Ride Overview
After a very appreciative change in pace of tailwinds yesterday we were very glad to wake up to similar weather today. Today officially marks the first day of, while very gradual, our climb upwards in elevation gain towards the Rockies! Once again on the same highway as yesterday for the whole route we were definitely getting deja vu.
Ride Overview
Mileage: 84.1 miles
Elevation: 1,111 feet
Tales of the Trail
The team rolled out this morning to a crisp 59 degrees and sunny. Once we got on the road we realized once again that we were in for a treat as all 80 miles of our route today would be on the same highway we were on yesterday. Although there were a few complaints from the team all was well especially since we had plenty of room on the shoulder to bike on. When we looked at the route ahead of time it said that we gained elevation today, however while actually biking on the road it felt completely flat. If only all hills could be that way.
With our team following relatively the same route for the midwest at least of the 2025 team, that means that we get the privilege of not having to scout out as many rest stops. For example, today the team was very excited for one of our rest stops being a coffee shop the 2025 team went to last year. Surprisingly our team is very different from what I've heard about past Illini4000 teams in that our team only has really 1 active coffee drinker; she even brought her own instant coffee on the ride to be extra prepared! Although it is very hard to pass up a coffee shop. Some non-coffee drinkers did not miss out though and got bagel sandwiches and other fun drinks. It is always nice to have a rest stop that isn’t just the side of the road or a gas station. (although don’t get me wrong, our team has been enjoying all the Casey’s we have been stopping at)
With today’s route having favorable winds and being flat our groups today were setting a respectable pace. This is until my group got hit with a “catastrophe”. Now of course this is a complete exaggeration, but at the moment it just seemed very comical and unfortunate. I, Parker, had the inevitable happen: a flat tire. In fact we were only 1 mile away from the second rest stop. A flat tire by itself is just a minor inconvenience that happens to even the best cyclists in the sport. However after doing the whole routine of taking the tire off, taking the old tube out, putting a new one in, and putting the tire back on I started to pump it up. I got the tire all the way up to 45 psi and everything seemed fine once it was on my bike. As I turned my back for one second to put my helmet on to get ready to roll. As I turned around not even 30 seconds later and my tire was completely flat again. And then in an insane turn of events this whole sequence happened again. I had to call the van while my team biked the 1 mile to the rest stop. While there I finally was able to get a new tube, that worked correctly, on my bike after an hour and a half of fixing a flat. Which so far is probably the longest it has taken anyone to fix a flat on the ride so far.
As you can probably tell by the fact that I talked about a singular flat tire for a whole paragraph, today was pretty uneventful. After that whole debacle the rest of the day went rather smoothly. Even with that setback the final group was able to make it to the stayover before 5 which we were very happy with for an 80+ mile day. We were soaring on the (basically) flat roads which gave us plenty of time to relax, do laundry, and call our friends and family. For dinner we had sandwiches donated by the First Lutheran Church ELCA. After dinner it was nice to have some time to relax and not have to rush around for any deadlines. We had a lot of great conversations in this time reflecting on the parts of the ride that has happened so far and what is to come. This did not last forever though. With thunderstorms on the forecast for tomorrow the team had our earliest bedtime yet of 8:45. It was quite a weird feeling trying to go to sleep before the sun had quite fully set. We all went to bed not knowing what the next day would have in store for us, but just trying to get as much sleep as we could to prepare ourselves.
Cyclists’ Corner
Rider: Maaike Niekerk
How are you feeling today? How was today’s ride?
I'm feeling great today. I feel like today's ride might be the smoothest, easiest 83 miles I've ever done in my life. Good tail winds the whole time. The weather was pretty nice and we were just cruising; straight line the whole way. I had a very good day! We went to a fun little coffee shop and a Casey's. Any day with Casey's is a great day! Highway 30 was a little intense. Anytime we have heavy traffic, for sure, is a little bit of stress, but it was smooth sailing.
Is there anything that you, personally, think, or hope, you will gain from the ride?
