Day 77: Riding for Our Memories - Petaluma, California to San Francisco, California

We did it!

Ride Overview

Mileage: 39.0 miles

Elevation: +1,774 ft. / -1,916 ft.

Points of Interest: Vineyards, San Pablo Bay, Sausalito, Golden Gate Bridge

Tales of the Trail

Everyone slept well after last night’s activity.  We had said our kind words for each other, signed jerseys to commemorate the achievement, and partied in our wild prom outfits until we ran out of energy.  This morning was surreal because packing up our sleeping bags and bringing our bags to the van, we had the knowledge that this would be the last time.  Whether or not we continue cycling, travel with another group, or even go for another Illini 4000, nothing will ever be the same as this team was at this time.  Our last bowls of oatmeal, or no oatmeal for those who just couldn’t put up with it anymore, our last morning preparing the bikes and pumping tires, our final morning circle, all of this was treated with a respect that was not there during every day of our ride.  Nevertheless, we were ready to get going to finish the final chapter of this journey, to see our loved ones, and to finish!  Everyone chose to ride with their groups from Day 1 to bring back the memories from what feels like a lifetime ago.

Remembering Vikram

Before beginning our ride for the day, the team was told of news about 2022 rider Vikram Mubayi who had recently and unexpectedly passed away.  Maaike had to play the difficult role of messenger for the team as she told all of us her connection and recollection of Vikram along with words from Marie Hubbard who was a ride leader on that 2022 team.  This was hard to hear.  All of us were just 30 miles from completing a ride across the United States and feeling the most strong, confident, and fearless we had in our entire lives only to hear that someone just like us had perished four years from this very moment.  This put life and the gravity of what we do with it each and every day into perspective.  The team fell silent.  Vikram could have been at home on this team.  Any one of us could have embodied his spirit and passion for cycling and the outdoors.  The questions running through our heads were “How can we honor one of our own?” and “What can we do to learn and treat the time we have with respect, having seen so clearly that it can end?”  We rode today for Vikram keeping him in our hearts and our minds and trying to picture him in the world around us.  We never imagined that in just the 19th year of Illini 4000 we would be riding for a previous rider, but this day and Vikram will be remembered forever by the team and everyone affiliated with our organization.

With this newfound meaning for the day, our rollout from the stayover in Petaluma was more somber than it otherwise may have been.  By the time we were a few miles up the road, we had made it to a frontage for the highway which had little traffic and gave us time to talk and reflect amongst ourselves.  We were saying both how long and how short the summer had felt at the same time and wondering what was going to happen next.  “Would anyone consider doing this ride again?”  The California countryside with vineyards, mountains, and houses was a beautiful backdrop for our final day.  We made it onto bike trails further from the city than we might have expected and started to see a few cyclists around who would only grow in number as we made it closer to our finish line.

Our first and only rest stop of the day was at a food truck called Consuelo’s Kitchen where we had some really amazing tacos and prepared our bikes for the final miles of riding before the Golden Gate Bridge.  With all of the groups stopping together, we kept telling stories and memories from our ride.  Sometimes we would learn of a funny moment that happened that we never knew of.  Other times we would just be happy reminiscing on a good day or stayover.  

The ride to the bridge was actually a little stressful.  We have spent so much time riding only around ourselves and other vehicles on the road that it felt strange to be on busy bike paths with many other cyclists.  The paths were full of casual and competitive riders alike meaning we had to watch out for people we were passing and those passing us.  This was also a time during the ride where it felt more like we were a part of the world happening around us as opposed to in our own little world.  As we came off the trail and onto the road leading to the bridge, it was a steep hill to climb.  This would be the last of the summer, and we knew it, so everyone powered through the climb to finish valiantly.  

At the lookout, Maaike, who had driven the start of the day, was waiting and in full kit ready to join the team along with Ed and Jaylen from the 2023 team who had graciously offered to drive the van to Crissy Field so that all 13 of us could ride together for the only time outside of Champaign this summer.  It all really felt like a movie with the bridge in the background, pictures being taken, and cheers of congratulations.  We picked up Anthony for a photo just as we had done when we started to get to know each other over the winter.  Ed had digital and film cameras ready to capture the moments and immortalize us as the 19th team in Illini 4000 history to make the ride across the United States of America.  Everyone huddled together for some words of motivation from Maaike, Cole, and Tada before setting off for the final 2 miles.

