Through the smothering heat, we rode US-40 out of Steamboat Springs. Although the ride started off with a lot of downhill, it gradually transitioned to huge rolling bluffs including several steep 2-mile climbs. The views were incredible! We celebrated our "Every Day Is a Holiday July" as Cinco de Mayo today by eating Taco Bell in the town of Craig. The manager was very kind and gave us discounts and a donation because his wife had survived cancer last year.Logistically, Connor and Walder booked it to the campsite (Deerlodge) this morning to get a few sites for our tents. Walder stayed at Dinosaur National Monument all day, and Connor drove back to meet us at Craig. In Maybell, all of our groups were together (such small gap for a century!) and we met Nancy, whose sons had been diagnosed with cancer. Chip was born with a tumor in his heart and died at age 13 from a brain tumor, and Scott survived lymphoma. Nancy had a positive outlook and told us she believes we are all connected as brothers and sisters in humanity.Arriving at the campsite, some of us swam in the quickly-flowing river (Blake was all about that flow rate), enjoying skipping stones and watching Josh swim in his upstream "treadmill." Anna and Shiqi made us dinner - possibly the most important team job. The evening disappeared quickly and we all went to tents to escape the mosquitos. What a fun, long day! Tomorrow we leave Dinosaur National Monument and head to a new state.
Firework in Steamboat
Yesterday it hit me, for the first time, that we had actually ridden to Colorado from New York City. I still can’t tell if it’s been a long time or no time at all. Several times on this trip I’ve just felt like a plastic bag drifting through the wind, being swept from one coast to the other and not being able to experience the journey, just wanting to start again.But starting again isn’t an option at this point. Sometimes this team feels like a house of cards; one blow from caving in. Tensions have been high, but ever since crossing the Missouri each day has been better than the last.For the first time, we went several days with no phone service. Not being able to get in touch with anybody was an experience that showed that we were really in the west, like being buried deep, six feet under when you scream and no-one hears a thing.But if there’s anything this trip has taught me, it’s that there’s still a chance. All the people that we’ve talked to have a spark in them, and they just have to ignite that light and let it shine. When it happens, then they can own the night like the Fourth of July.Speaking of the Fourth of July, yesterday was the Fourth of July. Independence Day in Steamboat Springs starts with a parade at 10am, mostly cowboys and a few marching bands, though there were a few gems – namely a team of older women dancing with chainsaws. They made the parade feel like it wasn’t a waste of space. It was very original and couldn’t be replaced by any other act. After the parade was a barbecue and a trip to hot springs. After the springs came the fireworks show, accompanied by a lightning show. The rain was tough, but we have to remember what the future holds – after a hurricane comes a rainbow.Between the hot springs and the fireworks, we attempted to re-enter the stayover to watch the show but found it locked. Maybe we’re the reason why all the doors are closed, and we just had to open one that could lead us to the perfect road. This door led us to a street corner on the Yampa River a few blocks away from the stayover, where we watched the firework show.Regardless of the stayover setbacks, this has probably been the biggest culture shock of my life. We’ve been going through the west for a while now, but I never really stopped to experience the culture. And just like the lightning bolts outside, my heart will blow and when it’s time I’ll know that we just have to ignite the light inside all of us and let it shine. Then we can own the night like the Fourth of July in Steamboat. Because we’re all fireworks and we are showing the whole country what we’re worth. I4K is even brighter than the moon.Boom. Boom. Boom.
