Sunday, August 19, 2007

I like to ride my Bicycle...

Hello... It’s been just over two weeks since we arrived in San Diego and I’m finally getting around to writing my summer wrap up. I am back home, back at work and yes back riding my bicycle – although I guess I never really took a break from that! Things are slowly getting back to the so called normal.

The first week back was completely foreign to me as I was still in I4K mode. I arrived home on Wednesday afternoon (the 8th), went for a ride on my XC mt. bike that night and spent Thursday catching up on sleep before pulling an all-nighter at Oneonta’s Relay for Life Friday night. (The ride may have ended but the cause is still there.) I then headed to Vermont for a week of camping with the family. As great as it was to be back with my family it was very anticlimactic after the camping I did this summer with I4K and I felt out of place camping without my Illini 4000 teammates around. I’m now back home preparing to go back to work the day after tomorrow something I’m not sure I’m ready to do.

In a way, as silly as it may sound, I feel homesick. For 72+ days my teammates were my family, our daily designation my home and I got to ride my bicycle everyday meeting amazing people and hearing their inspiring stories. It was beyond amazing. I remember the May night before I left to go meet the team at Anish’s home in NJ. Just what I was about to do suddenly hit me and for a moment I was scared. I was going to be spending my summer with a group of complete strangers whom I’d never met and had only corresponded with via email until that point. I reminded myself of the cause and purpose of our ride and my fears disappeared. The next day upon meeting my teammates I knew within minutes that they were an awesome group, committed to our cause with positive attitudes and ready to do something big.

I’m still in I4K mode in a way I guess. To be 100% honest, I have yet to sleep in my bed. It’s currently covered in stuff and I’m just as comfortable sleeping on the floor with my pillow and comforter. I still enjoy peanut butter and jelly or apple butter or honey, even after having eaten it all summer long. Ice Cream – I shouldn't even need to argue the fact that it’s impossible to get sick of ice cream! I now have Jimmy Cliff’s – “Hard Road to Travel” on my IPod and I don’t think I will ever listen to “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”, “Hotel California” or “Don’t Stop Believin” without thinking of I4K. I picked my bike up from its tune up yesterday and rode both yesterday and today – squeak free! When out riding my eyes are constantly scanning the side of the road for trash treasures! The only thing missing - my comrades!

All expectations I had going into this summer were well surpassed in every way possible. From the thousands of generous people we met along the way, to the thousands who supported us in helping us reach our fundraising goals. The outpouring of support was remarkable and the beauty of the country from the seat of a bicycle is something I will never forget. The media so often portrays what’s wrong in America but this summer I was able to see firsthand how great Americans and complete strangers can be when brought together by a meaningful cause. Like the Portrait Project points out almost everyone has been touched by cancer in someway or another and thus can relate to our cause. Without all these people, the support of my family, friends and teammates this journey would not have been what it was and I thank everyone for making it so amazing!

While I’m sad that this journey is over and I miss my Illini4000 family terribly, the memories of this summer will last forever and I know that the journey is really only beginning as people will continue to unite in the fight. I’ve been asked countless times since the ride ended if I would ever do a ride of this magnitude again. While my immediate thought is that I don’t ever want to forget or overwrite the memories of this summer, I have to admit there is a part of me deep down that is craving the adventure and desire to help others. What my next adventure will be, I don’t know but suggestions are always welcome! There has got to be someone out there who wants to snow bike across Antarctica!?!

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Random Thoughts and the Real World

I spent the majority of this past week camping with my family in Burlington, Vermont. Somehow I managed to acquire 75 bites on my hands while there not counting all the bites on my legs and feet. That's more bug bites than I had all summer biking across America!... I go back to work on Tuesday and honestly I'm not ready to go back to the real world of working 9-9 Monday-Sunday, not at all... I arrived home from Vermont around 2:30 pm Friday, found the box with my bike which had arrived from San Diego while I was in Vermont, assembled it and had it to the bike shop for a tune up by 3:30 pm. I went to pick it up this afternoon and Squeekers no longer squeaks! Squeekers has also gotten a face lift and is currently sporting sky blue grip tape. I kind of wish I'd gone with the dark purple as the sky blue looks a little funny, maybe next time... It was odd riding home today and not having anyone from I4K around. I kept wanting to yell "gravel", "glass", "pothole", "car back" but there was no one to yell to but Squeekers. I4K'ers I miss you!

I'm slowly updating the missing entries in my blog from my paper journal so keep checking back below for updates.

