Hopkins 4K for Cancer

May 29, 2004

Our first day!
Road-kill Count: 11
Flat Tire Count: 9
Crash Count: 5

Today was an awesome start to this trip. It was long day and we were riding into a headwind the entire time, but most of us managed to finish with a smile on our face. I wasn’t expecting it so soon but we were able to see some amazing countryside on the ride today. Pastures and farmland spreading everywhere as we strolled along though the rolling hill of Maryland and Pennsylvania filled the ride today; I can only imagine what the rest of the country has in store for us. Just looking around and taking it all in made the riding a lot easier. Fittingly, we made our ride today for all of the Hope Lodgers. It was awesome to see some of them at our send-off, it lifted all of our spirits for the rest of the day.
Some of the highlights of today’s ride for me personally were the lovely sound of the cicadas singing to us. They did let up for parts of Maryland but the second we crossed the Pennsylvania they were at it again. After eating a cicada yesterday I was relieved by a sign that I saw that proclaimed, “Cicadas, yet another low carbohydrate deliciousy”, THANK GOD, I was hoping not to ruin my Atkins Diet (After all I am trying to maintain my prestine figure across the country). We were fortunate enough to ride past the cool bumps they put on the side of the roads to wake you up in case you are driving off the road, they are in fact very cool to drive over, but I do not recommend riding a bike over them, not so fun. We did have the first semi-major climb of the trip, someone said it was about 2 miles long but it seemed to never end. I somehow managed to scale it without stopping and had fun going down the other side where I reached a top speed of 48mph!!! All in all it was an amazing day, and although I may be sore I can’t wait to continue on to San Francisco.

- Peter Dewey



Last night was our first pow-wow. I sat on the damp grass on the south end of John’s Hopkins’s campus in a circle of strangers. We spoke of why we signed up to ride 4,ooo miles and what we want to gain by doing so. Although this was a mere glimpse into the inner lives of those who decided to share, the experience was meaningful and I look forward to the weekly pow-wows we will have as well as the less formal moments in which we will share in each others’ lives.
Today we crossed the Mason-Dixon, the Appalachian Trail, and our first state boarder (from Maryland into Pennsylvania). Some of us felt 71 miles on a bicycle for the first time. Some of us learned to use our beautiful new bicycle – complete with toe-clips – for the first time. All of us realized that this is the beginning of something incrediable.

- Lisa



After a long 4K preparations day yesterday and two hours of sleep, I headed out to start our long journey across the country. I was really excited since the beginning, especially on the ride to the harbor. After creating a new language for road obstacles with Monica where bumps are called kabluey and man-holes are called machos. In the harbor I dipped the back tires and said goodbye to my friends.
Among the “interesting” things that happened today were the following: Brian L. giving his body and bike to not run over a cicadas, the walking of the Maryland/Penn. state border, lots of food, including balance bars consumed in one day, and the dead corpses of animals, in specific the one of the deer. On a personal note I was able to bike the “unending” hill, fell once or twice and made a lot noise. Also loved the huge downhill (1 and 1/4 miles of a 7° incline) to enter Waynesboro. It was an amazing day for me as to prior to today my longest ride had been 30 miles on a flat road. So everything is great, and I can’t wait for San Francisco.