Start/End: John Day/Ochoco Divide, ORMileage: 83+Weather: Sunny and cold in the morning with a very warm afternoonThere are some really awesome things that this team can check off of their bucket list or just list of things they have done and after tonight, sleeping at the top of a mountain will be one of those things! The predicament about that, though, being on a bike trip, there is only one way to get to a mountain top...climb it on your bike.Today we arose a little earlier than usual and fortunately our location relative to the time zone favored this early wake up. It was very cold, though so crawling out of warm, snugly sleeping bags was not exactly welcomed by everyone, but none the less, we all woke up and got ready for the day, one we knew would be a challenge.Our ride today had two dedications that were very special. First we wanted to dedicate the ride to Taliq, a ten year old boy who has a brain tumor. Today is his 10th birthday and we hope that he got a card from us! One of our rider's heard about his story from social media and we just couldn't say no.So we got on the road heading west, ready for the first 31 miles that were just a little downhill. This was pretty helpful in allowing us to save our energy for later. Despite the cold, it was a beautiful morning. We saw some beautiful fields that were nestled between large hills. We did follow the John Day River for quite a while in the morning, passing through the John Day Fossil Monument Park. We passed through the Picture Gorge....and gosh! I wish I would have gotten a picture of it. The road just disappeared through this gorge as we followed the river that apparently has a lot of fossils in it!Our first stop of the day was in Dayville, which was a quaint little village. We stopped at a cafe near a general store, which actually was a full service bike shop! We took a little bit longer of a break getting to meet some great people and exploring the store and before long, were on our way again. We had a little more downhill before we started to climb our first peak. We have definitely climbed with steeper grades, but this hill just seemed to drag on. It was kind of amusing because we did pass a tree that had been adorned with hundreds of shoes... It was definitely random, but kind of a fun sight to see.We stopped for lunch before reaching the top and it was very hot. Sitting at lunch, many of us were sweating when we weren't in the shade, so it was a quicker stop for lunch and we were back on the hill. Then we received our beautiful downhill that was very earned. The wind as we descended felt nice, as did not having to peddle. We then came upon a town called Mitchell, Oregon and of course we stopped to explore a little, being sure to buy some ice cream and/or freshly made maple bars (donuts). Others got some refreshing iced coffee and relaxed because at that point,me had about 15 miles left, about 10 of those would be uphill. And uphill they were!Through the hot afternoon, we fought our way to the top through the heat. It was really interesting because we actually passed a part of the Forrest which had been burned from wildfires in past years. Seeing the remains of this Forrest fire was really interesting. It seemed so dead, but because the trees had been burned, fresh green grass was growing on the surface, which, when the trees are fuller, would not be possible.As we got closer to Ochoco Divide, we were feeling so tired and ready to be done for the day. The forests became more fuller and less impacted by wildfires in past years which was reassuring. Once we reached the summit, we could not have been more exciting, especially when the campsite was within site! It was very basic, but hey! We don't need much. We set up our tents quickly and many fell asleep to take naps. Dinner came later on with some fresh watermelon and cold cut sandwiches. They tasted amazing and bed could not sound more appealing at this moment.-LAH
Hello San Francisco (Almost)! Plans for the near Future
Friends, family, avid blog readers, hello! The 2015 Bike America Team is rather close to their final destination. The riders will reach San Francisco and cross the iconic Golden Gate Bridge on Sunday, Aug 2, 2015. So, what better way to get together and celebrate their accomplishments than with fellow Illini and food.The San Francisco Bay Illini have graciously planned an event day at Crissy Field and are looking forward to seeing the team. But, as always, everyone is welcome! So, if you're nearby, stop in. I'm sure riders will have tons of amazing stories to regale us all with. The complete details are included as a link below. Thanks!http://www.sfbayillini.org/article.html?aid=484
Day 60: Through the Evergreen Forests
Start/End: Unity Lake/John Day, ORMileage: 50.3+Weather: Sunny, but not too warm by the time we rolled in!Today started out pretty refreshing. As we had just crossed the time zone, we were back to a point where the sun rose pretty early, but that did not stop most of us from getting a great nights sleep along Unity Lake. For breakfast. As usual with camping, we had big bowls of delicious cereal and milk. Just a few more days of this as opposed to our usual oatmeal routine!Today's ride was dedicated a rider's great grandparents whom she had the pleasure of knowing while she was growing up. Doris and Orville Schmid both were very impacted by cancer as Doris was a breast cancer survivor and Orville also had fought a type of cancer.Our route started off as we left the state park and wound around the lake back to some heavily forested hills where we were reminded that trees do in fact exist! As we have traveled through Utah and Idaho and even pats of Colorado, scrub brush really became the only type of vegetation that we saw in nature. The first big climb of our day was right off the bat with the Blue Mountain Pass. It was a big one to climb, but the grade was not too steep and there was such beautiful scenery to look at. After conquering this, we stopped and had some fruit to eat. While at this stop, we saw a deer safely cross the road, but other than that, no wildlife today!So we kept climbing again up to the Dixie Pass. This climb seemed longer, but still was not too steep. Additionally, it was still cool enough to be comfortable. It was great to be in this forested area as it was very beautiful to look at, but as we began to descend again after the summit, the forest went away and the desert characteristics returned. This was ok, because it opened up some very scenic views of the area, including one that was near a giant covered wagon! It was so cool and many of us stopped for some fun pictures.Today's ride was a shorter one, so we have been in John Day for a while today already. Some of us have sought out food or coffee shops, while others are enjoying a calm afternoon at the campground. Tomorrow we will start a little early, taking advantage of the early sunlight and the lack of heat to begin a long day with lots of climbing and a good amount of distance. We will be camping again in a region that we have been warned is very remote, so as many of us did not have cell service yesterday/today, we may not tomorrow as well. I look forward to updating you in a few days about all of our adventures though! I can't believe it is already July 21st....-LAH
Day 59: No Shrubbery Here!
