Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays to all and thank you for your support the past two years!

72 days of cycling, working for a cure

72 days of cycling, working for a cure

Hitting the Pacific Ocean, Brad Topol, senior in engineering, was as far west as he could go. After bicycling for 72 days, Topol and the other 20 members of the Illini 4000 team finished their cross-country journey from New York City to Seattle, Wash... <more>

72 days, 4000 miles, 1 cause & memories to last a lifetime!

Hello again! As promised here is my ride wrap-up, something that I’ve been putting off in part because writing this brings to reality the fact that the ride is indeed over. It’s been exactly two weeks since I said goodbye to my Illini 4000 teammates in Seattle, 14 days that have seemed like months and years as I miss them so much. For 72 days they were my family, our daily destination my home and we got up each morning and rode our bicycles. It may sound strange to say I feel homesick but then maybe that makes sense after spending 72 days with such an amazing group of people. Disconnected from the so called real world for sometimes days at a time it didn’t matter the day of the week or what the weather might be, braving the elements we got on our bikes and pushed through it together.

Since returning home I’ve often been asked the ever so popular question “How was your summer?” Impossible to sum up in just a few words I often find myself at a loss for words and reply amazing or awesome neither of which can really justify just how incredible the experience really was.

Starting in Central Park that chilly May morning with the Atlantic Ocean to our east we got on our bikes and pedaled through cities and over mountains, on back roads and highways. We laughed and cried and laughed some more growing as a team with each passing day. While I was reminded of the reason in which I was riding every day as I put on my (ever so wonderfully smelling) Illini 4000 jersey, it was the people we met who grabbed our hearts with their stories and brightened our days with their kindness and enthusiasm that made the hard days so much easier. There were days where the climbs seemed to last forever. Days where a lack of sleep and aching legs made me want to stop to nap or walk, but onward we went; rejuvenated by the thoughts of those affected by cancer, the sight of tippy hill signs and the sound of a teammate whistling or singing a silly song to take our mind off the task at hand. From the busy city streets of New York City, Philadelphia and D.C. to the rolling green hills of South Dakota. Over the Big Horns and Rockies, westward to the Pacific and north to Seattle, it wasn’t always easy, but it was an amazing summer that I will never forget.

I realize that not everyone has the luxury or means of taking 72 days to cycle across the country and hope that through our stories, photos, videos and blogs we were able to share our journey with those following along both near and a far. The support of so many people made the ride what it was and to them all I can say is thank you. From family, friends and alumni to generous strangers who so kindly opened their homes, places of worship and schools to provide for us, giving us food and donating however they could to the cause for which we ride, thank you – you’re amazing!

The memories from those 72 days will last a lifetime, spent with friends I will never forget. I can’t even begin to list the memories from this summer, but am reminded of them each day in some way or another. Onions will never be the same, as I learned this summer they are much more than a vegetable you grow in the garden. Sixth grade boys may not be able to cross state boundaries but with their moms permission can lead you in the right direction when you get lost. It’s amazing how a 120 mile day on the cue sheet can be shortened to 80, thanks to one special rider playing a joke on teammates! Bugs CAN find your ear canal when riding down the road, however thankfully come out with a few drops of water! From using plastic bags as rain jackets to eating blackberries off the side of the road, cold nights in Yellowstone to the mosquitoes of Wisdom, Montana. Ice cream circles, fiestas and mustache Montana. Christmas in July, Panera Bread, warm springs the list goes on forever!

We talked with numerous people touched by cancer this summer whether it was while touring hospital oncology units, sitting down in Portrait Project interviews, attending Relay for Life or the Northwest Cancer Summit! Together these experiences provided us with a small glimpse at the lives of those affected by cancer, with people telling us their stories of struggle and hope. The ride may now be over with everyone having gone their own ways, but the cause is still there and I know that as long as it is The Illini 4000 will continue to do its part in the fight. I’ve been asked numerous times to compare this summer’s ride to last and while I could I’m not sure that would be fair as while both were similar they were also quite different. Like an infant in its first year of life the Illini 4000 has grown by leaps and bounds in the last year, learning through experience to build toward a future that looks quite bright.

Looking back on the summer I have to say that this may just be the most amazing team I’ve ever been a part of and I’m truly proud to have been a member of it.

I4K 2K8’ers I miss you! Thanks for the memories!

Mini update!

It's been awhile! I haven't put together a final post yet as I want to let things sink in a little more and maybe write some post for all the weeks I missed before I post my final recap, however I know people have been patiently waiting for updates so I thought I'd say hello and let everyone know that I've made it home safely. So far I've moved and uploaded my photos (it looks the same just a different link address - with a lot more photos), I'll be adding video and filling in some blogs from my journal throughout the coming days so check back often as I'm not done yet!

I4K'ers - I MISS YOU!

Packing up

I woke up this morning with the mindset that it was just another rest day – which it was. Kind of. Those of us staying in the Chabad house were up at 8:30 a.m. and headed up the street to the AEPi house where we met the male members of our team and headed out on our final bike ride together making our way to downtown Seattle where the University of Illinois College of Medicine was hosting a brunch for us at a rather fancy restaurant called Campagne. The food was an amazing spread of egg casserole, fruit, organic yogurt and granola with enough food to send everyone out the door full. After leaving the restaurant we gathered in the street near Pike Place Market for a final team photo before exchanging hugs and saying goodbye to our teammates who were leaving from the brunch. A group of us headed a few blocks north to Olympic Sculpture Park where a press conference was suppose to be held. We waited in the park and then waited some more and finally took a group photo in front of the fountain before departing as the press forgot to show up! Nick, Dana, Rachel, Andrea and I all headed back to 21st Avenue NE (our stay over location) passing by Seattle’s Space Needle on the way. Back at the Chabad house Andrea left to spend the afternoon with her mother and Dana and I each spent about an hour re-packing our bags in preparation for our flights home tomorrow. I then journaled for awhile before heading out on my bike to explore the streets of northern Seattle stopping at Tully’s to buy a Green Tea Mango smoothie and then finding a shady spot on the University lawn to sit, relax and journal some more! (It’s been a busy few days and I have a lot to catch up on!) Around 6:00 p.m. I headed back to the Chabad house just in time to say goodbye to Brad and Yiming who were both getting ready to leave. Andrea, Dana and I sent them off by chasing the Topol’s car down the road waving to them! We then walked up to the AEPi house to see what our teammates there were doing for dinner. We ended up walking to the QFC grocery store with Allen managing to take the long way there, as we walked almost a mile when the store was actually just down the hill from where we were staying. I bought Ritz crackers and cheese for dinner along with peanut butter cup ice cream – the dinner of champions! On our walk back we dropped Andrea off at her mom’s hotel and then went to the AEPi house to dine. When we finished eating Jon and I began the daunting task of unpacking and repacking the support van. Doing this involved taking everything out of the van, sorting it into boxes that would be taken back with riders as checked baggage and securing everything with tape to ensure it all made it back safely. Around 1:00 a.m. Praveen and Dana joined in the packing party and by 2:00 a.m. we had everything sorted and the boxes ready to be tapped shut. I fell asleep around 3 a.m. to get three house of sleep before getting up at 6 a.m. as that’s when we will begin shuttling people to the airport in the morning.

Seattle = check!

Distance: 85.10 Time: 7:03:29 Avg: 12.0

Seattle! After 72 days on the road we arrived in Seattle, Washington today riding to the University of Washington and then Magnuson Park where we were greeted by family and friends.

The day began in Yelm where Pastor Gerry at Emmanuel Lutheran Church got up early to make us pancakes before sending us on our way. We all sang the 12 days of I4K for the pastor before Jay gave an amazing Mosher speech inspiring us and reminding us of how far we’ve come in the past couple of months. Nick then had everyone take a McDonald’s toy from the briefcase John and Allen had given him yesterday to attach to our bikes. I took a TailSpin toy of Kit in his racing plane and attached it to my handle bars so that my bendy Uncle Sam was hugging it. We then rolled out of the driveway of the church with roughly 70 miles separating us from a toilet paper finish line in Seattle.

