Madison, WI

wow, so i haven't blogged in a long time.i'm gonna go back awhile, to champaign, il. i stayed with my lovely friend annaka, got a nice hot shower and went out to dinner with some i4k friends (delicious mexican food.) we kicked off from the alumni center and stopped in both clifton & homewood, il. then onto chicago! we rolled in around noon - it was tough to navigate up the busy bike path and through the traffic of the blackhawks parade. friends, family and former riders were waiting to greet us. i had a nice and busy rest day. i had an appointment at athletico, a physical therapy firm in andersonville at 730 am. an awesome trainer named amy showed me some stretches for my hips and knees and some exercises to strengthen them - i'm going to pass on these exercises to other riders and hopefully it will help all of us! i watched a movie and hung out with family and friends - very restful! i also ate about a whole bowl of guacamole :)the next day was the ride along from downtown to highland park. my parents and sister came, and our family friend susan and my aunt bridget joined us for parts of it. thanks for coming, guys! i had so much fun and it was really nice to have the them ride with us for a day and get an idea of what a day on the i4k is like.the past couple days have been rainy - today was particularly rough. the first 20 miles were fine (i kinda like riding in the overcast weather as long as the rain holds out) but the sky opened up around mile 30. we rode away from the blue sky and into an area where the sky was dark blue/purple...we noticed this, but obviously had to follow the cues. ana got a flat after it started raining, and then a few miles later gabrielle wiped out on some railroad tracks. her tire got stuck in the track - her knees are scraped up & her back is hurting her. we think it might be bruised where she fell. i hope she feels better soon!! we missed her for the rest of the day.bottom line, we all made it to fitchburg, WI safe. not dry, but safe. and now i'm sitting here writing this is nice, dry clothes and it feels amazing! 2 more days in WI and then onto MN - rest day in Rochester and a visit to the Mayo Clinic. i am very interested to learn about their oncology unit and more about the treatment cancer patients receive there.another thing i forgot to mention is the awesome portrait that my group got to do in greencastle, IN. we went into a florist shop to use the bathroom and ended up talking to the owner, a breast cancer survivor, about her experience with cancer. it was a wonderful opportunity -- the i4k is about raising money for the american cancer society and camp kesem, raising awareness and also largely about the portraits project. with portraits, we talk to those who have been affected by cancer throughout the US and record their experience so that later we can make some sort of chronicle to show how cancer impacts everyone around the country. talking to this woman really brought us all back to the reason we're doing the ride. remembering why we are all here and why this cause is so important makes the long, hilly days much easier and more rewarding. i'm so happy to be part of the i4k this summeR!p.s. i apologize for my poor grammar, there is a computer line, so i did not thoroughly spell check. i'm also lazy.more to come soon!

ohio?! i want to go to there.

Alright. Since my last post I have most definitely learned what a "serious climb" is. We all are very, very familiar with serious climbs. We had two 80+ mile back to back days in the mountains - Saturday and Sunday. Both days were pretty rough for everyone due to not only the climbs but also the heat. But: we made it across some mountains! I'm so proud of us.  my group rode really well together and took turns pushing each other up, and as always we made each other laugh. perhaps a little too much, because all my stomach muscles go towards laughing and pedaling falls by the wayside. today we only did 47 miles (my group got pretty lost and we ended up doing 7 extra miles...) and tomorrow we have a rest day here in Pittsburgh. I have to admit. . . I've 'had a pretty rough time on the mountains.  However, we all made it through and hopefully the midwest will seem like a breeze after 6 days in PA.  (Edit: there might be mountains on wednesday out of pittsburgh in which case i will be slowly propelling myself up them, cursing myself for writing this joyful blog while mountains were still ahead. i guess i'll find out!)The new stem I got in Gettysburg is amazing! I'm no longer having back pain which makes riding 100000x more enjoyable.  My knee is still acting up - I think the tendon of my knee is rubbing against something called the lateral femoral epicondyle & the repeated cycling motion is causing the area to swell up at night.  It hurts to cycle uphill but some other people with knee problems and I have been yanking up with our feet, since our cycling shoes are clipped to our pedals -- that hurts less than putting pressure down with the injured knee.  I'm going to ice it and hope for the best.  Another rider is injured and has been unable to ride for some time - we're all keeping our fingers crossed that she's able to make a recovery and be able to ride with us again soon.the church we're staying at is awesome - there's a giant shower and a nice spacious, carpeted room for all of us to sleep in. there's a great kitchen and tonight we got some generous food donations from panera bread - hurrah!i think my family is coming to see me in indy and i am very excited to see them then, miss you guys!-bridgetps. please excuse my spelling and grammar, i'm blogging on a small netbook and i'm not quite used to the small keyboard!

Gettysburg, PA

first post!today was day 4 of the ride . . . we had some hills, and "serious climbs" are supposed to begin tomorrow. i'm not quite sure what that entails, but i think we are ready. well, we have to be ready i guess. everyone has improved so much in the last 4 days alone, and we will push through these last 2 days until our rest day on Pittsburgh! i've been riding with a lovely group of ladies -  the lady pack, if you will.  we've been working at pushing each other and keeping the momentum up - what would i do without my lady pack!?!i've been having some trouble with my knee - an IT band injury i had in high school is acting up again. Jeff's parents brought his beautiful, new bike today (jeff can ride again! -- he had a wipe out on a carbon fiber frame on day 2 he's putting it together right now and it's beautiful!) His mom was kind enough to take me and some other riders to walmart, and now i have icy hot and a knee brace that is supposed to put tension on my tendon to alleviate the irritation.we also found a great bike shop in gettysburg  - only two blocks from the church we're staying at! what luck! i have also been having lots of back pain and this bike shop was able to put a new stem on my bike.  i'm really keeping my fingers crossed that these adjustments work - 90 miles tomorrow! with some "serious climbs" :gulp: . . .wish us luck!