Ice Cream and Fried Food is never a bad choice

Today we passed through three states as we left the Pittsburgh metro area and headed for Ohio. In the process we spent about 8 miles in West Virginia, traveling across the most northern tip of the state. Today was also the first day of exiting the Appalachian Mountains, so we saw a few more downhills than uphills, however there were plenty of hills thrown in there to remind us that we weren't in the plains yet. Except for a bit of construction near the end, our ride was fairly uneventful. Everybody made it into Cadiz well before dinner, though many of us opted to visit the soft serve and fried food stand across from our stayover location. Too bad that the property is up for sale and may not be around for next year's team to enjoy.

Day 10

Today we rode from Mt. Pleasant, PA to Carnegie, PA which was supposed to be a distance of only 55 miles, but ended up being 60 miles and took way too long. The cues were wrong all day and we had to keep waiting for Brad to figure out what was the right way to go, so that was frustrating, but eventually we all made it into the church in Carnegie, which is a small town just southwest of Pittsburgh. We did ride through Pittsburgh, which I always love doing, I think the city is one of my favorites.  We  also met some fun people along the way, I always love meeting new people and seeing their reactions after they find out what we are doing, and today a woman had us take a picture with her two little kids when we stopped for lunch, which was really funny and cool and I think she donated to the cause as well, I don't know her name, but thank you!!

The last few miles into the Pittsburgh involved one HUGE hill, which of course came just minutes after Conor commented that "its great that they brought us into the city this way, we just missed all these huge mountains!"  So thanks to Conor for jinxing that for us, huge climbs in the last few miles is always really tough.  There were lots of hills today, but the weather was nice again, still 75 and sunny, and my knees weren't too bad, so It was alright.

After the ride, we showered in one of the creepiest showers I have ever seen, it was basically outside, and was open to the outside world, and then headed to the Fishback's house for dinner.  DInner was once again amazing, there were appetizers, fruit, fajitas, brownies, ice cream, and tons more, I could not possibly eat any more, and I am beginning to feel spoiled, I am sure we will not have receptions like this every night out west. 

We also had a great talk with the people from Amy's Army, at www.amysarmy.org, an amazing organization that recruits people to join the National Bone Marrow Transplant Registry.  Their daughter is Amy, she was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia at age 10, and they have exhausted the 8 million person database looking for a marrow donor match, and decided to create this organization six years ago, and are still looking for a match for Amy to cure her.  If you want to help or learn more, visit their site, or marrow.org/join to get an at-home swab kit.  These kits are usually over $50 but if you register now, you can order a kit to your home for FREE!!! but only if you do it by June 22, so check it out now!!  The kit only consists of a simple mouth swab, so it is really easy and you will be saving a life.

Finally, Sean told me the other night that I had hit a new high point in my donations, I have now raised enough for TWO riders, my donation total is $5,187.50, so once again, thanks to everyone I know for all of the amazing support, it's been amazing, and has far surpassed what I ever expected from this trip.

Tomorrow we head to somewhere in Ohio, about a 65 mile ride, so hopefully we can make good time and avoid all the huge mountains between here and Chicago.

States traveled through:7(NY,NJ,PA, DE, MD, DC, VA)
Distance today: 60 mi
Total Distance traveled: 665 mi

Day 9 - Bloody Mountains

Everett, PA to Mt. Pleasant, PA.  Check out pics at http://www.flickr.com/photos/8300819@N03/   Today's ride was again 80 more miles, and once again, it was a very mountainous ride, although today we didn't take any detours.  I once again hit a new record speed, and broke the 45 mph mark, pushing my bike up to 45.3 mph.  For the second day in a row, the weather was hot and sunny, and no one had a flat tire, so our ride was smooth again, other than me crashing again at the 60 mile mark.  Once again, i came away with only scrapes, but take it from me, scraping your hands bloody does not make climbing the next 20 miles fun. Just so you know how awful these mountains are, we had multiple climbs of over two miles at really steep grades. I was about ready to cry by the time today's ride was over.

However, we met a lady at the lunch stop named Tomalyn who told us jokes and donated to the cause, so thanks to you if you are reading Tomalyn(and sorry if I spelled your name wrong)!!  Tonight, we are staying at the United Methodist Church in Mt. Pleasant, and once again, the amazing people here made us another spectacular dinner, so we have eaten like kings the last few days. 