Day 41
Happy Fourth of July! We got to sleep in an extra hour. Today we awoke to a less-frigid Colorado, yet with light rain and hoards of mosquitoes. Yet nothing could get in our way of a fabulous day with the incredible descents Rabbit Ears Pass had in store for us. Before heading out into the gravel road to leave our campsite, we did the ride dedication. Today's ride was in memory of Isalia's cousin.The first 8 miles were rolling hills. Then we saw the beautiful sign we had been waiting for: "Trucks shift to low gear. Steep grade next 7 miles." Rather than shift down, we got into the big chainring and did not pedal for the next few minutes... It did not take long to descend the mountain, but in that time, we saw some of the most beautiful scenery of the entire trip. Looking down upon the beautiful valley below, we flew past several cyclists climbing on the opposite side of the road and were simply glad to be riding downhill for the day. The end of the ride was mostly flat into town, along bike paths to avoid the parade route. We headed straight to the parade, which was full of chainsaws, horses, and bicycles.The rest of the day was spent almost as a rest day: we ate lunch (including free hot dogs from the church), showered and swam at the hot springs, and we wandered around the beautiful downtown. Bike shops and souvenir stores were entertainment as the day went by and we went out to dinner before the fireworks show. The fireworks on the mountain were great! We accompanied them with our own music, including Firework by Katy Perry. Here we are at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, trying to sleep despite the loud celebratory booms going on outside. What a great place to be on the 4th! We truly appreciate everything that this country is to us... And how much more we have learned to love it in the past few months together. God bless America!
Day 40
Happy I4Birthday to Josh! Each day we have a different holiday or random rider "birthday"... It's entertaining. We woke up in "Cold-arado" to temperatures in the low 40s. Pulling out warm clothes we have never worn on this trip, we bundled up and downed warm bowls of oatmeal. Today's ride was dedicated to Shiqi's grandfather who passed away from cancer. She is riding in his memory.We took off this morning only to immediately take off all our wintery layers of clothing at the summit of Cameron Pass. Today we made I4K history by reaching the highest point at 10,276 feet. The original route (before van issues) had us climbing to 12,000 feet... I think we are all okay with not reaching that ridiculous elevation; it was hard enough as is. We reached the summit and were rewarded with the most beautiful decent ever: rounding a corner, giant snow-capped mountains loomed before us, and we flew down the hills, delighted by the wonderful Colorado terrain. This descent brought us down to around 8,000 feet of elevation into the basin known as North Park. There we found ourselves briefly in civilization in the town of Walden. The people there were very nice and interested to hear about our trip. We rode through rolling hills up to the Continental Divide, which we ended up crossing twice. The last few miles were reminiscent of yesterday's difficult climb to the end. We also happened to be camping at around 9,000 feet as we did yesterday.Once we made our way to Dumont Lake, we had tent parties and generally just napped off the hard day. One of the best parts of today was some of our camping neighbors cheering for the last group as we rolled in. It was heartwarming and just what we needed at the end of a difficult day. We also needed dinner... hot dogs, grapes, and Ryan's tasty baked beans. The night ended with a dance party, celebrating the fact that it must be all downhill from here to San Francisco... Right?In other news, we were emailed by Beverly Erickson from the Bridgeport News-Blade who wrote an article about us a few days ago. The website can be found here. We hope to be able to post the full article soon.
Days 37, 38, & 39
This blog was posted a day late because no internet access... yay camping! :)We have been enjoying the wonderful state of Colorado! In Fort Collins, we took two rest days while we awaited the return of our beloved van, the "Silver Bullet." On Monday, the Alumni Club of Boulder brought us out to dinner. Jaime Kelleher, 2010 and 2012 rider, kindly treated us all to Coopersmith's. We were also joined by another alum. During our rest days, we made it to Ben & Jerry's, various grocery stores, the laundromat, Fort Collins Club for numerous showers, and coffee shops. It was super chill and a number of riders had family and friends visit. We travelled places, baked cookies, and cooked meals. Walder picked up the van on Tuesday and we all rejoiced its return. We also celebrated the first holiday of "Every Day Is a Holiday July": April Fools Day in July. Yesterday came to a close and we all rested up and drank ridiculous amounts of water for a new phase of riding: the Rocky Mountains.This