Each day the team dedicates the ride to someone affected by cancer. Today we rode for Mason’s grandfather. He lost his battle to cancer in 2011.From the first day of starting school to the first day of starting a new job, we all know that the first day doesn’t really count. Today, day two, I actually felt like what a real day as an I4k rider is actually like. We got up at 5:45 we rode some miles, had a few PBJ sandwiches, and arrived at the stayover. Okay… maybe we did get lucky today because the place we were spending the night at greeted us with a homemade banner crafted by some cute kiddos, had a multi course meal waiting for us when we pulled up, allowed us access to their sauna and hot tub, and had what we riders like to call the jackpot (showers and wifi).I’m not sure if there is something in the water in this little town, but every person that I met was overwhelmingly kind. Our hosts made sure we had everything we needed and went above and beyond turning a YMCA hockey rink into a pseudo youth hostel. Some of the team had to take care of a few bike repairs and the shop we went to gave us complimentary parts, helped us with repairs on a multitude of bikes, and even stayed open well after their hours to ensure that we would be safe on our ride. Word of advice: if you ever find yourself in Delmar, New York hit up Savile Road bike shop, they really know their (cycling) stuff.Hearing of all the evils of the world in recent months, moments and people like this really give me hope.Today felt like the first real day because a shower brought me more joy than it ever has and eating pineapple from a communal bowl with bare hands didn’t phase anyone at the table.Although we were not blessed with the idyllic weather of yesterday, today we were blessed with the kindness of strangers. I am so happy I decided to do this ride.Warmly,MB(Maggie Benson NOT Mackenzie Bach)
New York Is Pretty Cool
I don't remember the last time I've been so happy for an extended period of time. I was smiling ear to ear for at least an hour straight upon leaving NYC, until our group had to stop and reroute because of a bike race that blocked off a large chunk of New Jersey. I had no clue that New York was so beautiful. Living in the suburban bubble of Illinois my whole life, all you hear about is Time Square and the rest of NYC. Never about how beautiful riding along the Hudson River is, how breath taking the mountains/hills are, how there are actual mountains and hills in New York, something which Illinois severely lacks. In particular, Bear Mountain was probably my favorite sight of the first two days. It sits right on the Hudson river and it looks like a scene straight out of Jurassic Park, my group sang the theme song a lot that day.I'm very sore, my butt and legs aren't used to the 3600 feet of New York's rolling hills we got to experience on day one. So even though it really sucked riding up those hills, it was incredibly fun to whip down them. I maxed at 38.7 mph, in a speed limit area of 35 mph, so that was fun.All in all it's been an incredibly rewarding first two days. Even though I'm going to be sore, dehydrated, and without enough sleep for the next 75 days, I know it will be an experience that I will never trade for anything. I'm excited to see what the rest of the country has in store for us and to build upon some already pretty great friendships I've created because of this incredible organization.Phil "I don't know if I'll ever stop eating" Kagebein
Day 1: Ups and Downs
Quote of the day: “51 Kickapoos? I wasn’t even counting but I bet Josh was just Joshing” – NeecaFirstly, huge shout out to Bipin and his family for graciously hosting our team the past 2 days, we are very grateful for your hospitality.I would compare the first day of Illini 4000 like so; have you come home one night feeling really optimistic, and then accidentally walked face first into a screen door (and maybe then ripped the door off the hinges)? If so, then you would understand how I4k day 1 felt today.Although the team suffered few losses today, the metaphorical screen door was not enough to bring down team morale. The route from Central Park to Beacon, located in upstate New York, consisted of scenic views of the New York City skyline, the Hudson Bay and River, Victorian style homes nestled along the water in small towns, and Bear Mountain. It baffled me that this type of rustic beauty was located only 30 miles away from the biggest city in the country.Even though 63 miles is considered a shorter route for the team, we climbed more than 3,600 feet of elevation and descended 3,500 feet in total. Broken down this entailed many climbs and many downhill speed rushes. Because the team was not used to this type of speed burst, there was a downhill collision (which resulted in no serious injury), a flat tube and a busted tire, and some heat induced nausea.Overall, if every day of this ride has the weather, views, and feeling of fellowship amongst members like today, then I would consider this summer one of the best of my life.Lesson of the day: exercise caution on downhill rolls.MB
5/21 - The First Day
When people think of New York, we see images of the city, of central park, of busy streets and buildings. But for me, the first thing that will come to mind when I think of New York is hills. We climbed 3500 ft today. We also rode downhill for about 3500 feet though, and that made for some very fast riding. I was worried about today, I was nervous and maybe a little scared for the first day. But it ended up being a whole lot of fun. Now I'm off to eat, stretch, and knock out for as long as I can until I'm forced to wake up to New York themed music courtesy of Alia.