Tomorrow we finally have a short ride, only 55 miles into Carnegie, PA, right outside Pittsburgh.  I am in a decent amount of pain from my knees just climbing these mountains, and scraping them up in the fall today did not help, so I'm hoping tomorrow is not too bad of a ride.  I picked up a big tub of IcyHot today at a CVS, so hopefully, that will help my knees for the ride tomorrow also.

States traveled through:7(NY,NJ,PA, DE, MD, DC, VA)
Distance today: 80 mi
Total Distance traveled: 602 mi
Interesting animals: 1 deer, 1 groundhog, 1 skunk, 1 dead turtle, 1 chipmunk, 1 snake(Tons of roadkill too!!)

Day 8 - There's the Mountains!!

Boonsboro, MD to Everett, PA.  Today we rode another 80 mile day into Everett, but we were in the first group, and missed a turn, so our group of riders did an extra 10 miles to make it a 90-mile day, which was not very fun.  The ride was incredibly beautiful, and I got a ton of pictures and a few videos too( http://www.flickr.com/photos/8300819@N03/ ), but the hills were killer, and i think we can now officially start classifying them as mountains.  We also stopped in a Dairy Queen at about mile 70, and met Chuck, who asked us what we were doing, and donated to our cause, which we really appreciate, so thanks a ton Chuck!!  People in Pennsylvania have been great so far, everyone is interested in what we are doing and wants to help us out.  So far, PA is giving Maryland a run for its money in both ride beauty AND awesome people! 

Tonight we are staying at the United Methodist Church in Everett, and the awesome people here made us a delicious dinner and we have carpets on the floors AND we have two showers, so tonight's sleeping arrangements will be especially comfortable.  People like these make our trip so much better and more fun to be on. 

I am slowly realizing that having to ride more miles does not mean that the ride will be easier.  Our 40-mile day was really easy, and all of these 80-mile days are straight through the Pennsylvania mountains, which means they are great and beautiful for half of them and awful and exhausting for the other half.  Tomorrow is another 80-mile mountain day to Mt. Pleasant.

States traveled through:7(NY,NJ,PA, DE, MD, DC, VA)
Distance today: 90 mi
Total Distance traveled: 522 mi
Interesting Animals: The smallest baby deer I have ever seen, 1 groundhog(Punksitawny Phil??)

Day 7 - Food Lion...Food Lion!!

DC to Boonsboro, MD.  This morning, we rode from Matt's friend Ben's place in Arlington to meet up with the group for the day's mosher speech.  During Christa's speech, we met the I4K T-Rex, which is now our official mascot.  I will be posting pictures soon, I'm sure you all will love him.  Today's ride was not too exciting, we rode an easy route from DC to Boonsboro, but the only problem was that for the first 40 miles of the ride, we were riding in freezing rain, and no one was prepared for the cold, so we were all pretty miserable.  When we finally got to lunch, and the van caught up with us, I dug through my bag and found my underarmor and was much warmer for the rest of the ride.  The ride through Maryland was very beautiful, I am leaning towards saying that so far, Maryland is challenging Pennsylvania as my favorite state so far just since its so pretty and the people are so nice as well.  Tonight, we are staying at the St. Marks Church just outside Boonsboro MD, right near Antietam, which if I am not mistaken, is the site of the bloodiest day in American history, an especially brutal battle during the Civil War. Tomorrow we ride to Everett, PA, so we are hoping for minimal hills and as little rain as possible.

