Today was quite possibly one of the longest legs in the Illini 4000 history: 133.7 miles. This was a massive accomplishment from the whole team on a day when everyone who was with us spent some time on the road. Despite being a long day, this journal may be short because we are going to sleep and waking up to tackle another ~90 mile ride tomorrow!
Ride Overview
Mileage: 133.7 miles
Elevation: 1,703 ft.
Points of Interest: Ohio Stadium, Olentangy Trail, London, Dayton, friendly and scary geese, mile 100, kabooses, Ohio/Indiana border
Tales of the Trail
We received a message from Anthony last night detailing the route for today and how many miles it was actually going to be. Everything before then was just speculation. When over 130 miles was scheduled, everyone knew it was going to be rough and that it would take a lot of coordination and a team effort to get it done. The motivation we had going for us is that some of the past riders chimed in when they too saw the distance and said it was one of the longest Illini 4000 days they had ever seen. We are pretty confident it is the longest post-2020.
The combined group at the very end of the longest ride.
The morning was abbreviated to try to get on the road and rolling by 7:00 am even though we were only waking up at 6:15 am. We were mostly riding by 7:15 am, so not too bad. Riding through and out of Columbus, we almost immediately hit the Olentangy Trail which Max described as “feeling like another country.” We rode past the Ohio Stadium and medical facilities we had visited yesterday and carried on West out of the city. Our legs felt fresh from the rest day and quite early on we knew that the limiting factor for whether we were going to finish 130 miles before sundown was going to be the rest stops and making them short. The first, went mostly as planned. After more miles on bike trails (well over 90% of the day on the whole was on trails) we made it to the second rest stop in London, Ohio.
At this stop which was a trailhead and campground, we met Dave. Dave is a volunteer at the campground who had just sent a troop of boy scouts on their way on bicycles too after camping the night. We actually passed them on the road just before getting there. He also told us about his experience with cancer and in the middle of that another woman walked by and had kind words and encouragement to say. For trying to keep rolling along, this made things difficult, but of course our mission is to talk and spread the word of our cause, so we were happy to talk.
Both teams on the road at this point (we had 2 groups rolling through the day) were keeping pace with each other separated only by the time difference from when they left each stop. We were just trying to outrun time and continuing to be moving was the answer. Before our next rest stop, one group met a pair of ladies who were biking in the same direction and decided to tag along for a few miles. They encouraged us to keep going and wished us the best for our country crossing journey. By the third rest stop at mile 62, we were feeling already one full day in almost (which in reality we were) and had a chance to meet with another local near the trail. Anthony (not our Anthony) shared the story of him and his grandmother who passed from breast cancer when he was younger and made the team realize once more the gravity of creating positive change around cancer treatments with his emotional story.
At this point, the miles were blurring past and some of us just needed an idea or activity to latch onto, so one of the groups started taking pictures at the kabooses they found along the way because there seemed to be many along the rail trail that continued bringing us Westward in Ohio. Eventually, Dayton came and passed and the riding was getting very difficult. The temperature was in the mid-80s (°F) and the fatigue from the day was setting in. We knew that if we made the rest stop at mile 111 in time, 130 was going to happen and that is what we set our minds to. This was hard. Regardless of the cycling background of anyone on the team, this was a major day. Sometimes the communication paused while we each focused on our efforts individually, sometimes words of encouragement were passed between riders.
The two groups rolled into the mile 111 rest stop at the same time and before 6:00 pm, so we knew that 22 miles was achievable before the end of the day. However, achievable and easy are two very different things. Despite a rough and tiring day of riding, the team was determined to finish, so we all loaded up our pockets with as much sugar as we could get our hands on and rolled out for the last 22 miles. With the thoughts in our heads of “20 miles, that is just a midweek training.” (During the spring for training we would have a 20 mile ride in the middle of the week). The whole team made a final push towards stayover. Both ride groups today even met up around 3 miles away from the stayover so we formed what we like to call a mega-group! This was an amazing experience to finish a very hard day altogether as a full team.
Parker, Vedang, Lauren, and Cole at the Indiana border (listed from left to right).
When we finally made it to the rest stop, there was a sense of relief, joy, triumph, and wanting to sit down desperately. We had done it! It was hard-fought and many miles through the day were grueling to each person because of mental and physical battles with the riding. Nevertheless, we persevered and overcame. Time to see how we feel tomorrow!
Cyclists’ Corner
Rider: Parker Bledsoe
How are you feeling today?
I am feeling proud of myself, tired, and reflective. I am both proud and tired because we biked 130 miles today, which is the furthest I have ever ridden the bike. It feels a little weird to be the one getting interviewed instead of being the one asking the questions. But yeah I have seemingly no thoughts in my head right now after biking for 10 hours today.
What was your favorite part of today's ride?
Okay so, usually I am anti bike path/trail as most of the ones on the ride so far have not been paved. However today I really enjoyed the nice shaded 90 mile long bike path that we were on. Even though it was a super long ride I felt that it went by quicker than I thought I would. I was just super excited to hit 100+ miles as the furthest I had biked previously was 94 miles.
And what motivated you to join Illini 4000?
Originally when I first heard about Illini4000 I was very intrigued by the aspect of biking across the country. However, soon after I signed up my mom was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. This gave me a lot more reason to care about the cause and I am riding in honor of her.
Before joining Illini 4000 how much bike training had you done? What other athletic background did you have that you feel would help for the ride?
Before Illini4000 I had bought an old used road bike and used it for two local short triathlons, but I definitely would not have referred to myself as a cyclist before I started Illini4000. I was more of a runner. I joined cross country and track in my senior year of high school. Also I have run quite a few races, most notably I ran the champaign marathon last year!
What is your bike's model, and does it have a name?
My bike is a 2025 Trek Domane SL5, and currently it does not have a name, but I do need to figure one out. I hope that the name will come to me as I bike more.
What are you most excited about and nervous about?
I am nervous mostly just about the amount of miles in a row, especially as I have been dealing with some hand pain during the beginning of the ride. I believe I have fixed the issue though after changing my saddle a little bit. Also I am slightly nervous about the mountains when we get further west. I am excited mostly about exploring the country, especially visiting the national parks. I have never really been to that side of the country before so it will be an amazing experience.
Creamy or Crunchy Peanut Butter?
I definitely prefer creamy peanut butter. Not really sure even why, I just know I always have been and I always will be. I also just don’t like the crunch.