morning, Josh's parents brought us Panera bagels. We also had cookies donated by Jeff's parents and some bananas from Bill who met us at the church. His wife made wonderful rice crispy treats for us on Monday. We had a lot to be thankful for as we left LifePointe today. They hosted us for three nights, and generously provided space and a kitchen for that time. We left Fort Collins preparing to climb high into the mountains. Alex dedicated today's ride to her grandmother who passed away three years ago after battling breast cancer.Riding into the beautiful mountains which have been sitting west of us for days - enticing, menacing, beautiful - was exciting. We knew we had a lot of climbing ahead of us, but the average grade was less than 3%, so it really didn't seem very bad. Compared with the steep grades of Appalachia, this was hardly uphill at all. It helped that CO-14, the road we took today and will be on for the next several days, follows the Cache la Poudre River for most of its length, so the climb was gradual. Today was by far the most beautiful day of the ride (okay I'm biased because I love mountains), but we had to ride in small groups of 3-4 to be safe on the winding roads. Towards the end, some of us definitely noticed the altitude. The shortness of breath was not just due to the climbing, although the grade did increase towards the end. Never forget rule #2: the stayover is always on top of a hill. On top of the maximum 9,000 feet elevation for today, we were attacked by evil biting flies for the last five miles. It came as a relief to arrive at Chambers Lake Campground and get a campfire going to escape the swarms of bugs.Here at the campsite, we hiked around and had stretching parties. Dinner was spaghetti followed with Ryan's incredibly yummy refried beans. Grace and Isalia got s'mores supplies for the group and we had a fun time with the varying philosophies on how marshmallows should be cooked. Bedtime when camping is always at sunset. We are now in bear country, so we had to be careful to throw all the food in the van.So in conclusion, Colorado is a pretty awesome place and high altitude is cool and survivable!Happy I4Birthday to Isalia!! (It's part of the holidays in July thing)
Day 36
Day 36 = halfway through the ride day-wise. Today was a glorious day of downhill... and no winds! We left Cheyenne after oatmeal without brown sugar. Eric's girlfriend's grandpa Papa Bob was diagnosed with skin cancer this summer. Rather than being able to enjoy time in Michigan with family, he is going through treatment this summer. Today's ride is dedicated to Papa Bob.Chased by alpaca, we rode into Fort Collins, Colorado - our 12th state. We arrived at LifePointe Church ready for a rest day. In 36 days, we have only had 3 rest days. Fort Collins Club let us shower for free, too.Due to unforeseen complications, our van is still in Cheyenne and will not be available until Tuesday afternoon. Because of this, we will be staying one extra day in Fort Collins - thank you LifePointe for being flexible! We will be camping in Chamber's Lake Campground and Dumont Campground. Then we will arrive in Steamboat Springs as planned, back on schedule. No blog the next few days; see you on the bike for Day 39!
Entering the Final 3rd of I4k
At this point I believe we are two thirds done with the ride. In mileage and in days we are only halfway, but I call Fort Collins 2/3. We had about 20 days before Chicago, making that the first mental hurdle to surpass. Now we had just under 20 from Chicago to the end of our rest days in Fort Collins, which I have just now dubbed the "farm hurdle." From here on out, we have about 30 days, but its the final 30 days and 30 days of awesome mountain riding. Has it gone by fast? I couldn't tell ya. Last I knew I was crossing the George Washington Bridge with 20 Clif Bars in my bag. I pedaled a couple times and found myself riding up to the bean with 1 clif bar in my bag. Then we left Chicago and I had 20 more clif bars. I woke up this morning and now I have 0 clif bars. Clif Bars are how I keep track of time. They also signify how tired I am. I finished my last one this morning, rode 55 miles, and now I can not move from my parents hotel room bed. That is where I am right now. I will not move until there are 20 more clif bars in my bag. At that point we will head West for more adventure. Golden Gate, Ill see ya in 20 Clif Bars!!https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Tzm6TEManmQ
A Quick Comment on the Scenery
Today a dark smudge appeared on the horizon. This shadowy smear resolved itself into a mountain range to the south. As we agonizingly pushed one pedal stroke after another at 8 mph (see blog post Day 35 on homepage), my spirits were suddenly lifted and I cried out in joy! At last the mountains are near! And finally we will be able to enjoy the beautiful scenery of Colorado, the state I've been waiting for since last visiting sophomore year of high school.That's all for now; I look forward to some good rest in Fort Collins!
