Day 28: Rochester MN to Mankato MN

Hi everyone! Welcome to day 28. Today was a very hot day again and we biked a whole 95 miles, so overall it was quite a tough but still mostly pleasant ride for us. It is always a bit of a rough awakening to bike again after a rest day, but it also helps to be refreshed and rested.

We biked on some country roads in the beginning of the day and then spent the second half mostly on shaded bike trails. Given the heat it was a very nice break from the sun and gave us a good opportunity to chat while on the bikes.

I4Kows

Ice cream stop :)

The day was not nearly as eventful or scenic as the last few before it, so it was mostly us pushing ourselves to finish the miles for the day. Once we got to our stayover in Mankato, we got shuttled by the members of the community affiliated with the Hosanna Lutheran Church to the YMCA for showers. Afterwards, we were also given a delicious dinner at the church for which we were eternally grateful as always.

-Valerie

Day 26: La Crosse WI to Rochester MN - new state, new me

Hi everyone! Welcome to day 26. It was a big, long, and beautiful day. We got to our next state - Minnesota! Before that though, we go to ride on some of those Wisconsin trails just one last time.

The actual state line was a beautiful location on the Mississippi river and we took tons of photos by the state signs, of course.

Bye bye Wisconsin

Hello Minnesota!

Our group was torn between the two but obviously had to choose Minnesota after all

After crossing the river, we got to enjoy some beautiful views while riding along the Mississippi. Julissa got a flat along the way, but rejoined us at the next rest stop.

After our third rest stop of the day, we had a fairly short but somewhat steep climb. After the last 2 weeks of the midwestern flatness, it was the first sign of the upcoming mountains. We all did very well climbing the hill and got to enjoy the feeling of getting stronger compared to the first days of the trip climbing those Pennsylvania hills.

A very rare van photobomb

After the hill, it was all smooth sailing… Just kidding, of course it wasn’t. First, we had to ride about 2 miles on a hilly gravel road. It was a challenge but thankfully a very short one. Then, less than 10 miles from our destination, Mercedes got a flat on her bike by getting a huge screw stuck in her tire. It was honestly quite an impressive picture and our whole group made this into an occasion for a small photo session.

Overall, it was an amazing riding day, with lots of beautiful views and fun moments :)

Bryan trying out Matt W’s bike (it is about 5 sizes too big for him)

Last, but certainly not least, we had a very special ride dedication on day 26. We rode for Ruthie Maddox, who was described by Marie’s mom as “a true superhero who from day one has been smiling and dealing with a brain tumor with a positive attitude.” On this beautiful and very special day we rode for Ruthie!

-Valerie

Day 25: Reedsburg WI to La Crosse WI - trail day!

Hi everyone! Welcome to day 25 out our journey. Day 25 turned out to be a loooong day with many twists, turns, flats, and friendships made along the way.

The morning started out with a “who can hold a plank the longest” competition. Cal won followed very closely by Rose, followed not closely at all by any of the rest of us.

Afterwards, the riding began. We had almost 90 miles of riding and about almost all of them were on a biking trail. The trail went through a path that used to be a railroad, so we got to see a lot of nice scenery and even went through three tunnels. The tunnel was fun the first time, interesting the second, and third made some of our riders go just a little bit insane. There is just something about walking in complete darkness with just the sound of water drops to keep you company…

Maddie decided to ditch her bike for a hot new ride

TRAIN

Just before the plunge into the darkness

…right after the plunge into the darkness

…inside of the darkness O_O

The babies… I mean the freshmen group of the day (minus Sam)

Aside from the tunnels, the day seemed to last for a whole eternity. We all moved very slowly, took our time at the rest stops, and got lots of flats along the route, including Cal getting two of them in one day. The trail was not paved which slowed us down considerably but gave us plenty of opportunities for conversations on the bike.

At the end, we had to go through some water crossings due to recent flooding and wet our shoos, but nothing any of us couldn’t handle.

We were rewarded at the end of the day by a fabulous stayover in an actual hotel and a dinner of Olive Garden provided by Mercedes and her parents. It was the absolute best end for a very long and exhausting day. Sleeping in a real bed and having a hot shower that you have to share with only a couple more people seemed like a luxury of the lifetime to all of us, and we certainly took advantage of it to the fullest.

