We awoke to thunderstorms today, but the weather had fortunately settled down to a light drizzle by the time we were to roll out of Norfolk at 7:15. The ride dedication was for a man at Jeff's church who passed away last year from cancer.Then plan was to take the Cowboy Trail all the way to Chadron over the next few days, but with all the rain, we chose to ride on US-275... For miles upon miles. The first 20 miles of the ride were dry, but the next 20 were cold and rainy. Finally after a stop in Neligh, the sun came out, drying our sopping wet clothes as we rode into a strong headwind. Ewing was where we ate the standard 2-PB&J lunch, then rolled onto O'Neill. O'Neill is the home of the largest permanent shamrock in the world! ...which is a shamrock painted in the street.Our stayover for tonight is St. Patrick's Catholic Church, and they provided accommodations in the next door St. Mary's High School. We have the entire gym to ourselves, and really nice showers provided. The next step was to work on food donations because there is no kitchen available. Ryan awesomely found several restaurants in town willing to give us food. Godfather's Pizza at Cubby's gave us two large pizzas. Also, Tia Zia donated burritos. DQ agreed to provide 3 riders with meals! It has been a great evening, watching the USA vs. Portugal soccer game, despite the fact that we tied. :( We are also resting up for tomorrow's ride - the longest one I4K has ever done!
Day 28
This morning, Marissa's friend told her that his father had been diagnosed with cancer 15 years ago. Today's ride (the end of week 4!) is dedicated to him. Leaving Sioux City, we thanked First Congregational Church for hosting 20 crazy cyclists for two days. We somehow ended up all taking different routes out of the city - one of the cues was missing! Some groups stopped at a farmer's market near the river and there received both food and monetary donations. Then we left Iowa for good, even though we all loved the state and thought it was rather heavenly. Crossing the Missouri River, we entered state #10, Nebraska. It was a very hot 81-mile ride through the hillier parts of the state, but our stop in Winside made the travels entirely worth it! The only town at mile 60 happened to be the 400-person village of Winside, where they were having an annual festival. At this event, there was homemade ice cream and pie for sale, firefighters playing games with water, and free burgers. Donations went to preparing for the town's 125th anniversary celebration next year.While we were in Winside, we met a lot of the residents and ended up collecting three portraits! Richard and his daughter are both cancer survivors. One woman we met is a two-time survivor of breast cancer and told us how she never lost her faith in God even in the hard times. Another woman, Angie is currently undergoing treatment for cancer, and her biggest advice is to take things day by day. She loves how her family's support helps so much.Upon arrival in Norfolk, we showered at the First Christian Church, which is kind enough to host 20 sweaty cyclists! Then, Scott and Linda, Ellen's parents, brought us to dinner at Prenger's, a local restaurant. We are beyond grateful to their generosity in providing food for 20 starving cyclists! Fun fact: Norfolk is named after a misspelling... It was supposed to be called North Fork but a misunderstanding with the post office resulted in the name Norfolk. Nebraska residents pronounce it "Norfork."
Day 27
Today was a relaxing day without biking. Although some rest days have special events, all days off are a chance to catch up on sleeping. Despite our best intentions to sleep in, whole team was awake by 8:00 to get showers at North High School. Many of us went to IHOP for brunch. It's interesting how much food our bodies can consume now that our metabolisms have completley adapted to an incredible amount of daily exercise... even on rest days! The rest of the day was spent doing laundry, trips to Walmart, and bike cleaning. A lot of bike maintenance was also done. Thanks to Champaign Cycle for sending necessary parts to Scheels! Somehow, we managed to do Pizza Ranch round #2, and emerged from the restaurant right before a huge downpour came to Sioux City. The storms out here have been amazing so far. We have been extremely fortunate to avoid any issues with our team, but our thoughts are with all the towns in Nebraska affected by tornados, as well as the many people at risk for flooding.Following dinner, it was time for the mid-ride vote on the positions of ride leader. According to Illini 4000 bylaws, halfway through the ride, new ride leaders are chosen by team vote. We unanimously chose Alex Massey (our team corgi mascot) and Massey (our favorite person in Illinois) as the new leaders. Haha, just kidding. We have such a great team dynamic that we ended up re-electing Connor and David because they do an excellent job. At our team meetings, we also bring up issues we can improve upon and discuss chores among the group. We get to ride our bicycles tomorrow! Good night; love you all!
