Hopkins 4K for Cancer

June 16, 2003

To the Arch!
Day 16


Taylorville, IL to St. Louis, MO



We woke up ridiculously early today (5 a.m.) to head out for St. Louis. The ride was long (97 miles), but relatively smooth. I rode with Travis and Sam for most of the day, and the three of us arrived on the Illinois side of the Chain of Rocks Bridge over an hour before the group’s 4 PM meeting time, so we went down to a river-side trail and rode around for a bit. Travis and I decided to race, and I was defeated, as he deftly drafted me for most of the quarter-mile and slingshot out at the end to win. While waiting for everyone to arrive, we were fortunate enough to have sandwiches donated by Hardee’s—especially since we were starving by that point.



We crossed the bridge two-by-two, and were greeted by an air-conditioned bus chartered by the Ann McEnroe Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund. While most of the riders went back up the bridge for photos, I sat on the bus with Sumeet and we cooled off. The bus took us to The Millennium Hotel, which was right in the heart of downtown St. Louis (conveniently by the Arch), and fortunately our place of residence for two nights.



After quick showers, we jumped back on the bus and went to the house of Jim McEnroe, husband of Ann McEnroe and the director of the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund. We had a delicious dinner of burgers and German sausages, and hung out in his backyard for a while, then headed back to the hotel. While some people went out to explore the town, most of us went to bed after a long day.



Babak Nazer