-Valerie

Day 24: Madison WI to Reedsburg WI - Clown museum and Butterfest

Hi everyone! Welcome to Day 24. Todays seemed to be one of those days that just seems to last forever. We had lots and lots of fun and did a lot of things. I was van driving again, so I do not have much to day about the route itself, but we have more than enough pictures for today instead.

Our second rest stop of the day was at the Devil’s Lake State Park which we spent at least 2 hours at. It was a very nice place to hang out at, and a few people from the team even rented some paddle boards. A couple of us also burned our backs to bright red (including myself), so obviously we had a lot of fun.

Clara naps

Clara naps 2

Just before the riders were about to leave the rest stop, Veronica found a little baby bird on the ground. We wanted to put him back in his nest but couldn’t find it :( We wish you luck, little Al-bird Einstein.

Protecting my child

The team heard that there was a Clown Museum along our route, so most of them of course simply had to stop. After a whole quest of finding the person who could let them in and give them a tour, it seemed like the actual experience was somehow both underwhelming as well as overwhelming. Yes, I am just as confused as you are.

Admiring

After finally getting to Reedsburg, we were all incredibly excited to visit the (apparently) world-famous ButterFest. Some of our riders (Angela) proclaimed they thought of the ButterFest all day while biking. To our huge disappointment, there was no butter to be seen anywhere :( Not even one stick of butter made an appearance. So, we just had to satisfy ourselves with a picture and then promptly left the scene.

-Valerie

Day 23: Lake Geneva WI to Madison WI - more jumping in lakes

Hi everyone! Welcome to day 23. Today we had a 75 mile ride to Madison where we got to stay at the University of Wisconsin campus. The day was again very hot, so just like yesterday we decided to roll out an hour earlier at 6AM. The roads were significantly nicer today however, mostly smaller country roads without much traffic. Just as we like it! Some groups stopped to get breakfast at MacDonald’s in the first 20 miles of our ride and I can’t help but think that this company should sponsor us at this point (we stop there a lot!).

Still waiting for that MacDonald’s sponsorship…

Nap time in the van

At about the half point of the ride we stumbled across an access to a very nice, refreshingly cool small river, and obviously couldn’t miss an opportunity to splash around just a little bit.

Jessica’s sunglasses floated away in the river :(

Pure bliss

After getting to Madison we went straight to the lake for some further splashing. Just like yesterday, it was unbelievably nice to cool off in the water after such a hot day.

After our lake shenanigans we got dinner (lots of stir fry!!) and snacks provided by two Illini 4000 alumni who have done the ride in previous years. Thanks to them! We unfortunately couldn’t explore the campus much after that as we had a tornado warning and had to stay inside of the building for the rest of the evening :(

Today’s rider and bike highlight is going to be… Angela! Angela’s bike is named Elmo because “the handlebars are red like Elmo's hair? (fur?) and Elmo's from sesame street and we bike on the STREET".

Elmo looks really good on photos and even better in real life

-Valerie

Day 22: Chicago IL to Lake Geneva WI

Hi everyone! Welcome to day 22 of our ride. Today we said goodbye to Chicago and hello to biking again. We had a 67 mile very hot day, with temperature getting as high as 100 degrees. For this reason, we decided to start biking an hour earlier than usual so we started a little after 6 AM. And even at that time it was already sweaty, sticky, and very hot. As an extra challenge we mostly biked on extremely busy roads getting out of Chicago suburbs, and most of us got the stress of our lives biking on roads like this. Thankfully, everyone made it through just fine. Speaking of everyone… We had two very special riders with us today - Lucas’s dad and Matt W’s dad! They did amazing on this riding day full of busy roads and heat, so big props to them.

The dad group

The last 10 miles of the ride were as per usual the hardest, only this time mostly because of the heat. The heart rates were up, the bodies were sweaty, and we were all so ready to jump into a lake, finally! And finally, we did. The water was refreshingly cool after a long, hot, and sweaty day like this, so some of us stayed in the water for a little longer than was strictly necessary.

After the jump, we got to our stayover at Episcopal Church of the Holy Covenant in Lake Geneva, got showers at a YMCA, and dinner provided by the church. Of course, after dinner it was decided to take a group trip to a nearby ice cream shop. A group of us then went to explore some local souvenir shops and then took about a million pictures.