Day 26
It was another late day today. We waited for pouring rain to end for a half hour, chilling in the basement of the Storm Lake UMC where there are couches, ping pong, fusbol, and a pool table. The church also provided a tasty breakfast of scrambled eggs and pancakes. The ride was dedicated to Edward from yesterday's portrait. He is such an optimistic inspiration to us all. Edward said, "75 is the average age. Since I'm older than 75, I wake up each morning and thank God for the bonus day."We thought we would be rained on, but again we were blessed with clear skies. Unfortunately, the van needed a tire change midday, and we got towed to Cherokee. Anne and Kevin took one for the team and worked with Stan from AAA to get to Hartley Country Tire and Service. It happened to be Customer Appreciation Day, so there was free food too! Kindly they gave us a discount on the tires! For the rest of the team, there was a crushing combination of hills (we've had so many days of flat that this felt quite difficult) and headwinds. It was only 66 miles of riding but it felt like forever. During today's ride, we got a portrait from JoAnn who generously offered water to several of our teams as we walked by! Her husband had prostate cancer.Upon arriving in Sioux City, we went to the First Congregational United Church. We recorded another portrait from Susan who is a survivor of breast cancer. The group split up to various restaurants after much deliberation, including Pizza Ranch, an Iowa specialty. We are so happy to have arrived at our third rest day; our bodies need it.
Day 25
We started the day a bit late today because of some storms in the morning. Once the thunder had passed, we headed out of Webster City. The ride was dedicated to Larry from yesterday's portrait.We had a fabulous tailwind all day for the 82-mile ride to Storm Lake, Iowa. In the first rest stop in Fort Dodge, a policeman told our group to leave because the river was flooding! At our 60-mile rest stop, we got a portrait of Edward who is a 2-time survivor of cancer. We arrived pretty early to the Storm Lake United Methodist Church, and discovered a room full of glorious couches. We got showers at Buena Vista University, and then a great dinner prepared by the church. The church also invited reporters from the Pilot Tribune and the Storm Lake Times to talk to us for local newspaper articles. We also recorded another portrait from Virginia whose daughter died of cancer. Some of us went water skiing with the youth group, and others watched the awesome LEGO Movie on the massive television in the awesome couch room.Fun fact: this is the furthest that Illini 4000 has ever biked in a 4-day span and it was 369 miles total, from Rockford to Storm Lake. Fun fact #2: we are very close to the highest point in the state! Fun fact #3: we rode through Pocahontas County today! Everything is awesome!
Day 24
We had watery oatmeal in Waterloo for breakfast, and it was delicious. The ride was dedicated to Blake's friends, Helen Kessen who is a survivor of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and Marilu Brisky who is a survivor of breast cancer.Today the miles flew by quickly. It was supposed to storm, but it didn't. We (some of us) hugged wind turbines. In 88 miles, we biked to Webster City, Iowa. At a Casey's for lunch, we were fortunate to meet Larry who survived carcinoma. He shared a portrait with us. At Trinity Lutheran Church, we made dinner. A bunch of us watched Field of Dreams. We found out during the movie that Iowa is heaven. Good night!
