Day 55

We are back on the road again! It's always a bit difficult getting out of rest day stayovers. Our gear was scattered everywhere, but we managed to throw everything together to roll out of Boise. Josh has lately been fulfilling his roll as the Onion Master by reading a comical headline from The Onion "news" source.Today we rode for the numerous people that we met here in Boise and surrounding areas:

• Amaya's dad, Mike, who is battling melanoma
• Jane and Erin who are in the final stages of their treatments for breast cancer
• Gerry's mom, Dorothy, a breast cancer survivor and mother of eight as well as Gerry's friend Patrick, a Purple Heart veteran who died of lymphoma
• Jeff's sister and daughter who both had breast cancer
• Leisa's mother, Maragaret, who passed away of pancreatic and liver cancer
• Dave's brother, Larry, who recently died of lung cancer and his sister, Joyce, who is currently fighting stage 4 lung and liver cancer
• All the patients, family, staff, doctors, and researchers at Saint Alphonsus Cancer Care Center that are together in the day-to-day battle again cancer

Idaho seems to have a tendency to grow random crops everywhere, from sugar beets and seed corn to mint and wheat. We observed these colorful fields of crops as we rode through the flat state on nice roads. We arrived early in Ontario, Oregon (15th state!), so we hung out at fast food restaurants and Dairy Queen until 3:00. We are at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church. Unfortunately, the state of Oregon is on fire. The wildfires are so bad we had to change our route. It isn't anyone's fault but we all have to work together to figure out a solution. So we had a logistics powwow, which may have involved cookies (frosted animal crackers) and chocolate. More details coming soon on the route solution we reached.We made spaghetti in the kitchen for dinner; it's not too bad because it's been awhile since we made our own dinner anyways. Tonight, some went to Baskin Robins and others might watch Pitch Perfect... again. The team may or may not be irrationally obsessed with that movie.

Day 54

As expected, it was great to sleep in. We moved our gear and bikes out of the gym and library onto the stage in order to make space for other events going on in the church. Stepping outside this morning, the extreme heat wave already was robbing cool night air from the city. Boise is smoky today. We are aware of the forest fires filling the west, and prepared for the possibility of shuttling rides through smoke or closed areas.At Saint Alphonsus, we were met by Paula, a director of the hospital, who Ryan contacted for our event day. In the cancer care center, we started in the Infusion Room, where chemotherapy and bone narrow biopsies are administered. The patient chairs have a view of the mountains. In this ward, we met several breast cancer fighters. They were awesome people to meet and we feel very inspired by their will to conquer cancer. There is also a bell at the desk which patients will ring at the end of treatment to celebrate.Saint Alphonsus has their own pharmacy for mixing cancer drugs. Stephanie is a pharmacist, and she helps make all the chemo drugs in chemo hoods. She explained the process of how drugs are safely mixed and customized to each patient. This includes the use of a clean room and advanced biosafety hoods. We also met some chemotherapy nurses. We heard from a oncologist who told us his job is rewarding because of the people who are as positive and encouraging as the ones we met in the infusion room.Next we went to the Radiation Room, which is surrounded by concrete walls to prevent the leaking of hazardous energy to the surrounding hospital. There we heard from a radiation therapist who explained to us her education and the equipment in the room. The Varian RapidArc machine ($3 million, 6 years old) is incredibly complex and uses a linear accelerator to create the beams. We met two dosymetrists who design treatment plans for the radiation therapies. One fascinating tidbit is that they have to radiate areas an additional 2 cm around the tumor for lung cancer because the patient is breathing during treatment. Sometimes, for earlier stage cancers, radioactive seeds are placed directly in the tumor center for an inside-out approach. Intensity modulated radiation allows for higher dosage and better control of radiation to uniquely shaped rumors.We heard briefly from a radiation oncologist. Then we moved onto research. Two research coordinators on staff with the hospital told us a bit about the different stages of clinical trials and how these are highly encouraged at Saint Alphonsus. There is a lot of background screening and complex protocols which must be followed for the process of each trial. The researchers feel that their jobs are rewarding because they get to see the data and outcomes of these new surgeries, screenings, and treatments.Integrative care is critical to cancer patients. Interestingly, social workers put a lot of thought into the atmosphere of the treatment rooms. For example, the ceiling of the radiation room has an colorful image of hot air balloons. As we finished up the tour, we met a nutritionist who takes care of the dietary needs of all the patients. We are incredibly grateful to Saint Alphonsus for the opportunity to learn about their cancer treatment center today. The people we met were encouraging and incredibly kind!We had a break during which we shopped around and showered at Zenergy once again. We are so thankful to them for allowing us to use their luxurious facilities and to Ryan for coordinating everything wonderful that happened at this stayover.Paula and Scott Coulter hosted us at their house for dinner. They totally understood the fact that cyclists eat a lot of food and they had delicious chicken, rice, and grapes for the meal. It was followed by popsicles and fun games of bags. We got back pretty late and are ready to sleep for a bit before leaving Boise tomorrow morning.Fun fact: Boise is pronounced "Boy-see," not "Boy-zee," and it's certainly not "Boys."