Surveillance cam selfie

And this concluded our day 22. Tomorrow promises to be a very similar day full fo heat, so another early wakeup awaits us.

-Valerie

Days 19 and 20: Kankakee to Oak Park to Chicago - the BEAN!

Hi everyone! This is going to be yet another 2-day journal due to how much happened in these two days. We left Kankakee in quite an uplifted mood, ready for the two rest days ahead as well as meeting families and friends in Chicago. As a result, the riding on Day 19 went by quickly and painlessly for most, and even the weather was on our side! It was mostly cloudy and not hot or cold at all. We did a lot of trail riding and got quite a few “I-L-L” callouts from passerby along the way.

Trailssss

Photo break after the second rest stop

Food break during the second rest stop

For our third rest stop of the day, we were greeted by a very nice surprise in the form of Cal’s family waiting there for us! They cheered for us as we arrived and departed and gave us lots and lots of snacks. Big thanks to Cal’s amazing family!

♡♡♡

Another huge family shoutout goes to Matt H’s family. They were incredibly welcoming and let the whole team sleep over at their house on day 19, as well as hog their showers for a good 3 hours. They also hosted a potluck in the evening for other team members’ families and friends. And for people like me who had no other place to sleep at in Chicago they hosted us further for the next 2 days too! So, huge thanks to Matt’s family.

Afternoon naps at Matt’s family house

The evening was spent meeting everybody’s families and friends, consuming unholy amounts of delicious food, and having fun.

Day 20 started out at Matt’s house, getting ready to bike the rest of the way to downtown Chicago to take pictures with the famous “bean”. The original plan also included the rescheduled jump into lake Michigan which was originally planned for Ohio. The jump was rescheduled yet again, however, due to the cold weather.

Our ride was short at only 11 miles, and we had a lot of fun riding our bikes through Chicago (even despite the sometimes crazy traffic and many many potholes). It was a very nice, almost touching experience biking through the city knowing that we got here all the way from New York city in just 2 weeks, and remembering what biking through NYC was like on our very first day of the ride.

Our final destination for the day was the Cloud Gate which was referred to as the Bean exclusively all day. We took more pictures there than in any other destination so far I am fairly sure, and as a result got tons of awesome pictures.

Group Bean pic

Coffee break

I’m gonna take my cow to the old town road…

Invading the subway with our bikes

After taking pictures, everybody went their separate ways for the next 2 rest days to spend time with their families before the next 55 days of riding.

And to wrap up this very special journal, our featured rider/bike for today is going to be Veronica and her bike! Veronica’s bike is called Bobby (in a British accent) because “it just fits.” Certainly can’t argue with that.

Round of applause for Veronica and Bobby

-Valerie

Day 18: Champaign IL to Kankakee IL

Hi everyone! Welcome to day 18. Today we had to say goodbye to Champaign :( But, we are now on the way and only one day away from Chicago where a lot of our riders have families and friends, so that is of course a huge plus. The team met bright and early at the Alumni center on campus, and since everybody stayed in different places we had to bike there with our backpacks. It was certainly a new experience that made me appreciate the fact we have a van to carry all of our stuff the rest of the time.

The route today was, in a typical midwestern fashion, fairly unremarkable. Completely flat with corn fields around as far as the eye can see. We did hit a patch of unpaved gravel-y road for a few miles which is always highly unpleasant on our road bikes, but it was nothing any of us couldn’t handle.

For me personally the riding ended early as I fell off my bike again for the second time in the past 3 days. Unlucky me, but I am hoping this is the end of my bad luck for now and very grateful I did not suffer any serious injuries yet again.

The boys’ picture

Former I4K president Mike rode the first 20 miles out of Champaign with us!

We had almost 90 miles of riding today which went surprisingly quickly for the team, and we were able to make it to our Kankakee stayover at about 3 PM. After taking showers at a YMCA, we headed back to the stayover for an absolutely delicious dinner provided by the members of the stayover - the Adventure Commons church. We then had an opportunity to take portraits with the amazing ladies who cooked our meal for us.

-Valerie

Days 15 and 16: Lafayette IN to Rockville IN to Champaign IL - meeting Randy, coming home

Hi everyone and welcome to days 15 and 16! It was a couple of very big days for us full of excitement. While making for a very fun time, it also meant that we were so busy the whole time that I did not even have time to write and post this journal for these whole 2 days. Which means that now this is a double day journal and we have a lot of ground to cover.

