Today was a fast day! All groups arrived quite quickly after one another at the rest stops and lunch, and we had great weather and fun hills. Within the first few miles, we came across an iguana in the middle of the road. It was probably a toy, but in my mind, he was just on vacation. For lunch, we stopped at a place called Maple Leaf Market and most of the team got hot pizza (chicken and bacon, anyone?) and drinks as a pick-me-up in the middle of the hot day.

Ryan had his 15 minutes of fame (or maybe… 1 minute) today in Utica! We talked to a construction worker during a rest stop, and he called their local news station, WKTV to do a story! (watch here: Illini 4000 on WKTV) Random encounters like this one are what really make this so special— you never know who you’re going to meet on the road, nor how their lives will interact with yours.

Our destination today was Syracuse, and our hosts at St. Pauls church could not have been more generous or welcoming as we rode in. We had so. much. food. It was so. good. 7-layer bean dip! Homemade hummus! Ham! Noodles! Watermelon! Tons of cookies! And of course a lot of wonderful conversation. We hope to stop by some of the places recommended on our way to Buffalo, whether on bike or as a trip in the van.

Bang is working on getting photos together from everyone, so soon I should be able to post a wider variety of things! Ellie and Cam are still absolutely relentless doing maintenance— two icons! Some of us explored Syracuse a little bit, others went to the laundromat, and we all are exhausted by lights out at 9:30. That includes me, up a little bit later to finish uploading this post :)

With that being said— here’s more photos from the day, goodnight, see you tomorrow, and tailwinds!

— Marielle