Tougher than you thought.

We were riding to Pocatello, Idaho on a 103 mile day. After about half the mileage was over it started to get very hot.And windy.And hilly.Small hills, but sizable when you've been going for many miles and you're going through your water in no time. It was around mile 80 or 85 when I started to get all sorts of exhausted. I was falling slightly behind and it was taking all of me to keep moving forward. I really just wanted to be there and be thankful to the world for air conditioning.As we started to climb over a hill, I went to my drops and looked down at the ground right in front of me in normal Alex climbing fashion. Suddenly I noticed I had crossed over a spray-painted word on the ground, 'tougher'. As we kept climbing up the hill, more words appeared and wrote out 'Tougher than you thought'. One of my fellow riders commented, "That's accurate."I thought it insanely coincidental that that was placed there at that point in the day when I wanted to give up. I felt very thankful to whoever it was that had graffitied the middle of the street. When we climbed more hills that day and fought more wind and heat and when each of the last miles felt like forever, I just repeated that phrase in my head over and over. I thought of all the things I had accomplished on my bike before that, and how it would feel to be done with this challenging day. I thought of all of the things I had been wrong about, like how I once thought I wasn't capable of climbing mountains. But I had, and this day wouldn't see me give up.I think when most of us look back on our lives, we realize that there were many moments or time periods when we came out stronger and wiser. We fought through it and we made it to the next day and the next after that. We were tougher than we thought. Sometimes it helps to be reminded.I think it's important, too, to be proud of yourself. Be happy and proud that you made it and that your fight was worthwhile and that it was you who persevered. There's no doubt that often you need others to help you through and to be your support, but ultimately you also have to believe in yourself. Know that you are indeed tough enough.

Day 53

Never have our shadows been longer than when we wake up in the dark at 4:45. The dawn greeted us with a long climb (get climbing out of the way early in the day) into a desert farm - why anyone tries to farm in a place lacking rain is still a mystery to me. Surrounded by windmills and white picket fences, we continued to ride the Oregon Trail, this time apart from the Snake River. We were certainly relieved to have woken up at that early hour as the day didn't get unbearably hot until the early afternoon and we knocked out the first half of the mileage with mostly calm-ish tailwinds.Christy dedicated the ride today to several of her donors and their friends, including Nancy Scherer and Charnan Simon who both lost their battles to cancer, and Megan Miller who is a survivor. During our rest stop at the Boise Gun Club today, we met a kind woman, Gerry, whose mother had been a cancer survivor. She was extremely encouraging and glad to meet us. She shared the story of her mother and several friends she had recently lost to cancer. It is refreshing to know we can bring hope to the random strangers we meet along the way; it makes us realize though the connection of cancer and supporting each other, none of us are really strangers anyways.We have reached Boise after another week of riding. We are at the Cathedral of the Rockies. Zenergy, a local health club and spa, gave us free showers and I think I can honestly say that these are the most luxurious showers of our entire lives... The water came out of multiple faucets, 'nuf said. Kudos to Ryan for coordinating the showers. We visited bike shops, ice cream places, and various restaurants/breweries tonight. Sleeping in is the best!

Day 52

The team woke up an hour earlier than normal, at 4:45, this morning to avoid the heat and wind. Connor bought waffles for all of us, which made breakfast a lot more fun than just oatmeal! The ride dedication today was for Ken, whose wife submitted a written portrait last night in Twin Falls. He is a 9-year survivor of pancreatic cancer. He went through an incredibly difficult amount of treatment; at one point his wife was told to come in and say goodbye. By surviving, he overcame cancer to bring encouragement to others struggling with the disease.We were expecting a rough day, but the first 40 miles ended up being relatively easy. We descended into the Snake River Canyon after a bit of a cue mix-up. Turns out the map lied about what was a road versus a private driveway. We simply took US-30 and old 30 for most of the ride, which added several miles. After the rest stop at mile 40, we entered the middle of nowhere. At that point the wind became extraordinarily strong, and was from the northwest where we were headed. Throughout the ride we faced 20-30 mph headwinds and crosswinds. The wind was strong enough for tumbleweed to be flying by, and the heat was nearly unbearable in the later part of the day. The desert is a smothering place with miles upon miles of dead-looking bushes and fences to keep non-existent cows from running away.We are at the First Baptist Church in Glenns Ferry. This town is the crossroads where the pioneers on the Oregon Trail crossed the Snake River. We went to The Fudge Factory for some of the best ice cream ever. Then we hose showered! This is an experience which hasn't happened yet on this year's I4K, which is actually quite shocking. It was fun and perfect for such a hot day. The church made us a fabulous taco salad with homemade guacamole dressing for dinner. We weren't even expecting dinner, so this was a pleasant surprise. We are going to bed an hour early again tonight.