On our way out of Lafayette

Firstly, we made it to day 15 which means we are now 20% done with the ride. Absolutely mind-boggling! Secondly, we are back in Champaign and our home - University of Illinois. And last but most certainly not least, our stayover for day 15 was Randy who has hosted the team for the past 14 years (out of the 15 our organization has existed). He as well as many other community members of Rockville have been incredibly welcoming to the teams of all the past years so of course we now got to experience it too. We were fed VERY generously multiple times, were able to hang out at a pool and swim, got mountains of snacks for the road, got a performance from a group of ladies who play handbells, and got to talk and spend some time with the wonderful people in Rockville.

A little rest stop playground shenanigans

Furry friend number 1

Perfecting the no-hands riding

Pool fun times

Furry friend number 2

Matt W getting an early Happy Birthday song played for him with handbells

Day 16 turned out to be just as hectic and full of events as day 15. We rolled out in the morning knowing that Champaign area was promised thunderstorms during the morning and early afternoon. So, the riders were only able to make it to mile 40 of the route before shuttling the rest of the way to Champaign in the van. But, before that happened, we got to see the Illinois state line sign and of course took a million pictures with it.

Once everyone was shuttled to Champaign, we had a photo session by the Alma Mater and had many professional pictures of us taken.

Home sweet home

After the photos, we headed to a reception hosted for us by the Beckman Institute. They greeted us warmly and gave us delicious and much appreciated food. Some of the rider’s friends or family were present too which was of course an amazing addition.

Getting ready for the photo session

The rest of the day as well as the next day 17 were spent resting and catching up with friends, as well as getting ready to head in the direction of Chicago.

-Valerie

Day 14: Logansport IN to Lafayette IN - Half a rest day

Hi everyone! Welcome to Day 14 of our epic journey. Today we had a short day - only 45 miles with almost no elevation. The day went by fast and we were done riding at about noon, getting a whole half of the day to ourselves.

The route was very nice for the most part, with a few rough roads but some very smooth and satisfying roads as well.

Racing to pass another group (we won)

The morning blessed us with really nice weather for a bike ride - sunny but not hot, no rain and almost no wind.

…and the other side

The three Musketeers

And the d'Artagnan I guess

Van crew!!!

Resting

Riding on gravel is a solid 0/10 on a road bicycle

After the ride, we got hot showers at the recreation center of the Purdue University. Then, the team split up to get lunch with choices ranging from Mexican, to burgers, to poke bowls.

Poke bowl team

After lunch, the poke bowl team that I happened to be in stumbled across a fascinating local store selling pretty much everything. Their offerings included crystals, fun socks, jewelry, plush toys, clothes, sunglasses, CDs, books… Do I even need to go on?

Fashion is our profession

The afternoon was dedicated to a team meeting where our team members shared their personal reasons for joining Illini 4000 and for deciding to do the ride. It was a very emotional couple of hours and many napkins were used up. So, naturally, afterwards we wanted to cheer ourselves up with ice cream.

Team ice cream time

The team had the evening to themselves with some spending time on a movie night watching ‘"Top Gun” and the rest just enjoying the rare moments of free time.

-Valerie

Day 13: Fort Wayne IN to Logansport IN

Hi everyone! Welcome to Day 13. Day 13 brought us 77 miles of riding and almost no hills to climb. The day started out with us trying our best to roll out on designated time and as per usual failing (we’re getting better though!).

Morning prep in progress

The road consisted mostly of small country roads and several very nice stretches of bike paths. It was quite a hot day and while the majority of the ride went by relatively quickly, the last ~15 miles felt dragged out for a lot of riders.

Bike trails are awesome ♡

Without the hills there to take our breath away (literally) as well as getting more and more comfortable on our bikes, most of the team has started to actually talk while riding. We have been having very long conversations about our lives, experiences and so on while riding. It feels like the team is really starting to get close now and getting to know each other on a personal level and it is a truly delightful experience.

Also, we are getting more comfortable at taking selfies while riding (safely). Here’s the proof:

On-bike selfie number 1

On-bike selfie number 2

On-bike selfie number 3

Hanging out in the Van-that-Shall-Remain-Nameless

We arrived to our stayover at the Logansport Church fairly early - about 3 PM. The pastor of the church - pastor Aaron - was very kind and offered us to take showers at his own home since the local YMCA was closed.