Day 35
This morning, two teammates woke up to double flats.... So that means that including yesterday we officially used one-third of our team tubes in one day. This is also known as the "tube-pocalyse." Thanks Nebraska for all the thorns everywhere in the road! Isalia dedicated today's ride to a friend who died at age 15 from cancer.Nobody ever said that biking across the country would be easy. This was never truer than riding 65 miles into a horrific headwind of over 20 mph. We fought that along with a gradual uphill elevation gain of 1,300 feet into Cheyenne (which is the only city over 50,000 people in the least populous state). At mile 20, we left the windy land of Nebraska and entered the windier state of Wyoming. This is state #11 for our team. Tumbleweeds tumbled by us in true western fashion, fleeing the west coast we so desperately seek out. As we drafted towards shelter from the wind, we took rest stops in various places, including an eccentric-looking house about 10 miles out of Cheyenne. At Melvin Gould's house, we received donations and also got a tour of a number of handmade cars and nifty machines including a 6-person bicycle. The grandmother in the house was a 3-time cancer survivor. One of the better moments today was cresting a hill and seeing the entire city of Cheyenne laid out before our eyes. Then the first groups headed to Rock On Cycle, the local bike shop. They helped with bike repairs by becoming a Trek Care Plus store, and we also bought lots of brake pads and tubes there. The service was excellent and everyone is so friendly!First United Methodist Church was flexible about our groups arriving at different times than expected, and showed us great hospitality with showers, wifi, and a kitchen. We made spaghetti and a group headed off to Baskin Robins for a late-night great. Funny thing, 10:00 is considered late... This summer has been a bit of a change of pace for us college students!
THOUGHTS FROM THE NEBRASKAN PANHANDLE
As of today, the team has ridden half of the total milage for the entire trip, and as such, I figured that I should write about some of the fun facts that I've learned along the way.1) The state of New York was first founded by swamp people in the summer of 1728. A Great War broke out in 1812, the British made a pact with the swamp people that if they defended the land, they would receive a generous reward. However, the war was lost, and thus, Manhattan was born.2) New Jersey has no department of transportation. As a result, the spaces where roads would be located are full of hobbit holes and small ponds.3) Sleep is a necessity and naps are a double necessity.4) Obama only eats breakfast at Pamela's in Pittsburgh.5) West Virginia was caught in a similar strife as New York. Not swamp people, but groundhogs this time. They first discovered the land in 1833, but after a hit single was written in the early 1970s, the state became flooded with people. There is still retaliation to this day by the now dwindling groundhog empire.6) Ohio may be for lovers, but it tried to kill me, and then make me get lost, then feed me great food. I'm rather indifferent about the state. All that I do know is that the one and only Christopher Columbus discovered it after sailing the ocean blue in 1492, on the USS Enterprise. He offloaded his moving company, Mayflower, and drove across the not yet New England territories and made final camp in Ohio.7) You can never eat too much food, especially when you have to ride 113 miles, and have just eaten two mini pizzas, a chocolate milk, and a Cocacola.8) It is possible to reach Indianapolis from any distance before 12:01 in the afternoon as long as you make a hashtag for it. #indybynoon9) The grand city of Chicago is named after the Chicago style of pizza, and is also the greatest city in the country.10) The Driftless Area was an installation of rumble strips on highway of discovery. Being lesser cosmic beings, we see them as mere rolling hills, and a nuisance to cyclists.11) Pizza Ranch is always a good idea. Pizza Ranch round two is almost always a good idea.12) Storm Lake, Iowa was named as such after the great Native American Buffalo farmer fought off the largest tsunami in history. It was sent as the cowboy's final resort in the Cowboy and Indian conflict of 1976. The only way to defeat such a catastrophic event was to bring it down from the sky, and into a conveniently placed lakebed below. Storm Lake is now the premier spring break destination for all ages. A tsunami has never formed over land since then.12) When camping, all of nature arrives to your campsite as if it were the Ark and another great flood was coming. All of nature then precedes to sing opera throughout the night, begging for your attention while you are attempting to slumber peacefully.13) Nebraska has hurricanes.
