Hopkins 4K for Cancer

June 17, 2004

Fayette, MO
Fayette, MO to Sweet Springs, MO

This morning started out right . . . extra sleep. Actually, there were some pretty bad thunderstorms in Fayette this morning, so we had to wait it out a bit in the church. For most of us, this meant a short nap after breakfast. About 10:30 things had cleared up enough that we headed out. The mileage was short, so the late start didn’t hurt our hopes of finishing by 4:00.

About 10 miles into the day we hit some more rain, but this time there was no lightning so we rode through it. Everyone rode well, getting to lunch quickly. We ate in the cafeteria of an elementary school in Marshall and got to watch some students practice a musical. It was nice to have a dry pace to eat and some entertainment while we were there.

There was mention of a shrine to Jim the Wonder Dog in the town of Marshall. No one really knew what that meant, but stories from past riders left us intrigued. Unfortunately, everyone was cold and wet by lunchtime and decided just to head to Sweet Springs.

Once in Sweet Springs, the group got shuttled to the town pool to take a dip and shower. Some of us saw the remnants of the Sweet Spring, for which the town is named, and the Sulfur Spring, which smelled terrible.

The congregation was amazing and so was dinner. After dinner, there was a group bike cleaning party because of the day’s rain and, more importantly, a haircutting party. Some of the guys got 4K-inspired haircuts courtesy of Mikalah. We spent most of the night with some members of the congregation and then went to sleep early.

- Brian Tursi