Today’s ride was dedicated to Padma. Padma was Anisha’s grandmother, who lost her battle with cancer two years ago. We were honored to be able to dedicate the ride to her with Anisha and her parents alongside us in the team circle this morning.
The team left our friends and family at Buckingham fountain as we set out for the 71 mile journey to Lake Geneva! The route today was initially going to be 98 miles long on a beautiful lakeside bike path, however due to the immense amounts of rain that the midwest has been receiving, we had to reroute our journey today. Instead, we biked the busy Chicago streets and some major roads in the suburbs. We received some remarks from drivers today that were less than friendly, but we think maybe they just had a case of the Mondays.
It was nothing that a nice meal and place to rest couldn’t fix, which is exactly what we received this evening at the Lake Geneva Camps and Conferences center. We got a nice dinner of chicken, Mac n cheese, green beans, and a salad bar. We also have real beds to sleep in (bunk beds – just like a real summer camp!) and showers! It’s a nice transition from home to get to stay at a place with nice, homey amenities.
Rider shout-out: HUGE shout-out to Nathan, our route master, for using his rest day yesterday to safely reroute us out of Chicago and to this stayover. He had to change the entire route, which is no small task. Bikes are only allowed on certain roads depending on what state law declares, and since safety is our priority, Nathan even scouts the roads we are allowed on and checks for traffic patterns and road conditions. We are lucky to have him on our team and owe our safe and timely arrival to him today!