Big appetites in the Big Apple
The team’s first full day in the Big Apple entailed meet and greets, subway rides, and FOOD. To start the day we headed from our stayover in Brooklyn to Manhattan to meet with the folks at Daymon Runyon, a cancer research group. Damon Runyon is unique because they target researchers in the early stages of their careers where it is usually hard to get funding from other sources. We learned that they award funds to around 10% of their applicants, similar to the acceptance rates of Ivy League universities.From browsing their newsletter I learned that Illini 4000 was a donor in the range of $50,000 to $100,000 in the previous year. Our research fellow gave us an overview of the work that he does, describing what it is like to be on the chemical side of cancer research.From there, some of the team ventured through the lower East side doing a ‘food tour’ (think doughnuts, pickles, and sesame pancake sandwiches) with an I4k alum while the rest of the team explored Wall St and met up with friends.Later in the day came our brush with fame when we were invited to a fundraising dinner for mayor Bill de Blasio of New York City, attended by members of the Muslim community. Our meeting with him was organized through the host of our stayover, who happened to be childhood friends with de Blasio. To my surprise Bill was an extremely tall (6’5”), down to Earth, and funny guy. After giving him our elevator spheel he seemed very impressed, and wished us luck on the ride.We arrived back to Brooklyn and were offered even more food from our gracious hosts, which consisted of traditional Indian samosas. After our snack the team assumed the normal routine of the ride which consisted of pumping bike tires, getting bike apparel ready, and setting up sleeping bags to prepare for a 5:45 AM wake up call and a 63 mile day.Stay tunedMB
Today's the day
The day the team has been waiting for all year has finally come! For me, today will be spent packing and gathering any last minute items, taking a ‘before picture’ to compare to the end of the trip, and saying goodbye to my family. Later tonight the team will depart from Union Station in downtown Chicago and begin our journey to NYC. Myself along with a few others will be driving the van (who has yet to be officially named) to Brooklyn where we will be staying at the relative of the original founder of Illini 4000’s house. The rest of the team will be taking the Amtrak to NYC and packing their bikes into boxes that will fit on the train.Earlier this week it was revealed that we will be meeting the mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio. After years of the team reaching out to him, this year he finally agreed. I don’t know about the rest of the team but the closest I’ve come to meeting someone famous was seeing wax figures in Las Vegas so I’m hoping I can play it cool when meeting Bill.We will start the first day of biking this Sunday in hilly New York state. During our training we would ride to Kickapoo state park about 30 miles away from Champaign to practice hills. At the park there is a “wall” (which in reality is a very small climb compared to what we will be facing). The team has been informed that day one of biking will entail 55 Kickapoo hills. Pray for us folks.Over and out.MB
The rainy day
It was a dark and stormy day in Champaign this morning as the Illini 4000 team woke up and anxiously awaited the decision from ride leaders Zach and Tyler. With 17 mph winds and projected lightning strikes throughout the day, the 90 mile ride was called off-much to the approval of the teammates. Many of the riders took advantage of the morning off to prepare for finals sleep all morning. To prepare riders for a typical I4K night a ‘mock stayover’ was planned to get used to the daily routine of the summer. Chores included preparing dinner, a flat tire and tent setup tutorial, cold calling restaurants for food donations (with no luck), and social media updates. The standard meal of spaghetti, red sauce and lentils was served and to my surprise it was very satisfying…updates will be provided at the end of the summer whether I will still look forward to this dish or the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches served during the ride. This evening provided us with a taste of what we will experience this summer and I am looking forward to spending more time bonding with the team. Rider shout outs: Earlier this week riders Michaeline and Christine donated 8 inches of hair. With a multitude of organizations accepting donations, they chose Pantene Beautiful Lengths to ensure that cancer patients would receive their donations. Awesome job girls! MB
What I learned after our first 90 mile ride
Wind sucks.