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Another Update

I pulled an all nighter last night at Relay for Life here in Oneonta and then worked today thus the blog is going to have to wait until I return from Vermont. I've published my approximate trip distance totals on Google Spreadsheets for your viewing pleasure - check it out!

Here is a photo from the top of Angels Landing to hold you over...


Wednesday, August 8, 2007

San Diego!

Hello all, just a quick update to say that after reaching San Diego on Saturday, I've reached home in upstate NY safely. I will update everyone on the final few weeks of this amazing journey in the next few days (when I unpack and find my daily paper journal).

**Update** Help, I'm not sure I'm home? The first thing I did when I walked in the door was make a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich followed by yes a bike ride on the ole clunker?!?! Now I'm pulling out my sleeping bag and getting ready to sleep on the floor as a hurricane seems to have hit my room. hmm...?

Saturday, August 4, 2007

San Diego - We Made It!

Day 72: San Diego, California!

Starting out in NYC on May 25th this day seemed so far away both in miles and in time, but here we are Day 72, in San Diego – it’s been an absolutely amazing summer!

This morning we got to sleep in until 5:30 due to the fact that we only had 65 miles to cover. We woke up rolled up our sleeping bags and packed the van while our ride leaders (Jon, Nick, Anish and James) along with Mark made us breakfast consisting of French Toast, eggs and sausage along with Milk galore as we were trying to use up anything that would spoil. By 7:30 we had everything cleaned up and packed and were ready to hit the road. We circled up like usual and I gave my Mosher speech in the middle of the circle. I have to admit I read it from paper as I was afraid I’d end up in tears if I just winged it with it being the last day and all. We then took a few pictures before setting out one last time. We were very grateful to have Nick’s brother Brian join us to drive the van today so that we could all ride into San Diego together as a group. Zach also rejoined us overnight and rode in the van with Brian today.

I set off from Campo with the Caboose and ride leaders. Less than a mile into the ride we came across the Slushy/Gas Station Crew (Keith, Brandt, Dan and Drew) stopped along the side of the road as Brandt had a flat. They assured us that they were ok and we continued on our way.

The first part of the ride today was rolling hills before we hit our final “big” climb about eight miles into the ride. The second half of the ride was mostly downhill as we passed through many towns and even did a little highway riding as we approached the outskirts of San Diego. The ride went fairly well with the exception of one point where we were on the highway and saw signs telling bikers to exit the highway. Part of our group had already gone ahead but luckily we were able to take a parallel road and met up with them a few miles down the road.

With Brian driving the van, today was the first and only day in which we all got to ride together as a team. At a gas station about 3.5 miles from our destination at Mission Beach we met up with Don whom we had spoken with at the church yesterday. Don led us the final 3.5 miles to the waters edge at Mission Bay where we dipped our wheels in the ocean and took pictures while celebrating the moment. The whole day seemed a bit surreal. When we started out in May, August 4th was just a far off date on the calendar, then riding all summer you loose track of the days and all of a sudden here it is August 4th, and we’re in San Diego. I think it will take some time before I realize just what we have done. Atlantic to Pacific, East to West, NYC to San Diego on a bike – it still sounds kind of crazy – but we did it!

From Mission Beach Don led us on a trail around the Bay and over to De Anza Cove where many parents, friends and San Diego Illini Alumni were there to congratulate us. About ¾ of a mile before we entered De Anza Cove, Nick’s brother was waiting for us with Nick’s little pink trike, a cape and goggles! In case you’re out of the loop, Nick has said all along that he would ride a big wheel across the country and thus wanted to finish the ride riding into the ocean on a big wheel. While that didn’t happen his brother bought a little pink trike with training wheels for him to finish the ride on. We stopped so that Nick could put Gilligan (his bike) into the van which Brian had already unloaded at De Anza Cove, and throw on the cape and goggles. He then set off with his brother blaring Eye of the Tiger on the van speakers!

It was awesome to enter the park and see all the orange and blue as we passed through the finish line that the Alumni had set up for us, slapping hands with our supporters on the way through. The San Diego University of Illinois Alumni Club had a picnic barbeque waiting for us upon arrival and all present had smiles on their faces despite the fact that we were about two hours late arriving as navigating the streets between Campo and San Diego took longer than we had expected. It was close to 3 pm when arrived and we enjoyed a picnic lunch with the alumni, family and friends who had showed up to congratulate us. After we all ate one of the Alumni sang for us singing Frank Sinatra’s New York, New York before the San Diego Illini Alumni Club presented our group with a check for $2,500 – Thank You San Diego Alumni! The also gave us each an orange San Diego Illini hat while Anish’s parents presented us with team photos taken when we were in Chebanse, Illinois.