Start/End: Ontario/Unity, OrMileage: 84+Weather: Hot. Cloudless for most of the day.if you happen to come across a Knight who says, "Ni", just hope that you are not in eastern Oregon, because there are no good shrubbery here. There are instead, plenty of scrub (bery) brush along our trek. Today we had a decent day that was without a doubt one of our tougher days in the past stretch.We woke up in Oregon, but not yet in the Pacific time zone, and got ready for our day. Today's ride was dedicated to a friend of a rider who was diagnosed with stage 4 non-Hodgkins lymphoma at age 17 as she was going into her senior year of high school. She took a semester off to get treatment, causing her to lose all of her hair in addition to her experiencing a lot of other symptoms from chemotherapy. We are really happy to say that she has been cancer free for 5 years now, but we wanted to dedicate today's ride to Gabi as well as any young person who is battling cancer.Today we had a decent ride ahead of us so we got started right away. We continued to drive through more desert areas and the hills were fairly desolate, except for some occasional cows. As we went through the day, we climbed two very decent hills reaching Brogan Summit and El Dorado Summit. Both were under 5,000 ft of elevation, but we climbed just about all of that distance from sea level. So that was fun. One of these hills that we climbed was actually under construction and was cut down to a single lane with a flagged and an escort vehicle. The construction workers were so generous and offered to use a different support vehicle to escort many of our ride groups who had caught up together (I don't think he knew what he was getting into and how slow we would go uphill in the heat). Alas, we made it safely and we were very excited that the crew was so accommodating to our safety.As we descended our final climb through El Dorado Pass we finally passed into the Pacific Time Zone at mile 68 into Oregon. We were surprised it took this long and some of us were hoping to take a picture with the sign but honestly it was a nice decent and we were all getting pretty tired and hot.As we continued to wind down to Unity, Or, we passed some pretty remarkable rock formations. They are known as the balancing rocks and were great to look at.As we pulled into Unity, we stopped at a gas station/cafe and a lot of us hung out enjoying some food and the cool air before we finished our journey to Unity Lake State Park. When we felt refreshed and ready to move on, we continued to the campground which was very nice. It overlooked the lake and had showers on site! So we pitched our tents and got set up for the evening. We enjoyed some nice cold cut sandwiches for dinner with carrots and some miscellaneous leftovers.We were glad to sit in the shade and enjoy the evening. Good day, but sleeping seemed nice...
Day 58: Fast Day, New State
Start/End:Boise, ID/Ontario, ORMileage: 61.4+Weather: Sunny and not too hot!Today was a pretty delightful day, as it was shorter than a typical day and remarkably not windy, a great relief from a few days ago. Because of this, we woke up a little later than a typical morning and were not as rushed as normal to get our bags together. We are so thankful to a rider's family in the Boise area who generously provided breakfast this morning of donuts and watermelon. It was delicious. We are also incredibly thankful to the First United Methodist Church, or the Cathedral of the Rockies, in Boise who has just been amazing hosts for us for the past few days. They had an amazing facility, complete with laundry machines, which are always a plus. Additionally, eye were very close to downtown which allowed a great location for us to explore.This morning we also did not rush because we were set to meet fellow Illini! A man and his wife were members of the church which we stayed at and both had a very interesting experience with cancer. Both came from families where cancer was very prevalent and took lives of loved ones. But more recently, they have both been battling cancer. In 2012, John was diagnosed with a cancer of the lymph nodes. He underwent very aggressive radiation treatment, while also experiencing a more holistic treatment, learning about yoga and meditation. He has beaten it, but now him and his wife Pam have switched roles, as she has been diagnosed with a similar cancer and is undergoing a similar aggressive treatment. One thing that John did mention was the book titled, Anti Cancer which talks about ways that one can take an aggressive stance against cancer through prevention, based on medical studies. I have not read this, but it may be something to look into after the ride! It only seemed fitting to dedicate today's ride to John and Pam and their fight against cancer. Thank you so much for sharing your story with us!The ride went remarkably quickly that it is a little tricky to recall the main points, but let's see how that goes! Leaving Boise, we got a little tripped up as we were taking the Greenway Bike Path, which had a few points of construction. Overall, though, it was a beautiful path. After that, we took Idaho-44 for quite a while through a few smaller towns. Northwest of Boise is a lot more populated than south of Boise which we travelled through coming into town.Eventually we did get into a much more sparsely populated area. We were impressed by the amount of horses and foals (baby horses) that we saw along this stretch. Another interesting thing that we saw (well, smelled) were fields of onions! It makes sense that they would be grown in fields, but I don't think I had ever seen that before. Oh. And we saw some great looking corn growing! It was like a beautiful reminder of where we come from and how far we have come since our first training ride, when the fields around Champaign-Urbana were not even tilled.Today we entered the Ore-Ida region (in case you were wondering where the name of the frozen potato products came from). From Idaho to Oregon! We are not far from the border where we are staying, but it is crazy to think we have entered a state that touches the Pacific Ocean! Ah!!!We are so thankful for our wonderful hosts this evening who prepared us a great cookout meal with burgers, salads and pasta. Additionally, they set up with several nearby households to open up their homes for us to shower in. This was very appreciated and just such a kind gesture from this community. I know that I really enjoyed sitting in someone's house, getting to know them and kind of feeling like a real person :)We are also thankful for the support we received with the many letters and packages that arrived here for our rider's. Wether they were words of encouragement or some necessary supplies to help us get through our next stage, we just want to say thank you! Also, we should be finalizing some of the information about our San Francisco arrival. Once we have the information, we will be sure to post that here!Another reminder, 3 straight days of camping coming up! We are excited (and hoping for good weather)..and cell reception. See here is to happy trails and tailwinds!-LAH