States traveled through:7(NY,NJ,PA, DE, MD, DC, VA)
Distance today: 80 mi
Total Distance traveled: 432 mi

Days 5 & 6- Wet and Wild

Baltimore MD to Washington DC.  The scenery was nice, but the ride today was probably worse than yesterdays.  For starters, our destination in Washington DC decided to pull out, and so we were once again scrambling for places to stay, and we ended up splitting the group into three different stayovers, so Matt C, Justin, Zernyu, Conor, Tim, David and I rode together into DC.  The first part of the trip was fine and I passed the 40-mile top speed mark, getting up to 44.8 mph, but when we got to the second half, things started to go really wrong.  We were supposed to take a path from Maryland all the way into DC, straight past the Lincoln Memorial, but just one turn into the path, we found out that the roads were not in good condition, and were extremely slippery, so Tim wiped out hard, Matt went into him, I went down and slid into Tim and a tree, and Conor went down behind us.  Luckily, everyone and their bikes were ok, I only had a few scrapes, and Tim got the worst of it, getting some scrapes and eventually pulling rocks out of his arm hours later once we got to our stayover.  So, we continued down the trail(slowly), and Zernynu and Tim went down again a few miles later, but no one was hurt too badly again.  Eventually, the trail turned into a dirt path, we finally figured out how to get t o the end of it, but got lost on the roads in Rock Creek Park north of DC, and got stuck in pouring rain, but with the huge help of a few really nice cyclists that took pity on us(Thanks John!!), finally made it into Matt's friend Ben's place (actually right outside DC in Arlington, VA)at around 7 PM.  Ben was an awesome host, making us all the brats and burgers we could handle, and we went to bed exhausted around 9 PM. Ben also has a hilarious bulldog named Frank, who entertained us all evening by humping Conor and trying to eat everything in sight, including Conor's sandals, Matt's sleeping pad, and any human ears he could find.

The next day was a rest day, we had a hospital visit at 11 at Walter Reed Medical Center and then the rest of the day was ours to do what we wanted.  The tour was very cool, the facility was HUGE and everyone was very nice and informative about answering all of our questions about the Breast Cancer Clinic at Walter Reed.  After the tour, the Mulvaney's talked to us and gave us our first group portraits project, which was really cool and awesome to hear how Mrs. Mulvaney has battled cancer successfully for so many years.  After the talk, we had lunch at the hospital and then headed to the National Mall for the rest of the day.  Matt C, Conor, David and I met up with another of Matt's friends and we went to see the American History Museum, the Washington Memorial, and the Lincoln Memorial and ended with dinner in Chinatown.

States traveled through:7(NY,NJ,PA, DE, MD, DC, VA)
Distance today: 80 mi
Total Distance traveled: 352 mi

Awesome Adventures

Wow, what a crazy few days its been!  It seems like since our short 40 mile day I wrote about earlier its been harder everyday.  Each day has been around 80 miles, which isn't too hard, but its the hills out here that have been wearing me out.

Our ride to Baltimore was one of the first days with some serious hills, but it was nice to get into the city where we stayed with a past rider, Ben Horns.  My thanks go out to him for putting all of us up in his apartment.  That day gave me a chance to see a different part of the city, and also have a great burger down the street.

After Baltimore, we headed to Washington D.C. which ended being somewhere around 80 miles by bike.  I traveled in the group with the longest ride that evening, and unfortunately got caught in the rain right in the last 10 miles.  We rode through the rain and were rewarded with some great food from Matt Cady's friend Ben, whose apartment we stayed at.  The next day was our first rest day which we spent exploring the D.C. area.  We also had the opportunity to visit the Walter Reed hospital in D.C. and got a tour of their breast cancer ward.  In addition, we had the opportunity to hear from Mr. and Mrs. Mulvaney, which really connected us to our cause.  Its easy sometimes when were tired, hungery, and busy to forget why we ride and the stories we hear really inspire us to keep going.

After D.C. we rode out to Boonsboro, MD, through a full day of rain.  We all slept soundly that night.  The next day we had another full day of riding out to Everett, PA.  This was a particularly difficult day for me because of the crazy steep hills, and because as my group neared Everett we missed a turn and made an 80 mile day into a 90 mile day.  I have to say, those 90 miles have been the most beautiful miles yet.  Honestly, its a conflicting feeling to enjoy the surrounding landscape so much while my legs feel so much pain.  Even with the added milage, my group pulled in second out of everyone and were very hungery for the dinner that the church had generously served us.

