I knew today was going to be a tough one when I walked my bags outside to load the vans at 5:30 AM and it was already 90 degrees with 91% humidity...yikes! We had 85 miles total to get us to Effingham. It was only about 7 miles from our host until we crossed the river into Illinois and got to take some pictures by the state sign! After that we got onto some back roads that took us past a tiny airport that had some cool old abandoned planes and endless corn fields. With today's heat, I think I downed atleast 2 gallons of water to keep myself hydrated during our 8 hours of riding. Big shoutout to Chris and Victor for being awesome in the water van and supporting us the whole day!
Towards the end of the day, Walt had a blowout in his tire so we had to pull off of the road into a driveway in the middle of nowhere. Right after he had taken his tire off I noticed that a sign was posted next to where we were standing (see picture below) and I almost peed my pants I was so scared! I got my group to quickly move to the other side of the road to wait for the van to bring us a new tire. Next time we stop in the middle of nowhere we'll have to be more careful about being on other people's property! On a lighter note, we were stopped while passing through a small town called Newton by a woman who wanted to interview us for their town newspaper. She asked us some questions and took our picture. It was awesome to let her know about our cause and what we are riding for and to know that the story she writes will reach even more people to educate them about the Ulman Cancer Fund and our ride!
After some of my teammates had to be vanned to the host because of the heat and other issues, it ended up being Katrina, Ki Young and I finishing the ride together. We were the last group to roll into the host around 6 pm and it was nice to see all of my teammates waiting outside to cheer us in! Nicole, the 4K program director, was also at the host when we arrived to support us for the next few days. I am so thankful for all of the staff we've had joining us from Ulman Cancer Fund , it has really helped my team and I to get back into riding for Jamie. Now time for some rest before another long day tomorrow. Stay tuned!