Hopkins 4K for Cancer

June 7, 2004

Our first encounter with Headwinds
Today was the hardest day both mentally and physically. Just the fact that it was 94 miles long made it a tough day, but to that we also had to deal with temperatures above the 90’s and strong head winds (which turn regular flat lands into never ending hills). But at the end of the day everyone overcame these obstacles and succeeded in finishing the ride today. The hosts today were wonderful, specially Kelsey, which baked three berries muffins and brownies. We are staying at the LaGrane Mt. Zion church and they have given us one of the warmest welcomes in the trip.

Among the highlights of the day the were: the amazing people we met at each stop, hanging out with the cows and goat, watching jeanette being followed by a dog, fitting 18 people in a 7 person minivan, the shower at the girls’ locker room in the town’s HS, and also the very interesting conversation that took place at that locker room. The trip so far has been awesome, and I can wait to meet more amazing people.

- Alex “Funkle”


Today was my experience to the extremes. I began the day feeling tired, sore and weak. After a short while, it was like an entirely new day. I had more energy and felt like I could ride forever. By the end of the day though, our last leg was a five mile stretch with worse than normal headwinds. Again I felt tired and overly fatigued, but we all finished the ride strong. My day was a roller coaster, sort of like what dealing with cancer can be like. Hope followed by loss or despair followed by joyousness are both common. When things are good you’ve gotta ride them as far as they will take you, cause it won’t last forever. When things are bad, if you hold on hope and persevere your circumstances with brighten. When biking for and entire day, I’ve found you have a lot of time to just think, about anything really. Thinking about the people you’ve loved and lost or almost lost and knowing that what you’re doing would make those people more proud of you than any of us could imagine is one thing I know will let me ride strong through the worst conditions and finish when I never thought possible.

- Joe Siegel


Ninety-four miles – what an amazing day! The morning went relatively smoothly as our rising and packing becomes routine. I set out with Renee, Rob and Patrick and the first quarter of the ride flew by with ease. On the back roads of western Ohio we enjoyed the lack of traffic and fell into conversation that passed the time. We spent the first water stop with friendly nine-year-old Quinten and three of his cows and a goat. After the stop, we soon joined Peter, Joe and Rebecca to form a long pace line that helped ease the burden of the wind. The terrain changed from completely level to mildly rolling hills as we skimmed the edge of Michigan. (We were all disappointed that no sign marked our passage into fourth state of the trip!) Although the lunch stop seemed to be 100s of miles away, it was worth the wait. Ken and Judy lent us a beautiful shade tree and opened their home to us. We ate cheese and jerky from a nearby farm and ended the meal with freshly made frozen yogurt, also locally produced. Many of us napped before conquering the second half of the day. Indian rolled up quickly after lunch and provided us with the photo opportunity we wanted at the boarder. The trip dragged on and, for the first time, I thought to myself “I’m actually crossing the country with the power of my own two legs. I must be crazy!” Yet, I pedaled on. The finally water stop also seemed many more miles away than it actually was (of course we had gone over 80 miles by that point!) We stopped under a tree on a corner lawn and were greeted by the home owner who shared the story of her father’s cancer. She told us about the blanket she had given him with German Shepards on it, that he called them his guard dogs, and that he was barried with the blanket wrapped over him. The last few miles were mentally very tough for me. Luckily I had my fellow riders beside me to keep me going. We even ended with a solid 4 mile sprint to our destination. We were all exhausted, but boy did it feel good!

- Lisa