That brings us to up today.  For the last two days the roads have turned from hills into full-on mountains.  The route was very tough with all of the inclines, but to every uphill there is a downhill.  One downhill in particular had me travelling 45 mph, a very exciting ride indeed.  My group arrived here in Mt. Pleasent, PA around 6ish and got in just in time for dinner. There's nothing better than a great meal after a tough ride, and the church here provided us with a wonderful feast that left everyone full.  There is such a great difference from when we try to cook for ourselves after riding all day and when our hosts cook for us.  After dinner I headed out to a festival that the town is putting on, and enjoyed some great weather and music.  So far Mt. Pleasent has been nothing but pleasent and I hope for more of the same in the future.
Thanks for reading!

Day 4

Newark DE to Baltimore MD.  Todays ride was pretty hard, definitely the hardest of the trip.  We had to ride on lots of busy highways, there were tons of hills, and we didn't have a lot of room to actually ride, since we had to make sure that the cars that were passing us at 60 mph weren't going to hit us.  Then, on the way into Baltimore, our group had 3 flat tires and a broken derailleur within the last 8 miles into the city, so it took us over two hours to make it into the city.  I also hit my all time record for fastest speed, my cyclometer recorded me going 39.4 mph.  Baltimore was not my favorite city(it was pretty dirty and homeless at night), but we did get discounts on food from Five Guys Restaurant (Best burgers in Baltimore!), and the people in Maryland were awesome.  Tons of people asked us what we were doing, and we ended up getting $42 in donations from random people on the streets and also another couple bought us two pizzas at a rest stop about 50 miles into our trip!

States traveled through:5(NY,NJ,PA, DE, MD)
Distance today: 80 mi
Total Distance traveled: 272 mi

Mountains!

It has been a few days since I have been able to update so I will try any and catch up.  Leaving D.C. was a hard day for everyone.  It was cold, rainy, a 90 mile ride, and we got our first round of big hills.  The first 45 miles or so went by pretty quick as it was all on bike path and my group had no problems.  However, stopping for lunch turned into a three hour ordeal at Trails End bike shop because Zernyu was having bike issues.  After sitting/warming up for 3 hours it was hard to get back in the saddle and finish the remainder of the ride, but we managed to make it to Boonsboro, MD where we stayed for the night.

The past two days have  been spent riding primarily in Pennsylvania, which is beautiful, but we have hit the Appalachian Mountains which make for tough riding.  The climbs are a test for everyone, but the descents are great.  Today I hit 51mph which is faster than I have ever gone.  We have spent the past two nights at United Methodist Churches which have provided us with great meals; not like what we eat when we cook for ourselves.  I am a little mad at myself because I broke my camera yesterday, which couldn't have come at a worse time because we are just starting to hit the really scenic parts of our ride.  Tomorrow we head out for Carnegie, PA, a suburb of Pittsburgh.  It is only a 55 mile ride, which is very welcoming after three straight 80 plus mile days.

Trail Blazin' (Day 7, 8, and 9)

We left D.C. early Friday morning amidst rain, wind, and cold. Our groups reunited at a Holiday Inn in Arlington, VA, and then spent the next 40 miles on the nicest bike path we'll see all summer. It would have been bike heaven if the weather had cooperated. Special I4K thanks to the Trails End Bike Shop in Purcellville, VA for offering a sheltered lunch stop, and lending us a hand with some crucial bike maintenance. In the afternoon we got our first taste of the Appalachians, before rolling tired, wet, and hungry into St. Marks Episcopal Church.

Our first real climb day! Saturday began under cloudy skies, but soon became warm and sunny. The hills were high, but our spirits were higher as we entered farm country. Bikes and bodies are slowly getting into the spin of things. We were lucky to have lunch lakeside in a state park. There was even a beach and ice cream to help cooling off after our first long climb. We would like to recognize The Mercersburg Inn of Mercersburg, PA for kindly letting our riders use the "facilities", as well as Charles Banks for helping some hungry riders out at the end of a long day. And a very big thanks to the United Methodist Church of Everett, PA for all their warmth and hospitality.

On Sunday, we awoke to a beautiful sunrise through morning fog, and another 80 miles spent wrestling with some difficult terrain. If today's route was drawn on a topographic map, it would have looked like a heartbeat. A steady set of steep climbs each followed by an even longer descent. Arriving in Mount Pleasant, the United Methodist Church welcomed us with a much needed (and appreciated!) meal. Afterwards some of the riders walked down to a concert in a local park honoring America's Veterans. It was a great way to relax after a long day's ride. Thanks to Domino's pizza for discounting prices for our riders for lunch, and to Tommy-lee Alfrada Schaeffer for her wonderful donation and humor.