It was then time to crown the beard off champion! Hatim, who did not ride but did a lot of behind the scenes work with the Illini 4000, was there to measure the beards of our three beard off survivors - Sean, Mike and Nick. While he may not have won on length, Nick won the fan vote and was crowned 2007 Illini 4000 beard off champion winning a San Diego Illini t-shirt. We then had cake and hung out a little longer before people began to disperse.

I had to get my bike to a bike shop to ship back to New York so around 5:30 we put my bike in the van and Anish dropped me off at Bicycle Discovery north of Mission Bay where I then spent the next hour packing my bike in a box to FedEx home. Oddly enough it really didn’t hit me until I was packing my bike that I won’t be riding tomorrow and that we are really here in San Diego. It’s sad in a way as today may have been the last time we were all together as a group, it’s definitely something that’s going to take getting use to after having spent the past 72 days together 24/7. I spent so long packing my bike that the bike shop gave me a break on the shipping cost – which is kind of funny because with it being the first time I’d ever packed a bike I really had no idea what I was doing! I then walked around a bit, took pictures of the pacific ocean as the sun was starting to set and wondered some more as I waited for Nick and James to take the rest of the bikes to Mr. Giles house before coming to pick me up. Mr. Giles is a University of Illinois Alum who generously offered to let us keep our bikes at his house until Monday when we will pack them in the van to take back to Chicago. I walked a ways down Grand Street before flagging down Nick and James and heading back to DeAnza Cove where the picnic was winding down with only a few people left. We repacked the van and said our goodbyes to Jon and Zach before James drove them to the airport to catch their evening flights back to Chicago. I then went to dinner at On the Boarder with Alex, Nick (and his family) along with Allen, Mayank and Jeremy (all friends of our ride leaders from Illinois who are now in California).

Our housing arrangement in San Diego is with Jared a University of San Diego student whom generously volunteered to house us at his apartment. Anish’s mother had called the University to see if it would be possible to get housing for us in a dorm while we were in San Diego. Jared just happened to answer her phone call and told her while the University was unable to house us he would be willing to let us stay at his place! Allison, Mike and Mark had made other housing arrangements and a few riders are staying with their parents who flew into San Diego but the majority of us are at Jared’s. It’s a bit cramped but after spending our first night of the summer in Manhattan where we all managed to sleep in a one room studio this is nothing. I’m absolutely beat so I think I’m going to go shower and head to bed. I still can’t believe we’ve finished. It’s been an amazing journey! I will now spend the next three days in San Diego before flying home late Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. I’m not sure what I will do in that time but it will be odd not riding my bicycle.

Thank you to everyone for their support, both at home and on the road and to our ride leaders for all their hard work in making this ride a reality. Last but not least, to all the amazing people that we’ve meet this summer who have been affected by cancer, stay strong and stay positive – you have inspired me each and every day and will continue to do so in the months and years ahead.

Take care,

Sandra Moxley (bikexc at gmail dot com)

Friday, August 3, 2007

I see Mexico! Campo, California

Day 71: Campo, CA

Tonight was our last night together as a team. While I’m excited to reach San Diego a part of me is also sad to think that tomorrow at this time we will be done.

Today’s ride from El Centro to Campo was a difficult one because of the heat. We departed the church in El Centro as soon as the sun rose (5:15 a.m.) after a send off by Clay. Jon and Anish were in the van with Jon driving and Anish putting the finishing touches on the Portrait Project interviews that we will be showcasing in San Diego.

Our first water stop came 20 miles into the ride and after refueling we continued on upward with a 3,000+ foot morning climb. We did some highway riding on I-8 before exiting onto Old Highway 80 where we could see the Mexico border as we approached Jacumba, California at our fourth water stop of the day. In Jacumba we took a short break at the Mountain Sage Market. I bought a Hot Fudge Sundae Pop-Tart while others bought Pop-Tarts, granola bars and other snacks and of course Milk to hold us over until lunch. Before leaving Jacumba Jon and Dan switched driving duties and we were on our way. Right after leaving Jacumba we came as close as we would get to Mexico while on the ride. Riding along Old Highway 80 off to our left the Mexican border was only about 200 feet away. I have to say I was rather entertained by the fence that stood between the US and Mexico as having never been out west prior to this summer I’ve heard and read about the US wanting to build a giant fence to separate the two countries. As you can see in the photo the fence is currently nothing more than a simple wooden fence. I guess it serves the purpose of marking the border but I find it funny after all the hype the topic has gotten from Washington. As we came around a corner and headed up a small hill we were only about 150 feet away from the border and stopped to take pictures of the almighty little fence while Andrew and Nick decided to test their arms and see how far the border really was. I think if their hadn’t been border patrol cars passing us every few minutes some of us would have ran to the fence and put a foot in Mexico so we could say we’d been to Mexico but with the patrolmen on the road this didn’t seem like a good idea.