Less than three miles up the road Amy got a flat and John, Connie and I pulled over to wait while she changed it. When she was done the four of us continued on until meeting up with our amazing morning van drive Allen Tran around the 20 mile mark for our first water stop. We grabbed a few handfuls of Fruit Loops and other random cereals that were in the snack door, filled up our water bottles and chilled for a few minutes with Jon, Nick and Brad before continuing on. Jon, Nick and Brad shortly caught up to us and rode we all rode the next 20 miles to lunch in Kent as a group. About two miles before lunch Kit tried to make a Dinosaur Dave escape, jumping out of Uncle Sam’s arms when I hit a bump crossing a bridge. Thankfully he bounced backward and not into the water below allowing me to rescue him and secure him inside my jacket pocket until we reached lunch. Lunch was in the parking lot of Safeway in Kent. There we met up with Mr. Ger who had kindly offered to drive the second part of the day thus allowing everyone to ride into Seattle together including honorary I4K 2K8 member Allen. We feasted on leftover toasted cheese sandwich from the night before along with the traditional peanut butter and jelly one last time. I reattached Kit to my handle bars this time with a shoe lace to prevent any further escapes in the busy Seattle traffic. Brad copied down the directions for Mr. Ger and by the time we were ready to leave lunch Nick’s bike was covered in toys all taped to the handle bars, seat post and fork.

We had about 20 miles to cover before reaching the University of Washington where we were meeting at the fountain before riding to Magnuson Park together as a team. I rode with Jon, Nick, Brad, Allen, John, Connie and Amy after lunch and as we got closer and closer to the city we could see the Blue Angles flying overhead as part of Seattle’s Summer Celebration. This celebration added a few complications to our route as a few of the roads we were going to follow were closed. After navigating up and down some rather steep hills we met up with a friendly biker who worked at the University of Washington and kindly led us the final few miles to campus and the fountain where our teammates were waiting. We had Allen take a few team photos in front of the fountain before getting back on our bikes and beginning to make our way toward Magnuson Park. The Burke-Gilman Trail took us the majority of the way from the University to the park, although getting into the park after getting off the trail proved to be a bit confusing. Once we finally made our way into the park we turned to the left and could see the orange and blue colorful Illini banners along with our family and friends gathered alongside the lake. In two lines we made our way down the sidewalk and toward the crowd where a toilet paper finish line was stretched across the sidewalk. As we approached the line Jay made a sprint for the finish crossing the line and breaking the toilet paper. About 20 people had come out to show their support for our team and their warm smiles greeted us along with two picnic tables of food! We took a few team photos in front of the lake before making our way toward the food tables covered with Pizzas, salads, veggies, fruits, chips and much more. Jill from ACS in Tacoma, WA was there to show her support on behalf of ACS and thanked us for what we had done while also reading some cancer statistics. Jon and Nick thanked everyone for coming out and Matt’s parents made a surprise presentation of t-shirts with the slogan “We Did It” to all team members! After about an hour of mingling with the crowd we packed all of the left over food into Nick’s father’s car and got back on our bikes to ride to our host location near the University.

The girls are staying at the Chabad House while the boys are only a few blocks down the street at the AEPi Fraternity house. It’s rather weird to be separated after spending 72 days together but in two days we will all go our own ways which I know will be an even bigger change. When we arrived at the Chabad house the Rabbi gave us a tour of the house after which we unloaded our bags from the van and said goodbye to Xixi as she has opted to forgo the Chabad house and stay with her parents at their hotel. After unpacking our bags we took advantage of the facilities offered to us and showered! It feels nice to be clean again although I still seem to find dirt that’s permanently attached itself to my legs. There are six of us staying at the Chabad house tonight with Amy and Xix both doing their own things. When we were all nice and clean Dana, Andrea, Yiming and I headed up the street to the AEPi house to see what the guys were up to. We found them gathered around a large screen television watching a movie ready to celebrate our arrival in Seattle! I was so tired that I fell asleep on the couch watching television. Around midnight I woke up and found most of my teammates downstairs celebrating. Still overtired I walked back to the Chabad house and went to bed. I’m a tired girl.

A day at the Northwest Cancer Summit

Today was our off day in Portland meaning I got up at 7 a.m. to head to the Northwest Cancer summit. Nick, Jon and I got on our bikes around 7:45 a.m. and headed down to the Portland Convention Center arriving around 8:15 a.m. Upon arriving we talked with a number of people before walking around to explore the vendors, picking up some breakfast from the continental spread and heading into the conference room to find a seat for the day. Sue Frymark welcomed everyone and introduced our group even though there were only three of us there at the time. We then listened to another speaker before listening to the band Wideawake play a selection of songs including “Maybe Tonight, Maybe Tomorrow” aka. the LIVESTRONG song. A bunch of our teammates showed up around 9:15 a.m. with a few more trickling in at 11 a.m. and noontime. The morning session consisted of a number of different speakers many of whom were cancer survivors with stories to tell. At around 12:30 p.m. the conference broke for lunch which consisted of boxed lunches with sandwiches, potato salad, chips, apples and brownies. We took a group photo with the organizer of the event after which many left to go out and explore Portland. A group of about five of us stayed through the presentation by Kathryn Fitzpatrick from the Lance Armstrong Foundation departing the convention center at around 3:30 p.m. I rode my bike around downtown for awhile before heading back to the church stopping by the bike shop on Sandy Ave. on the way. When I arrived at the church I found Brad outside cleaning the garbage out of the van and trying to arrange things into some kind of order. I helped him for awhile before heading across the street to Albertsons where I purchased a new pair of shoelaces for my bike shoes and ice cream for post-dinner snack. I then headed back to the church where some women from the church were preparing dinner for the team. When the majority of the team was back we started dinner which consisted of a veggie and noodle stew for the non-meat eaters and a turkey noodle soup for the meat-eaters. There were also many salads to go along with dinner including brownies and ice cream! Jill and fellow University of Illinois alum Susan ate dinner with us and then loaded a group of eight of us into their cars and took us to nearby Beaverton, Oregon for a tour of the Nike Campus where Susan works. The tour of the campus included a look at the outside of the Tiger Woods building, a stop at the track made of the soles of running shoes and visits inside the Mike Schmidt and Lance Armstrong buildings. It was almost 10 p.m. when we left the campus and around 10:30 p.m. when we arrived back at the church. I still had the ice cream that I’d bought earlier in the freezer however after already having had ice cream couldn’t come close to finishing it so I put it back in the freezer to offer to my teammates at breakfast. I then journaled for awhile before heading to bed around midnight with a 90 mile riding day to the ocean to wake up to in the morning!

The team at the Northwest Cancer Summit in Portland, Oregon

Wild Goose Campground, Lowell, Idaho

We woke up this morning at our campsite at Wendover Campground along Rt. 12 to a chilly Idaho July day. We quickly packed up our belongings and tents so the van could be packed before opening the cereal for breakfast. After finishing our cereal and rinsing the dishes Jon introduced us all to “Peel the Banana” as this mornings Mosher before we set out on our way cycling quickly along shade covered Rt. 12.

About 6.5 miles into the ride we came to the Clearwater National Forest Warm Springs (Jerry Johnson Hot Springs). Here we got off our bikes and walked them across a foot bridge and about a mile and a half into the forest until we came to a hot waterfall pouring out of the side of the hill and into the river below. Some of the team went down to shower/swim beneath the waterfall while Andrea, Nick, Andrew, Yiming, Dana, Takaya, Xixi, Fei, Amy and I all continued on up the path until we came across a series of hot spring pools. While the air may have felt cool to start the morning the spring water was a lot warmer than the air making it an easy choice to jump into the water. We spent a few hours in the spring which I suspect was the closest thing to a bath that we will see all summer aside from swimming in lakes and rivers. The spring was also right next to a river making it easy to run back and forth to cool off. I spent about 10 minutes lying in a warm but cooler spring close to the river where I almost fell asleep it was so comfortable. At around 10:30 a.m. we decided we should probably start riding again and headed for the road. We arrived at the road to find that Amy who was driving had already left with the van but thankfully Jon had thought ahead and grabbed some granola bars for us from the snack drawer before she left as it was well beyond our normal morning water/snack break.

We got on the road and rode about 20 miles before meeting up with Amy at our first real water stop around mile 26. From there we continued on another 15 miles until lunch at around mile 38. I rode that stretch with Jon, Jay and Andrew averaging about 17 mph along the winding roads that ran aside the river. After consuming two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and refilling our water bottles Jon, Jay and I continued on our way pushing a 16 mph pace the 22 or so miles to Lowell. When we reached Lowell we stopped at the gas station where Jay bought us ice cream. We then sat outside eating it while we played “knock Connie’s water bottle over by throwing rocks at it” as other groups began to roll in. From the gas station it was a quick two mile ride to the USNF Wild Goose campground just west of Lowell.