I can't feel my legs!
So this weekend was the longest I have ever been on a bike. Yesterday, the team biked to Allerton Park and back and completed around 70 miles, an average I4K distance...I was internally crying the entire time!! Oh yeah those 70 miles really took a tole on my legs and mind. There was a point after the first rest stop where we we're facing direct head wind and I questioned every decision I had made to ever put myself in that position. It wasn't physical pain I was feeling but mental pain. You know? When you're consistently bringing yourself down? To be completely honest, I wanted to stop riding right then and there and just walk back home. We took a break and it wasn't until then that I realized how lucky I was to be doing what I was doing with my team. No one judged me as I was struggling to keeping pushing through that head wind, we were all struggling together. No one cared that I consistently kept calling "gap" when I started to fall behind. If it wasn't for my team I would have not been able to finish that ride. These people I get to spend my entire summer with are some of the most amazing team mates I've ever had. Shoutout to my group for putting themselves in weird formations so that I could receive the least amount of wind! I couldn't be any happier knowing that this team always has my back. Though this summer is going to be tough, at least I'll know I'm not the only one who can't feel her legs!Oh wait there's more...there is no better feeling than when that head wind turns to tail wind. When we started to get that tail wind we easily hit 20mph and it was the most liberating feeling in the world. So yeah head wind sucks but there's no greater gift in the world than tail wind
Perdon't
So our second weekend ride has come and gone. Training is really coming along well. Already I can see my improvement on the road through callouts. For example, I now know what to do if while we bike through Indiana we spot a group of Purdue students ahead...Boiler Up!
Learning to Ride
Having finally purchased my shoes, helmet, and all sorts of other gear recently, I finally had the opportunity today to go on my first proper bike ride with my Illini 4000 official Felt bike. It was a lot of fun, once I figured out how to get my cleats properly snapped in the pedals. I'm home for break so I rode around my neighborhood, and riding it for the fist time made me think about the first time I rode a bike at all. Most people who know how to ride a bike probably remember a joyful and satisfying time. For me, it was a bit different.I should explain first off, I was a bit different than most kids when I was little. I was very much an indoor kid and would probably always prefer reading or doing a jigsaw puzzle than playing tag or T-ball. I was usually pretty easygoing, but sometimes I could get very frustrated if things didn't go my way. Learning to ride a bike was definitely one of those times.I enjoyed riding with my training wheels, and one day when I was 6 or 7 my parents decided it was time for them to come off. At first, I was game, as watching my parents and older brother ride without them seemed like a lot of fun. I spent about an hour with my mom one day getting pushed, struggling, and eventually falling, as it goes with any kid learning to ride a bike. I did have a few good runs, but it always ended with me not so gracefully tumbling onto my elbow pads in the grass.Eventually my mom called it a day and we went inside. By no account had I successfully learned how to ride without training wheels. However, I must have believed that those few decent runs counted as a success, I had mastered how to ride a bike, and I never had to do it again. This combined with my "indoor kid" tendencies made me very sure that I didn't need to try to learn to ride without training wheels any more.Despite this, the next day my dad asked if I wanted to go out and try again. I insisted that there was no need since I learned the day before, and I was now happy to stay inside and play Game Boy. My parents were confused, as my inability still seemed to be pretty obvious to them, but I didn't really see any need to head back outside. Eventually my dad coerced me to put the gear back on and head outside, but I grew more and more frustrated. The trials started again, and I continued to be unsuccessful, and that only drove me to become more and more upset. As my tension grew, I started to cry, and it eventually became me struggling to ride a bike through my tears.After enough tries, I did finally get the trick and rode up and down the block. However, there was absolutely no sense of satisfaction, in fact quite the opposite. When I returned to the driveway, I haphazardly dismounted and unceremoniously dropped the bike on the ground, and delivered the most infamous quote of the day: "There, I did it! Can I go inside now?"Needless to say, I learned to love biking over the years, and am now extremely excited to begin outdoor training with I4K and depart on the ride in May. Here's hoping that the first mile from New York doesn't involve tears.