Iowa & the ride thus far
Here's my first blog post of the trip-- and my first time documenting anything that's happened in writing! I'm first going to write a bit about the trip in general/how it's been going and then more detail about the last few days.Things I learned on the ride before hitting Chicago:-New York is more expensive than I remembered.-Climbing the Appalachians on a bike is really, really difficult. The uphills are incredibly challenging and the downhills are scary fast!-There's a lot of roadkill. Everywhere.-That your legs can always hurt more.-You need your teammates to push you through hard days.-Your butt never stops hurting.-The generosity we've experienced at churches we've stayed at is astounding.-Little interactions with people we meet at fast food restaurants, out their car windows, or on the sidewalk help push us along everyday.-Laundry is a wonderful thing.-You can always eat more (and should).-Showers are also wonderful things.-My teammates are wonderful people. And I'm not sick of them after 23 days of being together 24/7! :)Chicago was a lot of fun. It was nice being at home and seeing lots of friends, neighbors, and I4K supporters! Sleeping in a memory foam bed after 2.5 weeks on a sleeping pad was pretty crazy. I ate great food and had even better company. The 36 hours at home flew by. It was nice to enjoy the usual comforts of home, including a hot bath and laundry! A massage and accupuncture were well enjoyed as well. It was a relaxing time! On our last day in Chicago, we had the picnic and ride-along with supporters. Gerrit, a family friend of mine, rode with us from downtown Chicago to Prospect Heights and the rest of my ride along crew (my mom and two neighbors-- Tracey Cascarano and Harry Perl) joined from Caldwell Park to Prospect Heights for a 15 mile ride. It was neat to give them a taste of our everyday life and for them to have a better image of what a ride day looks like.Yesterday (Day 22) was a rough one! It was a century ride (cycling term-- any ride over 100 miles). We rode through three states in one day-- Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa-- and had an incredibly strong crosswind of 20-30mph as well as some serious hills through the Driftless region of the Midwest. Who knew Illinois had so many hills?! Today was another century ride, this time just through Iowa. The first 40-50 miles were very challenging for me; we hit a lot of hills and had some serious climbing. My legs were still really feeling it from yesterday's ride, too, so that wasn't helping. There was also construction and some unexpected detours today that added to our mileage! At mile 27, though, we saw the Field of Dreams movie set field! It was a nice stop along the way and an interesting sight to see. After our lunch stop around mile 50, I started to feel a lot better and got in the groove of the day. I relied on some teammates for good conversation (thanks Eric and Josh!) to take my mind off my legs and it was a great strategy because the next 25 miles just flew by. Josh and I had one almost accident where we rode a little too close together and were supporting each other with our handlebars and weren't quite sure how to get back to vertical! But it all worked out and neither of us fell, so that was a plus. As Josh said, we were "bike dancing!" The last 25 miles were pretty good too (minus some more detours for construction) and we were the first group in today (which is a big change from what I'm used to), so I'm currently writing this on the couch that I'll be sleeping on, since I was here early enough to claim one! We had the usual pasta with lentils for dinner and it was yummy as always. Can't wait to get tucked in for the night-- there's a crazy storm brewing outside, so I'm glad we're sleeping in the basement of the church tonight! That's all for now; thanks for reading!PS: The pictures below are of the Field of Dreams and of Eric in a surprisingly hilly part of Iowa!
Day 23
This morning began with a great breakfast from St. Luke's UMC. The ride was dedicated by Grace to her mother who is a survivor of lymphoma. She has been in remission for a year!It's been one of those days that wasn't supposed to be a century... but became several miles more than 95 due to detours. Today's ride was the opposite of yesterday's ride because it started off with serious rolling hills and a headwind. We took a small side-route to the Field of Dreams movie site. There was some concern at that point because we had ridden only 30 miles and it already afternoon and we were tired. However, after a lunch stop, the weather brought us a strong tail-y crosswind. We arrived earlier than expected at First Congregational United Church of Christ, to shower. Dinner was I4K-special: spaghetti and lentils.Fun fact of the day: there was a tornado warning overhead, but now it's over! Also, we're sleeping in the basement. Fun fact number 2: I4K has never been to Iowa! New Illini 4000 state!