Once we reached camp we immediately began to unpack the van and set up our five tents. Nick and Rachel then began to prepare dinner which consisted of spaghetti and sauce made over the campfire. Some people took a quick swim in the river next to the campsite while dinner was being made however still feeling clean from my morning bath, I helped to gather firewood and wash the dishes and coolers. When the food was ready we ate dinner overlooking the river with the sun still shining on it. After dinner I was still hungry so I opened a package of pop-tarts that had been in my jersey pocket all day to eat while I sat next to the river and caught up on my journal. As dusk began to fall we enjoyed Smores over the campfire a special treat which was provided to us thanks to Andrea’s mom. After brushing my teeth and securing my bag inside the van I headed down to the beach to sleep on the nice soft sand! Tomorrow we will re-connect with people again as we head to Craigmont where we have a church lined up to host us.

Hello Missoula

Hello! Today's ride took us from Hamilton to Missoula where I am typing to you from the public library. The ride was flat and short, a change from recent days and with a rest day in Missoula tomorrow will almost make it seem like we get two rest days! After getting kicked off the computer after 30 minutes of use at the library in Hamilton yesterday, my sister sent me a text saying I'd left her in suspense as to what happened next - thus I had her finish my blog over the phone last night. Thanks Kimmy!

I'm happy to report that today I did not hit any large rocks and my tires seem fine. We arrived in Missoula by lunch time and had a peanut butter, jelly and honey sandwich picnic outside the van on the lawn of St. Paul's Lutheran Church (our host in Missoula). After unloading the van I headed to the Post Office to check the status of a general delivery package my mother sent me however apparently the postal service sent it to another post office in Missoula so I will have to pick it up tomorrow. I tried to upload some photos to my Photo Album however the connection here is SLOW and inconsistent so it doesn't seem to be working very well.

I4K Girls celebrate Mustache Montana!

I'm Alive!

Hello! I apologize that it's been awhile since my last post but today marks the first time I've touched a computer since July 4th. While I can not update the world on the past 11 days in a matter of 20 minutes I just wanted to check in and say that I'm alive, doing well and have returned to somewhat normal civilization after having spent the past week or so in Wyoming and southwestern Montana free of technology! This afternoon we cycled into Hamilton, Montana and will head to Missoula tomorrow. It seems hard to believe that we are less than three weeks away from Seattle - how fast time flies when your having fun! To be honest I don't even know where to begin this post as there are so many things that have happened in the past two weeks. We have gone from the flat lands of South Dakota through the Black Hills and by Mt. Rushmore, celebrated the fourth of July in Gillette, WY climbed the Big Horn Mountains where we got to play in the snow, visited Yellowstone National Park, worked as a team to find a last minute stay over after our plans fell through in Ennis, MT and made several trips to Dairy Queen among many, many other things. I'll update you on all of this stuff in time however it would probably be easiest to just start with today.

This morning we awoke in the tiny town of Wisdom, Montana where we were staying in the community center. I heard people moving around and looked at my watch only to see that it was 4:00 a.m. and that I had an additional two hours to sleep. When my alarm finally went off I'd been laying awake for at least 30 minutes so getting up was no problem. I packed up my stuff and headed to the kitchen to put on water for the oatmeal. While I was preparing breakfast Xixi Moshered me, I tried to pass it off on Nick by handing the Mosher card to him with the team credit card (since he was driving) however as he went to put the credit card in his pocket he saw the Mosher behind it and handed it back to me. After a breakfast of oatmeal, rice and Golden Grams (all mixed with milk and maple syrup - creativity is key) we cleaned up and headed outside where I gave the daily Mosher speech. I hadn't prepared anything so I had the team form a massage circle and spoke a few words before we all sang Happy Birthday to Matt and headed on our way. The morning included a gradual climb and marked the third and final time in which we cross the continental divide. We reached the top of the climb around mile 25 before beginning our decent. I was riding with Xixi, Fei and Takaya all of whom were ahead of me. Going down the mountain around mile 29 I went around a bend where gravel and rocks sat alongside the road. Looking at the rocks on the side I paid no attention to the rock that was right in front of me and hit a jagged rock about the size of a tennis ball at about 32 mph (not something I'd recommend doing), when I saw it I knew it wouldn't be good and immediately after hitting it I heard my tire make a hissing sound and knew I'd just gotten my first flat tire of the summer. (I'd been pondering only a few miles earlier as to if I'd be able to go the entire summer without a flat so apparently I jinxed myself.) Riding in the back of my group everyone else was well ahead of me and didn't hear me yell "STOP" so I pulled to the side and quickly began to change the flat. Cell phone service which has been hit or miss the past few days had resurfaced by this point in the descent so I turned on my cell and tried to call my group to tell them that I was ok however nobody answer their phone so I began changing the flat. After a few minutes a man in a white truck pulled over to check and make sure that I was ok. I told him that I was fine and just had a flat tire and he went on his way. A few minutes later I looked up to see Takaya making his way back up the hill to make sure that I was ok. About a mile after my flat my group realized I was no longer behind them and had sent Takaya back to check on me worried that I may be hurt. Takaya helped me put the tire back on the rim and we headed down the hill. When we got to the bottom we found Fei and XiXi sitting on the side of the road. As we approached them Nick who was driving the support van pulled up to make sure we were ok. We refilled our water bottles, grabbed a snack and I re-pumped my tire before letting the van go to catch the front group for lunch. 23 miles later we pulled into Darby MT where we ate a fabulous PB&J lunch in the parking lot of a super market gas station. From lunch we quickly made our way to Hamilton where we are staying at the Big Sky Baptist church.

After unpacking the van Andrea and I headed to the post office, the library and the grocery store where we bought ingredients to make Matt a brownie banana ice cream cake. We then headed back to the church where Andrea, Dana and I made cake and heated up the Chicago style pizzas which Matt's grandfather had bought for the team. When the pizzas were done we ate dinner which was immediately followed by our brownie banana ice cream cake in celebration of Matt's birthday. We are now watching the movie Super Troopers while celebrating Mustache Montana!

That updates you on today. Updates along with pictures from the previous two weeks will come in time. Tomorrow we ride into Missoula, a short 45 mile day meaning we will be sleeping in an extra hour!

Dayton, Wyoming

We are currently in the small town of Dayton, Wyoming where we are spending the night in the high school cafeteria. Today’s ride was short and easy as we arrived in Dayton around 1:00 p.m. with a one-hour stop at Starbucks in Sheridan along the way. We departed Buffalo this morning shortly after 7:15 a.m. and rode on the shoulder of I-90 for awhile until exiting onto Rt-87 where we met up with Nick and the van alongside a creek for our first water stop. After departing the water stop we followed 87 through rolling hills until things flattened out around Sheridan where Nick was stopped outside a grocery store for water stop number two. By this point it was about 10:30 a.m. and we had already covered 40 of our approximately 60 miles for the day so Andrew, Dana, Yiming, Stephe and I decided to make a detour to Starbucks in Sheridan for tea and coffee iced drinks. We spent about an hour at Starbucks sitting outside on the patio in front of the shop drinking our iced drinks. A kind woman noticed our jerseys and gave us a small donation and before we left we strategically left a few business cards on the tables hoping someone will pick them up and check us out and donate! Everyone else had gone onto Dayton by this point so the five of us made our way out of town along 338 before crossing train tracks onto 339 and climbing a rather steep hill that led us to I-90 again. The time our ride along I-90 was brief as we descended down a hill getting off after only about two miles and riding 345 into Ranchester and then turning onto 14 that led us to Dayton. About five miles before reaching Dayton, Dana and Yiming decided to switch bikes. Because they both have smaller bikes the change worked out fine until about a mile left when Dana got a flat on Yiming’s bike. As we were fixing the flat it started to pour leaving us soaked as we didn’t have our rain gear on us. As we were getting back on our bikes after changing Yiming/Dana’s flat my chain decided to fall off my bike just as I was standing up to pedal causing me to come crashing down onto the crossbar. It was a rather painful experience and left me thankful not to be a guy as that would have hurt a bit more. When we pulled into Dayton the directions I’d been given were go to the end of town and the school would be the last building on our right. As Randall who I’d set the stay over up with told me “if you don’t see anything else, you’ve gone too far!” Dayton was indeed small as we quickly passed through it and came to the last thing before vast nothingness - the high school. When we arrived we found a number of our teammates resting in front of the school, some on the school roof and finishing lunch. We quickly ate lunch as well and then a group of us headed back to the other side of town to go for a swim in the creek as we couldn’t get into the building until 3:00 p.m. The creek was cold and fast moving but felt very good on my somewhat sore legs. After cooling off Matt, Yiming and I walked our bikes back to the school where we waited around for the doors to open at three as they were supposedly set on timers to open at that time. When the doors did not open at 3:00 I called Randall who then called the school secretary Toni to come and let us into the building. Apparently the switchboard in the main office was down causing the doors not to open. Toni let us in and gave me a tour of the building showing us where both the refrigerator and locker rooms were. We then chilled in the building for awhile, took showers and waited for dinner. Amy and Dana made a wonderful dinner of chili and rice along with garlic bread. After dinner as the football/track coach was leaving the school from his summer practice sessions he told me that we were welcome to use the school laundry facilities and showed me where they were. After dinner I rode my bike to the gas station/grocery store to buy crackers for tomorrows ride as my stash is getting low. It started raining as I was riding back to the school and when I got back I found everyone inside doing various things. I sat outside under the small overhang in front of the entrance to the school and ate my rather melted Fastbreak chocolate bar that I’d bought in Rapid City while talking to my sister on the phone for about and hour. It’s rather late and I’m now waiting for the laundry to get done so I can head to bed. I think I’ll give it about five more minute and then hang dry it if it’s not dry as I’m beginning to get rather sleepy. Tomorrow we climb a VERY large mountain!