I think more mental confidence in myself or more confidence in my mental health and knowing that I can do hard things like this will be awesome. Then, there'll also definitely be some physical confidence to gain once we get going on those mountains that are coming up soon. I think getting over those will be a huge confidence boost. Also, I'm just really excited to gain appreciation for more of the country. I feel like the U.S. was in a very weird space when I did the last ride [2024], because we were going into a presidential election. Even though that's not the case this time around, I still think we're in a kind of weird space as a country; a lot of disagreement, and conflict, and controversy. So, I think this ride will help restore some faith in the goodness of the U.S.A.
How have you surprised yourself since New York City?
That's a really good question, Jonathan! I think in a lot of ways, I think this ride has been mentally tougher than last time. I don't know if that's because of the leadership position or just because of where I'm at in life. I think I've surprised myself with my mental toughness and also my physical toughness too. It definitely physically feels easier than two years ago, and I think that's kind of cool. I think I've surprised myself with that and also just being a team player. I guess that wasn't a huge surprise, but I'm just happy that the team is gelling really well and I feel like we're all very focused on teamwork and team centered. So, I think that's cool.
Where is your hometown? If there was food from there you could have with you at every town during the ride, what would it be?
My hometown is Champaign, Illinois.
Lots of outstanding cuisine in Champaign. (sarcastically) I think if there's one thing I could have, my mom makes a really good apple pie, and I feel like we don't get a ton of pie along the way. We had one that was a little suspicious. We don't know where it came from or how old it was. So, that's been our one pie experience on the trip, and I think that a really good pie is awesome, and can heal anything. My mom makes the best apple pie in the whole wide world, so I think if I could have that across the country, it'd be awesome! That's what I've been missing.
How is the ride progressing for you?
I think it's progressing really well. I'll talk about myself, but I think it's progressing really well with the team. I think it's been really cool as the ride leader to just watch the team get stronger and also get closer in all sorts of different ways. I'm really proud of everybody. And I'm proud of myself too. I think the ride is going really well. I haven't had any really off days or hard days or anything like that yet, which I'm really privileged to be able to say. I feel very lucky and happy about that. I think it's a testament to how awesome this team is, and I feel like everybody's doing really well, so I’m happy.
What do you think your role for the team has become (regardless of what it started as or what chore you do)?
Well, I guess, I don't know if you need to know this, but my chore, quote unquote for the audio… (I'm doing air quotes) My chore is like being the ride leader. Some people ask me what that is. It means I charge the Zoleo devices, I write thank you notes to our stayovers, who are really awesome, I help clean a lot of things, and I kind of just keep all of our ducks in a row and do a lot of coordinating and making game time decisions, as this team would call it. They really like the term “game time decisions” and that's kind of what I do. What I didn't expect and what the role has also become is kind of a motivator. I'm trying to be kind of a cheerleader while also drawing a line somewhere of “here's things we need to lock in on,” but also, “everybody's doing great.” This is definitely something to balance, but I think it's definitely a mental task to be motivating the people around me while I also need to motivate myself to get on the bike every day. I think I've been really trying to kind of mediate and really encouraging people to get on the bike, get out there, have fun, and have new adventures. I think everybody's capable of a lot more than they may think they are. I'm trying to provide that confidence boost as much as I can.
What has your favorite snack in the van been so far?
This is hard.. Mmm... Actually, maybe it's not. Well, two. The yoggies. Everyone was big on the yoggies. They're these little strawberry fruits covered in yogurt, like little fruit cubes covered in yogurt. Those have been phenomenal! They were gone very quickly. I miss them. They were very good. So I love those. Let it be known, I have loved yoggies since like 6 months ago. I think my mom might have been the one who put them in the van, but I don't know if it was her. Maybe somebody else put them in there. Those were great! I've been eating them for months and I had them in my apartment and I love them! They were great on I4K. The other answer I have… I have no clue where these came from, but from Hy Vee, somebody donated or gave us these: peanut butter rice crispy bars with a layer of chocolate on the top. They're so good! We finished them today and now I'm sad about it. They were hidden somewhere in the van, so only Lauren and I really knew they were there. Those were very good also. I'm a big peanut butter chocolate fan, so those are my top two. I couldn't pick between the two.