Gettin hurt

Tonight I write you from the comfort of the apartment of Ben Kuchta and the lovely Sarah Frontino- great North East friends, for those of you who don't know.  Our D.C. stayover fell through so we had to scramble to stay anywhere.  Me and 6 other guys ended up here.  Sarah and Ben were awesome, with tons of food and cold beer waiting when we got in.

Getting here was not so easy.  I won't go into details, because I really need to get some sleep, but it was the worst ride in the history of the world.  We were on the road for over 9 hours, lost and asking for directions a whole lot, riding through muddy mountain bike trails on our road bikes in the pouring rain, wrecked on multiple occasions (I have some nasty road rash, but nothing like my man Tim does) and didnt get in until 630-7.

The rest day in DC today was great.  First we had a tour of the breast cancer clinic at Walter Reid Hospital, which was really nice and interesting.  Then we met with a current cancer patient and U of I alumni, who shared her story with us.  She has been battling cancer for about 6 years now and still has the most positive attitude- and was super psyched about all of us.  After all the craziness the last week, it was nice to really get down to what the purpose of this whole ride really is- fighting cancer. 

After that we hit the monuments and the American history museum, followed by a dinner at a restaurant/brewery that was way too nice for us.  Kurt BD Conner joined in on the fun too, so obviously it was sweet.

Thats all for now, there are many terrible/hilarious details about yesterdays ride, but I just need to sleep.

85 mile ride tomorrow to boonsboro, md.  Its supposed to be pouring rain all day- this should be interesting.

It has been unbelievable how many technical difficulties we have had so far on the trip.  To me it just seems impossible that I will be able to make it all summer without a bike problem of some sort- but the Cadex (thats my bike, a lovely gift from David Madden) seems to be holding up ok for the most part.

Wish this ride tomorrow could be rain delayed, but we don't work like that. Bye

Rest Day in D.C.

Today we had a rest day in D.C. and woke up in 3 separate parts of the city. Some of us were lucky enough to meet Patrick the Preacher who had an impecable sense of direction. Thanks for your help! We all met up at Walter Reed Hospital and received an amazing tour of the facilities and Mr. and Mrs. Mulvaney shared their personal cancer stories with us. They were a pleasure to be around and our trip to the hospital ended on a sweet note with free ice cream. After the visit, the group split up and took advantage of the free admission to the city's museums. It was a pretty great way to take a break from cycling.

The Campaign of Hope

The war against cancer has many fronts, and our commitment to this fight in the past included providing funds for research and fostering hope through our Bike America ride and our Portraits Project.  In 2009, we have decided to also commit to another side of this battle. 

We will be designating a portion of the proceeds of our ride to the American Cancer Society's Campaign of Hope to be tripled in a match by two charitable foundations.  The Campaign of Hope is an initiative that supports the American Cancer Society’s Patient Navigation Services program.  Patient Navigation Services is a suite of free, hands-on services that provide cancer patients and caregivers with medical information and resources, helpful day-to-day assistance and emotional support for every step of their cancer journey. All of this is possible because of the generous donors and volunteers of the American Cancer Society.

We did not make this decision lightly, but in the end considered it an opportunity that we could not pass up:  A challenge grant from the Coleman Foundation will match half of our contribution.  This in turn will be matched dollar-for-dollar by The Duchossois Family Foundation.  A minimum contribution of $1,000 will thus be tripled, becoming $3,000.  This generous grant matching program only lasts through 2009.