Day 34
We awoke to the smell of bacon this morning! The Evangelical Free Church of Alliance kindly provided us a breakfast of blueberry pancakes, egg casseroles, and toast. The ride dedication was for Kathy, Patty, and Brad from yesterday's combined portrait. These women who have battled cancer are so brave and have worked together to contribute back to their community. Together, these locals have formed a support group called Jane's Closet that provides rides for rural residents fighting cancer to get to cancer centers in cities, most of which are hours away by car.Today is known as the day we got a dozen flats, mostly due to "tree nails." People showed us great hospitality on today's 97-mile ride. (Not a century!) In Angora, the postmistress let us use her house for the bathroom and brought out some cookies. At Cenex gas station in Bridgeport, we were able to fill our coolers with ice water. Those were the only two towns we went by during today's ride, so there were few places to stay when the storm hit. Our groups were scattered throughout the route when we had to stop to avoid being pelted with rain and hail. All of our groups safely avoided the weather in locations including houses, horse trailers, and garages. A special thanks goes out to the Nebraskans who helped us today! We then used the van to shuttle riders back and forth to the stayover because the storm system was too big to wait it out. Nebraska showed us its most beautiful landscape today: craggy rocks jutting out of the rolling fields of wheat and cattle; constantly morphing clouds and sun; and glorious downhills into the expansive plains and plateaus. We like Nebraska a lot.Today's arrival in Kimball marked the halfway point of the ride, 2268 miles. We finally all were together at Kimball High School, where we had showers, washing machines, and a kitchen for making dinner and breakfast. Jeff called to get a donation of 4 pizzas from Java Blend. So in summary, not much happened today... It was totally boring and average. Enjoy the epic photo below!
Quality before quantity.
(Due to limited internet access this us posted a day late.)Tonight we are in Alliance, Nebraska. We have spent the last several days traveling on US-20, right next to The Cowboy Trail. I've always heard that Nebraska isn't that exciting and pretty empty, but I have come to love it. So far it is my favorite state. We've ridden through flat grassy fields with extreme headwinds, cruised through the beautiful Sandhills region, and seen the Buttes (we called them the butts of course). I love the stretches of grassy fields and slight rolling hills which are similar but unlike the stretches of crops at home.But, this post isn't about the ride this time, though there is always more to tell about that. This post is about the reason we do this - to collect and share the stories from any who have an experience with cancer.We just did a portrait with three people who had come to have dinner with us at the church. One of the women said that she will never really be in remission. She must always be on the watch and go through chemotherapy when needed and remaining time is really unknown. Her personality, strength, and love for family reminded me of my grandma who also had breast cancer.What really touched me were a few things her husband said. One was that you should still make plans. How can you plan a vacation a year on advance when you've got this cancer situation going on? You still plan it, he said. And if the plans need to change, you change them, and it's not a big deal. You keep going on. You keep living. He said that all you need to remember is faith, hope, and love.One of the last things he mentioned was that quality is much more important than quantity, and that really stuck with me. Along the same lines, his wife said that she realized what was really important in life after she was diagnosed, and that everything else could be thrown away.No matter the time we have left with one another, we can make it great. If we focus on the quality of life rather than how much money we have or how much time we have or how many belongings we have, we will find so much more reward. So many people say that they want to make the most of every single day and live life to the fullest, but I think few really succeed. I am thankful for this ride and these portraits which have made me realize even more how precious our time is and how we can be positive and cherish the right things. So many of the things we hold dear are so disposable and so trivial. We waste so much time on social media and we spend hours shopping for things we don't need and we are often selfish. We need to look up from our phones and computers. We need to foster relationships and take care of them. We need to put our hearts and our actions into things that we care about and things that can make a difference.The portrait tonight reminded me of why we are here - why we tire ourselves out and push against headwinds and climb mountains and pedal on even when random body parts start to seriously hurt (again, the butts....).We think of each day as a number. That number gets closer and closer to our total of 71 each day, and the number of miles we've ridden keeps racking up. But it's not these quantities that matter at all. Each day is another journey and another chance for us to grow personally and touch the lives of others, even if it's just one person per day. I'd say the quality of our days is pretty top notch. I like to think we are doing a good job of improving the quality of life for others too. It might seem like we are doing something outrageous, but we are just a few kids on some bikes striving to make a change. You might be surprised that you can easily do the same.
