Being in Illinois brings along with it a sense of belonging to absolutely nothing. Surrounded by our familiar cornfields, silos, creeks, railroad tracks, and power lines, the fun(?) never seems to end. This ride was physical as well as mental, with plenty of Casey’s to spare. :)
Ride Overview
Mileage: 83.2
Elevation: +860’/-909’
General Direction: Proceed east on Green Street and take Broadway, Kerr, and Brownfield to leave Champaign, turn left onto High Cross Road, then onto U.S. 45 at mile 11.3, remain on this road until mile 69, passing through Rantoul, Paxton, Loda, Buckley, Onarga, Gilman, Ashkum, Clifton, and Chebanse, take a southwest approach to the Kankakee area and proceed north through downtown Kankakee on Schuyler Ave., turn east to cross I-57, then north to reach the stayover on the northeastern side of town.
Points of Interest: UIUC, various historic sites in towns, downtown Kankakee, Kankakee River
Tales of the Trail
We began our day by converging at the Alma Mater statue for our team photo. After a brief but meaningful morning circle, we rolled out onto Green Street. Leaving Champaign was just as surreal as arriving; a few roads and places we had ridden on in training rides or otherwise visited stuck out to us as everything began to fade from view behind us. it is truly hard to believe that our stop in Champaign was just that, a stop on the ride, when everything around felt so familiar. Nevertheless, we biked on!
Today we were joined by two special guests. For the first 20 miles, we were joined by our departing ride leader Mike Rotter. He got to ride his own bike as mine is now fixed (!) and having him there and knowing he was about to send us out into the west was hard. He even found a license plate as is custom for the stretch up to Rantoul! We will miss you Mike, and we thank you for everything you have done for this team and both of your other ones. Our ride leader is now President Patrick Jamison, joined by assistant ride leaders Nina Rosas and Jonathan Yuen. We also got to ride for the entire duration with I4K Fundraising Director, 2022 alum, and certified baddie Lucas Dion. Alpha group forever!
Truly an Alpha group.
Most of the ride was a long road, with an interesting view of the sun to our right instead of to the rear as we continued north. Two of our three rest stops were Casey’s, a common site in small midwestern towns, and for us a site for sore eyes (or sore quads?). It was that much more challenging to stay fully engaged mentally as the scenery, though technically changing, was very similar and not as appealing as places like Pennsylvania. Riding into Kankakee felt like a bit of a relief in this sense, and we arrived at our stayover in the mid-afternoon.
We are staying at Adventure Commons, a church and multi-sport facility all rolled into one. Families of the church prepared us a wonderful taco night, and we spent some time playing foosball, pool, air hockey, and mini golf while we were there. The local YMCA also let us shower at their facility and we are very thankful! Chicago is in sight, and many with family in the area are looking forward to seeing them, as well as creating Portraits, napping, and exploring a bit of the city.
An interesting turn on the route took us to a gate of a chemical plant. The gate closed as soon as we rolled up.
Some intense foosball before dinner.
Cyclist’s Corner
Today’s Rider: Jean Lin
How are you today? I am pretty tired but I’m glad that I finished the whole ride today.
What make and model of bicycle are you riding? I am riding a Liv Avail AR 3. It is pink and gray.
What is your favorite aspect about the ride so far? Why is it your favorite? Having fun and creating funny moments with the team. Sometimes you want to give up but your teammates encourage you to ride. It has also been nice to try a lot of different foods and meet a lot of different people from this country. A lot of our stayover hosts are very cool too!
How much cycling did you do before training for I4K specifically? I did some cycling but not on a road bike, and my longest ride before I4K was 20 miles or so. I have been riding for about six years but did less over time as I grew up.
Where on today’s route (generally or specific mile marker) was the most memorable for you? What happened? Seeing the familiarity of the roads as we were leaving campus. A lot of memories of riding these roads during training rides came back to me in those moments.
Anything you’d like to say to those cheering you on? I want to keep riding and my teammates have definitely inspired me to do so. I feel that having the equipment and athletic experience that I do has also really helped me in being a part of the team, and I want to make them proud.
Please visit the rider profiles page on the website to learn more about this year’s riders! :)
Sleepy time in the van.
How I’m feeling about my bike being fixed. :)
Our lovely and now clean van with an intense (and hard to photograph) setting sun in the background.