Day 22
Happy Father's Day! Take some time to reflect on the influences our dads have had on us, and how they've made us who we are. For some, today is a celebratory day, but for others it's difficult and filled with memories. Christy dedicated the ride to both her uncle and her father.On today's century ride in the driftless region of the USA, we were buffeted by a blustery 20-mph crosswind from the south. Some of the gusts were up to 35 mph! While we leaned into the wind (isn't physics cool!?) to avoid being blown off the road, we were entertained by the struggling birds. Needless to say, we were grateful for any trees on the left. Additionally, we had approximately 4,100 feet of climbing. Who knew Illinois is full of rolling hills? On top of all that, our halfway prize was 2.5 miles of coarse gravel roads. Fortunately, we were graced with the wind on our backs for awhile, and then we flew into an epic storm front! By some miracle, the storm blew over us without dumping any rain. But it looked really cool.Today was the only 3-state day of the whole trip! After lunch we rode into the rolling hills of Wisconsin (state #8!) for 35 miles. Stopping in New Diggings, we ran into several individuals from Champaign county, and had the opportunity to discuss the mission of Illini 4000 with them. Thank you to Bob and Mick for your kind donations! Wisconsin gave us it's worst headwind, but we finally made it across the Mississippi River to Iowa - state #9! In Dubuque, we are staying at St. Luke's United Methodist Church. They gave us a tour of the Tiffany stained glass windows in the sanctuary (among the largest collection in the world and a location on the National Register of Historic Places!), then let us use the kitchen to make a much-needed dinner of spaghetti and lentils. Bonus: this church has really nice showers! :)
Day 21
Day 21... We have been riding for 3 weeks now! Zion Lutheran Church made us a fantastic breakfast of egg casseroles including bacon and other wonderful things. As we were leaving, we were given teal and white cervical cancer remembrance bracelets that have hope, faith, and love written on them. They were donated by Kelly, Dave, and Karen, a family who shared their story with us last night, as our 10th portrait for this year's ride. Kelly has been cancer-free for 5 years! Today's ride was dedicated to her.It was a shorter ride day: only 49 miles. We took one rest stop in the middle of some corn fields, and ate the cookies donated by the church in Elgin. We arrived early in the afternoon at Christian Life School in Rockford. We got a tour of the school and adjoined Rockford First Church. They so kindly provided us pulled pork sandwiches and veggies for lunch. We then chilled out for awhile and Connor's parents came to bring us Giordano's pizza. We are so grateful to them for bringing dinner! After a movie, we got to sleep because we have our second century as a team tomorrow!
Why I Ride
I think it's time for an update to the world about how Illini 4000 has been so far! For those of you who have been keeping up with my trip so far, you know that I have the team position of "journalling" - but I just call myself the blogger. So those beautiful homepage posts labelled "Day _" are all mine, written daily with love. However, sometimes it's very hard writing these blogs, not only because I tend to be tired at the end of a day of riding my bicycle, but also because it is my responsibility to fairly represent the team's overall experience without discussing blog-inappropriate situations or having a one-sided point-of-view. So... here's a blog written by Grace, from the heart.A lot has changed since the last blog post. My top speed has increased from 43 to 46 mph; I have ridden my bicycle in 7 states (Illinois is state #7!); I have faced headwinds with the help of a paceline - something I could never have done without this fabulous team. But that's not all... something else has changed.I'll start with my basic I4K story, the one I tell people when they ask about why I'm riding across the country. But this will be more detailed. So I was never really too into cycling. Fun fact: I didn't even ride my bike without training wheels until I was 10 years old. But on my first day of college, quad day, I walked by the I4K booth with my campus bike, curious about the cool people at the table. I heard that they were biking across the country, and asked what for. When I heard it was cancer, I may have been a bit disappointed because it had not yet affected my life, but I added biking across the country to my bucket list of cool things to accomplish in college. Fast forward to November of that year. My parents came to visit my brother and I, bringing bad news. My