Mail Stop in Missoula!

Hey-Happy 4th of July! It's getting late and with the fast internet connection I've been focusing on catching up on uploading photos so I'll keep this short and call my sister with a longer update tomorrow but I just wanted to let everyone know that we are going to do a general delivery mail stop in Missoula, MT. How does this work?

If you would like to send the team or a specific rider something you may mail it to the post office in Missoula via general delivery.

Thus if you were mailing me something you would mail it to...
Sandra Moxley
C/o General Delivery
200 E. Broadway
Missoula, MT 59802

*Note - you can replace my name with another riders name, just make sure the rider knows that you are sending them mail as the rider will need to be present with ID to pick it up.
Mom - the team loves MOXLEY cookies!!!

Rapid City Rest Day

Hey! After a 60 mile ride yesterday we are currently enjoying a rest day in Rapid City our final stop in South Dakota.

Yesterday's ride from Wall was rather short with the majority of our group reaching Bethlehem Lutheran Church by 1:30 pm. Upon arrival we made a quick dash to the Dairy Queen located right next door to the church (who ever planned this stay over knew the importance of ice cream!). The American Cancer Society here in Rapid City generously donated water, pickles, PowerAde mix and free kids size blizzards from Dairy Queen - which we all used on our trip to the DQ.

After unpacking the van Praveen, Matt and I headed out to look for dinner donations. After coming up short at the first few places we stopped we pulled into Domino's where the manager generously gave us 8 pizzas to feed our hungry teammates. Many people headed back to DQ after dinner to complete their daily dairy fix.

This morning Andrew, Jon, Nick and I got up and made the team pancakes as a pre-breakfast. (One box of pancake mix doesn't go as far as it use to.) I then headed downtown with Fei, Xixi, Andrea, Takaya and Yiming where we completed our breakfast at a local diner. From there we headed to the bike shop as I needed to get my bike checked out after the chain fell off three times yesterday afternoon. Upon measuring my chain I was told that it measured beyond the "needs to be replaced" mark meaning that I needed to have my chain replaced. Thankfully they were able to do it quickly and hopefully this will mean the end of my skipping, falling off chain! After visiting the bike shop we headed to the library for awhile where I uploaded some photos and started this blog. (Note: 30 minutes goes by quickly thus why I'm back here at the library 5 hours later to finish bringing you this update!) From the library I headed to the grocery store to buy some food for lunch and then went back to the church to install my new break pads and do a Portrait Project interview.

Mt. Rushmore, the Black Hills and Wyoming tomorrow!

Rolling through South Dakota

Hello from Wall, SD. In the past few days we have seen a little of everything. From windy rainy days to sunny hot days with rolling hills that seem to roll on forever.

Friday PM - Members of Ben's family provided us with dinner on our rest day in Mitchell. They made some of the most amazing veggie/bean burgers that I've ever had to go along with Spaghetti. Dessert topped it all as they had cake (to celebrate Ben's belated birthday!) and homemade Rhubarb Pie!!! (which I must add, Ben helped make and tasted very much like my mother's rhubarb pie).

Saturday - For me Saturday's ride was one of the hardest of the summer. I new it was going to be a challenging day as soon as I stepped outside to take my sleeping bag and pad to the van as I was greeted by a fierce wind that was coming from the direction in which we were riding. I rode with Xixi, Yiming, Amy, Fei, Jon S, Nick and Takaya and we formed a dynamic double paceline that we rotated in a counter clockwise rotation for the entire day. Toward the end of the day we ran into a fast moving rain storm that hit us just as we were leaving the last rest stop. Thankfully we were able to grab our rain jackets from the van to partially protect us however with the rain coming down as hard as it was we still got rather soaked. After the rain let up the sun came out and the winds seemed to calm a bit as we approached Chamberlain. (Note when I say a bit I mean calmer than the 30 mph winds we were riding into for most of the day.) When we arrived it Chamberlain we dropped our bikes at the church and then walked next door where we enjoyed ice cream sundaes as a reward for a long and windy 80 mile day on the bike. Jon, Nick and I then biked back up the hill that we had descended down entering town and headed to the high school where they were holding a relay for life event. It was nice to meet people who are also working to help in the fight against cancer as well as many survivors. They had us go up into the press box of the football field where they were playing music and announcing and tell a little about our organization and ourselves. Afterward we met their "Relay Angel" took some photos and walked a lap with her. Overall it was a very positive experience and I encourage anyone who might want to help in the fight against cancer to check out Relay for Life events in their area.

Jon and Nick participate in a game at Relay for Life in Chamberlain

Sunday - On Sunday we rode from Chamberlain to Murdo a distance of about 73 miles. The ride was very "plain" in that there was not much to look at other than rolling grass hills that seemed to roll on for miles on end. We saw some cows here and there along with horses and other animals that you might expect to see in parts of the west/South Dakota along with a turtle which we rescued from the middle of the road and pointed to safety alongside the grassy bank. When we reached Murdo Connie and Andrea made another amazing dinner which we all followed with a trip to the Dairy Shack for ice cream!

Monday - TODAY! Today's ride was 90 miles and included a change in time as we are now in Mountain Time! The morning seemed to fly by as we reached mile 42 and lunch right around 11 am. From lunch we continued on another 20 miles until reaching the turn for Badlands National Park. A group of about nine riders decided to brave the conditions and take the Badlands loop through the park while the majority of the rest of the group went to the entrance and turned around to head back to I-90 which we followed to Wall. My back has been a bit sore the past few days so I rode up to the entrance and decided that it looked much like the parts of Utah which I spent a week cycling through last summer and joined up with Jay and Yiming to head back to Wall. We got some pretty awesome tailwinds once we got on 90 and flew to Wall in no time with the wind pushing us the majority of the way. It was a welcome change from the headwinds we saw two days ago. Once we reached wall we changed and headed to the highly anticipated Wall Drug. We have been seeing signs for Wall Drug since Minnesota and the frequency has increased in the past few days to the point that while riding today it seemed as if there were signs every mile if not more often. Yiming and I each got 5 cent coffee and I also bought a homemade maple frosted doughnut and some flavored toffee.

Corn Day, SD + PHOTOS!

Hello! Today we are enjoying a rest day in Mitchell, SD home of the famous corn palace and a library with a fast un-firewalled internet connection!

Yesterday was my turn to drive the support van. I stopped a couple grocery stores on my way out of Sioux Falls picking up a few food donations before catching up with the team about 22 miles down the road for the first water stop of the day. The weather was rainy at times in the morning before finally clearing up right around lunch time. It feels so different to drive after riding everyday as things seem to go by so fast when in the car - I'm excited to be back on the bike tomorrow! When we arrived in Mitchell a group went out looking for dinner donations and were rather successful. They got us a sampling of Chinese food and pizza from a local cafe in town. It's amazing how generous people are when united by a common cause!