Start of a new semester
I've finally started to get into the swing of things in my second semester at UIUC. On top of classes and homework, I now have a job, I work on the Baja team, I have fraternity events for Sigma Phi Delta, and I continue to train for I4K. The trainings have started to feel easier, but I'm not sure if it's because I'm stronger or if Josh is going easy on us.But of course, there's more to I4K than the trainings and meetings. Like bikes! Which we're ordering soon! I can't wait to be riding instead of running and really feel like I'm going to make this journey soon. I'm feeling more excited than ever and I can't wait for this summer!!!
14 Random Facts About Me
1. I can lick my elbow.2. I've been playing drums since I was ten years old.3. I was born on my driveway (In an ambulance).4. I can probably scream louder than you.5. My Favorite TV Show is Scrubs.6. I once ate pig brain. Definitely tastes better than pineapple.7. I think the lowercase 'k' is stupid. I only write 'K'.8. My high school band director was offered the job to play piano for the prominent rock band Chicago, but he turned them down. I'm basically famous.9. I haven't worn a pair of matching socks in over three years.10. I can weld on a basic level.11. In fourth grade I sneezed 13 times in a row.12. There was a point in time where I didn't like The Beatles. I like to think I've grown up a little bit.13. I've won as many World Series as Ernie Banks, Barry Bonds, and Ken Griffey Jr. have, combined.14. I will be a ride leader next year, for sure.
Deadline Extension
Still want to apply for the Illini 4000, but missed the deadline? Well you’re in luck!. We decided to extend the deadline another week just for you. The new deadline will be Wednesday, September 21st at 11:59pm.If you’re still unsure and have more questions, we’ve got another info session coming up too. It will be Monday, September 19th at 6pm in the English Building , room 150.
Apply Now Before You're Too Late
For those of you still interested in joining the Illini 4000, we've got one more info session tonight (September 8th) at 8pm in the English Building, room 259. The deadline for applications will be September 14th at 11:59pm.
Check it out before its too late at illini4000.org/apply/
Join the 2017 Bike America Team!
The Illini 4000 is recruiting again, looking for people interested in helping in the fight against cancer. We have one more info session Thursday, September 8th at 8pm in the English building, room 259. If you've already been to an info session and are as ecstatic about Illini 4000 as we all are, the application is now available.If you are ready, you can Apply Now!Feel free to get ahold of us with any questions you may have at contactus@illini4000.org
We Made it to San Francisco!
After 71 days, the Illini 4000 team arrived in San Francisco! Seventy one days may seem like a long time, but this summer flew by. It feels like just yesterday I was getting off the subway in New York City with my bike, backpack, and sleeping bag. I am very grateful for this opportunity because it has allowed me to see the country from a new perspective, form lasting friendships, meet inspiring individuals, and bring awareness to the commonality of cancer. Thank you to everyone who has supported, hosted, and donated to both myself and the Illini 400o team. Without your support, we would not be able to complete this ride.
Day 71: Petaluma to San Fran!