Day 51

What a short, fun day!  For the second day in a row, we had tailwinds.  Today we had even fewer hills.  I would call this part of Idaho the Illinois of the West.  We awoke in Rupert to a great breakfast provided by Trinity Lutheran Church, including a french toast casserole and quiche.  Anne asked to dedicate today's ride to Matt Perille and his family, for all they went through when Matt was diagnosed with leukemia. Matt is now 5 years in remission.The ride was just 44 miles, and with strong tailwinds it went by quickly.  We only had one real rest stop, but we of course had to stop at the gorgeous Snake River Canyon.  The elevation chart was funny for today and seemed to depict us descending a cliff hundreds of feet and climbing it again.  But we soon realized the bridge was probably a better way.  Arriving in Twin Falls, we went to the bike shop for repairs and other fun things, then headed over to the unquestionably best grocery store on the planet: The Grocery Outlet Bargain Market.  We found lots of food for amazing prices there.  The some of us went to the Shoshone Falls, also known as the Niagara Falls of the West.  The lake, Dierkes Lake, had great views and cliff jumping (or falling, in some cases).  While some swam at the lake, a few riders went back to Hazelton to talk with a woman we met during our rest stop.  She shared her story about her son who was diagnosed with neuroblastoma before his first birthday.  He battled the disease for 23 years, and passed away last month.  With a loss so recent, the woman was amazingly brave and had positive things to tell us.  It is for these fighters that we ride.The church generously made us dinner of pulled pork and the best cookies ever.  We are going to bed early in an attempt to avoid killer winds tomorrow.

...AT MY TABLE FOR ONE

It was a Thursday night in Salt Lake City and the line was out the door. As we approached, a sign became visible."All patrons will be carded"It was a burgers and beer kind of place."How many in your party?""Ten.""Are you all at least twenty one?""Wait, what? No.""Then you can't come in."At this point we split up into groups of six and four, over and under twenty one, respectively. As the kids group, myself included, forged on to find a new dinner locale, a nearby restaurant was suggested."Are the four of you twenty one?""No.""Then I can't serve you. State law."What the heck Utah. Do you want us to starve?It's been an hour, and we've walked a mile and a half our quest. We tried one more spot, and we're promptly kicked out because of our youthfulness.We then became three; one leaving to go on a solo search for food.Sitting on the curb, searching Google and Yelp for anything edible in the vicinity, my spirits were low, and I too went on alone, leaving the two remaining to figure it out on their own.I was not entirely sure where I was headed, but had Cheesecake Factory stuck in my head because I had passed it earlier in the day while sightseeing. It was more of a joke than an option.I passed a bus stop with a rather forlorn looking fellow standing nearby it."Would you be able to spare a dollar for bus fare?"Yes, but am I going to give a total stranger some money? What if he's just going to use it to buy drugs? What help would I be doing him then? Well..."Here's a dollar."What he does with it isn't my problem. Maybe I just made his day a little bit better. Helping people feels good, especially after being kicked out of a handful of establishments for doing nothing other than not being a certain age.I walked on and didn't think about it anymore. I felt a little more jolly though.Then, without realizing it, I was at the door of the very restaurant that I was joking about: Cheesecake Factory. Everything else was either closed or didn't welcome youth, so I made my way in.I was surrounded by people who looked like they walked out of a J.Crew advertisement, and here I was, in a semi clean sweatshirt, rolled up jeans, and and sandals."How many sir?"I hold up my pointer finger."One."I'm handed a buzzer."That'll be about a twenty minute wait.""Thank you."Leaning against a wall, floods of semi formally dressed people flood in and out or the eatery. Many in line after me were seated ahead of me, but I just waited contently for my turn.It was now eight'o'clock and my phone rings."Do you want a ride back to the stay over?""Uh, no... I haven't eaten yet."Soon after, and forty five minutes after check in, I am finally on my way to a seat. My table for one."How has your night been so far?" The hostess asked as she leads me to my seat."A little rough to tell you the truth.""Hopefully some cheesecake can fix that."I snicker a little bit, part because her comment was funny, and part because I was exhausted and hungry.I'm lead past rows upon rows of families and friends, then outside and to the farthest corner from the entrance, at a table with two chairs and one set of silverware."Your server will be with you shortly.""Awesome. Thank you."My server arrives promptly, I order, and he's gone as quickly as he arrived. I spend the next twenty minutes or so staring at windy Salt Lake City streets in front of me. In the mean time, complimentary bread, my drink, and my food arrive, at my table for one.Pro tip: when at a semi fancy restaurant alone, and they provide complimentary bread, you get to eat it all by yourself.That small tidbit made my night that much better.With nothing but my thoughts and a giant burger to keep me company, I had a chance to mentally catch up with myself. The past couple of weeks have whipped by like a tornado riding a roller coaster, and the time spent at my table for one was incredibly valuable.By the time I was on my way out, it was nine'o'clock, I was beyond full of good food, and I had two miles to walk to get back to the stay over.The only thing left to do was go to bed, wake up, and keep on riding across this great country.