Day 54: Yellow
Start/End: Rupert/Twin Falls, UTMileage: 43.6+Weather: PleasantToday was a remarkably short day. It was kind of a great ride to approach in the morning, knowing that we would be done with our ride before lunch! We cannot thank Trinity Lutheran Church in Rupert. We woke up and were treated to great breakfast foods, like baked French toast bread and quiche dishes. Though our departure was a little later than we had hoped, we were on the road before long, but not before dedicating today's ride. Today's dedication was special, because we dedicated it to the women who are a part of the metastatic breast cancer support group in Hinsdale, IL. This ride is for you ladies! We are so glad you have a support group and wish you well no matter where you find yourself in relation to cancer.Today's ride was beautiful, and goodness, there was so much yellow. There were fields of wheat, sunflowers that lined the roads and even a yellow plane which was spraying crops. There was just not many reasons to not smile at all of the color :)The ride was pretty generic, until after the only rest stop we had when we crossed over Snake River, over a very deep canyon. It was kind of scary crossing the bridge because of how high we were, but it was beautiful. After crossing, we were able to pull over and take some pictures of the canyon....well, we did until some groups saw a giant snake (almost 3 feet long) hanging out. I guess it is something fun to say that we have seen, but it was gross and definitely encouraged some of us to keep rolling on our adventure.After the ride, we had the day ourselves to do whatever we pleased. Some of us took naps, while others caught up with friends and family over the phone. Even more went into Twin Falls and explored, even getting interviewed by the local news channel (visit http://www.kmvt.com/content/news/College-bikers-go-cross-country-for-cancer-awareness-315573281.html for the news coverage). Some of the riders visited the falls of Twin Falls, which are apparently known as the 'Niagara of the West'. It was a beautiful site.We are so thankful to our generous stayover, River Falls Christian Fellowship who provided us with a great cookout dinner of hotdogs, chips, sodas and some other miscellaneous treats. It was a great space, that even had a shower! So we slept well and felt fresh for tomorrow, which will certainly be a slit lay longer day.-LAH
Day 57: Paddling Out Cancer in Boise
Today was a beautiful day in Boise. After yesterday's very long and tough ride, most of the team took full advantage of late wake up and slept in for quite a long time. We left our stayover around 10:30, which allowed us to sleep in and for some to find some good places to get coffee and/or breakfast.Today's event was pretty special as we got to participate in a river float! Even better, this was a fundraising activity to 'Paddle Out Cancer'. The event coordinators were so generous in setting our entire team with three large rafts, with life vests and some paddles. We had 4 miles to float, and what an eventful 4 miles! From avoiding other rafts to avoiding the shore which had lots of branches and rocks (which some groups did not do a great job of avoiding), we made it down the river. We got to swing on ropes to jump in the river and swim whenever we wanted. It was so much fun. Alas, at the end of the day, this event sure did make us very tired!After we finished the float, we got to hang out in a park and listen to live music and hang out in a cool atmosphere. As participants, we all got a grilled wrap from a food truck. They tasted great and were worth the wait.We really want to thank Ben who was a huge point of contact for this event and generously supplied the rafts. Additionally, Ben was amazing and spent several hours last night at the stayover looking over some bikes, generously taking his time and skills to fix many things that were not working well for riders.Well, I have caught up on today, gotten all of the day's properly labeled, but I do realize that I am still missing a few days. Hopefully they will pop up soon. I do want to make sure that you know that tomorrow we are entering Oregon, and we have been warned that it is a little sparse in some of the areas that we will be traveling. I will keep updating as I can, but that will be very dependent on cell phone reception, so we shall hope for the best! Oh. And we switch into a new time zone, so another hour back. That is all for no we! It was a good day, exhausting day.
Resting in Boise!
We have made it to Boise where today we have a great lineup of activities. It has been a crazy last couple of days, wherein I noticed that I actually mixed up the numbering of the days. So today, expect the numbers to change a little and some blog posts to pop up later today (likely in the evening). Sorry for the holdup on things, but I wanted everyone to know that we have made it to Boise! :)-LAH
Day 53: Interstates, Open Ranges and a Amazing Hosts
Start/End: Pocatello/Rupert, UTMileage: 74.9Weather: Morning sprinkles, with a hot, sunny afternoonToday I have to tell you about some amazing hosts that we have had, 2 days in a row! This morning we woke up to a wonderful breakfast prepared from some of the members of the Good Shepard Lutheran Church in Pocatello. Not only did we have egg casserole dishes, muffins, coffee cake, freshly cut fruit, juice, coffee and sausage links. It is a rare occasion when we cannot finish the food, but there were definitely some leftovers here. It was an amazing breakfast that we cannot thank those who assisted with our entire stay in Pocatello enough for their generosity.In honor of our stay, we wanted to dedicate today's ride to Nancy, who we had met during our stay. Nancy is a cancer survivor whom we had interviewed for the portraits project a few years ago. Unfortunately she has been getting some tests done and was going to be receiving results back today. We want to be sending positive thoughts in her way and hope that the results are good.We started our ride