Parker led the team across the bridge in a line of 13.  The views were incredible and the wind was unrelenting.  We were yelling callouts all the way up and down the group and laughing at how funny that felt.  The whole world was visible from up on that bridge and we felt a collective unity only being able to hear ourselves and the wind.  Descending to Crissy Field was the final part and we all yelled “descent!!” as Ehsan had all summer.  We rounded the corner wondering for just a moment where our families had gathered before catching a glimpse and riding through the parking lot over to the gathering.  Cheers of encouragement came from the field and we rode around the final roundabout as a victory lap just as if we had finished a training ride in front of Allen Hall.  Then, Parker pulled off and the rest of us followed suit.  Hugs and kisses abound with new greetings coming as well.  The people from these journals were real and had actually made it across the country for those in attendance.  Families and friends had come together to provide all types of food, fruit, and desserts for the team as we celebrated.

The final pictures were taken of everyone in attendance and goodbyes began as the van started to be packed.  Tada, Parker, and Aadit would be driving the bikes and any leftover equipment all the way back to Champaign.  It was emotional to say our goodbyes and thank yous to all of our families, but slowly we started filtering out until Crissy Field was itself a memory and the rest of the day and our next chapters began.

Photos in the gallery below all taken by Ed Guo:

Now I, Cole, would like to leave some final words for you and for my team.  This Illini 4000 team, the smallest to cross the country in our history, leaves behind an incredible legacy.  We came together in less than a year to collaborate on fundraising, where we provided our beneficiaries over $70,000 in support, to plan and prepare a journey for the summer to spread our message and our mission, to hear and share the stories of cancer survivors and their loved ones, to train and build our bodies together to ride bikes across the country, to support cancer research and patient support services, and to conquer over 4000 miles of riding to make it from New York City to San Francisco.  That is truly inspiring!  Our bonds as teammates and friends will not be broken and we will always have this community to turn to in times of need.  Thank you all for being the best teammates I could ever ask for!  I am so excited to watch everyone grow in their lives and for when we encounter each other again.  Thank you for reading. This was a memory worth creating.

Day 70: Back to Dorm Living: Rest Day - Redding, California

We are staying at a university!  It looks nothing like back at home in Illinois, but we have made it to school once more and something about that feels familiar.  We woke up in dorm rooms today and got ready for the day with our roommates.  We had the same desks, and chairs, and bedframes that seemingly every school across the country has and we even ate in the dining hall.  First up for today: Spider-Man!

Last night, we had a watch party for all of the Spider-Man movies that Tom Holland was Spider-Man in to catch everyone who hadn’t seen them up on what was going to happen during the latest release and what we saw this morning, Spider-Man: Brand New Day.  Since this came out just this week, we decided to go in the morning when we could get good seats.  Besides, our routine is keeping us waking up pretty early anyways.  Everyone joined in for the movie this time and it was really good!  We won’t spoil anything in this journal, but everyone came out smiling and Marvel and Disney did their traditional end to one of these super hero movies where the loose ends are never tied up.  Probably we’ll all be back watching another Spider-Man in a year or two.

After the credits rolled on the movie, we were approaching lunch time and we went back to Simpson University to check out the dining hall that we had been invited to.  Wow, was it nice to have a buffet of food!  There was orange chicken and rice, salads and fruit, and ice cream and cookies.  While it was nothing out of the ordinary for a dining hall, the familiarity of the setting and the break we had from our own school made this meal just feel so good and welcoming.  The other happy news is that we would return for dinner!

After lunch, much of the team went their own separate ways for activities.  Those who had prom dates went thrift shopping for outfits, others caught up on sleep, did their own work, or went to explore the campus.  At dinner, we were back at the dining hall eating tacos.  The only other students on campus at this time are athletes who are getting ready for their upcoming season, so we had fun pretending as if we fit in.  We each tried to give each other categories for what sport we should say we were in if asked other than a cycling team (Simpson University doesn’t have one as far as we know).  The tacos were solid and we ended the evening with some bike and van cleaning before heading to bed once more in the dorms.  Our tube supply was restocked at Walmart today, a basketball game was played, and we feel ready for the final leg of this trip heading to San Francisco.

