Day 25 was our first full day out of our home state, and we were greeted with rolling hills, a clear blue sky, and a lake view path into Madison, WI. The Topol family graciously provided us with a nourishing breakfast to begin the long day ahead. We started with a tense morning, as we had to navigate a narrow road due to construction. The full Illini 4000 team rolled down Highway 51 two across to stay safe for a two mile stretch to prevent cars from passing too close.As the day went on, the brisk Wisconsin morning gave way to weather and road conditions perfect for a day of road cycling. Along with a few brief coffee stops and “detours”, teams paused for rest stops first by a country farm and then in Edgarton, a small main-street type of town.Many of our riders have already been acquainted with the charms of Wisconsin, such as the deliciousness of bagged chocolate milk, but all of us got to appreciate the beauty of a summer day here. Riding past Lake Kegonsa, rolling through picturesque small farms, and finally coming up to the scenic capitol square in Madison, the day’s 75 miles passed by quickly.Thank you to the Madison Alumni Club for hosting us for dinner. The potluck provided to us was much needed and appreciated after being in the sun all day. Furthermore, many thanks to the Bethel Lutheran Church for putting us up for the night in the heart of this great city. Your generosity not only enables our journey, but gives us motivation to continue strong.
In Wisconsin
Today we left Deerfield, Illinois and headed to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin for a relatively short ride of 65 miles. After lots of rest in Chicago, the team finally got back on the normal routine. Today’s ride was not as easy as anticipated because of the hot weather. We decided to take the ride slow to take in all the scenery along the beautiful bike trails up to Wisconsin.Tonight’s stayover was provided by the parents of Illini 4000 Alumnus Brad Topol. Mr. and Mrs. Topol welcomed the team with warm showers and delicious food. Some team members walked the short walk down to Lake Geneva to enjoy the beautiful sunset. The previous members of I4K explained to us that the ride “officially” started today after we left Illinois since we are heading away from family and toward San Francisco. We are all looking forward to the upcoming adventures, people, and experiences we will have in the post Illinois part of the trip.
Family, Friends, and a Whole Lotta Food
After spending the day in Chicago, the team was well rested and excited to continue on our journey! Today’s ride was from Chicago to Deerfield, but we had a few pit stops to make along the way. In the morning, we hosted a ride-along event. Family, friends, and Illini 4000 alumni met us at the Buckingham Fountain. From there, we rode 16 miles on the Lake Front Trail to a forest preserve. It was a really fun and cool way to show some of our supporters what it feels like to be a part of the Illini 4000 Bike American Team. Once we reached the forest preserve, the team enjoyed a cookout prepared by our families. Thanks to all the people who brought dishes to share and who helped cook the food! The cookout was a great way to say goodbye to Illinois, as we make our way north towards Wisconsin. Another thanks to Trinity United Church of Christ for letting us stay at their church and for cooking dinner for us.At our stayover, we had the pleasure of talking with Wendy Hughes, an inspirational woman who has spent the last year battling duodenal cancer, a rare type of cancer that only 20 people a year are diagnosed with. Wendy experienced nausea shortly after discovering a lump in her abdomen. After a week of extensive testing, she was diagnosed with cancer of that had spread to her liver and the surrounding area. That evening she called her brother, only to find that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Wendy went through several treatments and procedures and was put on a lifelong chemo treatment. Since her family had no history with cancer, Wendy found support from Gilda’s Club. Wendy celebrated her first anniversary in April, and is still battling cancer. She talked to us about how crucial it was for her to find a support group. “My family doesn’t have cancer. There’s a lot of stuff I can tell them, but they’re not gonna really understand. So I found Gilda’s Club and I found my support group. Everybody there understands. When you say, ‘I’m tired; the chemo makes me tired,’ it’s not like, ‘I want to take a nap, I’m tired,’ it’s like an ‘I’ve been hit by a bus’ kind of tired. You don’t even understand what it’s like unless you’ve been there.” Wendy also talked to us about the importance of having a good attitude. “I just decided that from the beginning that, what am I gonna do, sit home and be sad all the time? No, I’m gonna be positive and things are gonna be fine. I’m gonna work my way through this. As weird as it seems, cancer has kinda changed my life for the good, because you just really appreciate things so much more. Everyone says, ‘Stop and smell the flowers.’ Well, I actually do that now. Because you don’t know how much time you’re gonna have. I’ve just become a totally different person.”