mom had been diagnosed with primary bone non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the jaw. She went through 6 rounds of chemo over the course of 4 months. During this time, I saw how the chemicals pumped into her body destroyed her. Chemo is poison, yet a necessary evil: she has now been in remission for approximately one year. She is a survivor and an inspiration.Last fall, my best friend's dad was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. We were all devastated. When I found out how deadly pancreatic cancer is, I didn't want to know any more. All I wanted to do was come beside my friend and support her in this very hard time. Back to Illini 4000... I had found motivation, so now I learned more about the organization and realized this was what I was being called to do.What changed was on June 3rd. My friend's dad passed away after a 10-month battle with pancreatic cancer. I saw how cancer had ravaged his body and taken so much from him. It took a toll on his family, yet ultimately, I believe the struggle brought them all closer to each other and to God. For the past week and a half, I've been processing this loss and wondering how to present it on a blog, but there really is no good way to explain how much it means to me. I was riding for my mom and for my friend's dad, but there is no difference in life or death. The people we ride for range from survivors to fighters to those in heaven. And that was the most important step in processing the loss: acknowledging that there is a heavenly hope for those who love God. I have full confidence in where my friend's dad is currently and that is what brings me peace of heart.I ride for everyone else who has been affected by cancer too: for the pastor whose wife died of bone cancer in her jaw; for the man whose fight with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma was much like that of my mom's; for my grandmother's niece who died at age 5; and for many, many more people. These people are everywhere: we see them at work, at school, and at church. We love them, and we remember them. I ride for all of them. And I will continue to wear my remembrance bracelets and purple pancreatic cancer ribbon until they fall off. It is all because of love.
Day 20
We're on the road again! After a relaxing/busy/fun-filled rest day, we are headed west. Today's ride dedication was for the caregivers for the people who have battled cancer. We rode out of Buckingham Fountain to Caldwell Woods for a picnic lunch! Family, friends, and alumni came to enjoy lots of food with us, then we left in the afternoon for a 15-mile ride-along. It ended up having some interesting portages, from the flooded Des Plaines River to some random railroad tracks in the middle of the bike path.We said farewell to our family and friends, thus beginning the "real I4K." A joke among us is that the one-fourth of the ride which we have already accomplished before Chicago is actually just "practice I4K" and now that we are on a completely new route which has never been done, we're roughing it more. Speaking of roughing it... the last part of our 61-mile ride was a long, convoluted set of cues (the directions we use for where to bike) which frustrated us all. But we were even more glad to arrive at Zion Lutheran Church in Elgin. They provided a tasty taco dinner with some of the greatest desserts ever. Some of us went to shower, and then we were so glad to go to sleep after such a long day.
Day 18
Home 2.0! Faith Lutheran Church made us a great warm breakfast, then we headed out an hour later than normal. It was so great to sleep in an extra hour, but most of us are in the habit of waking up at 5:45 anyways. The day's ride was dedicated to Pat's grandson (from the church) who is battling childhood cancer. Today we rode into Chicago, and it was only 30 miles. Despite us all grabbing our rain jackets, all we ended up with was some chilly mist and lots of puddles. Fortunately, the sun came out just as we were walking up to the Bean in Millennium Park. What a beautiful day to spend at home! Some people who are not from the suburbs/city stayed with I4K teammates.Remember the itinerary for Friday:Team leaves Buckingham Fountain at 8 am, and rides to Caldwell Woods Picnic Grove for a picnic with supporters at 11 am. Anyone who wants to help out with the picnic can sign up here. After the picnic, we'll be having a 15 mile ride to Prospect Heights with supporters. The ride will end at the Prospect Heights Metra, for those who want to take a train back. Or they can just ride back. From there, the team will continue riding to Elgin for our stayover.No ride Thursday; no blog post! Happy Thursday!
Chicago Arrival and Ride-Along Information!