Day 33
Today is the day we've all been waiting for. In the words of Walder, "We started training in October, but really you've been preparing for this day all your lives." Carhenge. But hold on, let's start at the beginning of the day. Finally, we have quick-cooking oats! Full of yummy breakfast, we thanked Grace Episcopal Church for their hospitality and headed outside. The ride dedication was for Ellen's grandfather who is a cancer survivor.We were hit by a huge headwind today as we rolled south towards Alliance. First we had to climb out of Chadron's valley, where Nebraska's only national forest is located. Then we biked through rolling plateau hills with rock faces jutting out, which was beautiful. At least we had Carhenge to look forward to, which got us through the wind. Thank God for pace lines! These are the very close single-file lines where we all rotate pulling (being in front) and drafting (slightly less work to have someone in front of you blocking the wind).Then, after a 59-mile ride, the moment we had all been waiting before: Carhenge. We were amazed by the giant cars standing on end, painted the buff color of stones. Group pictures and roaming around the sculptures led us to meet many people who were interested in our organization. One man shared his story of how his wife is currently battling cancer. Then our team split up, some going to Dairy Queen, and others checking out a place called "Dobby's Frontier Town." The old-fashioned town was basically an abandoned "old west" village with many antique machines and shops.At last we reached the Evengelical Free Church of Alliance! The local YMCA allowed us to get free showers, as coordinated by Tammy from the church. Then we ate dinner prepared by the church along with many other community members, including a reporter from a local newspaper who interviewed Grace and Blake. We gave a small presentation to the church, then conducted a triple portrait: Kathy who is a breast cancer survivor and has lost numerous family members to cancer; Patty who has been fighting ovarian cancer for the past 6 years; and her husband Brad. Together, these people of Alliance formed a support group for people dealing with cancer in town. We had a great time with the hospitality of EFCA, and are grateful for their outreach to the community!Something I forgot to mention yesterday: it was 6 months after Christmas, so we assigned our team secret Santa for half Christmas, which will be one month from yesterday!
Day 32
We awoke to the singing of birds and rumbling thunder from a nearby storm cloud that had planted itself just south of us since 2:00 am. Anna and Shiqi got the camping stove going to boil the water for oatmeal. We somehow got out of the campsite by our regular 7:15 time, packing tents and cleaning up with speedy teamwork. However, it took around 10 minutes to walk down the rough gravel/sand path to route 20. This is the same road we have ridden on for the past 4 days. You might be wondering how we can stand to ride on one road for hundreds of miles. The answer is teamwork, and scenery. Fortunately, this particular highway has a great, wide shoulder so we can ride in pairs and have conversations. Although we hate accidentally riding over the rumble strip, it has the benefit of keeping us safe from cars too. We have recently developed this great game called "hot-seat," in which there will be a 20-mile stretch (known as "Grace hour," for example) during which the person tells their life story, then proceeds to answer any and all questions asked by the team. Anything is fair game.The ride today was dedicated to Josh's uncle who passed away from cancer several years ago. Josh hasn't camped since his uncle died, so it seemed fitting for the ride to be in his memory. The day was windy and hot, but fortunately the last 20 miles were a pleasant surprise. A strong tailwind combined with mostly downhill and we were flying. It's a wonderful feeling to shift into high gear even while riding on level ground! It helped even more that the beautiful countryside was scattered with gorgeous purple and yellow flowers! After 78 miles, we arrived in Chadron, Nebraska, at Grace Episcopal Church. Reverend Russ drove us in his bus "the holy limo" to showers at Chadron State College. Then the church made us a delicious dinner of sloppy joes, beans, and dessert. We had the opportunity to meet some community members and we are so grateful to them for making us food! Christy's parents met us in town, bringing goodies to stock up the van for the rest of the week! We ended the evening by watching a storm roll by and Pitch Perfect.
A Month in Review
We have been sitting on the saddle of our bikes for one month now. On May 25th we left Central Park in New York to head to New Jersey then ultimately San Fransico. To be honest, I don't remember much of this trip. Every day on this trip is filled with its own memory, but they have all blended together at this point. I remember that the Appalachians were difficult, but remembering the day itself is not possible. I have pictures to remember each day, but I've been taking each day at a time, not thinking about the future, and not recalling the past. This trip has felt like a lifetime but also it feels like it is going by in a blink of an eye.This month has been filled with some hard ddays, days where you don't want to ride, but it has been the most amazing experience so far. The scenery has been amazing, but the best part of this trip has been the people. With all the negative media attention towards the world being so corrupt, evil, and self-serving, this trip has shown me the best parts of humanity. I have met the nicest people on this trip, people offering us their home for sleep, their food to eat, and their time to spare. They have been so kind to us, offering us donations, sharing their stories, letting us sit in their yard and relaxing before we move on to our next location all to help fight cancer. We have not kept up with the news, we are isolated, so we only can see the kindness that these complete strangers show to us. Moreover, the team. I could not imagine riding through the USA with anyone else. It's amazing how a group of people from all different backgrounds and personalities can get together and just become some of the best friends I have had. We have around another month left of this trip. I am physically exhausted, but I don't want it to end.