out with a little bit of rain as we left the town and some scary looking clouds, but they did not slow us down one bit. We got to a frontage road of a highway where we would stay for most of the day. We had mostly good roads, though they would occasionally be a little bit rough and we would be dodging patches or holes. Not long after our first break, we would ride on an interstate for the first time of the summer. Now, before folks from Chicago or another major city get too concerned, in the west, sometimes this is the only road in between two places and bikes are allowed on the shoulders. Additionally, there are hardly any cars that are on the interstate, especially when compared to I-90 or even I-57 between Champaign and Chicago. At our stayover this evening, some of the church members talked about how common it was for cyclists to be on the interstate. Anyhow, we only did that for a short while as we passed a canyon area with a beautiful river flowing through it.As soon as we could, though, we returned to the frontage road where we would stop for lunch. We had a great view of the Snake River and even some swans on it. Before too long, we were off again, but this time be got further from the interstate and the river and entered into an open range area where we actually saw many cows! There were so many baby cows, who would get easily spooked by the bikes. The other cows would then follow- who knew cows were so quick on their feet? Sometimes we had to slow in order for the cows to cross the road, other times, just be sure to avoid their droppings on the road. It was all kind of fun.As we arrived at our stayover for tonight, they had some wonderful cracker, cheese and meat snacks available with watermelon on the side. It was such a refreshing snack. Many of the riders then proceeded to take a nap, until dinner was called. They had prepared an amazing amount of lasagna, garlic bread and salad. Many went back for seconds and there was still enough to eat. Then they broke out the cake with icing and strawberries on top. This was so delicious and we are all, again, very happy and very full. Shortly we will be shuttled for showers, which is always appreciated!It has been a good day for us, and we hope it has been a day of good news, love and support for Nancy. Thank you again for everyone who has made out trip so incredible. As the numbers of our days increase, we begin to realize how little time we have left on this journey. We cannot wait to meet more people and to continue to have positive experiences.-LAH
Day 52: Another Century, Another State Line Crossing
Start/End: Honeyville/Pocatello, UTMileage: 103.1+Weather: Sunny and hot, with some late afternoon showers/hailThis morning was another morning with a long day ahead of us. Typically we wake up an hour early, but this morning we were dependent on the the timing of the sun...which would not be up before 5. So we started our day at 5:30 as the sun was starting to brighten the world :) As usual with camping, we had very generous helpings of milk and cereal.Today's ride was dedicated to Bill, a classmate of a few of our teammates. bill had a type of brain cancer as a young child and beat it, which is awesome. What many people may not know about beating cancer is how much it can still impact your life afterwards. Every year, Bill needs to go in and get some medical testing to make sure that it has not come back and that time of the year has returned. While there are no reasons to be concerned more this time, it can still be stressful, so today we ride for you, Bill. Congratulations on being cancer free for 18 years and we hope this winning streak continues.In the morning, we started out in the shade of the mountains. The sun had not yet gotten tall enough to get over them, so this was very nice. Along the route, we found that there are a lot of horses in Utah and Idaho! In addition, there are a lot of adorable baby horses! They were so cute and most people enjoyed seeing them. We did see some baby cows, which are pretty adorable when they kick up their heals and run.It was not too long into the day when we escaped the shade of the mountain and were on our way. The landscape really was not much different from what it had been the previous few days, with a very dry valley and mountains in the distance. As we came upon our first rest stop, we reached a new state: Idaho! We were on a frontage road for a highway, so unfortunately we did not have a very big sign, but alas, we took pictures and savor the moment, all hoping we would eat some potatoes soon....As the day grew on, we definitely started to realize the challenge of the day. Not only would we be doing over 100 miles, but we would do over 3,000 ft of climbing while dealing with some heat. We did well to stick together in our groups and go at a pace that was comfortable for everyone. And we of course strived to stay hydrated. Before lunch, we started to do our major climb for the day. It was gradual at first, but then took on a very steep climb. Thankfully lunch was in sight and we kept moving along. We ate near the Devil Creek Reservoir which was a beautiful sight to see. There were even some baby ducks swimming on the water!The rest of the day was pretty non-eventful. We had a very enjoyable downhill after our climb, but the rest of the ride was all up to our strength: physically and mentally. Some groups did encounter some light rain and others experienced hail (not fun on a bike), but we all made it through to an amazing stayover.We cannot speak highly enough about our very generous hosts tonight. when we arrived, they had some fruit, veggies,McGee and crackers and drinks available for us to eat once we arrived. After that, they began shuttling us to the Idaho State University athletic facility where we got to shower! And how could our day get better? We returned to a pulled pork, chicken, potato salad, greens salad and some other awesome dishes ready for us to eat. And did we ever eat! By the time we were all full, they brought out some brownies and ice cream and we were just overwhelmed with their generosity. Somehow we found space for it all and we are all very satisfied this evening. Some of us have already slipped into a food-coma like state, while others are playing cards, journaling or just relaxing. We cannot thank our amazing hosts enough, whom this has been their third year hosting Illini 4000!Well, I am definitely feeling my eyelids getting heavy and should make my way to bed. Here is to hoping we are not too sore tomorrow!-LAH
Day 51: Thorns, Thistles and Flats, Oh My!