Chicago
Yesterday we arrived in Chicago where we were meet by alumni, family, and friends. The ride was very easy and the team loved seeing Chicago from their bikes. The team took today off with most riders resting at home. Tomorrow the team will travel to Deerfield.
Chicago Arrival and Ride Along Events!
Come welcome the riders of the 2013 Bike America Team as they ride into Millenium Park this Friday, June 14th! The team will be arriving to the bean at 12:00 pm, and we’d love to see you there!(REVISIONS - See below)Join the Illini 4000 for their annual Ride Along and Cookout this Sunday, June 16th. The team is inviting any and all supporters to be part of the ride as the team departs Chicago and heads north. Meet at Buckingham Fountain by 9:30 am for a planned 10:00 departure. The ride will will head north on the Lakefront Path to the Wilson Ave parking lot (7 miles). From there the team will meet up with other participants at the Wilson Ave parking lot along the Lakefront Trail (10:30am). We will continue onto the North Channel Trail and end at Caldwell Woods, Grove 3 (16 miles) where we will have a large cookout and enjoy the hopefully beautiful summer day. We encourage anyone to do the whole route. We are asking for a $10 donation to ride and a $10 donation if you plan on eating lunch with the team.We hope to see you there!If you are able to bring any food/supplies for the barbecue, please let us know here!
Almost to Chicago
Today, we made our way to Homewood, Illinois. We met Robert Bertram at our first rest stop in Arouma Park, Il. He is a family member of two cancer victims. Robert works as a home visit physical therapist, and he has several cancer patients as clients. When he was eighteen, his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and later died of bone cancer and his brother died of liver cancer. He explained how his mother’s passing affected his family and how he supported his younger sister, who was only eight at the time. Robert found that his faith played a large part in his coping methods. As someone who has seen several people become diagnosed with the illness, he had several pieces of advice for us. “If you got cancer, deal with it, and if you’re a family member, support them in any way you can. They’ll be days that they’ll be so miserable that they’re gonna want to die. You just gotta be there to support them. Do whatever it takes. Put them before you. And live everyday like it’s your last, and do the best you can. Treat people right, and hopefully you’ll get it back.”The ride was just 54 miles, but a headwind gave our riders some trouble. To refuel, we enjoyed an awesome BBQ at the home of a former rider, Lindsey Rock. Her family was all too generous in making us burgers and potato salad accompanied by tons of homegrown veggies and fruits. As most of the riders were tired from struggling during the first half against the winds, we also took short naps in their sunny backyard. After such a great rest stop, we were all more than ready to tackle the rest of the ride.While enjoying the delicious lunch, are team met Lindsey’s friend, Kellie Alexa. Kellie’s mother was diagnosed with leukemia while Kellie was in 7th grade. Her cancer was treated and given a slim chance of returning. Two days before the start of Kellie’s freshman year, her mother’s cancer returned and she died a few months later. Kellie explained that she didn’t take it seriously at first, and then when it came back, she didn’t know what to think. “I ignored it. I completely ignored it. I said, ‘I’m fine, nothing happened.’ I probably ignored it for the first month or so, and then I would come home after a while and realize that it was real, and that was really hard. But I still played volleyball. I just wanted to be with my friends because the more people you are around, the less real it is.” Kellie explained how important her friends were as her support. “I told my friends, and they knew about it. They would go with me to the hospital to see my mom. They were all really supportive. They didn’t really know how to talk to me about it, but I could tell that they would struggle and I would tell them, ‘Guys it doesn’t affect me.’ But you have to talk about it to get through it. It’s not something you can keep hidden inside of you because it will never go away if you hide it from yourself. I had so many friend’s moms always there. Even when Lindsey was in college, I would go to her house and say, ‘Mrs. Rock, listen to me whine. Mrs. Rock, listen to me cry. Mrs. Rock, feed me.’ There was always someone’s mom there to help you, because that’s what moms do. You don’t have to just be a mom to your own kid. If you’re a mom, you’re a mom. You help everyone. It’s what all of my friend’s mom have done.”As a final thought, Kellie gave us some great advice. “If something bad happens to you, you can’t just dwell on it forever. You can’t be sad; you can’t say, ‘This happened to me, now I’m gonna be sad for the rest of my life. I’m not going to try hard to be good,’ because it’s not going to do anything. You should try to be the most positive and outgoing person you can be for the rest of your life and make people happy, even when you’re not. It’s a sort of gift, because you can see what other people cannot. If someone else is upset, you need to make them happy. I remember people on my basketball team being all, ‘Oh no, I didn’t make a shot. I’m going to go to the locker room and cry.’ So I would try to go in there and be loud and obnoxious and poke them and be all, ‘Hey, hey, why are you so upset?’ and make them smile just because I knew that not making a shot is not the worst thing that can happen to you.”Once we got to the stay over, some of us took showers at the local pool, thanks to the generosity of the our hosts who were willing to drive us there. By the time each group had completed the ride and taken their showers, dinner was ready. Today's meal was… tacos! We have been so fortunate that our stay overs cook us such great food each night. After dinner, the team had a meeting to discuss the logistics of our arrival into Chicago. We are very excited to reach another major city, as well as to see our friends and family members who may live around the area. For those of you reading, please feel free to come great us tomorrow at The Bean at noon. Thanks for reading, and we appreciate all your support!A special thanks to Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church and the Rock family for their generosity.
A way overdue blog post!
OH MY GOODNESS. So it has only been 20 days since we first started our trip but we are already going to be in Chicago tomorrow! Before I continue on with this post, I just have to talk about my experiences in the Appalachian Mountains. When we were told that the mountains would be tough, I initially thought, "Alright, I can deal with this. After all, I've survived marathons." However, once I got on those climbs, my perspective changed completely. When I was climbing up the mountains, all I could think about was how I could ski down these if there was snow on the ground! The mountains were steep, never-ending, winding roads. I honestly thought numerous times that I was going to do an unintentional wheelie and fall back down from where I climbed up. In addition to the climbs of the mountains, I cannot forget about the descent. After I went down my first descent, I was so much more motivated to climb up to the top of the mountains because the downhills were SO fun! I remember this one downhill was a 12% grade for 3/4 mile and I got up to 42 mph! It was so much fun and it reminded me of skiing, but I can't deny that there were some turns that made me nervous. Overall, it was awesome and I just kept in mind what I was working for while doing the uphill climbs.When I think about the tough moments that I have encountered during I4K, I keep reminding myself that I can do it and most importantly, I remind myself what I am doing this trip for and who I am biking for. With this mentality, it makes each day even more meaningful and it makes me stronger when I am facing uphill climbs, head-winds and rain during long rides. There is no doubt that I got stronger each day and that the mountains were very hard but luckily, each day I had wonderful teammates and we helped talk each other throughout the difficult moments and we made it! Here I am, back in the sweet, sweet, flat Midwest.It's funny how we are all in our own little I4K world and we forget what day it is and all we know is that each day we'll be together riding on our bikes all day. I love it since I am constantly surrounded by wonderful people that I love. Speaking about wonderful people, I cannot get over how kind and loving strangers have been to us. Their generosity is so heart-warming and it truly restores my faith in humanity. I just can't get over it, and it just makes me so happy. That being said, I am definitely looking forward to continuing this ride while fighting cancer and to also find out the West has in store for us.
Dipping my back wheel in the Atlantic.