Day 31
Today we rode for Jack Hoffman (link to his name), who we met yesterday. He is a survivor and a fighter! Our stayover, First UMC of Valentine, provided a delicious casserole, fruit, and toast for breakfast. Then we got rolling, in the great state of Nebraska. We are currently in Cherry County which is part of the sand hills region. We realized more what sand hills mean because of the cacti on the side of the road... And covering the ground at our campsite. We rode just 62 miles to the Cottonwood State Park and arrived early enough to set up our 5 team tents and play numerous games of mafia.While riding today, we kept expecting to see towns that would have yummy ice cream for us to eat, but that was not the case for most of the ride. There were no towns over 100 people, yet there was a rather unique grocery store in Cody. This store was owned by the community and run entirely by high school students. It was refreshing to interact with such highly motivated students! Crazy thing about Cherry County: some students have to drive up to 90 minutes to get to the 75-person combined middle and high school!Today is a monumental day in two small ways: we crossed into our third time zone; and we completed 2,000 miles of riding for the trip so far. One month ago today we arrived in NYC! With all we have accomplished as a team, it seems worthwhile to reiterate our goals for this summer. If you're new to this website (welcome, and thanks for checking out Illini 4000!), you should know that we are a team of 20 cyclists from the University of Illinois, biking from New York City to San Francisco to raise funds for cancer research and patient support services. Along the way, we video record peoples' stories because almost everyone has been affected by cancer in some way - this is the Portraits Project. Just so you know, we are collecting donations for this summer's ride until the end of August!Well, it's time to eat s'mores and enjoy the campfire. The sun is setting on the Nebraska plains and we are all ready for a cozy 4-person tent experience. Good night world!
Day 30
We made it!!!! Finally, after 113 miles into a steadily increasing headwind, we have arrived in Valentine, Nebraska. Today's ride was the longest distance ever accomplished by an Illini 4000 team in one day! Fortunately, the solstice was two days ago and tomorrow we cross time zones, so the sunset was at 9:25 today. We needed every minute of daylight we could get!From the top, though... we ate cereal for breakfast. Then we dedicated the ride to Anne's cancer-fighting cousin who encouraged her to do the ride. At our 20-mile rest stop, we happened to encounter Andy, who is the father of Jack Hoffman. Jack is now 8 years old and is a survivor of brain cancer! For those of you who don't remember, he became famous, scoring a touchdown last year with the Nebraska football team. Watch the VIDEO; you'll be automatically inspired. Andy told us his story for the Portraits Project. He is such a motivated father and is adamant that the best way to handle childhood cancer is for the parents to advocate for research funding where there is very little! That's why he started Team Jack, a foundation raising money for pediatric cancer research. Then he led us to his house where we got to meet the whole family! It was a wonderful coincidence that we were in the town of Atkinson at the same time as Andy was on his way to work. We are incredibly grateful for the opportunity to have met them!Also in Atkinson, a reporter from a newspaper called The Graphic asked about our organization and interviewed and photographed some members of our team! We also told her about our meeting with Team Jack. Today another article was published about the team: the Storm Lake Pilot Tribune, as mentioned in the blog for day 25. Here's a LINK to the wonderfully written article!After 7-9 hours rolling time in the saddle (also known as arrival up to 14 hours after leaving),we made it to the United Methodist Church where we were provided a delicious meal of lasagna, oodles of fruit, and a world-famous banana cake. We got in so late that most of us headed straight for bed rather than bothering with a shower, although they were available outside of town at a park. Camping tomorrow!