Alumni reunion on Day 19! Certainly a highlight of our time in Chicago.
Day 18
Riding to a familiar place is always fun because you get to slowly figure out where you are until it is all pieced together and everything looks familiar. With Ren and Tada today, that was certainly the case! Once we were within 10 miles of our finish line, those two were sprinting down the roads and riding like they knew the place… because they did! Just like yesterday, the winds were at our back as if the world was telling us to keep going North. We had fun along the way, learned of new trails, and tried to stay cool where we could from the almost 90°F heat.
Ride Overview
Mileage: 74.8 miles
Elevation: 735 ft.
Points of Interest: Manhattan Water Tower, Chicago Canal, Dunkin’ Donuts, Oak Park, Ren’s Home, Massive Thunderstorm (not a point of interest, but definitely an interesting sight!)
Tales of the Trail
Bagels, egg casseroles, and fruit were all on the table as we woke up from our slumber at the Adventure Church in Kankakee. They were making this such a tough place to leave because we had so much fun and incredibly welcoming hosts. As we started the day before though, there was still a mission: get to Chicago. Albeit begrudgingly, the team packed up their things into the van once more and talked over the ride for the day. After the games played their role yesterday in making the miles move by faster than they otherwise would, Kev suggested in the morning that we take each leg of the ride today to discuss with another rider their life story and ask any questions we wish (answers optional, of course). As we rolled out, spirits were lifted by the thoughts of another rest day approaching so soon.
The road was flat, as is most of Illinois, and we were able to avoid a lot of traffic through the first 20 miles, but there was about a 1-mile stretch right before the rest stop that was a little scary. A heavier trafficked thru-road makes for a good test for communication amongst us as riders. No one is ever alone and we are conquering any obstacles together, as a team. Everyone talked with each other before turning onto the road and made sure that callouts for cars back and changes in the road were heard loud and clear. We all made it through happy and well, but not wanting to go on more roads like this unless we have to. At the first rest stop, we continued eating snacks from Randy and enjoyed some time taking micro-naps and laying down in a nice patch of grass near a church. Today, there was also a sort of rest stop 1.1 when two of the teams independently decided to stop at a gas station up the road and found each other when they pulled into the lot.
After cooling down, the teams that stopped rolled back onto the flat roads and started seeing signs that we were approaching Chicago: more suburban neighborhoods and houses, the last few stops on the Metra, and a few more cars with the White Sox or Cubs logos on them. By the second rest stop, we were really getting close. At that point, we were in Joliet and some of the roads to the locals were becoming familiar. So much for adventuring, we were now arriving back to home territory. Parker joined back in on the ride on Nishk’s bike during the day after waiting on his to be serviced back in Champaign.
The other evident sign of a larger metropolis is bike path infrastructure. Not too long after Joliet, we switched from country roads to paths and were moving along a canal towards Chicago. We found locks, shade, and some massive construction projects along the trails and wondered if we would ever see the city skyline. The temperature on the day also kept increasing and water was running short in our bottles. Luckily, thoughts of rest stop number three on the day were at the front of our heads because we knew there would be food, both in the van and the Dunkin’ Donuts attached to the gas station.
That ended up being the perfect combination. The gas station had super cold air conditioning, plenty of sugar to satisfy our bodies’ needs for quick energy, and enough interesting items to take a look at to distract our brains from the fact that we still had 17 or 18 miles to go in the day. Only 15 of those really felt like they mattered. They were tough, but the last 3 were well within the realm of knowledge for the Chicago kids and Ren led the way back to her house, even detouring where she knew a more pleasant route. Arriving in Oak Park, we were greeted by Ren’s sibling and mother who had already been so kind as to offer a place for us to stay and were still being more helpful in finding spots for our bikes and belongings. At this point, the rest day kind of began because different team members headed off to their own respective stays whether that was with family, friends, or each other. Tada and Aadit were brave to try to bike where they were going but encountered the wild thunderstorm hitting the area on the way. Tada dove into a car dealership for some shelter and Aadit, thinking he was safe on the Green Line, ended up having to get off and bike some more in the rain when that train shut down because of the weather. Tough luck! We are hoping the rest day tomorrow brings what is in the name “rest” and looking forward to the alumni reunion in the evening.
Day 19
The morning of our day of rest, we woke up across the city. Those in Ren’s house had a new friend making them get up… a cat! Elsewhere, friends and family woke up together with some being the first time seeing each other in a while. As was the case in Champaign, a lot of activities were much more individual, but a couple of groups did get out and about. Cole, Nishk, and Vedang woke up late and went to a bike shop for some parts. They followed this with some tacos and another bike shop. Parker, Ren, and Sam went to get lunch together and stopped at a gift shop where Sam got a neon train for Aadit (train enthusiast) and Parker got a hackeysack. Max spent some of the day with friends at the beach. Soon enough, it was time for full group activities once more.
Pushing a little earlier due to impending weather, the annual alumni reunion was hosted at Taylor Park and the current team was able to meet with past teams and riders and even some of the members that were with them training through the year, notably Andres for the latter. Additionally, many family members joined to say hello and were so gracious as to bring food with them to continue to fill our stomachs and increase the stockpile of snacks in the van. Previous members included riders from teams across the spectrum of the 19 years that Illini 4000 has existed and done a cross-country bike ride. John Schlesinger, co-founder of Illini 4000, was there to show us where we can make it in life and bestow some wisdom that only an original rider would have. Food and stories were shared as the late afternoon turned into the evening. Some of the team went off to speak with a local about her cancer journey and when the rain was imminent, the party wound to a close. Although the guests left mostly dry, the same could not be said for the team. We ran with food from the reunion back to the van amidst pouring rain and a tornado siren starting.
Everyone traveled back to Ren’s house where we were also able to invite Tada’s mother and speak about her ongoing cancer journey. This was particularly emotional because she has one of the closest affiliations to the team as anyone we have spoken with. Also, Tada’s mother had a way with words and spoke so fondly of her children that many of us were shedding tears or a bit lost for words. Soon enough, it was again time to sleep and dream of the days we have ahead.