Cancer is not in recession.  This economic climate has more cancer patients than ever turning to the ACS for help, and findings suggest that the sooner it connects patients with its services after a cancer diagnosis, the better the outcome.  We believe that our participation in the Campaign of Hope will have a significant impact in the lives of cancer patients and that it will not diminish the impact of our contribution to the ACS's research fund and Camp Kesem.

hills hills and more hills

So I'm a little behind on blogging, but I'll catch you up! New York was delightful I was super excited because I hadn't been to the city before! And the ride out from central park wasn't too bad! Although I am amazed at how many dead possums I've seen on the road. But now that we're into the hills the rides are so much more difficult. I definetly had some difficult times, but my awesome teammates helped me through it! I'm already on my third flat, but I still haven't fallen which is pretty amazing considering how clumsy I am!! We also rode on some crazy bike paths. One was going into Philly and the other into DC. Whoever thought putting cobblestone on a bike path was a smart idea didn't know what they were talking about! Today we got into washington DC and I still can't believe it! Tomorrow when I see the Lincoln Memorial there's a 100% chance that I'll be thinking of Jimmy Stewart in Mr. Smith goes to Washington. I'm super pumped and can't wait to see more!!!

Thanks for all the support!!!!!!!!

Sarah :) 

My Legs Hate Me

After our first five days of riding my legs are really letting me know that I am not used to riding this far every day.  Tomorrow is a well needed rest day in D.C.  So far the trip has been awesome.  Maryland was very hilly, which was really tough riding, but also scenic.  At this point I am ready to get off of the east coast and start heading west.  I have had about all of the city traffic/riding I can take.

On this trip it is easy to just enjoy the ride and take in all the sights, but on the past couple days I have really been moved by the generosity that has been shown not only to myself, but the entire group.  It is really nice to see that people really appreciate what we are doing, and it also reminds us of why we are doing this.  Since leaving New York City I have received donations from people I have never met, food from people who just want to help us out, and kind words from everyone we meet along the way.  In every nearly every place we stop along the route somebody tells me thank you, good luck, or God Bless.  I just can't say enough about the generosity that people have showed us.  In a time when it can be hard to find the good in people, it has been easy on this trip.  So if anyone that I have met along the way is reading this, I just wanted to say thank you.  I am so happy to be a part of something like this.

Hills Shmills

Man, if anyone ever told you that there aren't hills on the east coast...they were slightly off. The past couple of days have been pretty hilly and tough and hot but every so often there are some great sights of rolling meadows and flowers. And let me tell you, after hours of riding up and down hills in the sun, PB&J never tasted so good, especially stacked four pieces of bread high. Honestly, d-el-i-c-i-o-u-s.

Today, it took a while to get out of Baltimore with flats and potential chain breaks. But once we got out, I got pretty excited to head to D.C. It's crazy that we're already this far in such a short period of time. And it's also really awesome.

Tomorrow we're getting a tour of the Walter Reed Hospital which should be really great. After that I'm gonna check out the Holocaust museum, the Vietnam Memorial, and whatever else the city has to offer. I'm ready for our first rest day, it will be really nice to have a break adn check out a city I've never been too, so I'm stoked!

Day 4 & 5 into Baltimore and Washington D.C.

We'd like to start by saying when Brad says it is going to be a hard day, he is not kidding around. Yesterday was a hilly 75 mile ride from Delaware to Baltimore. The first half of the ride was gorgeous, but exhausting. We were happy to have a warm welcome at alumni rider Ben's ghetto. Dinner was some what of a fiasco, so thank you Jay's for the pizza! We also received $42 in donations.

Today was a 60 mile ride into Washington D.C. The ride was hilly, but definitely easier than the previous ride. A cool Maryland rider, Mike, rode with us for 10 miles, and donated $100 to our cause. We also received a donation of food from Convenience Catering, thanks Doug Henley! U of I alum Alyssa in Washington D.C. treated us to Lebanese food and tomorrow's Portrait participant Jan made us some amazing brownies : ). Tonight the group is split, and each place is having an event of their own. One group had to bike an extra 20 miles in the rain, but they were warmly welcomed with (meaty and veggie) burgers, corn, and potato salad. The rest of the boys are spending the evening in style at Brad's generous friend Brian's place.The girls are having a night on the town, and staying at alum rider, Andrea's, house. Their evening may entail almond butter, chile spiced mangos, dark chocolate raspberry trail mix, snuggling, but absolutely no gluten.

We are all looking forward to our team reunion at Walter Reed Hospital where we are lucky to receive a tour. More to come tomorrow...

A quick update on the donut eating competition: Caroline is beating Matt Cady 7-6 (he only has 60 days to catch up).