Day 50

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church made us casseroles, hash browns, and other yummy food for breakfast. The ride was dedicated to Nancy who has been continuously battling carcinoid cancer for the last eight years.Today we rode on the Oregon trail, and nobody died of dysentery! After traveling the 20 miles through a desert of nothingness, we have a lot of respect for the early pioneers. We began to wonder if the wandering path of nothingness was actually just a Möbius strip, intended to trap us forever. Yet we flew with tailwinds and had a relatively short day compared to yesterday. Also, we passed by Massacre Rocks and Register Rock. The story behind the rocks is that people on the Oregon Trail carved their names into the Register Rock, and there were engravings as old as 1840. Team Cruise to Cup made it quickly to Rupert for the World Cup final at 1:00. Germany won... We have mixed feelings about that.Here we are at Trinity Lutheran Church, a homey place in a small town. We had so much more time than yesterday to hang out and enjoy the town. A Latino festival was going on in the square, including cultural dances and homemade food stands. The church provided dinner of lasagna and wonderful salad for us, then we went to the junior high to shower.

Day 49

Blog posted a day late; we were all exhausted and ran out of time before bedtime at 10:00!7 squared is 49. We have been riding bicycles for 7 weeks and 3 weeks remain... We intend to make the most of it! Last night was not a good night's sleep for most of us because of the trains noisily passing less than 100 yds from our campsite, as well as the parties going on at nearby tents. Today's ride dedication was for Gina a dear friend of Kia, one of the Hydrosystems researchers who helped with the fundraising dinner (back on day 15 of our ride). She has been battling cancer for 15 years since age 12. Numerous times she had been told she only has months to live, yet still she perseveres and managed to contribute to countless clinical research trials to help others fight the illness.We rolled out for a long day: 103 miles from Crystal Hot Springs in Honeyville to Pocatello, Idaho. We have reached our 14th state! The Cache Gran Fondo race was going on in the opposite direction of the roads we were riding on today. For the first 40 miles, we watched professional and amateur cyclists race by on a fascinating variety of bikes. Throughout the day, we faced differing terrain and weather. As the sun rose early, we were cold and willed the shadows to disappear. Later, we wanted the clouds to come back to hide us from the severe heat.In Plymouth, the team met Susan, a survivor of endometrial cancer, who had an extremely positive look on life and generously made a donation to the team. In McCammon, there was a parade as we came in which was cool. The Harkness Hotel, located across the street from our rest stop, was a quaint boutique hotel owned by a couple from who were recently touched by cancer themselves.Our groups arrived late after a long day of riding. After up to 8 hours rolling time in the saddle, we were certainly relieved to be greeted by the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. They immediately whisked us away to showers at the houses of church members. It was terrific to be able to shower in a real shower in a house! Then we came back for dinner, which was Mexican chicken, rice, mac n' cheese, quinoa salad and so much more. Dessert was something we almost didn't have room with after all that yummy dinner, but there was ice cream, cake, and fresh strawberries. It's been a long time since anyone made a meal for us and we truly enjoyed it! Then we all went to sleeping bag, and slept like rocks because I think I can say for us all that we are totally exhausted.

Day 48

News flash: today we hit 3,000 miles!This morning we left St. Catherine Newman Center in Salt Lake City. There were still some Chobani yogurts from the Damon Runyon event yesterday, as we as some other donated food for breakfast. Letterpress Central, which Ryan's aunt owns, gave care packages including really cool post cards to all the riders, as well as brownies and cookies. The ride today was dedicated to Patty, the aunt of Leah, who Blake met yesterday at FedEx. Patty battled stomach cancer.The first half of the ride was on a beautiful paved bike trail, along the path of which we found a dog agility show and trees laden with apricots. Later we were on a normal road and ended up stopping at several 7-Elevens for free slurpies - today is 7/11. We definitely had tailwinds today and not much climbing, which made for a decent 73-mile ride to Honeyville. We were unsuccessful in finding a host church in Logan, Utah, so our destination changed to a bustling campground called Crystal Hot Springs. When we arrived, there were pools and slides. We got in for a discount, and set up our 5 tents. As most of the team was swimming, playing sharks and minnows, a few of our tents tried to blow away in sudden gusts of wind. We salvaged what we could from the strong wind, and started dinner. Spaghetti is the best thing at the end of a long day of cycling. Here it's pretty noisy with our camping neighbors partying it up, but hopefully everyone is able to sleep!

The journey thus far: a day in the life of an Illini 4000 rider

It is hard to believe it has been just over a month that I have been on this incredible journey biking consistently across the USA (from the Big Apple to the City by the Bay) as part of the Illini 4000 team to raise awareness/funds for cancer research and patient support services. In addition, the ride serves as a vehicle to interact with countless people along the trip and we listen because be we believe that everyone has a story to share of how cancer as impacted their life and we try to to capture the stories to document the face of cancer on American society as well as share these stories with the world to help others that might be struggling with similar experiences, all done through what we call the Portraits Project (www.portraitsproject.org).To be honest at the onset of the ride, I though I would plenty of time to myself to internalize my thoughts and document my experiences each day of the ride here on my rider's blog (http://illini4000.org/riders/blandry/blog/). However, given the packed schedule on top of the physical and mental demands, I am amazed that I make it though each day. What I once thought was just a simple activity of riding a bike has become elevated to a whole new level of required focus, attenuation, determination, stamina, and dedication. To help one better understand a day in the life of an Illini 4000 rider, the following is what a typical ride day is like for me:

Pre-ride:

• wake up at 5:45 am
• from 5:45 to 6:15am:
  • pack up sleeping mat, sleeping bag, and travel pillow ( stuff into compression sacks)
  • change into official Illini 4000 cycling apparel (i.e., jersey and bibs), this also includes applying a generous amount of chamois butter to mitigate and heal chaffing and saddle sores. I promise these are real and painfully plague riders throughout the trip.
  • brush teeth and complete any last minute hygiene
  • pack up all use used clothing into Australian style military rug sack
• by 6:15am the rug sack and compression sacks with the sleeping bag and mat are brought outside near the support van to be packed by the van packers ( which is one of the rotating chores for two of the twenty riders).
• between 6:15am and 6:30am I pack my special electronics satchel which hold the laptop and hard drives to backup the video and pictures that we take along the trip (note this is part of my static chore as the portraits coordinator). Bring this bag and the two digital SLR cameras for portraits to the van so that they are easily accessible during the day for documenting portraits.
• at 6:30am breakfast is served (two riders have the rotating chore preparing breakfast); it is either oatmeal or cereal depending on whether we have access to a kitchen in the morning.
• at 7:00 am rinse and save bowl, fill up water bottles, and finalize the dawning of special cycling gear since I burn very easy in the sun: sun arms, sun knees, skull cap, sunscreen of face, and sun glasses
• at 7:15am bike is carried outside and helmet and cycling gloves are put on
• between 7:15am and 7:30am with the entire team outside, we have a quick logistics meeting for the days ride and pass out direction cues.  Then, to set the tone for the entire day and remind us why we ride, we dedicate the day’s ride for a special person or groups of people which have been impacted by cancer in some way.
• at 7:30am we start to roll out. Upon leaving, we split up into subgroups of 3 to 6 riders for safety. Finally, I start up my GPS cycling computer for the day’s route and send off an email to track us live as we start to cycle out of the parking lot of the stay-over location.

During the day's ride:

• We average 15 mph (but can range from <5 mph climbing steep mountains to > 50 mph on the descent) which is highly dependent on weather (e.g, rain, wind direction and strength, and heat), road characteristics (e.g., steepness and surface type), and rider’s health (both physical and mental).
• The support van stops at rough every 20 miles through the day's ride to allow each rider to refill their two water bottles and take a quick 15 min break before continuing the ride. (note, one rider volunteers to drive the support van each day).  Depending on the day, typically the second or third break becomes a roughly one hour lunch stop which the team supplies peanut butter and jelly sandwiches :)
• Along the day’s ride we try to interact with as many people as possible. Some people we talk to want to have their story documented as part of the Portraits Project and then call the support van to bring the equipment so we can record the interview.

After the day's ride:

• The first subgroups to arrive at the stay over unpack the van.
• Dinner is around 6pm or 7pm ( all depends when we arrive at the stay over, over time we had 113 miles and we did not get to the stay over until nearly 7:15am lucky the church was providing dinner so we did not have to cook pasta that night)
• Shower (if available)
• Setup my sleeping pad and bag as well as start charging my GPS and cellphone for the next day.
• Setup my laptop to transfers, organize, and backup portraits we collected to hard drives.
• Finally, lights out at 10pm and repeat the next day...

Day 47

We are still in Salt Lake City.  Sleeping in was great, but we woke up around 8:00 to walk to the Huntsman Cancer Institute for our event day.  There, we met three scientists who are funded by the Damon Runyon Foundation.  Dr. Trudy Oliver is a researcher in lung cancer, investigating cancer origins in varying cell types and how this relates to drug resistance.  Her goal is also to erase the stigmas associated with smokers because lung cancer also affects non-smokers.  Dr. Kevin Jones is a surgeon who deals with sarcomas, trying to understand cancer origins including chromosomal translocations.  These two scientists work together and Dr. Jones very kindly gave us all copies of his book, "What Doctors Cannot Tell You."  Dr. Joshua Schiffman, a pediatric oncologist, was motivated by his own cancer at age 15, and now is trying to develop better methods for cancer screening.  He discussed how animal models are used, including dogs which get cancer at a rate of 11 times that of humans and elephants which rarely have cancer.  It was emphasized that we are not riding for a cure,  but a billion individual cures.  Cancer is significantly harder to treat than bacterial infections because cancer cells are of the same species as the host, and the genes are incredibly evolvable.  We had a great time learning about these scientists' novel work, and a filling breakfast was also provided.After the Damon Runyon event, we all went our own ways.  From grocery stores and bike shops to Temple Square and the capitol, we were all over the city.  There was also a logistics committee meeting to organize a stayover for a city in Oregon, and we ended up calling over 30 churches and other locations before we had a stayover confirmed. Some riders celebrated Thanksgiving with a potluck, and others found food around the city.  It was great to have a rest day, and we're ready to get back on the road come tomorrow morning!