It seems like the team left Union Station just yesterday, but believe it or notthe Illini 4000 will be back in Chicago next week. Come out and show themyour support as they reach this milestone destination!Chicago Arrival: Wednesday June 11thRiders will be arriving at the Bean in Millennium Park at Noon. All are welcome tocelebrate the team’s arrival in the city! I4K Alumni working in the downtown areaare encouraged to come out and greet the team.Annual BBQ and Ride Along: Friday June 13thCookout Details-This year the ride along will start off with a BBQ in Caldwell Woods beginning at11am. Caldwell Woods is located just off of the intersection of N Milwaukee and WDevon. The team will meet us at the picnic grove for lunch. Our cookout is potluckstyle. Please do not come to the BBQ empty handed! Use this link to helpus coordinate who will be bringing what.Ride Along Details-After lunch wraps up, around 1pm, family, friends, and alumni are welcome to joinfor a ride along following the team’s cues northwest to Elgin from Caldwell woods.Those joining the ride along can go as far with the team as they are comfortable,just keep in mind you will be looping back on your own. We will be collecting a $10suggested donation for anyone joining the ride along. Helmets are required.We hope to see you there!Maggie MarekIllini 4000 Alumni CoordinatorEmail- illini4000alumni@gmail.com with any questions
Day 17
Today was bike look-alike day! We split into groups of Team Domane, Team Unique, 1.5 Crew, and Team Lexa. The ride was dedicated to Marissa's friend. We left Clifton full of a tasty breakfast, and grateful for the kindness of Zion Lutheran Church in giving us so much food. We rode a total of 56 miles today, stopping at the home of Linsey Rock for lunch. Her parents, Dave and Eileen, provided a fabulous lunch of burgers, spinach-artichoke dip (!!), homemade ice cream, and so much more. We also had the chance to make rope in their garage!As we prepared to roll out after a long time chilling and digesting that food, rain began to come down hard. There was no possibility of waiting it out, so the last 20 miles were basically like swimming on wheels. In the rain, we use certain precautions to make the ride safer and more comfortable, such as flashing bike lights, rain jackets, and shoe covers. But really, in the pouring rain, no amount of "waterproof" clothing will keep you dry, so we were thankful for the showers provided by Homewood-Flossmoor Park District's Lions Club Pool.We were welcomed back to suburbia by Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church in Homewood, Illinois. They kindly provided us with an incredible dinner of tacos and nachos. Then Pat from the church shared her story about her baby grandson who has been fighting neuroblastoma for over a year. Her story was very moving and opened our eyes to the funding problem with childhood cancer research.The next stop for us is Chicago! We will be arriving on our tenth consecutive day of riding at noon at Millennium Park. See you all at the Bean!
Day 16
We left the college town of Champaign this morning with a bunch of friends! The ride dedication today was for a woman who had been recently diagnosed with a melanoma and after receiving treatment, is doing better. We wish her well on her recovery.A number of people joined us for 18 miles on a ride-along, including supporters from Champaign Cycle, alumni I4K-ers, and future riders. What a beautiful day! Isalia's parents provided lunch meat, delicious toppings, and sub bread for the most "real" sandwiches we've ever eaten on this trip! Around that time, we also crossed paths with Keegan Costello, who is several months into a journey around the world. He rode with us for a time and you can find out more about his trip on Facebook.The relaxed 65-mile ride was mainly tailwinds and sunny skies, and ended with Dairy Queen, then Zion Lutheran Church in Clifton, IL. Some of the most wonderful food ever (don't I say that every day!?) was provided by this church for dinner. Grace's grandmother, Marilyn, brought copious amounts of home-grown strawberries and also shared a portrait about her experiences as a caregiver for family and friends who have battled cancer, as a Registered Nurse. Additionally, we had the chance to swim and shower at Centennial Pool, which was fun! Soon we will arrive in Chicago. Thank you all for your continued support!
