Hopkins 4K for Cancer

June 2, 2005

Youngstown, OH
After a fabulous night of massages and much needed bike maintenance we woke up this morning to an even better breakfast at the Westminster Presbyterian Church. I think everyone is really starting to get the whole morning routine down to a science and we were all itching to get rolling this morning. Everyone knew that today was going to be an easier day than the previous few which wound us through the Appalachians.

Our morning meeting was even better than usual because many of the church members remained after breakfast to join us in our morning moment of silence. The pastor gave us a blessing and wished us well on our journey. He also made a special point to tell us to chronicle our journey well. He told us about his history of living in probably close to a dozen states in the United States that it is the people you meet and the relationships you form that prove to make great memories and he encouraged us to remember them. His words really hit home because, though we have only been on this trip for a little under a week I already feel like I have a whole new 4K family and I am sure I will never forget the generosity and genuine kindness of the people we have meet so far along the way.

The moment of silence and dedication this morning was especially poignant. Steve dedicated the ride this morning to his Aunt who unfortunately lost her battle with cancer last night. It was such a powerful way to remind us all why we are doing this and to demonstrate the effect that cancer has on everyone.

We began our short 50 mile day today in a great mood. We just finished the Appalachians, our bikes were tuned, our stomachs full and we were all ready to reach our 3rd state of the trip: Ohio! Today many of the riding groups which we were riding in the first couple of days split up and many people decided to ride with new people. My new group consisted of Nisha, Amir and Trang, but everyone stayed relatively close together for the whole day.

The riding today seemed like a walk in the park compared with the previous days in the mountains. We had great weather and nice rolling hills up to the first water break. The roads became a little rougher and the directions became a little more complicated as the day went on.

When we got to our lunch stop, no one was famished like we usually are but we still had plenty of food. Mulligans donated tons of wings, a local grocery store donated tons of fruit, water and granola bars and we still had leftovers from our fabulous dinner at the D’Amico’s. We lounged around on the front lawn of someone’s house for a bit before we headed off to cross the state line.

We reached Ohio in one huge group, more than half of the riders arrived at the sign at the same time and had time for some fun pictures. We knew that the church was really close so we pushed on and just as we arrived the next intersection a man in a truck saw our confused looks and asked “Are you the 4K cyclist?” He lead us up the road to the church where we met the rest of the group and were welcome by our gracious hosts. Everyone had more energy than usual today after the rides and unpacked the van to head to the YMCA to shower.
Dinner was fantastic again. Travis and Sam talked about this dinner all week but every meal we have seems to be better than the last. This one was far from a disappointment.

I just realized today that it has been one week from my college graduation which should be one of the most momentous occasions in my life. Everyday I can’t help thinking that this trip is going to rival college as a life changing experience in more ways than one.