From Jacumba we continued on to Boulevard where we stopped outside a restaurant for lunch. Jon, Nick, Andrew, Anish, James, Sehee, Alex and I enjoyed a traditional I4K lunch of cold cuts, PBJ and whatever other concoctions we could come up with while the rest of the team went inside to eat.

From lunch we had a hot 15 mile +/- ride to the Lake Morena Community Church in Campo. Shortly after departing lunch we ran into flat tire trouble as both Andrew and Nick got flats at virtually the same time. Our group of eight pulled over to wait as they changed their tires seeking out shade under the roadside shrubs to escape the heat. Once fixed we were on our way making one last stop about five miles out of Campo to refill our water before continuing on toward the church north of Campo. We were about 2 ½ miles from the church when we heard a loud pop. Alex’s back tire had blown out and now had a giant hole in it requiring the van to give her a lift to the church. It was around 4 p.m. by the time we reached the church.

When we arrived the church was wrapping up a week of vacation bible school with a picnic for the children and their families and invited us to join in on the festivities. They gave us bread, cheese and watermelon to snack on as we relaxed, rested and went over our plans for the ride into San Diego tomorrow with Don a University of Illinois Alum who lives in San Diego. Jon and Nick made dinner for us while everyone else unpacked the van. Once we had the van unloaded Anish and James headed to San Diego in search of a Kinko’s to print off our Portrait Project previews that will be on display at the picnic tomorrow afternoon. For dinner Jon and Nick made Nachos and beans while the church let us partake in their picnic of hot dogs and cake!

After dinner we had a meeting to talk about the future of the Illini 4000 including what can be done to make things better in the future. All in all I think the meeting went well. I think this year involved a lot of learning as nobody in our group had done anything of this magnitude before. When we rode with the Hopkins 4K team in Colorado it was obvious that they were a veteran program by the way they operated. I personally have very few complaints with the way things went this summer as I came into the summer with a very open mind knowing that this was new for everyone and that there would be bumps in the road. Being on the road for two months it would be silly for me to think everything would follow a script, that's something that would be a challenge for a veteran program. Sure I may have eaten 200 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches over the course of the summer but that’s just something that adds to my memories from this summer. (For the record I still like Peanut Butter and Jelly) I really hope that I4K will continue to grow in the coming years and that every year they will be able to raise more and more money for Cancer research until Cancer becomes a thing of the past!

When the meeting concluded many people headed to bed to rest up for our ride into San Diego tomorrow. Sean and I just finished writing out the route for tomorrows ride and now I'm sitting here still awake enjoying the warm night and journaling. Brandt Moshered* me this afternoon and I now hold the almighty Erick Mosher card. I’m honestly rather excited and honored to have it as it’s only the second time I’ve possessed it since we started the Mosher game in Colorado. It’s getting late; I think I’ll jot down a few things for my Mosher speech before calling it a night. Goodnight!

[* The Mosher explained – the Mosher is actually a little plastic card that Nick found on the side of the road as we were entering Telluride. The card appears to be the ski pass of Erick Mosher from the 2000-2001 ski season in Telluride. Whoever possesses the Mosher card after breakfast each morning has to give an inspirational quote or message for the day prior to leaving. Normally this is done by having the person with the Mosher stand with their bike in the middle of a circle while everyone else surrounds them on their bikes. One may pass off the Mosher but must do it without the person being Moshered knowing. After the Mosher card has been on the other person for more than five seconds the person who passed the card off tells the Moshered person that they’ve been Moshered. If one is caught in the act of Moshering the person who is being Moshered can reject the card. There are other rules like you cannot Mosher someone while their sleeping or on their bike and you cannot pass the card after breakfast has started among others I cannot remember at the moment.]