Cutie at the pastor’s house

TWO cuties at the pastor’s house

Afterwards, we got dinner provided graciously by the church and then some of the team went to a Mexican restaurant for further nourishment. We are a bunch of very hungry cyclists after all.

And that concludes our adventures for Day 13. BUT that is not the end of today’s journal.

As a small bonus extra treat I will feature each rider in a post throughout the ride, sharing the name they chose for their bike and why. Our first featured rider will be…Clara!

Clara said that her bike’s name is “Casey because it starts with a C like my name and like what it says on my bike Cervelo”.

Clara and Casey

-Valerie

Day 12: Perrysburg OH to Fort Wayne IN - Fifth state and the first 100 mile day

Hi everyone! Welcome to day 12. Today the riders faced their first century - 105 miles of riding in a day. The universe decided to spare me from this achievement as it was my turn to be on van driving duty today again. So, as per last time, I shall describe this day purely in other rider’s pictures.

Selfie #1

Selfie #2

Bryan committing crimes against humanity by eating baby carrots with ketchup

A Sam-sized dog was spotted

Working hard on making their quads big and strong

Food #1

Food #2

As I mentioned in the yesterday’s journal, we will be jumping into Lake Michigan on our Chicago rest day for (as of right now) 90 dollars per person. These donations will be coming from I4K alumni but everyone and anyone is highly encouraged to add to that amount. I will make sure the photo evidence of the epic jump is present and posted on this very website shortly after it happens, so get excited and get donating , friends!

-Valerie

Day 11: Sandusky OH to Perrysburg OH

Hi everyone! Welcome to day 11. After two 90 mile days in a row, today was a comparatively short day at only 63 miles. That did not unfortunately make it feel any shorter. While we all we glad to make it to flat land again after struggling on the Pennsylvania hills, we forgot that biking in such flatness can VERY boring sometimes. The highlight of today’s ride was certainly riding for about 10 miles on a very nice shaded bike trail.

While riding on the trail, we came across a playground and of course could not NOT stop there for a few minutes.

We might be college kids, but we’re still kids :)

The rest of the day was spent in the same familiar landscape. We all know which one by now, c’mon.

The biggest attraction of the day

Rest stop number one

The last 20 miles of the ride seemed to drag out for much longer than they should have for everybody on the team, and we faced headwinds for the very first time since our training rides. The winds were certainly not a welcome guest but did spark a heated debate between the team of which is worse to bike in - hills or headwinds.

Our Perrysburg stayover - Lutheran Church of the Master - kindly provided us with a shuttle (in a school bus!) to the local recreation center for showers as well as a dinner for the whole team. We are as always incredibly thankful for these generous gestures!

Dinner time

After dinner, most of the team played an illuminating game of “Never have I ever” and then as per usual rested in preparation for the upcoming 100 mile ride O_O

-Valerie

Day 10: Akron OH to Sandusky OH

Hi everyone! Welcome to double digits - Day 10. Today was a second 90-mile day in a row, this time all in Ohio. We started out in a wet, cloudy weather, without any real rain however. So, pretty much perfect for biking aside from making us all constantly wonder whether we should be putting our rain jackets on or taking them off.

Shortly after leaving Akron, we got to bike through our very first national park! Very exciting, but for now just a small appetizer of the national parks we’ll be seeing later on the ride.

There’s nothing like riding on trails

Muddy but pretty

We found a friend

After the park, the rest of the ride went through small Ohio towns and the very characteristic Midwestern flatness.

Van crew!

It’s not cultural appropriation if it’s in a Mexican restaurant

Veronica - the food donations master

Our original plan for the end of the day was to jump into the lake Erie right before heading to the stayover. The reasoning being that some of the I4K alumni/friends promised to donate $90 per each team member jumping into the lake. Unfortunately, the lake turned out to be very dirty in that particular location and unsafe to jump in :(The jump was rescheduled to Chicago but the team got to take a commemorative picture with the lake.

Lake Erie!!

It was a very late day and we only got to the stayover after 8 PM. So, the rest of the day was spent with simple pleasures like showers, dinner, and the blessed sleep.

Curious toilet arrangement in our stayover

-Valerie

Day 9: Grove City PA to Akron OH - Our fourth state!