Hot and Humid
Today was really hot and humid. After we said good bye to our campus, we rode 64 miles from Champaign to Clifton. We had a bike along event today and were very fortunate to have received bagels, fruit snacks, nuts and fruit juice for breakfast. A big THANK YOU to all for joining us at our event today! Before our ride began, Je entertained us with his rendition of Gangnam Style, and our ride was dedicated to Robert Orr, Jordan's grandpa who is battling prostate cancer. Yesterday, some of us took advantage of being on our home ground and visited Champaign Cycle, our local bike store, to get new bike gears in order to accelerate the rest of our journey. One of our riders, Peter, got a unique basket attached to his handle bar; while the other member, Yang, got two panniers attached to his rear wheel.We are staying at the Zion Lutheran Church for the night, and they cooked up a great dinner for us. They had also offered to take us to the nearby pool for shower facilities. On top of that, one of our members, Jordan, had her family come down and visit us at our stay over and gave us a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables. Our tean would like to extend our gratitude to both our host for the night and Jordan's family.Right now we are waiting for a thunder storm to pass - we were initially very worried that we would get rained upon on our ride here from Champaign but we were lucky we managed to avoid the downpour. Our team got really excited about the impending storm and started to dance the rain dance under the night sky. We hope it will pass soon and get sunny tomorrow!
[Journal] Day 4; Newark, DE - Baltimore, MD
"Because the Mountain is there." - George MallorySome people ask why we live in such a rough place.I have an answer for that question simply as the quote above.The mountain has been there even before I was born. Who am I to blame or complain for?If I don't want that mountain to be in front of me, blocking my path, then I climb up!Sometimes I feel so embarrassed to look at myself complaining each and every day. I forget so many times how much blessed I am. Some people don't even get to complain about things simply because they never had those before.One of the famous German cyclist, Jens Voigt, was once interviewed while he was on the cycling competition. The reporter asked what he does when he feels tired and wants to quit. Here is his answer."Shut up, legs!"Since my fellow I4K member showed me that video of the Jens Voigt's interview, I do pretty much the same thing everyday whenever I face the obstacles that seem so big to overcome or get through."Shut up! Show me some appreciation! You are healthy enough to be on your bike, to climb the mountain, to do what you believe in!"Day 4 was definitely one of those days that I was challenged.And I truly appreciate that I can face those challenges......
[Journal] Day 3; Philadelphia, PA - Newark, DE
"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase." - Martin Luther King Jr.My wife's name is Haeley.Her original Korean name is Haedeun, meaning the hill where the sun shines. I always thought it is such a pretty name. She is also the most beautiful person I have ever met in my life.Haeley's aunt was the victim of the brain cancer, who passed away several years ago. I never had a pleasure to meet her when she was alive. Based on what Haeley has been telling me about aunt Kim, she sure is an amazing woman.Each day I4K members gather up and dedicate the ride of the day to one of those who passed away due to cancer. On our Day 3, I suggested the dedication to aunt Kim, who would be watching I4K's journey from heaven.As we approach closer and closer to Appalachian Mountains area, hills become higher and longer. Some might think it is crazy thing to do, but it is just the part of the training for I4Ks. Higher the hill, Stronger we become!So far we are blessed so much with great hosts. I would like to say thanks to Calvary Methodist Church and Salem United Methodist Church for their kindness and prayers for us. With all your support, we ride each day with gratefulness and enthusiasm. I4K's mission is simple; To serve the people in need like those who have served us.Thanks everyone for reading this message, and may God bless you all!
[Journal] Day 2; North Brunswick, NJ - Philadelpia, PA
"If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing." - Corinthians 13:3What a great weather for riding today! Sunny and warm with summer breeze.Before I start this journal, I want to give this long overdue tribute to Sangakar Family.This family is such a blessing for all I4K members. We were hosted in this family's lovely home with a great hospitality we cannot explain enough of it. The world truly shines because of people like Sangakars. You truly are the best and God may bless your family for your generosity to your neighbors and fellows.I would like to also express the appreciation for Pastor Young Woo Suh, his family and his church's followers. The pastor invited my dear team members Shun, Jaqueline, and me over to his house and cooked delicious Korean cuisines. Thanks once again for your kindness and I simply pray for all of your church people.Today's Riding Mileage totals 69.15 according to the cue provided to I4K members during the morning announcement. Unlike Day 1, we had a gorgeous weather. All I4K members started facing fair amount of hills on their way, but there exists no hills big enough to block from pedaling!Except Jacqueline, all my group members were males, and we were flying over the hills for a whole day. I would like to say 'Great Job!' for Jacqueline for keeping up strong with almost-all-male group. That is what I4K spirit is capable of.On our way to the stay-over place, Calvary Methodist Church, we had a great chance to take a look at University of Pennsylvania's campus in downtown Philadelphia. This is my second time in Philadelphia, but I never had a chance to look around the downtown area before. Other than my teammate Aash getting stuck on the Trolly track and fall, my group didn't encounter any dangerous moments for the day.Thanks for all your supports once again, and great job today, all 2013 I4Ks!