4000 Miles Down, 4000 Miles to Go

Hello Illini 4000 Supporters,

Once again I find myself on the road with the Illini 4000. Having completed the ride in 2008 I have returned as a ride leader for this summer. I must say that I am very impressed with this year's team. They bring their own uniqueness and style to the table. Even though the first week has brought its share of logistical nightmares they have been very understanding and incredibly resourceful. Today the team divided up and brought in several food donations from local pizzarias after we had problems preparing a meal. I look forward to the days and weeks ahead with the 2009 Illini 4000 Team. I can't wait to see the country all over again with them.
I would also like to take some time to thank some of our stayovers. In NYC the Chou's and Tim O'Conner's cousin, Chris really pulled through offering us a place to stay last minute. In Hillsborough, the Thakkars, who are the parents of Illini 4000 Co-Founder Anish Thakkar, once again welcomed us into their home and showered us with food. They have offered us a safe haven over the last two years that has been extremely helpful. The day the team rides out of NYC is stressful and very tiring. As we finally break out of the urban sprawl on that day's ride the Thakkar household has always been a shinning beacon for the team. And lastly I would also like to give a shoutout to the Salem Methodist Church in Newark. We have always felt extremely welcomed there both years. They have also fed us until we were bursting and sent us on our way.
Thanks to everyone who has been supporting the team and all of those people who have provided us with a place to stay. Without you this ride would not be possible.

Brad Topol
Illini 4000 Ride Leader

Rollin' Down the East Coast

Bike, eat, sleep, bathroom!
My thoughts...
pedal pedal, hill, grunt, ah the pain, gah, whooo at the top, weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee 10, 20, 30, 35 mph down hilllllll!!!!!*
*repeat
Ah, the life of biking across the country. So, much has happened in so little time, each day seems like 5 because absolutely everything that we pass, see,smell and place we stay is new and an experience that will only happen once. While I have had a rocky start first time being sick in 2 years, a small crash and experiencing what an actual hill is like (fyi it is nothing like a highway overpass) I still look forward to the next day. The generous people that we meet each day who are interested in what we are doing (stopping and asking us wherever we go)and are willing to donate (even handing out money from their car window and going to donut shop I saw 7 years ago on the food network to only get free donuts and a donation!) puts a lot of hope in me about people in general and that what we are doing means a lot more than I know.
Furthermore, we did our first portrait project yesterday with Becky Vanderslice and her husband Warren, nicknamed slice, about her experience with cancer. They were very humorous and loving people who have turned their experience into a way to make a positive imapct. They made a great point about choosing how to look at a situation, and how with humor and not accepting defeat you can find strength to fight anything. I will try to remember this and the things that I find everyday inspiration in throughout the ride.
Well, tomorrow is another day and I can not wait to meet more eccentric people and see more of United States, we've already done 5 states in 4 days!
Love all of you,
Caroline

gettin flat tires

The ride into Baltimore today was alright- super hot and super hilly.  today our group expanded as the "fast group" decided to roll with us since they realized that we were having way more fun than them, they loved us, and they're not actually faster- so we were rolling about 9 deep.  I felt super strong and was rolling up the hills, which I was surprised by.

The group had a bunch of technical errors-four flat tires, 2 of which were mine, and a broken front derailur. I got my second flat about 5 miles from the finish- which was frustrating, but fortunately it happened right next to a McDonalds- we didn't think twice about ice cream cones.  I had two- super refreshing. 

A woman we meant from the American Cancer Society in Baltimore that we meant last night let a bunch of people here know about us so we had a bunch of people cheering and honking for us. When people seewhat we're doing, theyjust get so excited andvery generous.  Today when our group stopped for lunch and the support van was way back/lost, the pizza hut we were camped out by just gave us two pizzas.  Another woman just gave us 40 dollars at a stop light.

Got another run in when I got in, which was cool... Baltimore seems just ok- seems unlikely that I'll go downtown, just too tired.  We are currently trying to figure out the dinner situation- I'm gonna need a lot.  seriously.

riding into D.C. tomorrow, about the same length as tomorrow, 80 miles or so.  Then we have a rest day the next day- I think beer will be in order.