Hi everyone! Day 9 turned out to be such a blur that I couldn’t even post a journal as I ended up simply passing out as soon as my head hit the bed (AKA my sleeping pad). It was a very long, hot, and sticky day full of terrible Ohio roads. We crossed the Pennsylvania-Ohio border at about 30 miles of our ride but unfortunately there was no official sign for it :( Presenting the best we got below:

State Line road counts, right?

The rest of the day was somewhat unremarkable in terms of the views, and the moment we crossed the Ohio border it felt like home. Out flat, monotonous home Illinois :) Day 9 turned out to be very hot right up until the last few miles to our stayover… That was the moment when the riders hit a very bad thunderstorm and most had to find shelter and wait for the van extraction.

Sheltering from the storm

Our stayover for the day was at the Akron University recreation center so some of us even got to use the pool for about 20 minutes before it closed.

Since I spent half of the ride in the van, here are just some fun, cool, awesome pictures from the rest of the riders.

Rest stop by the side of a local very small town bar

Slowing and stopping

As an extra surprise for today, here are some additional photos full of pure childlike joy and happiness from day 8 that were taken after the journal was already posted.

We are all adults, I promise

-Valerie

Day 8: Clarion PA to Grove City PA

Hi everyone and welcome to Day 8 of the 2022 I4K ride! Today was another shorter day at only 43 miles but yet again filled with many a rolling hill. This was in many ways a very similar day to Day 7, including the rural Pennsylvania views. Small towns, run-down buildings, and many logging businesses along the route.

The morning was distinguished by a mystical-looking fog covering the nearby hills which reminded me of some kind of a fairytale setting. I am almost (only almost) convinced now that waking up early might be worth it sometimes.

Zona, Marie, and Mercedes pedaling the morning away

First rest stop of the day

First rest stop, continued

Right before our longest climb of the day we were treated to a very nice view from a bridge. The river was of a fairly questionable color which did not stop me from wishing I could submerge myself into it to combat the heat and sweat of this day.

Our unfortunate biking victim of the day was Sam, she fell off her bike in the very beginning of the day :( Thankfully, she is OK and as full of energy as ever, but she did end up spending the rest of the ride in the van along the van driver Matt H.

We got to Grove City early at about 2 PM and thanks to our shower/food donation callers got to have refreshing (aka cold but nevertheless highly appreciated) showers at a local YMCA.

Taking over the YMCA bike rack to dry our biking attire

After the showers, we once again ventured into the town seeking lunch. Lunch choices ranged from Subway sandwiches to Japanese restaurant and pizza today. While eating our food outside a local coffeeshop we experienced a curious encounter. An older gentleman sat at the table next to Jessica and started talking about… something? He told us he had robbed a bank before and a whole lot of other outlandish stories. Truly, you can meet all kinds of people biking across the country.

And on that weird note, the exciting events of the day ended.

-Valerie

Day 7: DuBois PA to Clarion PA

Hi everyone and welcome to day 7! Hard to believe it has already been a whole week since NYC and our first day of riding, but here we are nonetheless. Today was a very short day at only 38 miles but one filled with countless rolling hills and not-quite-satisfying-enough downhills. Despite being short, it was a tough day for a most of the team since a lot of us didn’t quite recover from the previous one. The route was not particularly picturesque today and mostly just ran through small, very rural Pennsylvania towns.

A life-sized Trump statue on someone’s porch O_O

Rick the Patriot

Impromtu rest stop

We got to our stayover early, most groups were there before noon, while our (Veronica, Angela, and me) “What’s the rush” group still made good time at 12:30. We had amazingly satisfying showers at our YMCA stayover and headed out to lunch. Me and Angela found a Chinese buffet nearby and immediately knew where we were going.

The non-Chinese buffet lunch group

And dessert, of course

After lunch, the team enjoyed the rest, some took naps, some decided to run or bike some more (those wild kids). Team activities such as dodgeball and basketball were also present, taking full advantage of the YMCA facilities.

Expecting to see some sick gains from these guys soon

-Valerie

Day 6: State College PA to DuBois PA

Hi everyone! Today was Day 6 of our journey, and oh boy was it fun and exciting. It was yet another day filled with climbing (a whole 6,000 feet of it to be precise). But first, before rolling out of the stayover, we sang the Happy Birthday song to our birthday boy today - Max.

