Hopkins 4K for Cancer

July 3, 2006

Day Off
We woke up on the stage of an elementary school gymnasium. It was great. We slept as late as we wanted and then had the whole day to do whatever we pleased. By now there is clearly a Day Off routine, which consists of:

1. Excessive breakfast: We headed to the restaurants and treated ourselves to eggs, bacon, pancakes and lots of the Tour. We met a man at the restaurant who had biked cross country (in the preferred direction from West to East) and was now riding through Colorado with his girlfriend.

2. Numerous loads of laundry: Yes, family friends and sponsors, we actually washed our spandex on a regular basis.

3. Internet: Finding a library is always exciting and checking email with 10 other 4kers breathing down your neck for their turn on the computer is cool too.

4. Exploring the neighborhood: Some of us checked out the lake which is surrounded by enormous mountains. Because Grand Lake is very touristy, there were many adventures to take part in on the lake such as canoeing, paddle-boating, dog-walking around it, people watching everywhere. James and I ran into Erin, Derick, Katie Y and Ondrej by the boat house. They were setting out on a hike around the lake and we decided to just people watch.

After a while we headed back to the school for those afternoon naps. It’s funny how we can ride for hours on regular days and survive without a nap, but on days off, there is nothing that can stop you from that afternoon snooze. We watched the Tour on DVD on a huge screen in the gym and relaxed and then we were fully entertained by turning Joe’s enormous ‘fro into a full-on rockin’ mohawk. It was great. The rest of the afternoon and evening were spent hanging out on the playground, eating dinner in town again and going to bed.

It has been a few days since we’ve had community interaction. Though the day off in Grand Lake was pleasant and relaxing, I certainly miss the days when community members provide us with home-cooking and tell us their cancer-related stories. It’s these stories that we think about as we ride and I look forward to the next town where we can find such inspiration and strength.

-Nicole