Today has been a rather busy day thus far. We were up early for a tour of the Avera Queen of Peace Cancer Center. The entire team took a tour of the center while also getting to talk with the nurses and a doctor from the center. After leaving the center I went to the post office to pick up some General Delivery mail before heading back to the school (where we are staying) where I participated in a portrait project interview with someone we had just met at the center. I'm currently sitting here uploading photos, working on team stuff, blogging and trying to catch up on email all at the same time!

I have to say congratulations to my twin cousins Catherine and Michelle who graduate from high school today - have an awesome summer and hopefully I'll see you in August before you leave for college!

Hello Minnakotwa!

We woke up at 5:30am with a long day ahead and a questionable weather forecast. After a breakfast of cereal and milk we were out the door and on our bikes before 7am. Praveen drove today and waited for the grocery stores to open in Marshall Minnesota where he did an awesome job getting donations of food.
The morning was very flat and windy however it was also nice and cool. We rode through an area of wind turbines that lined the land for as far as we could see. At around mile 60 we stopped for lunch of PB&J and Cheetos on the side of the road. From lunch we continued on to about mile 80 where we were about two miles from the Iowa border.
Nick, John S., Andrew, Stephe, Rachel and myself decided that we would go check out the tri-state mark where the three states meet. Doing this involved about a four mile detour, two miles of which were on a sand/dirt road. When we reached the marker we took photos by it before dancing around it yelling the states we were in as we circled (Nick has a video of this which I will try to get and post).
From the landmark it was about 16 miles to the Zion Lutheran Church where we are spending the night. When we arrived we found that the pastor had generously gotten us ten pizzas for dinner which were very delicious.
Tomorrow it's off to Mitchell South Dakota and the Corn Palace!!! Total mileage for today 100.39 miles!

New Ulm, Minnesota

Hello from New Ulm, Minnesota! I am sitting at the public library and yet again the computer is firewalled to prevent me from uploading photos - so no photos at this time, however I currently have about 400 to upload down the road!!

Yesterday we rode into Owatonna arriving rather early and eating lunch at Lake Kohlmier. About half of the team also went swimming in the lake. After lunch a group of us stuck around and went out in the canoes and kayaks after the people at the lake offered to let us use them for free! Andrea and Connie put some of our current massive bread stock to use and made a wonderful dinner of soup, bread and humus.

Today we rode from Owatonna, MN to New Ulm. The most exciting part of the day for me was visiting a bike shop in Mankato. The guy there fixed my bike so the chain no longer skips when I go up hills or just get on it!!! It's extremely nice to ride and not have my chain skipping all the time and it didn't skip all afternoon! We ate lunch in the parking lot outside the bike shop before continuing onto New Ulm. There were no winds today so the afternoon went rather fast and we managed to push out about 30 miles in what seemed like no time. We are in Mitchell, South Dakota in three days some I'm hoping for fast un-firewalled internet access there.

Ear Bugs, Photos and the past few days

First of all let me just say my ear is fine - the bug on the other hand, did not make it out of the ordeal alive. Since I last posted we have crossed into yet another state and are currently in Rochester, Minnesota. I'm currently at the Rochester Public Library where the internet connection is extremely slow (dial-up is fast compared to this) but I will try to update some photos if I get a chance to use the church computer later today.

The ride into Reedsburg, WI on Wednesday turned a bit interesting with about 10 miles to go when I had a giant bug fly into my left ear. It went all the way into the canal to the point where when Stephe looked in my ear he couldn't see it. I sat on the side of the road shaking my head as if there were water in it for a few minutes as I could feel it moving around inside my ear making a loud echoing sound (a rather unique experience). Shaking my head was an immediate reaction as I didn't know what to do. After a few minutes Stephe started dripping water into my ear at which time the bug came out. A truck driver passing by saw me sitting on the side of the road and stopped to see what was wrong however by this point the bug had fallen out of my ear and was lying on the pavement. We decided to put the bug in a bag and keep it in case anything should happen to my ear but thankfully all is fine. As if the day needed to get more interesting, when we arrived in Reedsburg I went to the post office to mail some stuff home and free up some space in my bag. I locked my bike to the stairs while there and when I went out to unlock it afterward found that my lock had jammed! After unsuccessfully trying to free my bike for about five minutes a man came out of the post office and offered to help. He was also unsuccessful at freeing it so I walked back to the church to find help. Jon walked back to the post office with me and was also unsuccessful at freeing it however thankfully we were able to find someone who had a pair of pliers in their trunk and used them to cut my lock. It was a rather thin cable so it cut rather easily - a good thing in this case but not for the protection of my bike. Jon K. and Ben made us dinner which we followed with a trip to a local ice cream place where they had homemade waffle cones. Yum!

On Thursday we rode into Lacrosse, Wisconsin it was rather uneventful compared to the day before and luckily we didn't have any "bug in the ear" incidents. I rode with Xixi, Yiming, Fei and Takaya for the day and we made a stop for ice cream at McDonald's with about eight miles to go. (I'm on an ice cream diet this summer, as in eating as much of it as I can!) The church where we stayed in Lacrosse provided us with dinner, which tasted amazing as most food does after a 90 mile day and connected us with the local YMCA to take showers.

Friday - In our first "early" day of the summer we rose at 4:30am in anticipation of a 100 mile day to Rochester, MN. To our surprise we awoke to find that the route was only about 85 miles however we still needed to cover it and get to Rochester by 4:00 pm. (While in Reedsburg we had been contacted by the Mayo Clinic in Rochester about possibly touring the clinic. After a team vote we decided that this was an opportunity we couldn't pass up and with a full team effort we re-routed and changed our route to go to Rochester rather than the Twin-Cities area.) We were on the road shortly after 5:30 am hitting the road just as the sun was rising. Less than a mile down the road we crossed the Mississippi river and crossed into Minnesota. Crossing into Minnesota reminds me of crossing into Missouri last summer as the rolling hills seemed to appear right after crossing the Mississippi. We climbed a rather long and winding hill and then had a long decent where I reached 42 mph. Some people decided to re-climb the hill so they could fly down it again and broke the 50 mph mark on the final stretch. Mid morning we cycled along a bike path that was so muddy in parts that our bikes quickly looked as if we were mountain biking. I was riding with Andrew, Stephe and Jay and Andrew’s bike got so muddy that the mud clogged his breaks so he could barely pedal. When we exited the path at about mile 35 we found the rest of the team cleaning the mud off of their bikes as well. From there we continued on to lunch at around noon time at mile 60. We departed lunch around 12:30 with about 25 miles to cover by the 4:00 pm, which is when we wanted to tour Mayo. With about six miles to go we all met up at a gas station in Chester, MN. When Nick and Jon pulled into the water stop they informed us that Mayo had just called and that they were unable to give us a tour thus allowing us a bit more time in our schedule. About half of the team decided to still go and see the Mayo Clinic so after a short break at the gas station for slushies and water we continued on our way. While we didn't get an official tour of the clinic we were able to walk around and talk with a few people. The building is rather amazing and I was amazed to learn just how many people come to Mayo from all over the country and world. Unlike a normal hospital/medical building Mayo is rather open and a very people friendly environment. I'm glad I went to see it even though we didn't get to talk with any doctors or specialist.

Andrea and Connie made an amazing dinner last night and afterward we celebrated Ben's Birthday with cake and ice cream! Today we are off enjoying a rest day, taking care of team business and hopefully in a little while I'll find a way to upload photos for your viewing pleasure!

Happy Summer!!!!!!

Wisconsin

Ride-a-long with 2007 I4K alum
(Nick, Anish, Jon, Sean, Sandy, Keith)

Hello from Fitchburg, Wisconsin! Since my last post we have crossed into our 10th state and are currently just south of Madison. The team departed Highland Park yesterday morning and headed to Evanston Northwestern Healthcare for a tour, breakfast and a sit down panel with some doctors, nurses and cancer survivors. It was extremely informative and well worth the delay in the riding schedule! At about 11am we departed the hospital to begin our 60+ mile ride to Lake Geneva, WI. The first part of the day consisted of riding on bike paths before we took to the open back roads for the second half of the ride. Around 2pm we pulled over to the side of the road and enjoyed bagels for lunch. I need to note that I opened up my rhubarb pie for eating and a few of us made rhubarb pie bagel sandwiches! After lunch as we were approaching the Wisconsin State line we got lost but thankfully out of nowhere a 10-year old named Matthew appeared on a bicycle and after getting his mother's approval and his helmet rode us about 1/2 a mile down the road and pointed us in the right direction. Matthew if you’re reading this - YOU SAVED THE DAY! When we arrived at Brad's lake house the majority of us went for a quick swim in Lake Geneva before another amazing dinner prepared by Brad's mother and father and Andrea's mom. This was followed by Smore's!