Good morning, Van

The big 25th

Ride dedication of the day to Clara’s grandparents!

After this joyous moment of seeing Max with a balloon tied to his bike, we started our big first ascent of the day. The route went through a state park so while huffing and puffing on the way up, we got to enjoy a nice view and also get spooked by a snake who tried to take Veronica’s life apparently (it failed). After the climb, a nice lake with a beach awaited us at the bottom. We were very excited to jump right in, but the water turned out to be too cold for most of us (except Max who did submerge himself fully).

That’s right, we biked all the way there

Read the joy of finishing a big hill on Veronica’s face

let's go to the beach-each
Let's go get a wave

The next big event of the day was the next big climb. It was about 4 miles long and incredibly challenging for the majority of the team. There was a point in that ascent when the hill looked like an actual Stairway to Heaven and seemed to lead straight to the sky. Just a little taste of what awaits us once we hit the Rocky Mountains further in our journey.

View from the big scary hill

The rest of the ride was a bit of a blur for me as all I could think about was a nice shower and some food, so here are just some nice pictures from the day :)

Baby bison!!!

Our stayover in DuBois was St. Nicholas Orthodox Church who donated pizza and desserts for our dinner. They also brought a dog who the team of course couldn’t miss the chance to cuddle.

♡♡♡

After dinner, most of the team simply passed out for the night to get the much needed rest before the next big day.

-Valerie

Day 5: Rest day in State College PA

Hi everyone! Day 5 is our very first rest day on the ride. Our hosts provided us with breakfast, lunch, and dinner, so all we had to do was relax and enjoy the scenery. Well, and do our chores. And clean and maintain our bikes. And pick up Zona from the airport… Oh wait, the last one is important. That’s right - Zona is with us now after missing the first days of the trip due to a positive Covid test. The team greeted her with a massive group hug of course which was sadly not captured in a photo :(

The evening was marked by a group drive to a local fair. We enjoyed some rides and got to see our teammates’ very differing reactions to being on said rides.

Ride number one

Ride number two

Group pic :)

The team got to rest, recharge, and get ready for the next stretch of our journey starting on Day 7. So, on to the next destination!

-Valerie

Day 4: Milton PA to State College PA - cows, horses, rolling hills and rain

Hi everyone! And welcome to Day 4. It is a very exciting day of course, because it is the first day I rode the entire mileage, yay! So while the rest of the team were sore and tired from previous 4 days, I was excited, full of energy, and ready to document the journey.

Our morning started with a little yoga session led by Sam during the morning circle. The team particularly enjoyed the last pose ;)

STAR-ring the day off right

But that of course was not the last exciting thing that happened that morning, oh no. Once our riders found out that the apparently famous (my fellow non-American team members were as confused as me at this) Chef Boyardee products are made at a facility in Milton AND there is a statue for the chef himself… Well, there was no stopping them.

The operations manager of the facility even donated 4 boxes of Chef Boyardee products to us which came in very handy during the lunch stop

Once we finally started the ride, we were greeted with lots and lots of farmland, cows, horses, and tractors. The highlight of my day personally was when a whole big heard of horses (and one donkey) ran out from behind someone’s house just to stare at us O_O

The horses in question

Getting to know the Pennsylvania locals

The next stretch of the ride ran through a State forest with the most beautiful lush greenery I have seen in my life. Even a little climbing we had to do there could not ruin the enjoyment of the rainy freshness and serenity of this place.

Don’t forget to smell the flowers

Rainy lake selfie

I4K Social media doesn’t sleep even during the ride

The next portion of the day was spent on some steep but very fun rolling hills running through even more farmlands. We saw more horses, cows, and sheep, and even got a little peek of the Amish lifestyle. I even felt a touch of envy for the beauty they get to wake up to every day.

Farmlands for days

The last 20 miles of the ride were perhaps the most adventurous I have personally experienced. We got to ride in the rain and get fully soaked to the bones for the very first time! You can never feel more alive then while riding a bike through some Pennsylvania fields in a pouring rain, trust me.

Rain or shine, I4K keeps rolling

We got to our State College stayover early and got to enjoy the showers and dinner provided by our hosts - Calvary Harvest Fields. Afterwards, our first team laundry (very exciting) and getting the much deserved sleep.

-Valerie