Haiku

We ride bikes a lotWe also watch Pitch PerfectYou're welcome Kenny

Day 46

We woke up to a fabulous mountain view, although the people who slept outside got rained on a bit last night. Mountainview Fellowship provided yogurt and a tasty strawberry granola for breakfast. The ride today was dedicated to Momma Gross, a survivor of lymphoma, and her boss, Brent, who is battling pancreatic cancer. We heard their stories yesterday at the Daniels Summit Lodge General Store.The ride was another climb today, this time into the Wasatch Mountains. At least we had few headwinds, and even a semblance of a tailwind at some points. However, it was extremely hot and we were all ridiculously sweaty from the climbs. The first stop was in Park City, where we came across part of the Winter Olympics from 2002: the awards podium. It was fun to pose on that, then we headed off to a gas station down the road a bit. Utah means business when it comes to Clif bars, so Josh, Kathleen, Grace, and Blake had a tasting bonanza with 7 rare bars, including some nearly-expired seasonal ones. That was an entertaining thing for teammates to observe and join in on. Then some groups stopped at Taco Bell before continued climbing until we reached the summit. The rest of the ride was steep downhills on I-80, which is the first rare occasion for our team to be riding on an interstate.We all ended up at the Saint Catherine Newman Center at University of Utah. They have showers and they also provided mattresses for all of us. The team split up since it is a rest day tomorrow. Many people took naps, and a few went to the bike shop. Team laundry was done, and then a number of us went to the Pie Pizzeria, a unique pizza place, as well as UGURT for frozen yogurt. Some people explored the town by bike and other riders walked around the university campus. We are happy to sleep in tomorrow, on our luxurious mattresses!

Day 45

It was still dark at 4:45 for our early wake-up, and the sun slowly made it's way to the horizon. We seem to have oatmeal issues often and today it was that we ran out of propane while the water was lukewarm and not yet boiling. Still, breakfast went on with warm-ish oats in water, and the sun rose. Today's ride was dedicated to a boy who passed away at age 2 from cancer.The ride was mostly uphill for 55 miles, and then we made it to lunch at Daniels Summit, 8,020 feet. A wonderful general store was situated at the lodge at the top. There, we met Diane, who is a survivor of lymphoma. She was incredibly kind to our team, as were all the people we met in the shop. Everyone was so interested to hear about our trip. Then we had a great descent into Hebert City where we arrived at Mountain View Fellowship, a homey church with yes, an incredible mountain view... Because it was a house before it became a church.Here the church donated hamburgers, hotdogs, and buns for us to grill tonight. Ryan was the grill master and also grilled up a pineapple Grace got for the team. Aaron, a worship leader from Idaho, was visiting the church too and came with some of us to Dairy Keen for delicious milkshakes. Some of us are sleeping outside tonight because it's so nice out.

Hello from Heber City, UT!

Hi again folks!It's been a while, but here I am again, writing another disjointed blog post! We're currently in Heber City, Utah staying at a beautiful church called Mountain View Church. It feels like a lodge with high, vaulted ceilings and wood everywhere. Out back, there's a beautiful patio, horses, and (of course) mountains! Today was 72 miles and was pegged as a very challenging day. We reached 8000+ ft and then had a beautiful descent into Heber City. We got an early start this morning (4:45am wake up instead of 5:45) and beat the oppressive heat. The hardest part about the last few days has been the heat; we've been biking through the desert of Utah and it's been near 100 for the past few days-- hot, hot, hot! Yesterday, we had a rest stop at a lake (that we obviously got into) that helped a lot with the heat. We also rented a water trampoline/blob thing and it was a ton of fun to be in the freezing water and act like the 8 year olds that we all really are at heart. We did get a few jealousglares from actual 8 year olds... oops!The campsite last night was breathtaking and luxurious (for camping, at least). It was so great! We set the tents up on the grassy area that overlooked the reservoir and rock formations in the park. The best part was the lack of bugs at the site! The stars were incredible. There were also showers and outlets, so all were happy.For me, the last week or so has involved a lot of reflection and thought. I've been thinking a lot about what I want to do in the future, both near and distant. (For those who don't know, I graduated in May-- thus the introspection!) No earth-shattering conclusions yet, but some deep thought. Through the Rockies, I really came to love cycling. I've really enjoyedall of I4K, but I thought that maybe it was just all the wonderful people I'm doing it with that made me love what we do everyday. But, after the climbing through the Rockies and the most stunning descent I've ever been on (down Rabbit Ears Pass into Steamboat), it was decided-- cycling, especially in mountains, is awesome. I've also leared a lot about my teammates and they've taught me a ton. We've gotten into playing the game of everyone taking an hour and telling their life story and then responding to questions... it's really interesting and lots of fun. Having 19 other roommates everyday is still going surprisingly well for me, and I think most of the team. By now, we know each others' quirks and mannerisms and can almost predict what each other are going to say. It's fun to be at that point. It's also getting scary that we have fewer days left than days that we've done! Today was Day 45 of 71. Tomorrow we'll be in Salt Lake City (and have a rest day there the following day) and we'll be one city closer to the Golden Gate... and that's the scariest thing of all! Way scarier than crazy elevation gains, headwinds, or anything else Mother Nature can throw at us. I'm jealous that so many of my teammates get to go back to campus and keep hanging out and riding bikes together! I'm going to miss all these crazy goons when this is done! But for now, it's time to live each day! And luckily, each day is getting easier and easier because we are in even better shape and we just get to hang out with our friends while being outside and fighting cancer every single day. What a gift!

