“We’re basically swimming right now” — Ellie, standing in the rain

The route out of Indianapolis this morning sent us right past the speedway, and we had about an hour and a half or so before it started to drizzle, and then pour! Thank goodness it was over 70 degrees and not a repeat of day 7. We had fun at our first rest stop and saw the fabled Sasquatch/Bigfoot, just like the rumors told…

Unfortunately the weather took a turn and almost all of us were soaked to the bone by the time lunch rolled around. Soggy PBJs, anyone? Indiana also has waaaay more hills than anyone expected, and the traffic was… unpleasant, to say the least.

But we had quite the motivation today! Our stayover in Rockville is with I4k’s longtime friend and supporter, Randy, who I have heard about many times since I joined the team in October. With good company and food ahead of us, we enjoyed the rest of the ride. After all, once you’re soaked through, there’s not much else you can do but have fun.

We also got to go swimming in a fellow neighbor/cyclists pool (thank you!!) which was incredibly fun and hypocritical, considering we just complained about being wet from the rain for six hours straight. Nonetheless, we had a blast! Dinner was just as good as Kate made it out to be (she visited Randy a few summers ago with other I4K riders) and we are ready for Champaign tomorrow!!! I’m so excited to return; it’s wild to think that just a few months ago I was driving down there for my first training ride with a bunch of people I’d only met over zoom! Look at us now, 17 days in, with over 1,000 miles together. Many more to go!

— Marielle