Day 0 brought a day of team activities, further bonding between riders, and an overwhelming excitement for what is to come.
Tales of the Trail
After the first night of sleeping in everyone’s new camping setups since the practice stayover on April 3rd and 4th, the verdict came back split on whether it was a great night of sleep or actually quite poor. On a location right across from an NYPD barracks, you can imagine those who sleep lightly may have had some disruptions. Of course, this is not a harbinger of nights to come as the riding and events we have planned along the way will get us all so tired nothing could wake us up!
Ren sleeping comfortably and waiting for the rest of the team to raise their heads.
When the alarms rang at 9:00 am, the team got their first taste of what a typical morning might look like, albeit 4 hours later than the typical 5:00 am start (yikes!). Packing up the sleeping bags and pads quickly and running off to catch the subway going downtown, the team was excited for what would be their first in-person visit with the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation. From Friday (the previous day) Aadit had us hooked on the express trains and we found the “A-express” heading right near our destination in the Financial District. After walking past the New York Stock Exchange and Trinity Church, we arrived at our destination.
Walking to the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation meeting!
The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation is a beneficiary of the Illini 4000 having received over $500,000 since the partnership began. What separates Damon Runyon from other cancer research initiatives is their commitment to funding young scholars on fellowships that secure funding for multiple years. This allows these scientists to pursue high-risk, high-reward solutions without wasting time for fear of where next year’s funding will come from.
On this day, the team was joined by President and CEO Yung Lie along with two research scientists in post-doctoral programs, Wenzhi Song and James Swann. We learned more about the foundation and some of the groundbreaking ideas that are currently being pursued to improve outcomes for patients with cancer diagnoses. Everyone asked some lovely questions, but Ehsan in particular was able to flex some of his Physics and Biochemistry knowledge as he is currently a PhD candidate in those fields. Our chat was accompanied by a selection of great New York City bagels and some merchandise that will certainly make a photo or two over the course of the Summer.
Once the meeting had ended, the team split into groups to go exploring their destinations of choice. One team stayed downtown to visit the 9/11 Memorial and out-of-this-world looking Oculus train station followed by a trip to midtown for Bryant Park and one of New York City’s many public libraries. The other was set on visiting Governor’s Island where they found expansive views of the Statue of Liberty and a thrilling slide that caught its riders by surprise with the rainfall speeding things up quite a lot. A couple of us also went our own ways to visit friends and family on the last day before the ride begins. Here are some photos from those adventures:
With the exploring in the books, everyone returned to St. Mary’s Church for dinner with their community members and the most fittingly named priest… Mary!! Pastas, salads, and eventually brownies filled the team’s stomach so that they could go to bed feeling replenished (all of which was very tasty, by the way). The team congregated and then settled in for the night dreaming of what the first riding day had in store.
Group dinner at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church
Quote of the Day
Nishk showing off his ability to fit into the local crowd in New York City 30 seconds before our subway stop for a 40-minute journey:
“That feels like 40 minutes, let’s go.”
Sure enough, the stop was there. (Cole as the only New York State residing rider felt outclassed)