So far in lists

It's 9 o'clock right now which is actually past bedtime because tomorrow we wake up at 445am. No better time to blog, right??Hey everyone! Right now I'm listening to jet skis on the reservoir next to our camp site and hearing the quintessential sounds of summer - but not the summer I've been having.The summer I've been having is more like...-545am wake ups, hurried ready-ing for the day, then forcing down oatmeal-Anywhere from an hour and a half ride (okay that was only once, descent into Steamboat) to a fourteen hour ride (okay that was only once too, 114 mile day to Valentine, NE)-Tons of reflection time in the saddle, I'm pretty sure I've figured out how to live my post college life HAHA JK TOTALLY FREAKING OUT STILL-Hating hard on PB&J, seriously it's so hard to get down these days-Frequent stops for Gatorade and air conditioning and maybe poptarts, always brown sugar cinnamon-Getting to a stayover/campground sometime around 5, maybe showering but probably not-Assessing the sunburn of the day-Being soooo hungry and eating spaghetti for the billionth time, probably putting on too much red pepper flakes and burning my face off-Trying to stay awake long enough to get everything out into my journal, typically falling asleep with my notebook open-10pm bedtime, if I make it thereLather (only sometimes, haha, get it), rinse and repeat for best results. Every day is unique in it's own way, don't get me wrong! But it's very likely that most things on that list happen every day.Other neat and recent things:-Meeting friendly people in McDonald's, I swear 9/10 McD's customers are chatty Cathys-Seeing so much road kill we have existential crises-Jamming on the road, killing phone battery after 80 miles-Making poor food decisions and feeling puke-y all afternoon, many afternoons (ice cream, why do you torture me so?)-Getting caught in rain, riding anyway...except that one time we were caught in the hurricane of Nebraska and Don and Sharon put us up for the duration of the storm (thanks so much again for that!! If you're reading!)-Taking an 8 mile descent into Steamboat Springs in which pedaling was unnecessary and views were literally breathtaking-S'mores. But melted chocolate. Still good-Making friends in laundromats, gas stations (20 bikes outside causes lots of curiosity)-Biking through Utah and swimming in every lake we come across, IT IS HOT AND SO DRY DOES IT EVER RAIN HEREPretty much my days are full of meeting incredible strangers, being pretty stinky, and having a hard time believing this is my reality. All in all, I'm pretty glad to not be having a quintessential summer. I like mine a lot.BEDTIME love you, mom!

That Which Has Changed

Sometimes I wake up in the morning and forget why I'm here. It would be great to say that every day I need the motivation of the people I ride for. It would not be true, though, to say that I am riding my bike entirely for the cancer-fighting cause. Truth be told, sometimes I forget about all that is important. I just wake up everyday the same, ready to ride my bicycle.So let me take a step back. Right now I'm listening to the song "The Generous Mr. Lovewell" by MercyMe. Here are the lyrics that hit me:He wakes up every day the sameBelievin' he's gonna make a changeNever wonders "if" but "when"I guarantee he can find a wayTo reach out and make somebody's day'Cause someone took the time with himI have to back up, away from all the hills, wind, pedaling every day to a new location in the United States. How can I make a change today? And in the past 43 days, it been surprising how possible it is to make a change just by riding a bike. I've sat in on 6 portraits, heard numerous other stories, and have inspired countless people who heard about our organization. But that's not all that has changed since the start of the ride; here are a few other things:- I could have never expected the massive quantities of food I would be eating this summer... Enough for several people!- My appreciation for how complicated bikes are has increased! But I'm learning a lot.- Well of course the tan lines have been refined lately with the sun being so intense... And I'm honestly quite proud of them!- Then there's my body in general. My legs have become, well, toned. And quite huge honestly but hey that's okay; I'm getting stronger as a cyclist.- I am so critical of roads: the good, the bad, and the ugly.- I actually realized I love hills and mountains. Perhaps it's simply due to comparison of other cycling obstacles: heat and wind are unforgiving barriers but every mountain has a downhill; I love speed!- I love me a good chair or couch after all day in the saddle!- Showers are to be short and appreciated. A shower every two days is decent. Sink showers are a new, important concept.- Snot rockets while riding... 'Nuf said!On a more serious note, one thing that changed during week 2 has taken some getting used to. My best friend is trying to find a new normal after her dad passed away from pancreatic cancer. His memorial service was yesterday. As much as I wish I could have left the ride to go celebrate his life and new life in eternity with Jesus, I know that what I'm doing here is enough. And that's why every morning I have to return to the real reason I ride: it's not a vacation or an athletic endeavor. This mission has so many purposes and sources of motivation for each of the riders. When I wake up an hour earlier at 4:45 tomorrow, I hope to refresh my vigor for the cause. In the past few days I've tried to have more cancer-related conversations with people. It's about being open and willing to listen and encourage anyone who has a story to tell.I have learned a lot since starting the ride. More details about portraits I've sat in on coming soon...