Champaign Arrival and Ride Along Info
Hello I4K Supporters!For any of you living in the Champaign-Urbana area, come help us welcome the 2013 Bike America team to Champaign at our welcoming event, hosted by the Alice Campbell Alumni Center! The team will be riding into Champaign at 2 PM, and will meet at the Alumni Center (located at 601 S. Lincoln Ave, Urbana) to greet the supporters and enjoy some great food!Additionally, on Wednesday, June 12th, you can meet the team at 9:00 am at the Alumni Center to join them for part of their ride. We will have two designated ride options of 39 or 53 miles that will loop back and end at Champaign Cycle where participants will be welcomed with cold treats! Recommended donation is $10:We hope you can join us!The Illini 4000
Home Sweet Home!
Today's ride was from Rockville to Champaign, 73 miles. We had a few interesting things today. One thing was that we had awesome BBQ lunch at Tori's house in stead of PB&J! Also, some of us enjoyed pony riding and riding an unicycle at Tory's farm. Another thing is that some former I4K riders biked along with us from Homer Lake! We finally got back to our home at UIUC. Many of our, friends, family and supporters kindly welcomed us at the Alice Campbel Alumni Center; even the news media were there! We were so excited about the reunion and sharing our adventures with those great people! We were fully recharged to continue our journey (especially because we gained an hour coming back from Indiana).
Rollin' through Rockville
Our ride from Indianapolis to Rockville, dedicated to Yoon Taek Lim, a family friend of our rider Je, who passed away from gastric cancer, was a little bit different from a normal ride because today we had special guests; Pastor Dave and two members of the United Methodist Church in Rockville-Ed and Steve. They joined us at mile 31 and showed us the way to Rockville. Unfortunately, some riders got stuck in the rain today. However, with Steve hosting us for dinner and a pool party, we all were ecstatic. It was refreshing to take a dip after 62 miles of riding instead of showering. After dinner, Randy, a member of the United Methodist Church, introduced us to Love Bags--goody bags filled with snacks and drinks for our trip. Special thanks to Steve's family for a fantastic dinner and to the United Methodist Church of Rockville for giving us a place to sleep tonight and plenty to eat! One more thing which made us happy today was that some of our directors-Conner, Alex, and Ashley- came over to Rockville and will stay over with us tonight! We are very excited to ride into Champaign tomorrow and get back to some more familiar scenery in Illinois!!
Back in the Midwest
As many of you know, I am not a student at Illinois. I was fortunate enough to find out about this awesome organization via social media, and even more fortunate to become a part of the organization as a rider this summer.While training, a few times, I had the pleasure of riding with SMC Philosophy professor, Kevin McDonald, my good friend and fellow cyclist, Gina Althoff, and my coach at Innovative Endurance, Lisa Mueller. I spent a good amount of time training, however, on my own. Many miles were ridden along the Saint Joe River and up into Niles, Michigan. Both working for a growing commercial real estate company and exploring routes in the area helped me to gain a new appreciation for the city in which I called home for the past 4 years.Before riding out of New York City though, I had no experience riding in a group. The first few days leading up to riding, I was so worried to ride in a group. I worried I would cause some kind of a crash or put myself or the other riders, whom I barely knew, in some kind of danger. I laugh at those notions now after spending these past 17 days on the road riding with them.I’ve been a part of teams many times before. I’ve played basketball, though my roommate would likely beg to differ. I know how a team works.One would likely make the premature assumption that cycling is an individual sport, and in many cases, it is. One bike, one rider – the notion indeed makes sense. Everyday as we ride, however, we ride as a team. We rely heavily on each other. There is an inevitable and undeniable trust in our teammates. We often ride single file and have a somewhat obstructed view of the road ahead. Because of this, we compensate with communication, calling out grates, gravel, or cars in the road. Without these call outs, we would never successfully reach our destination.We also often get bored out there on the road. Time seems to linger and scenery sometimes blends, especially through the flat plains of the Midwest. It helps to have company and camaraderie along the road to pass the time.As we rolled through Maryland, the Appalachian Mountains and parts of Pennsylvania, the hills were mid-blowing, uphill climbs I never could have fathomed coming from Illinois. If it were not for my teammates riding alongside me, slowing their own pedal strokes to compliment my own, pushing me to the top, counting down the minutes left of climbing, drawing my mind away from the fact that were riding at 4 miles an hour, I would never have made it up the hills. If it were not for the 21 other members of my team, I would not be able to travel by bike across this country. This is the most teamwork I have ever experienced, and it is an honor to be a part of this team.On a side note, it is so great to be in the Midwest. Thank you to Madeline Miles, Mackenzie Neu, and the Craney family who went out of their way to visit and give me the push I need to make it to the 1000 mile point!