Today began bright and early with a pancake/french toast breakfast prepared by Brad's parents. After a few photos we were on our way ready for a short 60+ mile day that turned into a 77 mile day!! I'm not sure if it was the weather or maybe I'm just allergic to the state of Wisconsin because I was extremely tired all day. We stopped somewhere around mile 50 for lunch on the side of the road where I had peanut butter and jelly with Moxley cookies in the middle. (While my mom won't send pie in the mail she has sent the team cookies!) After lunch the hills seemed to become more and more frequent and I was extremely happy to see the church by the time we reached mile 77. My bag seems to have grown a bit in the past few days after receiving a box that my parents sent me and while I'm waiting to find a post office to send it home it's become an art to fit it all in. One of the extra things in my bag was handlebar tape so after arriving today I gave my bike a facelift and I now have boring black tape on the handlebars as I have removed the dirty light blue tape that kept insisting that it fall off. I then took a short nap only to wake up to a cameo appearance by the one and only Drew Webster (I4K '07)! Drew and noodles & company treated the entire team to dinner which was amazing - a BIG thank you to both Drew and noodle & company! Drew also told me that he has peanut butter ice cream in the freezer for us here at the church - Drew you Rock!!! I have to mention that Praveen is letting me use his laptop to update this and some photos so Praveen you rock too!

I have too many photos to upload them all to my album right now (hopefully I'll find a library on our next rest day to catch up on that) so here are a few from the past few days. There are a few new pictures in the album but there are many more to come!

Highland Park, Rhubarb Pie and Ice Cream.

Hello! We are currently in Highland Park, Illinois spending the night at Highland Park High School. We woke up this morning and departed the dorms at UIC at about 7:15am after a quick breakfast on the sidewalk outside of Marie Robinson Hall. Shortly after departing the dorm the weather took a turn for the worse and by the time we reached Michigan Avenue the skies had darkened and we could see storms approaching. I was ridding at the back of the pack and as the rain and lightning began we quickly sought shelter heading down into one of the parking garages where we entertained ourselves with silly hand games and waited. After awhile we met up with the other half of the team and moved to the sidewalk to wait under the store awnings until the storms let up.

Today was the ride along from Millennium Park to Highland Park. When the storms let up we all headed over to the Bean to meet up with family members, fans and other guests. From the Bean we rode about 18 miles to Evanston where we all met up at Northwestern University Medical Center. While we were waiting at Northwestern Medical Center John K's mom approached me about my blog and scared me a bit when she said that I needed to be careful what I wrote it in. I quickly tried to recall what I may have written wrong, only to hear her say that she had read my blog from the night before and had a strawberry Rhubarb pie with her! (To fill people in my father grows Rhubarb in his garden and mom makes strawberry rhubarb pies in May and June when the rhubarb is fresh. I have been joking with my mom since I left that I wanted her to send me a pie however she doesn't think that it would keep in the mail.) That said I was completely shocked when John's mom pulled out a strawberry rhubarb pie, something that was totally unexpected but ever so appreciated! Thank You for making my day, I will be sure to share it with my teammates to enjoy!

Once in Evanston we ate lunch and got on a bike path that took us to Highland Park. We had three I4K alum ride with us today as Sean, Keith and Anish all rode with us at least part of the way. Nick and Jon Schlesinger's families provided us with snacks when we rolled into Highland Park and helped to arrange dinner donated by a local Italian restaurant. Once we had unloaded our gear a group of us went swimming in the ever so cold waters of Lake Michigan before dinner. It was extremely cold but felt refreshing. After dinner they had ice cream with all the works for us. I will post pictures of my ice cream creation when I get internet access. We finished the night by watching Ferris Bueller's Day Off while eating popcorn. Tomorrow it is on to Wisconsin!

Happy Fathers Day and Happy Birthday Dad!

Chicago!

Oh the joy of public technology! I spent an hour writing this post at the library this morning before internet explorer crashed on me causing me to lose the entire post. Now I come to you over the phone through the fingers of my sister typing as I try to recall what I wrote. The library was also anti USB devices so photos will have to wait a little longer. Please note that I don't have the ability to edit these posts so please excuse any typos or errors.

Now on to the update! We are currently in Chicago and staying at UIC in Marie Robinson Hall on West Maxwell Street.

Since my last post we have crossed into the central time zone and the great state of Illinois.

We woke up Tuesday morning in Rockville Indiana and were treated to a pancake breakfast put on by members of the memorial Presbyterian Church in Rockville. It was pouring while we were eating breakfast however it cleared up just as we were preparing to leave. From Rockville we headed to Chrisman Illinois where we were scheduled to stop at Mooney's Auto Dealership for a PR event. For those that don't know Mooney's generously donated/ lent us our fabulous support van that we are using this summer. It was an honor for us to stop and see those who helped us out. After spending some time at Mooney's Jon, Nick and Brad headed to Paris Illinois where they were guest at a Rotary event while the rest of the group pushed on to Urbana- Champaign. I rode with Fei, Takaya and Jay after leaving Chrisman. We faced some strong head winds, navigated some closed and flooded roads and changed Fei tire that insisted on being flat a few times but managed to make our way to Urbana by about 5pm. I should also mention that we stopped at Miss Becky's in Homer Illinois where she generously provided us with water and granola bars to fuel us the final 20 miles- Thank You Becky!

After the Rotary event Jon, Nick, and Brad pushed hard all afternoon to make it to Urbana-Champaign in time for an event at the University of Illinois alumni center that was suppose to start at 5pm. The event at the Alumni center featured food and a number of speakers including someone from the American Cancer Society, someone from Camp Kesem, a cancer survivor and someone from UIUC who has been involved in cancer research, along with people from the UIUC alumni association. After the event Nick and Jon decided to go for a dip in the fountain behind the alumni center. This was followed by a party in the fountain when Andrea, Dana, Andrew, Matt and myself all joined in on the fun by jumping in the fountain as well (I have photos and videos of this when I obtain non fire walled internet access). After our fountain party we went back to Nicks old house to change and then Jon, Nick, Matt and I went to Papa Bells for pizza with Geoff (our sponsor and owner of That's Rentertainment), his girlfriend Jill and I4K 2007 alumni Allison!

Both Jeff and Allison joined us for the first 20 miles of our ride on Wednesday, riding to our first water stop in Rantoul Illinois. In Rantoul we caught some rather amazing tail winds that pushed us most of the way to Chebanse making 80 miles seem ridiculously simple.

Zion Lutheran Church hosted us in Chebanse. It is the church that Jon Schlesinger's grandparents attend and the entire Schlesinger family made us feel at home during our stay in Chebanse. Providing us with an amazing dinner followed by an awesome breakfast- that included their ever so amazing overnight French toast!! From Chebanse we headed to Homewood Illinois on Thursday. We were once again greeted by amazing hospitality and generosity staying at Faith Church. We once again caught tail winds heading to Homewood and everyone arrived at the church by lunch time. Our host at the Faith Church provided us with dinner and then got up early to make us pancakes before we left- a big Thank You to them.

Our team departed Homewood on Friday morning in great anticipation of our arrival in Millennium Park where friends and family were gathering to welcome us. We met up as a group on the lake front bike path and then rode down Michigan Avenue and into Millennium Park as a group. I would estimate that there were over 30 people there to great us and it was nice to see some familiar faces even though I’m not from the Chicago area. We took some photos and ate lunch at the Bean before heading to the UIC dorms to drop our stuff off and change before going to UIC medical center. We walked from the dorms to the medical center where we met with a few pediatric oncology doctors and patients during an ice cream social. After leaving the medical center we had a brief team meeting before people went separate ways for the night. About 75% of the team is from the Chicago area so many people went home for the night. I think Jon, Nick, Andrew, Sean Laude (I4K 07) and myself were the only I4K affiliates in the dorms last night. The five of us met up with Anish and James, both I4K riders in 2007 and went out to dinner at a nearby Mexican restaurant. After dinner I took a warm shower and then went to bed as I was extremely exhausted.

