Hopkins 4K for Cancer

July 2, 2002

Day 31 (52 Miles) McCook, NE to Benkelme
Although I am not able to recall any poignant observations from today’s ride (I do know that Jenn lost her sunglasses for the second time), I can clearly recollect an afternoon and evening that heavily contributed to the encouragement of group morale, and also renewed our appreciation for community interaction.

Upon settling in Benkelman Park, Ashley, Ashley, and myself went to explore the town. A visit to the general store rendered some long desired Diet Pepsis and tidbits from various magazines (I now know the 10 ways to find perfect love). We then sat on the sidewalk and reflected on the pros and cons of small town life, something within which we had found ourselves fairly frequently in our travels, something both surprising and interesting to us all. The finale of our observations culminated in the singing of various songs to break the silence, which often penetrated and hung within these less populated destinations.

Our return to the town park was gratefully rewarded with the information that the pool had been opened for our use. Most of the group happily took advantage of the offer by donning suits and walking across the field to either lay out, swim around, or experiment with the high dive, which, I must say, seemed a great deal closer to the ground from my original observation point at the base of the pool. Our nautical activities were both fun and refreshing, and the group left content and thankful.

The night’s highlights began after enjoying a lovely dinner provided by the town Lion’s Club. Joined by a new acquaintance, the nine-year-old local, Dalton, we organized into teams and played soccer on the park field. Complete with sprinkler run-ins and several disputes over the boundaries of the field, our game was a very nice mid-evening activity. Personally, I had a profound appreciation that we had come to a point where we can muster the energy to do things other than sleep upon reaching the daily destination. This appreciation continued throughout the game, which found a conclusion as some group members launched a water balloon attack while hidden behind a shed, an attack seemingly grand with the presence of Vaugner’s musical accompaniment, courtesy of Blair’s ever-useful boom box.

With the coming of dusk also came a very crucial pow-wow, an exchange which has become quite pivotal in the process of becoming a cohesive group that can not only bike together, but live, eat, and breath in each other’s presence for nearly 24 hours each day. The pow-wow was centered on how the leaders and group members could interact in the most fluid manner, a communication concern prevalent in almost any life setting. A session of constructive criticism and exchange exposed not only ideas for better group dynamic, but also recognized the progress and accomplishment the Hopkins 4K has made in their entirely student-led endeavor. As many of you sit at home and worry about your sons, daughters, relatives, and friends; part of your natural uneasiness with unleashing your college student on a 4,000 mile trek is the absence of the experienced, more knowledgeable adult. That is the very thing which should also provide some sort of simultaneous comfort: the fact that we are all so deeply committed to this project, where we really are on our own and under the care of our very peers. Maybe we may gain some maturity while biking across this country, maybe not, but we will all make it through and will hopefully learn a few things along the way. In tonight’s pow-wow, I learned that we trust each other a little more than maybe originally estimated: we depend on each other. We are becoming a group, we are the Hopkins 4K for Cancer.

-Sarah Mandato (hi family!)