In the Heart of the Midwest
Today was a welcome relief for the team. After most of us completed our first centuries yesterday (100+ miles), the 73 miles we did today were a cakewalk. After an expansive and delicious dinner, we all went to bed early and woke up in good spirits. One of our hosts, Kent, rode with us for part of the ride and told us about his experience riding across the country. The weather was great all day and we met a very interesting man named Ken Bettencourt. He is currently biking across the country for the 7th time and has even biked all the way around the world. He, like us, spreads awareness about cancer and raises money for cancer research. During this ride, he is raising funds for a pediatric cancer center in Providence, RI.Ken was also willing to participate in a Portrait for us. Ken lost his mother to brain cancer and his grandson to leukemia before he was diagnosed with cerebral brain cancer. He had brain surgery and underwent four months of intense chemotherapy. Ken explained to us, "Cycling is my passion, but human nature is really my passion. I don't want to see children, people with [cancer]. We need to do more in this world for it." When asked about his support system during treatment, he emphasized the need for a normal friend. "You have psychologists, nurses, and doctors in a hospital, but what you want is just somebody to come to talk to you about a hockey game or bring you a milkshake...don't mention cancer at all. You just need a friend." It was wonderful to meet someone with similar passion and goals. We really enjoyed speaking with Ken.Overall, the ride went very well today and our team made it into Indianapolis early in the afternoon. The Indianapolis Illini Club provided us with a delicious dinner from Fazoli’s and brought us coffee cakes and other food for breakfast in the morning. After talking with the members of the Illini Club and eating dinner, several members of the team enjoyed the outdoors some more and played soccer. The team is excited to see what tomorrow brings!
Now We're Cruisin'
The good times are here. The Appalachian Mountains are done with, the flat lands of the Midwest are here. I feel like at this point we are all biking towards Champaign, Urbana and Chicago. I am heading towards San Francisco, but I am more focused on curing this home-sickness in a few days.With all of the directors and riders telling me some of the hardest days of the trip are passed, I am excited on climbing less mountains and I'm ready to meet new people that will remind me as to why I am riding.One thing that I’ve found very moving is the generosity of our stay over hosts. Biking across the country is hard, and we are doing it for a good cause, but never had I expected to be fed, showered, and essentially pampered by so many generous souls. I have 21 team mates, but every day I feel like I have more and more in different cities. People donate time, food, and money to us, and quite often all three.