Thursday, August 2, 2007

Off Day in El Centro

Day 70: El Centro, CA (off day)

Today was our last off day of the trip. To me it’s sad to see this journey coming to an end as I feel I’ve met and continue to meet so many amazing people whom I will miss a lot. This morning despite the off day I woke up at 6:45 a.m. however not feeling the need to get up right away I stayed in my sleeping bag listening to my iPod for awhile. Around 8:00 I got up, had a pop-tart and continued working on transcribing video for the Portrait Project. This basically entails listening to the audio of one of our Portrait Project interviews and transcribing everything the subject says so we can later go through and take out quotes. I’m rather excited to see how the final project will turn out!

Around 10:30 I headed to the grocery store with Dan and Jon. Along the way we met up with Drew who joined us on our walk to Von’s. Once there we bought bagels, fruit and other food items then headed to the picnic area in front of the store to enjoy it. After we finished eating Jon, Dan and I left and headed to Main Street to find a bookstore. Unable to find what he was looking for at the first bookstore Jon headed to find another while Dan and I headed back toward the Church.

Back at the church I spent a few hours transcribing video before Jon took over for me. It was still rather warm out however the heat was nothing new, so I decided to go for a bike ride. I rode through some of the neighborhoods around where we were staying at the church before finally making my way back to Von’s to buy food for dinner. On the way back I met up with Alex who was walking along the street. Once back at the church I helped her fill the big plastic tub with water so she could wash her clothes while I decided to clean off my bike.

I then went inside to dry off and eat dinner before heading back out to the gym behind the church to change the back tire on my bike. With close to 5,000 total miles on it (this includes pre-I4K) it has seen better days. Despite the wear it has held up good with my only flat on the back tire coming the day we rode into Chino Valley, Arizona when I pulled three staples out of it. It took me awhile to change it as my spare (the one I’d bought in Prescott, AZ) was new and didn’t seem to want to go on the rim. After putting a hole in my tube trying to put the tire on the first time I finally got it on the second try (with a new tube of course). When I got done I was covered in black grease so I took advantage of having real showers and showered before heading to bed.

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Sand Dunes and Changing Landscapes

Day 69: El Centro, CA

Today we rode 70 miles without services before reaching Brawley and finally El Centro, CA.

The ride started out in Palo Verde where we quickly exited town and found ourselves riding along fields with what appeared to be irrigation canals running alongside the road. We then hit a stretch of desert with small brush and reddish colored dirt as far as I could see. When we crossed into the ever so small town of Glamis we suddenly found ourselves riding though Sand Dunes that quickly appeared on both sides of the road with giant dunes on the left side and smaller dunes off to the right. I was riding with Alex, Allison and Andrew at the time and we stopped to walk around in the sand and take pictures. I found the sand to be more solid than I expected it to be as walking on it only left faint footprints. While we were stopped Anish, Jon, James and Sehee caught up to us after they had stopped to put air in Jon’s tire just prior to Glamis. When we exited the dunes we were in an area that again looked like desert. At our final water stop before lunch (about 25 miles outside of Brawley) we found ourselves right near the Chocolate Mountain Naval Res. and rode for about two miles with jets circling in the sky above. As we entered Brawley it amazed me how fast we went from desert like conditions to land significantly more agricultural with crops and green fields. We literally crossed one road and all of a sudden everything was green!

We reached Brawley around 12:30 p.m. and set up lunch outside a Texaco gas station. I had a Chili/Ramon and cheese sandwich (creativity is key!) before going into the gas station and buying a 25-cent brownie to put on my second sandwich along with a small bottle of milk to drink. After lunch I headed to El Centro with Anish, James, Jon and Sehee while Allison, Alex and Andrew stopped at a fruit stand on the way out of Brawley to get fresh fruit. The ride from Brawley to El Centro was a nice easy ride however it was sprinkling and the roads were wet meaning we were covered in mud by the time we reached our destination at the First Christian Church in El Centro. I was happy to find that there were showers available for us to use and after unpacking the van wasted little time hitting the shower as I was covered in mud. The church put us up in a large room that appeared to be the youth room or a youth center with video games, a man made wooden stage, arcade style games and a caged in recording studio all in the room. We relaxed and hung out as the rest of the team began to arrive with some people taking naps while others read or played video games. Anish, Alex and James went to try and get dinner donated and returned with melons, eggs, OJ and ice cream popsicles! Dan and Brandt made us pancakes and eggs for dinner which proved to be a nice change from or normal dinner meals.

After dinner I worked on transcribing more video for the Portrait Project. Clay one of the Ministers at the church stopped by with cookie dough, ice cream and root beer for us to make root beer floats. To clarify we ate the cookie dough and did not put it in our root beer floats. After enjoying our root beer floats most of us headed to bed. Tomorrow is our last off day with San Diego just three days away.