Day 69: Flat Tires and Heat Waves - Mt. Shasta, California to Redding, California

Today was a strange mix of fun moments, exciting views, and lots of descending paired with a tough heatwave and many members of the team picking up flat tires as the day wore on.  Interstate 5, which had been so good to us the previous day when we were on it for a few miles and enjoying the wide shoulders turned into a minefield for our tires.  What was the good news at the end of it all?  We found ourselves in dorm rooms with beds, bathrooms, and air-conditioning at Simpson University that we knew we would have for not just one night, but two!  Our final rest day of the summer is upon us and we have some good stories from the road to tell.

Ride Overview

Mileage: 64.0 miles

Elevation: +2,450 ft. / -4,940 ft.

Points of Interest: Shasta Lake, Signs to San Francisco, Redding, Simpson University

Tales of the Trail

Starting the day, we rolled out of our stayover and through the small town of Mt. Shasta where we saw the main street with shops and businesses.  One of the groups on the road was already held up from the first of many flats when Vedang found his tire to be low on pressure as we finished the morning circle.  Moving through town, we were descending quite quickly and encountered the fun back road that Anthony had put on the route for the day.  We were going through the forest and having a great time!  The road was steep and a bit bumpy with some gravel sections to keep our speeds honest, but it really felt like an adventure and we love that.  At the end of the forest, we rolled into another town and the groups with Ehsan, Nishk, Lauren, Anthony, Ren, Cole, and Aadit met up while waiting for a train crossing.  They decided to ride together until the highway and had a great time enjoying the company and camaraderie of a large group.  Soon enough though, it was onto Interstate 5 and the beginning of the day of bike troubles.  

The morning just had Vedang pick up a flat tire, but that was easy to remedy since it was at the stayover with all of the tools, hands, and the floor pump necessary to make the tube change simple.  Not long before the first rest stop, Ren was having some chain and shifting trouble that we still can’t quite put a finger on the reason for, but it seemed to work its way out just as we had called the van to come take a look.  Over the second stretch, from rest stop one to rest stop two, was where events really picked up.  Max had a flat tire through this time pushing his group a little ways behind.  Anthony also caught a flat of his own which left the group of Cole, Ren, and Aadit pretty far out in front as they had avoided flats on the day.  Feeling smug was not the right emotion for them though as just after the second rest stop Ren noticed a flat on her bike.  When they pulled off, Cole felt that his rear tire had been flat too and Aadit found out he was riding on a flat also!  A full group knockout!  The other teams caught up and rolled past and Anthony, Nishk, Lauren, and Ehsan were now having the good luck.  Not long after the triple flat, Ren had her tube essentially explode in her rear tire which was found to be at the end of its life and the van was called to come and shuttle.  For those of you keeping count, we were now up to 7 flat tires on the day!

As Ren was picked up, there was a fun Illini 4000 moment where Aadit and Cole joined the group of Max, Tada, Vedang, and Maaike just before a bridge to cross Shasta Lake.  Vedang had picked up another flat tire, so that team waited for the two behind them on the road to catch up. We rolled with 6 and had the van escort us across the bridge which had no shoulder.  We were going somewhere in the mid-20s of miles per hour and knew we had the whole lane to ourselves with Parker in behind blocking traffic with the van!  This was a ton of fun!  Meanwhile, the first team had reached the stayover having had only one flat tire on the day.  The game was not over for our group of 6 though.  Max caught another flat tire after making it off of the highway.  Last, but not least, Tada punctured a few miles out from the stayover bringing our total to 10 flat tires on the day.