Day 15
We're home! The ride was dedicated by Randy (see blog post Day 14) to a cancer survivor from Rockville First United Methodist Church who passed away last week. Her name is Susan. Leaving the church this morning was bittersweet. We had such a great time in Rockville, yet emotions were running high as we prepared to head home to Champaign! Mountains and hills behind us, all we had to worry about were possible impending thunderstorms. As it turns out, thunderstorms were not an issue, but rather a ferocious wind which proved to us we had truly entered the Midwest Plains. We headed west to escape Indiana, a state which truly gave us it's worst before we found the beautiful pavement line transitioning from potholes to smooth Illinois welcome. From the entrance to Illinois, we rode north into the killer wind to Tory's house. When we are pushing against the wind, there is no doubt that our task would be impossible alone. It's just you pulling as the engine of a train, or drafting off the person in front of you with the utmost concentration to avoid the "kiss of death," where your wheel contacts the bike ahead. And there you are in a team as you battle against the wind. We practiced this technique a lot during spring training. There was also a one-mile stretch of gravel into the wind.Needless to say, we were all quite ecstatic to arrive at home of Tory Cross, the president of Illini 4000. Her dad grilled us up some delicious burgers and several of us rode her horses - she lives at a horse rescue! We rolled out as fast as possible, but didn't quite make the planned 2:00 arrival time - who ever plans for a wind from the north in Illinois?!Several hours and a minor detour later (the distance to and from Homer Lake), we found ourselves all together at Connor's house, then riding as a part of a massive mob of orange cyclists... To the Alma Mater! We rode in this huge group to a crowd of wonderful, cheering people - a huge thank you to everyone who came and supported us! WAND-17 featured us on the 10:00 news, Daily Herald (newspaper of the suburbs) put us on top of the front page, and the same reporter, Marie Wilson, was on abc Chicago news to share the story!In the evening, Blake's lab had a fundraising dinner for us, which was incredibly delicious. Thank you so much to the Hydrosystems Lab for hosting us and providing this meal! We reached 1000 miles today, so we are almost one-fourth of the way through this trip. Great things are coming soon! In 3 days time (June 11), we will arrive in Chicago at Millennium Park around 11am. Home 2.0, here we come!
Champaign Arrival Update
Due to some heavy headwinds, the Champaign arrival has been pushed back to 3pm. We will see you then at the Alma Mater to greet the team!
Day 14
Oh man, we've been riding bikes for two weeks! We left Indy this morning with cereal in our tummies, for a 68.5-mile ride to Rockville, Indiana. Around mile 30 in North Salem, we picked up three additional riders: Pastor Dave Marty and his friends Ed Roach and Dr. Steven Waltz (Doc). It was a pleasure to be able to ride with people from outside our team for a day. In that town, we collected a portrait of Linda Miller who was a caregiver of numerous family members with cancer. We ended up eating peanut butter and jelly on the side of the road in the midst of a cottonwood fluff storm.We arrived at Rockville United Methodist around 2:00. Several people headed over to a pool party at Doc's house, while others showered and went to the local car show and candy shop. The church kindly provided the best dinner ever, including Italian beef, pulled pork, and macaroni and cheese. We had a team meeting and then Randy from the church presented to each of us awesome goody bags full of delicious snacks! The amount of love shown to us by this church is greatly appreciated! Later in the evening, we collected three more portraits and danced in the street at the car show. It was a fabulous day thanks to our wonderful stay at Rockville United Methodist Church!
Day 13
Tailwinds are rare, yet wonderful blessings to our team! Nothing stood in the way of our destination as clear skies and sunshine beckoned us onward. The day started off well with cookies, doughnuts, and fresh fruit provided by First English Lutheran Church. We dedicated the ride to Christy's long-time swim coach who passed away at an early age from cancer. Rolling 73 miles felt short compared to yesterday's century. Still, each 20-mile segment ends with a rest stop which comes as a great relief, providing the energy to carry on. Some groups used the "cruise to chill" pace, and others, particularly Jeff, Josh, and Conner, flew across the Indiana roads in less than 4 hours rolling time.The rest of us arrived in Indy at a more normal time, yet early enough to chill out some. Our stayover for tonight is Tabernacle Presbyterian Church, where a nice cozy room is available for our bicycles and this wonderful thing called sleeping. The Indianapolis Alumni Club (previous I4K-ers) came by and brought us Fazoli's pasta. We spent the rest of the night hanging out in the church and around the city.