Start/End: Salt Lake City/Honeyville (Crystal Springs), UTMileage: 77.1+Weather: Clear and pleasant in the morning with a lot of afternoon warmingThis morning we were back on the road again with the regular routine of waking up and getting the van packed. We had a decent trip ahead of us for the day and we really did not know what to expect from the day! But we were excited. We are just so thankful for the All Saints Episcopal Church who graciously hosted us for two nights. We are so thankful that they had some mattresses for us to use, in addition to a shower and laundry machines on sight! (So basically I am saying that we now smell much better!)Today's ride is dedicated to a rider's grandfather who battled a type of stomach cancer at an older age. He beat the disease but unfortunately due to the harsh treatments he received, he passed away. He had grown up in Salt Lake City so today we ride for him!As we rolled out, we got to ride down a big hill that we pushed ourselves up just the other day. It was fun, especially since Salt Lake City seems to be very sleepy on Sunday mornings and not many cars were out. We got to ride through downtown this morning which was great to see, for those of us that did not go downtown for the day.Shortly after that, we got on a bike trail that was pretty hopping on this Sunday morning. The trail was beautiful and shaded at the beginning. We crossed back and for over a small creek and even went through some sprinklers. After a while, we got further from town onto a trail that was not shaded and took a path along the interstate/highway in between small farms. It was a very nice path with a lot of friendly traffic. At one point, many of our groups were very close together and a cyclist came behind us and asked if we would be going any faster (as we casually road at 17-20 mph). We let him know that we wouldn't, but he stuck with us for a while.Before lunch, some groups had been cruising along, while others were experiencing what over 3,000 miles on a pair of tires can do (I.e. They get very worn out and prone to flats). Some groups got flats left and right from hitting sticks, thorns and thistles. While some were able to keep going, others put on new tires just to prevent more flat tubes. There were a few other weird mechanical issues with bikes today that will surely be fixed before too long! It is still a bummer to sag in the van when your bike is not working.In the afternoon, we rolled past so many fruit and vegetable stands. They sold fresh, local peaches, apricots, cherries and so many other things, but unfortunately most of them were closed due to the fact that it was Sunday. One was in fact open though and some teammates took advantage of that. We also passed though a town called 'Farr West'... Which is kind of an interesting, but cool named town to pass through on this journey- now we can say we are 'Farr west'! We rolled through Brigham City where we stopped for our final rest stop of the day and some of us grabbed some extra food before arriving at Crystal Hot Springs where we will be camping for the night. There are hot/cold springs that many of our teammates have stopped at, in addition to showers!We are very thankful for food donations of pizza from Little Caesars in Brigham City. We are very excited to start eating soon and get some good rest as this is our last full day in Utah! Tomorrow is a long day, but we will be ready.-LAH
Day 50: Hanging Out in the Valley
Today we had a rest day in Salt Lake City and we sure did do a huge variety of activities, but we did all start off in the morning meeting with Trudy and Kevin who are supported by the Damon Runyon Foundation. Both are professors at the University of Utah who are working on very different aspects of cancer. Trudy works on research for lung cancer, developing different treatment options. Kevin is a surgeon who operates primarily on sarcoma patients, which tend to be adolescents. We had the opportunity to speak with them about their roles and how they saw cancer. It was fascinating and we are so happy we had this time to refocus our journey and to see directly where some of our fundraising dollars go (we are still fundraising during the summer, in case you did not know! Click on the donate tab above to learn more). We are also very thankful that Trudy and Kevin provided breakfast for us this morning. Thank you so much!After that, we were free for the rest of the day to do whatever we pleased. Some folks went to visit bike shops to get any needed supplies, while others sought out a good meal. There were many other options though. Jason, Joe, Diego, Zack and Shutian got up around 4 AM for an early morning sunrise hike near our stayover. Zack followed this up later by going up Mt. Olympus, which was quite a feat. A larger group of people, including Alex,Sarah, Hannah B and Diego went to visit the sight of the 2002 Winter Olympics. There was a great zip line course that went over the park and some folks even tried out the bobsled course.In accordance with rest days, we also did laundry, showered, did some regular bike maintenance, slept and caught up on tv shows. We were very excited to receive mail and packages from friends and family- definitely a moral booster. If you weren't able to send stuff to SLC, check back in the blog for our next mail drop locations/addresses.It was a fun day and we are excited to be back on the bike tomorrow, even though most of us found that we are very fond of this new city.-LAH
Day 49: A Great Day, With a Few Wrong Turns
Start/End: Heber/Salt Lake CityMileage: 73.4+Weather: Beautiful, with a tiny bit of rain/lightningToday's route we started with two different route choices: one that went around the mountains and one that was much shorter through the mountains. Based on the feedback and safety concerns from last year's group, we went with the longer route around the mountains. Absolutely the right course of action!This morning into Salt Lake City, the ride was dedicated to Chris, a wonderful woman who one of our rider's used to babysit for her and her husband. Chris amazingly beat breast cancer a while ago, but then it has unfortunately come back recently and she will be undergoing a double mastectomy in addition to chemotherapy. So today our thoughts are with her and her family as they support Chris.We want to thank the Mountain View Fellowship Church in Heber for hosting us last night. They had not only an amazing amount of space for us to spread out in, but also had an awesome view of the mountains. We cannot thank them enough for their generosity.As we rolled out this morning, we found that our first 25 miles were all downhill. It was amazing. It was a relaxing start to the ride and we got to go through a really cool mountain pass/canyon thing. The rock structures and colors changed as we went continued, but it was just honestly so beautiful. We did, though, need to pay pretty close attention to the road as it was a little busy. Thankfully there was a remarkable shoulder for us to ride in which rocked. As we reached our first rest stop, Ben, our ride leader who has done the ride before remarked that this stretch of road was the best he has ever encountered.The rest of the day, we were going more through suburb areas of Salt Lake City. We bikes on some pretty cool trails which had lots of turns and surprising hills throughout. It seemed like it was definitely in a very nature filled area, yet there were houses nearby and corporate centers. It was amazing because we had gotten ourselves in a valley completely surrounded by mountains.It wasn't long before we saw some dark clouds making their way closer to us. They were certainly raining where they were located so groups kept moving as to stay out of the path of the rain. As lightning flashed, groups pulled off and waited for the weather to pass in gas stations or stores. It did not rain much, which was pretty anticlimactic, up the lightning did keep us off our bikes until it had ceased. We felt pretty glad that there were only about 10 miles left in the day after that, but during those 10 miles, many groups found themselves very lost on more bike trails in Salt Lake City, which added 6-10 extra miles of riding. This was a bummer, but we all eventually found our way to the stayover, which was right at the foothills of the mountains around the valley, meaning that we had a pretty decent incline right at the end of the day.Glad to finally have made it in. Many of us went out for Dim Sun (Chinese food) to celebrate Tony's birthday and others went and saw the new minion movie (well, they may have slept through it). Ready for a rest day well deserved, we think. We have crossed the continental divide, climbed mountains and are really getting ourselves further west, which is so exciting!-LAH
Day 48: Another Crazy I4K Day
Another day in the saddle, another day with amazing views. Another day when things may have gotten a little crazy with Mother Nature, but we forged stronger, tighter bonds together as a group. It is getting late now on an already very long day, but I am, as always, happy to let you all know that we are all in for the evening, happily fed and very comfortable for a good night's rest before we travel into Salt Lake City tomorrow where we will have an event day on Saturday!Watch tomorrow for a full story on today- but do know that we have a very remarkable mountain view this evening that will be tough to say goodbye to tomorrow (something you never thought 'kids from Illinois on bikes' would say). 