Outside of the hilariously large number of tubes we burned through (we will have to restock in Redding), we had a great day and our first full day exploring California.  The trees were beautiful and we were mostly descending, so the riding was actually pretty easy.  Temperatures rose over 100°F before the end of the ride making us super happy to get indoors when it was over.  We made a van trip to In-N-Out and decided to spend the evening doing a movie marathon of the Tom Holland Spider-Mans.  Maybe this gives you a hint for what we are doing in the morning on our rest day.  Everyone was happy to have beds to sleep in for the evening and planning to enjoy the day tomorrow.

Day 68: Our Final State! - Klamath Falls, Oregon to Mt. Shasta, California

After a fun day of appreciating our ride leaders yesterday, we entered our final state of our cross-country journey today.  We haven’t quite made it to the coast yet, so this doesn’t feel exactly like a finishing line, but we can certainly start counting the time we have left until we reach San Francisco.  With Mount Shasta in the distance for the entire day, every mile was made fun and interesting by the new details we could pick out on the mountain and how large it appeared on our horizon.  Eventually, we made it right up next to the mountain and stayed in a church named after it.

Ride Overview

Mileage: 83.4 miles

Elevation: +2,903 ft. / -3,661 ft.

Points of Interest: California State Border, Living Memorial Sculpture, Mt. Shasta

Tales of the Trail

In the morning, we came outside of the United Evangelical Free Church on top of the town to look out on a beautiful sunrise with Mt. Shasta just visible in the distance and the moon still bright in the sky.  We had an awesome fun activity from Parker in the morning playing Simon Says and Ehsan, who had never played the game before, took home the victory!  Out of Klamath Falls, we started on a bike path which was a nice change from the highway miles we have been going on even though we had the majority of the day on those once again.  When we did make it to the highway, we joined via the on ramp just as any car would and merged into our shoulder to take on a reasonably tough incline for being so early in the morning.  After that, the road became relatively flat and actually pretty quiet; enough for us to have some conversation and not just ride single-file the whole way.

The first team reached the California sign and took pictures.  Then, the second and third teams rolled up in close succession since a flat tire had slowed down the second group to roll out on the day.  That made for a fun time at the Oregon sign which we had all missed having shuttled from Boise, Idaho across the border to Ontario, Oregon, and then the California sign following that.  This felt like a real milestone.  Every state has a feeling of accomplishment associated with entering or leaving it, but knowing that we had now rode from New York to California was just as much of a novelty to say as it was to actually accomplish.  After too much time spent taking pictures to get just the right shots, these teams decided not to make those who were up the road wait too long and continued on to the first rest stop.

The flat and moderately trafficked highway continued on until just about the second rest stop where we encountered a construction zone and a sizable hill.  Throughout the summer, construction zones have actually been pretty simple and sometimes nice for us on bikes.  When we rode up today, we spoke with the worker holding traffic for the single lane through and he let us ride up the closed lane until we hit the active construction.  This was like having a whole road to ourselves!  The construction was relatively small and then another road to ourselves again.  Other times during the summer, this had been the case too where construction was actually much more calming and easygoing than just the open road would have been.  On the other side, where the van had parked and the rest stop was located, we also had time to ourselves with only waves of traffic since they were being held to one grouping at a time.  It also makes calling for cars behind very simple because you know there will be one set and then a big pause before the next.

When we crested this climb, Mt. Shasta was appearing much closer than it had before.  By the time we reached the third rest stop, which included around 7 miles of descending, we were right up beside it.  At 14,179 ft. Mt. Shasta certainly appeared massive and we had a great time looking at it from a distance and with the knowledge that the town we were staying in, also named Mt. Shasta, was not up the side of it.  Our third rest stop was at a sculpture park called the Living Memorial Sculpture which honored veterans of our nation and was a tranquil place for such a monument.  

The final miles into town saw us get onto Interstate 5, a scary proposition but in reality it had the largest shoulder of any road we had been on and felt safer than the roads we had been on the rest of the day.  After we took our exit, there were some forested roads and then a turn into our almost idyllic church stayover for the evening (St. Barnabas Episcopal Church).  We had trees on all sides and just a short walk over to the neighboring wellness center where we took showers in the evening.  Dinner had also been donated which was lasagna and ice cream for dessert!  This felt like such a peaceful place to stay and we could sleep well knowing that there were also under 70 miles until another rest day.