Our passion will take us far
after such our first century ride yesterday, today's 70 mile ride felt so short! the weather was great - sunny and not too hot. but one thing i still cannot get over is how flat the midwest is compared to out east, especially pennsylvania. even though i grew up in illinois, i guess i just had never really noticed it!the route itself was very similar to yesterday, spending most of the day on the same road for long periods of time. the relatively uneventful route was spiced up a bit, however, when we encountered a fellow cyclist. we were stopped for a snack and some water when we saw him rolling by. his name was ken, and, as it turned out, he was also cycling across the country for cancer research.the more we talked to him, the more blown away we were. ken's current ride began in alaska on march first of this year and will end in about a week in his home state of rhode island. this isn't his first major bike ride, however. it's actually his seventh time across america! and he is even planning a trip from maine to key west, florida next spring. in addition, ken spent 27 months riding 52,000 miles across the world, getting off his bike only to fly from continent to continent.what's even more inspiring about ken is that he himself is a survivor of cancer. at the age of 50 he was diagnosed with stage 3 brain cancer. after undergoing months of treatment, ken was cancer free and ready to spread the word about the fight against cancer. at this point, he was already an avid cyclist and had been across the country a few times before. in addition to his own fight against cancer, ken has also lost several family members to cancer, including his mother, his uncles, his cousins, and his 3 year old grandson. ken told us that his biggest passions in life are cycling and showing appreciation for what we have. he decided to turn his bike rides into fundraising opportunities, combining his love of riding with his desire to spread the word to others and save lives.i think everyone in the group can agree that meeting ken will be a highlight of this trip. he is so inspirational, and he knows exactly what it feels like to be in our shoes. but whatever difficulties we encounter, we can remind ourselves that ken, a cancer survivor, may have encountered something worse during his own fight against cancer or on his own ride to fundraise money.meeting ken today was just the inspiration we needed to push through the next few days until chicago. even though our knees and legs may be sore or it may be rainy and cold, we are making a difference, just like ken! ken has taught me to keep on fighting because our passion will take us farther than we ever imagined.on a side note, only two more days until we reach champaign, where we spent so many hours training for this amazing ride!
First Century
After our event day in Columbus, OH, the team was ready to tackle a 104 mile ride into Richmond, IN. With such a long day ahead of us, the team woke up early to get a jump on the day. Clear skies and cool weather felt great as many of us completed our first centuries. Current rider Matt Soltys dedicated this ride to his friend’s mother Kathy Kuntzi, who recently passed away from pancreatic cancer. The wonderful people like Kathy are why we ride and our hearts go out to the Kuntzi family. After the ride, our amazing hosts at First English Lutheran Church made us a delicious dinner and dessert. Many teammates also treated themselves to frozen custard after dinner from an ice cream shop in Richmond. The rest of the evening was spent relaxing and watching a documentary about Illini 4000 called “What People Do”. We are ready to continue our journey through Indiana this week.
I know every mile will be worth my while
Today we rode our first century as a team! We rode 105 miles from Columbus, OH to Richmond, IN. We were greeted wonderfully by First English Lutheran Church and a few of us attended their Saturday evening service. Afterwards, we had a delicious lasagna dinner! We have been seriously spoiled..Anyways, back to the whole "riding a century today" thing. We had quite a lot of time to think today. I spent a ton of my time with the song "Go the Distance" from Hercules stuck in my head. This was thanks to Jacqueline who led us in a singalong of this song a few days ago. I came to realize that the refrain of this song could not fit i4k more perfectly. So because I do this for almost any song I love, I'm going to dissect the lyrics in relation to Illini 4000!I will find my wayI would say we get lost at least once a day. Today was a bit of an exception because we were on US-40 for the entirety of the route, but this is not typical. Getting lost is a part of everyday life in an i4k summer. Yet we always find our way and get back on the route!I can go the distanceThis is a pretty self-explanatory one. Sometimes the distances we ride seem unfathomable, but at the end of the day, every group rolls into the stay over. I'm sure the whole team would agree though that the last 5-10 miles of every day somehow feels more like fifty.I don't care how far, somehow I'll be strongThroughout the day, I find myself switching between being physically strong and mentally strong. At some points, the terrain is kind and my legs just glide. Though I may be feeling mentally weak, my physical strength carries me through. However, this is not always the case. At times it feels as if my legs are about to declare independence from my body and just give up in that very moment. At that time, we must be mentally strong. We must remind ourselves of why we're riding. The battle of those battling cancer is a much more daunting mountain than the Appalachians we're struggling through.I know every mile will be worth my whileI mentioned this above, but keeping the reason we're riding in mind is very powerful. Not a minute goes by during the day where I don't think about the horror of cancer. However, I am propelled forward by the hope of something better. By the hope of a world without cancer. This makes every mile worth it.I would go most anywhere to feel like I belongEvery time we enter a new town, we are greeted with such open arms. Honestly, I would say there is no p,ace where I feel we don't belong. I could not be more grateful for the communities that have welcomed us and really brought forth a sense of belonging, day in and day out.