Day 47: The Day to Starvation (Utah)
Start/End: Vernal/Starvation, UTMileage: 61+Weather: Another cool day with some sprinkles and thunder/lighting towards the end of the rideToday we started our day at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Vernal, UT. We had some tighter quarters but we all slept remarkably well, especially after yesterday's climbing and camping. It was a great space to have overnight that was very close to grocery stores and places to eat. Thank you so much for your generosity in allowing us to use this space!Today's ride dedication was a difficult one which shows how cancer impacts people regardless of their age or how healthy they may be. Today we are dedicating the ride to Megan, who recently lost her battle to leukemia, which she had been diagnosed at stage 4. Before she passed away, she was granted a wish from the Make-A-Wish foundation: she wanted to see Taylor Swift in concert. Unfortunately because of her health, she was not able to make this trip, but she did get to talk to her favorite artist on the phone. Cancer is really cruel when it takes away life, so Megan, today's ride is for you.With that start of the ride, we continued to pass through Vernal seeing even more statues and figurines of dinosaurs. We are still not quite sure why these towns have latched onto the dinosaur craze, but it is pretty cool. After leaving town, we realized that there were many prairie dogs who lived near the road. They were definitely loud this morning!We had a few good hills to climb today, but each was followed by an absolutely wonderful downhill section (not as steep as yesterday's hills, though). It definitely made the ride go at a quicker pace and be very enjoyable. Unfortunately, we did have some interesting impediments to our usage of the shoulder of the road. While it was a pretty great size to accommodate cyclists, there was just a lot of debris that we were constantly on the lookout for. Unfortunately, we did not miss all of it and one of our teammates got a screw in their tire, leading to a flat. That did not stop us for to long! Additionally, there were just a lot of roadkill, which is definitely not something you want to hit on your bike.Just as the day was starting to get a little warmer than we hoped for, the clouds rolled in just after lunch. We had a shorter day and had less than 20 miles, but it did start getting dark quickly. We were thankful for some downhills which helped propel us into town quicker where many groups took shelter either at the welcome center, a grocery store or a gas station to avoid the rain and the Lightning. There were some pretty intense lightning strikes!Before too long, that had all passed, well for the time, and there was a break in the storms that many of us finished our last few miles into Starvation State Park. We quickly assembled our tents and crawled in, as to make sure they did not blow away but also to see how waterproof they were. We are happy to report that with the rain, there was minimal leaking! But we didn't pay much attention to that, as many of us fell asleep for an afternoon nap.Once the rain had passed, other groups who continued to hang out in town joined us and we unloaded the van. We were thankful to have really amazing shower facilities at the campground. Additionally, we are just very grateful to he Subway in Dechesne, UT (the town near Starvation) for generously donating a six inch sub for each of our team members as well as a cookie! I cannot remember the last time we had cookies, so they were very appreciated. Thank you so much for your generosity!Tonight, we have gotten to see some amazing clouds, another double rainbow and enjoy our view over Starvation Lake. Some teammates are playing cards, while others have made a fire with which to make some s'mores. We had some rain and cooler weather, but we are definitely making the best of it and enjoying our time together as a team. The sun has set now and we have limited lights, so with this, I will sign off until tomorrow!-LAH
Day 46: A Dinosaur Of A Day
Start/End: Maybell, CO/Vernal, UTMileage: 90.6+Weather: Cool throughout the day, cloudy until the late afternoon, then it warmed upCamping. Well that was interesting! We had a bit of a crazy evening as Lightning was seen in the distance and the winds picked up quite a bit early in the evening. Thankfully we all secured our tents/rain flaps well so no tent parts went flying away. This noise was a little alarming to some first (and veteran) campers, but remarkably, most of us had a pretty good night of sleep.Today we had a very long day ahead of us, but we were pretty prepared, especially with the delicious banana- chocolate bread generously donated by the Texas 4000 alumni yesterday. Additionally, today's ride was dedicated to a writer named Ray who frequented a restaurant where one of our rider's previously worked. He had been diagnosed with stage 4 lymphoma cancer and is going through a tough battle.Today's ride was a little bit different from other days because today we had absolutely no cues for the day. We literally stayed on the same road the entire day: U.S. 40. So we stated off in the morning headed west and we had quite a few big hills to both climb and go down. We always get excited when we see signs that indicated a steep descent to trucks because that means we can coast quite easily, and sometimes use that momentum to get us most or all the way up the next big hill. Not far from Maybell we passed a field of cows that seemed slightly distressed making quite a bit of noise. It was interesting... Even more entertaining is that many miles past that point, we encountered a cow that had somehow gotten out of their pasture and was just walking along the fence line. It came up to some team members and moo'd, but then continued on its journey, wherever it may have been heading. Sean was sure to report the cow to local law enforcement so that its owner could locate it. Kind of a fun morning!After our first rest stop, it started sprinkling and was chilly, but it was not a significant amount of rain at all and stopped not long after it started. The clouds did hang around for a lot of the day, though. That did not dampen our spirits,methought, as we approached what appears to be the place to be for dinosaurs. We passed along Dinosaur National Monument, which is actually a really large park where fossils have been found. Many groups stopped for some pictures and to explore a little, but we did have to press on since our mileage was pretty high for the day. Our next stop was Dinosaur, CO where the street signs are named for types of dinosaurs, so that was pretty cool. Shortly after that, we reached our next state line of Utah! Oh. And their state sign had a dinosaur on it. Many team members did their best dinosaur impression with the sign, while others did their traditional state sign picture. It is fun to see that many people have a style, whether it is a selfie, a handstand or holding their bikes overhead.We had about 30 miles left after reaching Utah. We saw some cool scenery of some very large geological formations, including high plateaus and some mini canyon formations that were pretty cool. It was a pleasant ride, and was nice towards the end as we began to approach Vernal and neighboring towns as it was much more populated than other areas we have travelled through for a while.We all made it in safely and you can definitely tell how exhausted most of us are. Today we saw a sign that said Salt Lake City, our next rest day, is in 205 miles (less now!), so that is exciting and we are looking forward to seeing another city, but we know we have some great stops in Utah before then. Many of us were a little sad to leave Colorado and have plans to return at some point, but Utah may surprise us! The amount of dinosaurs everywhere sure have....-LAH
