Quote of the Day
“My greatest fear is dying to a peanut.”
ride overview
Mileage: 77.7 miles
Elevation: 3,636 ft
Points of Interest: Ghost Town Trail, Eliza Furnace, Spruce Creek, Connellsville
Ride Dedication: Diane, Randy, and Herman
Tales of the Trail
We started out the ride by saying bye to some of the community members of Ebensburg Presbyterian Church! It was very nice of them to wake up early and cook us breakfast before our day ahead. After leaving Ebensburg a bit later than usual, we rode down the Ghost Town Rail Trail, which went downhill for 30 miles! It was great to take in the scenery around us as we rode past trees, rivers, and mountains without having to worry about pushing ourselves up a mountain. We had a great time stopping by the Eliza Furnace, a historic landmark constructed in 1845 and one of the best-preserved hot blast furnaces in the region. Unfortunately, it started raining when we got back on the trail, and we got gravel and dirt all over our cycling gear. On the bright side, the rain died down during our rest stop, and we got to have some whimsical fun at the park!
Ghost Town Trail and Park Fun!
After our first rest stop, we got off the trail and started conquering some rolling hills. After having some clear skies, the rain came back even harder, and we all got re-soaked. We rolled into a gas station for lunch and enjoyed some PB&Js as the skies cleared up yet again! Too bad for us, after some miles of sunny skies, we were hit by rain yet again, and it came down hard this time! While caught in the rain, we encountered a closed road and had to take a longer detour, which eventually got us back on route. As we reached the top of the final major climb, thunder prompted us to shuttle everyone safely to our stayover. Thanks to Sophia’s family, we were able to get everyone back in two trips! Though soaked and covered in dirt and gravel, we stayed in good spirits and enjoyed fresh individual showers before ending the day. The day ended with dinner provided by the church and some ramen that we anticipated would be spicier.
Thank you to the community of Calvary Assembly of God Church for giving us a place to stay for the night and providing a warm meal!
cyclist’s corner
Today’s Rider: William Xu
How are you feeling today?
We had a really nice gravel trail going down from Ebensburg. It really lived up to the hype. It was like a straight descent down. We passed through this really nice furnace that I thought was pretty cool, and yeah, it was a really nice historic view of the town and everything. I really enjoyed that part. Then it started to rain and everything was sort of a lot more difficult. We basically had to ride through the rain for many, many miles, and it eventually started thundering. But I mostly enjoyed the ride, especially the first part, second half, could have been a lot better, but it was an experience. It's nice to have experience with that.
What was your favorite part of today’s ride?
Definitely, like I said, again, definitely the gravel trail. It's very scenic, there was a furnace and also, just like nature in general, like the trees, everything was really pretty.
What motivated you to join Illini 4000?
Going into college, I didn't really know what was big on campus. So there's the event called “Quad Day”, and that's where all the clubs basically make their own tables and try to get people to join their club. Basically, I just happened to run into the Illini 4000s table. I was just really impressed, basically, by their ambition to fight such a horrible disease like cancer. Also, just like with the crew, it's kind of insane, like, how they go 4000 miles across the U.S. And I just really wanted to be a part of that. So I went to one of their info sessions and I watched their short video, and I was pretty much sold. So yeah, that's basically how I ended up here.
Before joining Illini 4000, how much bike training had you done, and did you have any other athletic background that you feel prepared you for this ride?
I biked like 10 minutes to school, like twice a month. So I basically had zero experience, like, at all biking, but I did run cross country, so I had some endurance, that helps me a lot. I feel like during the training, I was able to dig in and just like, handle all the distance we were putting in, I had to learn from the ground up, like shifting and everything was a challenge. But yeah, I guess we pulled through.
What is your bike's name? Model?
Right now, no. I can give it one like, since it has my name plastered all over it, WIlliam Jr. or something.
What are you most nervous/excited about?
I’m nervous about the four, one-hundred mile days coming up. But, yeah, I'm excited to meet more people. Especially people who have been affected by cancer, or who know people who have had it, and it's just really nice to meet all these people. Yesterday, we had a lot of portraits that were done with cancer patients, and I thought it was amazing. So just continuing that is what really excites me.