Today I spent my off day eating, sleeping and battling technology! I woke up early (as in 6am) because that's the time that we usually wake up. After lying in bed for awhile I got up to write some postcards and headed to the coffee shop around the corner where I found Jon using the wireless internet access. Sean Laude showed up shortly after and we headed to breakfast a few blocks away. Andrew joined us there and after we were all done eating we headed to the library down the road to use (or fight with) the internet. After leaving the library I headed back to the dorm room where I promptly fell asleep and took about an hour long nap.

At 1:30 I began trying to figure out how to get to John K's house for the picnic his father was putting on. I asked a number of different people how to get to Wheaton and after getting a different response from each person decided to call Jon myself. We determined that I needed to get on the west line at the Ogilvie Transportation Center so I walked there only to discover that they didn't take credit/debit cards thus I need to find an ATM. After obtaining cash at the ATM the lady at the transportation center informed me that I missed the 2:40 train by 3 minutes and they only ran trains every 2 hours. I tried to find a cab but after getting the "you have two heads looks" and a "do you know where your going?" I found the fairs rather ridiculously expensive and opted to go to the super market and buy myself dinner instead. I ended up buying microwaveable Chicago pizza and strawberries for a well rounded dinner! Strawberries made up for the fact that my mom refuses to mail me homemade Strawberry rhubarb pie for some reason... just kidding mom.

Tomorrow we have our ride along to Highland Park- if you are in the Chicago area come join us!

P.S. A big thanks to my sister Kimmy for taking the time to type this rather long post!

A warm day in Indiana

We have made it to Carmel Indiana just outside of Indianapolis and are spending tonight at the Carmel Lutheran Church.

Today began in Richmond Indiana. Wake up seemed to come a little earlier then normal due to the fact that I was still rather tired from yesterdays 110 mile ride. After pulling myself from my sleeping bag and packing my stuff Brad Moshered me- marking the first time I have had the Mosher card this summer. It was right before breakfast as well so I ended up giving the Mosher speech with little time to prepare.

Once on the rode it warmed up quickly as the morning progressed. We stopped for lunch shortly after mile 50 at around 12:30 pm and arrived in Carmel shortly after 3pm with 75 miles on the day. After unpacking the cooler I walked to the grocery store with Praveen, Stephe, Jay and Matt and bought ice cream and pop tarts.

Someone from the Indianapolis area who is an Illinois alum took our laundry home to wash it while the church and another area alum provided us with pasta for dinner. The church has also provided us with food for breakfast ensuring we will leave with full stomachs in the morning. Tomorrow we ride 80 miles to Rockville Indiana-another warm day on the road.

110 Miles

We made it! Today we rode 109 miles from Andrew’s home in Dublin Ohio to Richmond Indiana. The day began with an early wake up at 5:30am giving us extra half an hour riding time. We were on the rode by 6:45am and had covered 20 mile by 8:15.

The excitement of the morning came when the entire team met up on a road with a bridge out. We decided to take on the challenge and forward the river- actually we all picked up our bikes and walked them across the wooden plank at the bottom (pictures to follow when I get actual internet access). The morning passed rather quickly and we rolled into lunch at mile 65 around 12:30pm. I rode with a number of different groups this morning before hanging with the caboose for the afternoon. XiXi had a bad back tire and for the final 20 miles of the ride we stopped every 2 mile so she could put air in it. When we reached the century mark (100 miles) we stopped and celebrated with a caboose photo. Around mile 104 we crossed the Indiana state line marking our 9th state in 16 days!

Once we arrived at the church we showered and relaxed while Brad and Yiming made pasta for dinner. Tomorrow is a short day compared to today- 75 miles.

80 miles later...

Hello! We are currently at Andrew’s house in Dublin, Ohio. We have seen a mixture of different things in the past few days with a wet and rainy day yesterday, followed by a hot and humid day today. The land had flattened out significantly in the past few days as we have made our way out of the Appalachian Mountains and into the plains of the Midwest. Today we spent a good portion of the morning riding on bike trails before hitting flat back country roads for the majority of the afternoon. With the change in landscape we also got our first taste of the Midwestern winds today while also experiencing hot and humid weather with the temperatures reaching near 90 degrees. I rode with the “green girls” and Steve this afternoon and felt fine until the last 10 (of 81) miles when the hot and humid weather started to get to me and zap my energy. We rolled into the Erikson residence late afternoon and were greeted by Andrew’s parents, our teammates, air conditioning and showers along with a lot of great food! Andrew’s parents put together an amazing dinner tonight and have gone above and beyond to put us up in their home here in Dublin. After riding all day in the rain yesterday – I can’t even explain how nice it was to have a warm shower today. They are doing our laundry while we are here as well and will make it nice to hit the road on Saturday wearing clean clothes. Tomorrow we will have our second off day of the journey, which I’m sure will be spent resting and relaxing. I’ll try to upload photos at some point tomorrow.

Carnegie, PA

I am currently sitting in Carnegie Free Library in Carnegie, Pennsylvania typing my own blog for the first time since DC. My sister Kim has been updating it the past few days but with a short 30 mile day today I've found internet access at the local library and have photos uploading while I type!!

We spent last night in Murrysville, PA where the Calvary Lutheran Church provided us with an amazing meal. One of the members of the church then went out after dinner and bought us breakfast food for this morning ensuring we left energized for our ride today!

While we have not gotten the get-up-get-out practice down to an hour just yet we are getting closer and closer. Today we were up at 6am and had our bags packed around 6:45. Compared to many of our recent rides I felt today was rather easy although the fact that it was only 30 miles probably had some effect. Today was also the first day in about a week that my legs felt fresh on the bike so I'm hoping that means I'm getting stronger! We did not take a water break today as Amy and Jay needed to visit a bike shop and we were riding through areas where we could get water if needed so after a few stops here and there the group I was riding with arrived in Carnegie a little after noon. The church where we are staying has continued the streak of generosity and will be providing us with dinner tonight and breakfast in the morning. It's really amazing to see complete strangers go out of their way to help us doing everything from opening their churches and places of worship for us to sleep to providing us with meals and opening their homes for us to shower. I can't seem to say thank you enough for all that everyone has done in just over one week on the road.

Yesterday while I was waiting for dinner to begin I got a phone call from a Denise Richardson a staff writer at The Daily Star (my hometown newspaper). The story she wrote can be seen here however it was a question she asked me while on the phone that got me thinking. I can't remember just how she asked it but she asked me something about what this experience has taught me about cancer. In a way I really didn't know how to answer the question as I have a hard time putting the experience as a whole into words. When we meet people that have been affected by cancer and hear their stories day after day it’s a truly eye opening experience. It makes me realize that some of the things that seemed so hard in life really are not that hard after all. The one thing that I seem to find in common with many that we talk to is hope. They are all fighting the disease the only way they know how and they all seem to have faith that they will beat it! They are who I ride for and for the hope that soon doctors will find a cure so that even the toughest cancers will be beatable!

Woman pedaling for a cure

Woman pedaling for a cure
The Daily Star, Oneonta, NY - June 2, 2008

By Denise Richardson
Staff Writer

Sandra Moxley said sometimes the burning in her legs and the inclines of the hills are so intense that she wants to get off of her bicycle and walk. But thoughts of the challenges faced by cancer patients, she said, refocus her determination and ``keep pushing."...<more>

25 mile rest day

Hello we are currently in Murrysville, PA after a short 25 mile ride this morning. Because of the days short mileage we got to sleep in an extra hour this morning waking up at 7am instead of 6am. The United Methodist Church in Mt. Pleasant donated cereal and English muffins for breakfast and after packing up we were on the road around 8:30am. The ride today was rater uneventful- so short that we didn’t even take a water stop. I rode with team out of state again plus Matt and after thinking we were lost about 17 miles into the ride we found our way and arrived in Murrysville around 11:15am. The ride included some hills including one very steep climb about 20 miles in however other then that it was pretty easy.

When we arrived at Calvary Lutheran Church in Murrysville they were in the middle of their Sunday service so the majority of us waited outside playing games on the grass until they finished. I spent the afternoon catching up on things, writing thank you letters, drying my wet laundry from yesterday and journaling.

The Calvary Lutheran Church generously provided us with an amazing buffet dinner that included hot dogs, salads, stuffed shells, chicken, fruit and much more. They then shuttled us to different houses to take showers before returning to the church for the night.