Day 45: Adventures Post- Rocky Mountains
Start/End: Steamboat Springs/Maybell, COMileage: 76+Weather: some spotty drizzles but overall pretty good, not too hotToday we started our day out in Steamboat Springs refreshed and ready to start another day of riding. We were fortunate to meet Dan And his wife, who had participated in Texas 4000 back in 2006. Texas 4000 is an organization which is similar in nature to ours as it is based out of the University of Texas. They wrote us an incredibly encouraging and real note that really brought the team together on the reason we are out riding. It brought a moment of reflection and some real emotions, but it was a nice moment. Additionally, they baked us 8 loaves of banana chocolate bread that we are saving for breakfast tomorrow. Thank you so much for your support of our group!We had a great stay at the Euzoa Bible Church in Steamboat Springs and are so thankful that we got to stay at their amazing facilities. Additionally, we just had such an amazing view of the mountains in morning as we woke up and packed up the van. Thank you so much for allowing us to use your space to stay!After we were ready to go and after sharing the note from Texas 4K alumni, we dedicated today's ride to one of our rider's Aunt Chris who has recently been fighting a battle with uterine cancer. It has been a more recent development and definitely has impacted the family, so today we rode for Chris!Today was definitely a more fun, easy day than others as we were going downhill for most of the day. Yay! Don't get me wrong, we had fun climbing, but days that are not based solely around climbing one "hill" for 20 miles...well, that can be tough. So downhill.... We move a little bit faster than our usual pace, but not too much faster. It started out pretty chilly in the morning and many of us were very glad to have our jackets with us.During the day at several different points, groups saw antelope, whether they were crossing the road or more so off in the distance in a herd. They are essentially small deer as I have come to understand it, but they tend to hop as they move quickly instead of running as traditional Midwest deer do. This makes them especially entertaining to watch. Other than that, the scenery, while being beautiful, was not anything to write home about, especially after seeing the snow covered mountains. We are entering a more desert region with limited vegetation or greenery and a lot of smaller hills in the distance.We stopped in Craig, CO for our lunch stop where we were generously donated 6-inch subs and a bag of chips for each rider which we would use for dinner from Subway. We were so thankful for their generosity, and this amazing timing because tonight we would be camping and not be able to cook dinner. Thank you so much for this huge donation to the team!After Craig, we had a few big hills to climb (note: hills not mountains).it was kind of fun, because on one of them, a large bird of prey flew above us and squawked the way that Eagles do sometimes in movies. It was such a cool experience, especially to be so close to the bird and to be climbing a hill. At the top of the hill, we had at least 3 people get flat tires on the climb from glass or staples. Basically, we had two groups stopped off the road changing tires. It was great fun. Then from there, it was actually all downhill.Tonight was different because we would be camping for the first night in the town of Maybell which has a population of about 70. Many of the teammates had never had a camping experience before so we learned how to assemble the team tents and how to fit about 4 riders and their bags all in the tent. It was a little crazy, but we've been on the road together for 44 days, so why not be a little closer? We learned the value of bug spray on this adventure and were so thankful for the showers available at the campsite. It was a good evening and despite the lack of cell service, we had a great evening.-LAH
Day 44: Unconventionality Makes for Good Stories!
Start/End: Granby/Steamboat Springs, COMileage: 83.7+/-Weather: Cool morning, with increasing clouds and some rainToday, like many of our rides this summer, some things happened that were just really crazy and impacted the ride in a way that past rides haven't been. We were really looking forward to a day with decreased hill climbing and more downhill than uphill. Oh, and the beautiful views that we have heard about from cyclists whom we have met over the past few days. But, all in due time!We are so thankful for the Episcopal Church of St. John the Baptist In Granby, Co for allowing our group to stay at their facility. It was very well set up for accommodating a large group, such as ours and was just very comfortable, especially after our later night at the rodeo last night!This morning, our ride was dedicated to Dory, a co-worker of one of our riders who was very influence on their life. Additionally, Dory was a two-time breast cancer survivor and a huge supporter of the cause, and really about serving other people. So today, we are very excited that Dory is a survivor, and we ride to honor her fight.Today's ride was quite a bit longer than the other rides we have had recently, but there was a lot less climbing, so that was a welcomed message for the team. The morning started off kind of chilly and almost everyone wore their jackets. But the sun was strong and showed us some amazing views as we traversed through a valley between mountains. It was just beautiful. We saw the Colorado River near its start, so it was not too big. It is crazy to think that such a river could cut out a masterpiece like the Grand Canyon. While we aren't able to see that along this ride, we entered Byers Canyon along this route. The river was rushing at the bottom and there were a set of train tracks running close to the river. It was a majestic scene and the morning light hit the canyon walls beautifully.After that, it was off to the hills, where we followed US-40 through some hills around the larger mountains. There were quite a few people on the road for this holiday weekend, but most were headed in the opposite direction, likely heading home towards Denver. Biking this route is a lot of fun, because there are so many scenic views of plateaus and rocks along the route that driving in a car, one may miss. We passed some recreational areas, including a lake where people were out water skiing.After lunch, we began our big climb for the day around mile 50. The clouds were increasing but definitely seemed OK for the