Today the team lost a member, and gained a member. Micah had to leave to attend his RA training duties back at U of I, and William rejoined the team after his summer research! With our farewells and welcome backs, the team spent the day relaxing at Simpson University, making the most of our dorm space and dining hall meals!
quote of the day
““Do you just count or do you add an animal or something?”
tales of the trail
Although it was a rest day, our morning started at 2am when the team woke up to drive Micah to the train station to say their final farewells. Micah had to unfortunately leave the team for the last week to go back for his RA training at U of I. We got to say our goodbyes and wished him luck on his journey home, immediately feeling his absence once we all got back in the van. Once we got back to Simpson University, everyone went back to bed to sleep in. But later that morning, we had a teammate rejoining us! William left early in the ride to pursue research in Chicago over the summer, and he came back this morning to rejoin the team for the last week of the ride! We were all thrilled to welcome him back when he rolled up with his dad in the car, bringing along snacks for the team, and his bike in a box (that was shipped).
Staying at the university dorms brought us all back to college life for just a little bit. With temperatures spiking high in the 90s, most of the team went their separate ways today to recoup and relax. We had every meal at the dining halls today: breakfast, lunch, and dinner! These meals were a nice replacement for the snacks we would use to fuel ourselves instead during rides. The day was spent with many people journaling, writing postcards, taking a trip to Costco/bike shop, and more! Later in the night, the team got to play a Kahoot that was organized by Sofia about the ride! It had questions about what happened on random days, what our bike’s names were, etc. and at the end, there was a surprise! The final question was a promposal to Veronica! It was a great way to end the night and remember small details of the ride, thank you Sofia for creating the Kahoot!
Thank you to Simpson University for hosting our team for two days! The dorm rooms were amazing, reminded us of college life, and provided our team members with some privacy that we haven’t had in a while during the trip. The dining hall meals were also delicious and fuelled us well, thank you!
Cyclist’s Corner
Today’s Riders: Harbin Li and Matthew Guibord