I’m not sure where we are headed tomorrow but its west of Pittsburgh. We will be riding on our off day in order to break up what would have been an extremely long day on Tuesday.

I have been having my sister update my blog the past few days so if you have sent me an email in the past week I have not read it. I will get back to you next time I have access to a computer. I will also try to add pictures to my photo album next time I have computer access.

Wet, windy, wet, sunshine

This morning we woke at 6am and enjoyed a filling breakfast of cereal, danish, fruit and coffee provided by the United Methodist Church in Everett. We were on the road by 7:30am and were greeted by our first rain and thundershowers less then 5 miles into the ride. At around 10 miles we rolled into a little town where we sought shelter and snacks at the General Dollar while waiting for the storm to pass. I purchased my first box of pop tarts of the summer for a dollar and Connie and I used plastic bags to make water proof shirts to keep dry. I spent the morning riding with the out of state crew that consisted of Andrew, Stephe and myself. After the thunder stopped we continued on to our first water stop of the day around mile 30. The first 30 miles consisted of some small rolling hills but nothing major. The hills seemed to grow significantly after mile 30 until lunch in Somerset at mile 50. The sun broke through the clouds as we were eating our PB&J sandwiches outside of the CVS in Somerset allowing us to dry off a little bit before heading back out on the road for the final 30 miles.

Connie and Dana joined our group for the afternoon which consisted of hills, rain and sun. My legs were feeling rather tight after lunch but were 100% better then yesterday when I was tired the whole day. Near the end of the ride as we were going down a steep and long hill the rain picked up along with the wind blowing so hard that it felt like hail hitting our faces. Around 6:30pm the group I was riding with pulled into Mt. Pleasant and was greeted with a warm dinner of Spaghetti, salad, and bread at the United Methodist Church. They topped it off with cookies, brownies and ice cream for dessert - a perfect meal after a long wet day on the bike. We finished the day covering 80 miles in just under 7 and a half hours. It was definitely a long wet day on the bike.

A long day in the hills...

Hello from Everett PA. Today we biked from Boonsboro MD to Everett PA a distance of over 85 miles. Today’s ride consisted of many hills, as we have now hit the Appalachians Mountains. We departed Boonsboro shortly after 7:30am this morning after packing up and eating breakfast. At around 40 miles we stopped for lunch and a swim in the lake at Cowans Gap State Park. The hills seemed to intensify after lunch growing longer and steeper. About 16 miles after departing Cowans Gap State Park we stopped for a water break and fed the horses and ponies on the side of the road. We then continued to climb capturing many great views as we made our way through the mountains. With about 10 miles left in the day we stopped at McDonalds for ice cream sundaes to refuel ourselves for the final leg. We are currently staying at the Everett United Methodist Church where they fixed us dinner of lasagna, scalloped potatoes, beans and salad along with pie for dessert. Tomorrow we head to Mt. Pleasant on another 80 plus mile day that’s sure to be full of many more hills and possibly our first rainy day of the trip.

Photos and DC

Hello! I am currently coming to you from Catholic University in Washington D.C. where my sister's kind friend Tori is letting me use her computer resources. Today is our first off day of the journey and we are using it to catch up on things and rest our legs for the hills that await us in the coming days.

This morning we took a tour of Walter Reed Army Medical Center visiting the Comprehensive Breast Center. It was an amazing opportunity for our team and I think we all took a lot away from it. After our tour we visited with an U. of Illinois alumni who was receiving a treatment at the center. It was another experience that reminded me why I'm doing this ride and that I will remember in the weeks ahead.

Yesterday we rode into D.C. following the paths that run through Rock Creek Park. After riding on many busy roads during our first few days it was a nice break and the trees and scenery made for a beautiful ride. The end of the ride yesterday made up for the first part of the day when things got off to a rather shaky start. About a mile after leaving the Frisby House in Baltimore, Dana and I both fell on a rather bumpy stretch of street. We are both fine and escaped with just a few scrapes however I broke one of the cables on my bike which I need to get repaired if I want to ride in any gear other than granny gear (where it is currently stuck!).

I know this is short but I will try to add more later. Before I sign off I want to thank Mr. and Mrs. Gehres and the members of the Salem United Methodist Church in Newark, Delaware for putting us up for the night and feeding us during our stop in Newark. Though I'd never met them before the Gehres married my parents 29 years ago and when they heard we were going to be stopping in Newark offered to help out. The generosity of their church was amazing from the food to connecting us with someone to let us take showers at the local YMCA - so Thank You, Salem UMC!

Finally - I've uploaded some of my photos to my Picasa Web Album and they can be viewed by clicking the photo album link on the right side of my profile. More will be added next time I get non-firewalled internet access!

On the road again...

Hello from Hillsborough, NJ! We have completed one day of riding putting in over 70 miles today after a number of missed turns and detours. We departed Central Park in New York City around 8am this morning crossing over the George Washington Bridge and into New Jersey. The majority of today’s riding was stop and go traffic with many lights, pot holes and missed turns. The group I was riding with managed to find the lunch stop around 2pm and then later had a nice holdover snack of pizza when the kind owners of Maria's Pizza & Restaurant offered us a free pie at a stop mid afternoon.

We arrived in Hillsboro around 5:45 pm where we are spending the night at Anish's home. His parents fixed us a wonderful dinner followed by cake.

Tomorrow we head to Philadelphia a distance of between 50 and 60 miles. Others are waiting to use the computer so I won’t post them right now but hopefully within a few days I'll have photos posted in my photo album.

Thank You!

Thank You Erick Mosher!

Part II - 2008!

When I arrived in San Diego last summer I had no plans of riding this summer however here I am about to set out another journey in just two days. The next 24 hours are going to be crazy as I rush around getting things done before I leave. Thank you to all who have supported us and the cause we ride for. This summer we will not be using blogger to update our team blogs however I may copy my entries over to hear as well so I can include photos, video, etc.

Speaking of San Diego, I want to congratulate the Nation Run team as they are just a few days from completing their four month run across the nation! Congratulations on living your dream!

T-7 Days!

It’s hard to believe that in just seven days we will be meeting in NYC to begin this summer’s journey. Between work, training and other stuff this past month has been absolutely crazy and I’m really looking forward to taking life at a slower pace, meeting new people and hitting the road for our cause. Training has been going alright and despite a slight twitch of the knee about a week ago I’m feeling great and ready for a change in scenery!

For anyone in the Oneonta area, I will be speaking about my experience as a member of The Illini 4000 (both last summer and as I prepare for this summer) at the Davenport United Methodist Church this coming Sunday at a brunch following church services - all are welcome to attend!

Thanks to everyone who has continued to donate – it’s still not too late!

Spring?

Hello and Happy Spring! Despite the snow flurries and chilly temperatures we are just over a month away from the start of this summers ride. I’m excited to have the opportunity to ride again and am looking forward to meeting everyone in about 37 days!

Outdoor training got off to a slow start due to the weather. I was finally able to get outside the first week of April and have been riding outside ever since, although not continuously. I rode to Sidney and back last Sunday for a round trip total of 57 miles and was planning on riding to Cooperstown yesterday however the weatherman had other ideas when he invited a cold front to town for the day. Personally, I blame Punxsutawney Phil, even though it’s far surpassed the six weeks since he saw his shadow I'm pretty sure he had something to do with it. Despite the cold and wind I did manage to go out and ride 20 miles mid-afternoon. It’s suppose to warm up over the course of the week so hopefully that will equal some quality training time!

Thank you to everyone who has donated thus far, it means a lot to have your support.

The westward trail...

I know many who thought I was insane when I decided to embark on a 4000 mile, coast to coast bike ride. However these guys make me feel like a slacker.

Tomorrow fellow Oneonta State alumni, Andy Wahila and Matt Durkin along with current senior Ken Stannard will set out on a coast to coast journey of their own - on foot! Yes, you read that right they are RUNNING across America! No support van to provide them with water every 20 miles rather they are pushing their gear in baby joggers! The three will leave from near Savannah, Georgia on February 1st and continue westward until hopefully arriving in San Diego sometime around June 1st. Their friend Dewey DeLisle will be riding along on his bike. Andy, Matt and Ken all ran cross country and track at Oneonta State and Andy interned in the office where I work his senior year.

From one Oneonta graduate to another I wish you guys 116 days of amazing adventures!

Check them out at http://www.nationrun.com/

Happy Trails!

On a side note, the first day of summer is only 141 days away!