time being. As we climbed Rabbit Ears Pass, which deceptively has two summits (as a rabbit has 2 ears), we were able to see a rock formation in the distance which resembled bunny ears. It was certainly fun to look at as we climbed. Some groups were not able to make it to the top before the rain set in, which was cold, but not too heavy, so we pressed on. We crossed the Continental Divide again on this pass, which was kind of fun, but again, may need to check out this map!Some groups were fortunate to be able to descend the mountain, while others, once they reached the top, had been enveloped by a cloud. The visibility was very low (less than 500 feet). Even with the lights on our bikes, the combination of the low visibility, the steep decent and the slick roads, it just did not seem safe. A total of four groups reached this conclusion at the top and waited to be shuttled down into Steamboat Springs. It is never fun to ride in the van, or miss a well deserved downhill, but it was a safe decision that no one regrets. Whether in the van, or having gone down the mountain, it was really cool once we finally descended beneath the cloud and could see sunlight, but also just how high we were up in the mountains. The land extended for a very large distance that we could see and it was such a difference in weather conditions.For the afternoon, the team had the opportunity to explore Steamboat Springs. We are so thankful for Steamboat Ski and Bike Kare, who generously offered to keep an eye on our bikes and let us store them at their facility. This was very nice to be able to explore the downtown without having to also keep an eye on our bikes. We went to shops, coffee shops and places to eat and just had a fun time...even if we were still all dressed in our cycling gear! We probably looked a little funny, but we had some great conversations with folks visiting the town. One woman,master we told her about e Portraits Project told us what a great idea that was, but that she had been blessed and has not been impacted by cancer. We sincerely hope that is can become a reality for more and more people through our fundraising and the fundraising and research by the great minds of this time.Tonight we are all dry and warm ready to head to bed again. But before we did, we actually got to see a complete, double rainbow outside of our stayover! It was very beautiful and had such vibrant colors. So here is hoping to a great day tomorrow that maybe won't have rain? Oh. And before I forget, tomorrow we are camping! Hopefully I will have service to post a blog, but if I am not able to, just hang tight and we will have something posted as soon as we can!As always, thanks for following along on our westward journey!-LAH
Mail Drop Information
Just for your information, there are a few different places along our route that our team is able to receive mail and packages. If you are going to send something, be sure to label it, "Name of Rider, Illini 4000, In care of (insert location)". We will be at the following addresses or able to receive mail at the following:July 10-11:All Saints Episcopal Church1710 Foothill Dr, Salt Lake City, UT, 84108July 19:Calvary Chapel1775 Alameda Dr, Ontario, OR 97914August 2-3:First Presbyterian Church1751 Sacramento St, San Francisco, CA 94109Let us know if you have any questions and hope this helps!
Day 43: Crossing the Continental Divide and Independence Day
Start/End: Idaho Springs/Granby, COMileage: 58.9+Weather: mostly good. Stayed cooler, but there was an afternoon rain/hail shower that caught a few groupsHappy 4th of July and happy birthday to the United States. I cannot imagine a more patriotic celebration of this holiday the to climb a mountain, cross the continental divide and really just see how beautiful our country is.We started our morning in Idaho Springs, and are so thankful to the private home owner who graciously opened up their house for our team to stay last night. It was a very comfortable place today and we are just very grateful.Rolling out of Idaho Springs, we got to see this sleepy touristy town begin to wake up. We quickly joined with many other cyclists who were headed on their day ride. It is exciting to be amongst so many other cycling enthusiasts, especially friendly ones! The first part of our day, which was the main grind, was going up to Berthoud Pass, which had an elevation of 11,304 feet. Climbing today was much better than yesterday as the grade was much less on average. There was a lot of traffic but most of the ride had a very generous shoulder that not only allowed us to bike safely, but even to pull aside and take some pictures of the incredible views. As the mountain had many switchbacks, it was fun to be able to see just how high we had climbed in a short period.Some groups had the great opportunity to see a family of mountain goats playing along the mountains. They were so comfortable jumping between the rocks, which seemed pretty unstable from where we were. Beautiful creatures, though!Once we reached the top of the pass, we had our lunch stop and then many group members went exploring the Continental Divide Trail. It was a longer hike but very worth it. In fact, group mates even brought snow back from the peak!As groups descended after their hikes, a few groups unfortunately encountered some inclement weather including rain, hail and thunder. One group on the mountain pulled off and was shuttled with the van safely, while another group further down the mountain was able to take shelter while the weather passed. We are always so happy when groups makes decisions like these to stay safe during the ride.The rest of the ride was downhill and went by much quicker than the first half of the day. After getting off of the major steepness of the mountain, the riders were able to take in a few more scenic views. We passed through Winter Park, which seems to be the place to be if you are into skiing. There were a ton of lifts and lodges that are probably very busy during the winter. Winter Park also had a very nice little downtown area that was hopping with people who were out for the holiday weekend. As we rounded out the ride for the day, we got to go through a beautiful valley which was home to a lot of horse ranches. It was a beautiful sight to see the valley and the mountains.Tonight many of us decided to go to Granby's Rodeo! It was the first rodeo for many of our riders and we all had a great time. This was such a patriotic celebration as there was a huge horse and rider team that did many routines with at least 30 horse/rider pairs holding flags and dancing around the arena. There was so much going on but it was great to watch. There were lots of different events, including roping, bull riding, barrel racing, mutton chops/shoe scramble for kids and last but not least, a great fireworks show.Long day with an absolutely wonderful ending. The lights are off and we are off to sleep! And although we may not go to a rodeo tomorrow, we have heard good things about our route to Steamboat Springs!Apologies for the late post of yesterday's blog....data connections aren't always everywhere and we do not always have access to wifi. Thanks for your patience!-LAH