What a day! We have officially made it! It's funny how some of the biggest moments are sometimes the hardest to put into words. It was an incredible ending to an absolutely amazing summer, with an even better group of people.Today's ride was dedicated to Mofei's friend's friend, Mingxuan Ju. After he was diagnosed 9 months ago, he decided to donate all of his healthy organs. Unfortunately, he passed away 99 days ago.Our ride was 47 very hilly, very curvy miles, but we were all so excited that I think adrenalin pushed us up the hills. Catherine Kemp's brother was kind enough to drive the van for us so that no one had to miss out on today's ride.We got to the Golden Gate Bridge, took a million pictures, and then finally crossed. It was very populated, but we definitely took in what we were doing. It felt surreal to remember crossing the bridge in NYC, and to be crossing an even larger bridge on the opposite side of the country.Across the bridge were greeted by family and friends at Baker's Bay. This trip would not have been possible without all of their support, and it was fun celebrating with them.We raised $87,000 and collected 36 portraits this summer. It's an accomplishment we are proud of!However I wrap this up won't be enough. But I'll end with this: Thank you to everyone that followed us, supported us, was kind to us on the road, and provided for us. Our mission wouldn't have been successful without you. And to everyone who has fought or is fighting cancer: thank you for inspiring us each and every day. We sincerely hope that this ride will not be necessary in the future. Until then, we will continue fighting cancer on two wheels.DR
Day 70: Lower Lake to Petaluma
Today was a great day! Lindsey and I dedicated today's ride to our own Jack's. Jack Marston, the father of 2 of Lindsey’s classmates, died in 2004 of skin cancer. A close family friend of mine, Captain Jack, has gall bladder cancer and it has recently spread. He is a very kind, loyal man with the sharpest memory and a love for sports.Today's ride had quite a bit of elevation change, and with it temperature change. We started in our warm gear, took it off at the top of the first big climb, and then froze on the descent. Today's down hills were some of the most fun we've had. The roads were very curvy and beautifully lined with tall trees. The views of Napa were gorgeous, and we rode past numerous vineyards. Today is the first day we got to see the typical beauty of California. We also got to appreciate the beauty, because the other side of the mountain wasn't scalding hot, and we didn't experience any horrible winds. Everyone had a very enjoyable ride!Lindsey worked at a water buffalo farm, Double 8 Dairy, in Petaluma last summer, and we got to visit it! She gave us a tour of the farm, we played with baby water buffalo, and tasted many flavors of water buffalo gelato that they make in house. It was so fun seeing her so excited to show all of us, and we had a wonderful time.We did dessert before dinner, but dinner was also a success. In-N-Out is a popular burger chain in the west, and we all decided that we'd rather go there than have pasta and lentils. It was a fun last dinner together.We are all in disbelief that we finish our ride tomorrow. It's a very bittersweet feeling, but we are very much anticipating the sense of accomplishment we will feel as we cross the bridge. It will be odd not being together constantly, but we know that we will always share this unbelievable experience.We are having a jersey signing party tonight and probably staying up way too late reminiscing about favorite and funny moments. Lindsey is currently playing sad songs like “You’ll Be In My Heart.” It has been an incredible summer that deserves to be reflected on. I am looking forward to spending this last night together.We’ll see many of you across the bridge tomorrow!DR
Day 69: Orland to Lower Lake
This morning Maren dedicated our ride to her papa, Stan Morgan. He passed from liver cancer 5 years ago and August 8 is b her nana and papa's anniversary. Since we are done riding on the 7th, we rode for him today.The morning started out a bit chilly, but perfect riding weather. However, we started to smell smoke around mile 14 and learned that there was a wildfire in the area. We ended up shuttling 50 miles in order to avoid low air quality. During our wait, we hung out at a Starbucks, where we talked to a lot of people about what we were doing and why. It created a lot of great conversations and the employees were kind and gave some of us our drinks for free.It was a bit tough getting back on the bike after such a long wait, but we finished the last 27 miles strong. We climbed through some mountains and over rolling hills, enjoying the change in scenery from the last two flatter days.We all did a great job of just enjoying our time with each other despite the change in plans, and being positive about the parts of the ride that we did complete.In the home stretch!DR