Day 44

We had a slow start out of Vernal, Utah because we had to take a couple of trips to the grocery store for oatmeal and the necessary brown sugar that goes along with that. The ride dedication was for Eugene from yesterday's portrait. See Day 43 for his story. We started off the day with coffee because we were really in no rush to get to the campground.We rode 63 miles today, and once again the afternoon heat oppressively smothered us, robbing energy we thought we had. The highlight of the ride was definitely our stop at mile 44, where a lake invited us to swim and cool off. Other visitors to the lake had two dogs, one of which was a corgi like our team mascot Alex Massey. He was so playful and nice, and even put up with our crazy forehead selfie antics.We arrived at Starvation State Park early enough to play in the gorgeous lake. This is a luxury campground, including individual showers, outlets, and beautiful grassy areas for our tents. Josh reserved an awesome blob and giant floaty trampoline for just $2 per rider. We hung out on lake for an hour, and it was probably the best $2 spent on this whole trip! We did not starve at Starvation State Park because we had pasta and even parmesan tonight. Tyler and Ellen bought s'mores supplies and Connor got hotdogs for all. We watched the sunset and went to bed early because we will wake up an hour early in the morning to avoid the heat and traffic on US-40.

Looks are deceiving.

The team was riding from Dinosaur National Monument, where we had camped for the night, to Vernal, Utah. The previous day we had had to ride 12 miles into the park just to get to the campsite, and so the following day we rode the same 12 miles back out. Luckily it was not in the same heat, but a long gradual mountain followed that challenged our morning muscles. Soon afterward we approached a long flat stretch of road which ended in what looked like a significantly steep hill.This wasn't something we hadn't seen before. We had climbed through the Appalachians, survived the driftless area of Iowa, and climbed to over 10,000 feet in the Rockies. We had ridden plenty of hills and mountains, but for many of us there is always a slight dread when we see yet another hill in the distance, especially when we've already packed on some miles.But, as the hill came ever closer, I reminded myself that usually, it really isn't as bad as it looks. As our wheels rolled towards the base of the hill, its shape shifted, and gradually that land that had looked like a ninety degree wall blocking our path was flattening out and we realized that it was a shallow slope that was no match for our seasoned legs.As I slowly but surely climbed that hill, I thought of how this theme has been common over this summer and how it really applies to many aspects of life. Looks are deceiving; often we jump to make predictions or conclusions based on them which can hugely affect our mentality.In the case of climbing hills, predicting that a hill is steep or long or impossibly difficult negatively affects my mental preparedness. As soon as I see it and make those assumptions, my mental capacity plummets and my belief that I can surpass the challenge disappears. My body feels heavier, my muscles feel tired, and motivational thoughts stop forming. It's all "This is going to be horrible" and "Maybe I'll have to walk up this one." But when it turns out that it only looked bad, I feel much more confident and ready to push myself. It is much better when I can start out with that positive mentality to begin with.The fact that looks aren't everything could apply to so many things in life, but I'll highlight two relevant ones.First, we are a bunch of college kids riding bikes we've (mostly) never ridden before across the United States. If you saw our first team picture from way back in the fall at our first team meeting, you probably wouldn't imagine that sort of feat out of a random grouping of young students. You might not even think that we'd want to volunteer our time for that sort of thing, or maybe you'd expect us to give up in the first week. But again, looks are deceiving, and I have learned time and time again over the course of this trip that we are indeed capable of such an insane trip. And though I didn't even know it myself when I started, I have learned that a few people really can make a huge impact just by putting themselves (literally) out there and by taking a minute to listen and observe and experience. Even I had my own predictions, but they were soon shattered.Second, I again want to reflect on why we do the ride, though I may repeat myself. Cancer is so prominent that everyone probably at least walks by someone every day who has been touched by cancer. In general, every day people walk past others who are suffering or worrying or hurting from something. Yet we get angry at the slow driver in front of us or we get annoyed by the restaurant service or we walk through the park without smiling at anyone we pass. Looks are deceiving. That waitress might be smiling but she just lost a relative. That person relaxing at the park is actually wondering how he's going to pay the bills. The man we did a portrait with today was kind and talkative and friendly, but when the portrait began he immediately teared up when sharing the story of his deceased father.If we hadn't taken a moment to just stop and listen, we wouldn't have known this story which defined part of his life and touched him so deeply. If we jump to conclusions about other people in the world, we could be missing out on relationships and we could miss so many opportunities to learn and grow.If I let myself believe I can't do it just because of the way that hill looks, it will only make conquering it that much harder. If I remember that looks are deceiving, especially when it comes to hills, then I will only find reward.