Hopkins 4K for Cancer

June 13, 2006

Saint Louis, MO
June 13, 2006

We started our day with a very early 5:30 wake up. After packing our stuff up we rode to the dining hall for breakfast. My table was very rowdy this morning, considering at most meals we’re so hungry that once the food reaches the table we all quickly fall silent. Many new quotes for the quote book came from our conversations, and everyone laughed a lot. What a great way to start the day!

Perhaps last night’s Pow Wow, led by Garrett, put everyone in such good spirits. We talked a lot about how the 4K compares to what a cancer patient goes through. Everyone’s openness and honesty made me realize we actually are a family working together and supporting each other throughout this trip. The warm, fuzzy feelings I got from everyone’s shared ideas carried over into today’s ride. Since I’ve been getting very little sleep and last night was certainly no exception, with no more than 5 hours, long rides are becoming more and more draining. The past few days have also been very hard on me emotionally- I didn’t think it would be so weird not seeing all of my close friends in Baltimore every day. It is very hard to have my best friends with whom I usually laugh, chat, and lean on, hundreds of miles away. The Pow Wow helped me find greater comfort in all of the amazing people that are on this trip with me. I may not be close to all of them, but I know that if I ever need someone to talk to any of them will gladly listen.

Like every day on the bike, a couple parts of the day stand out. Our first water stop was in front of a big, old farmhouse. When we stopped Garrett told us we could use their bathroom. Eventually the couple came outside. It turns out the man had seen us riding down the road as he drove home. The couple excitedly took pictures of us before we rode off. We appreciated being able to use a real bathroom instead of searching for a hidden place to relieve ourselves. It’s pretty funny how easy to please we’ve become. Just give us a shower, toilet, and Wal-Mart and we are more than entertained for hours.

The big event of the day was crossing over the Mississippi River. Before we reached it, my group stopped to look at a fort, replica of one Lewis & Clark stayed in during their travels across the country. We learned a lot about their voyage. The most interesting remedy we learned about included mercury as a cure all. It turns out the medication went through them so quickly that the mercury was not absorbed.

When we reached the Chain of Rocks Bridge, which goes over the Mississippi, we took lots of pictures with the majority of the group. We could see the St. Louis arch from the bridge, though it was still miles away. Many of us spent a while on the bridge talking about our ride so far and taking a ton of pictures to remember the momentous occasion.

Riding into St. Louis my group met another cyclist who talked to us for a while and ended up riding most of the way to Washington University with us. The city was a bigger challenge than I expected- not only were the streets busy, but we also had a fairly large uphill to ride which was broken up by many stoplights. We all reached the university before we figured out where we were staying. It seems that everyone carried positive feelings from last night’s Pow Wow into today’s ride. Hopefully those same feelings will get us through the next 6 weeks of the tripJ

On our day off we visited the St. Louis Hope Lodge. I spoke with a man who has been fighting colon cancer. He shared his experience growing up on a farm with us. It was interesting to hear his take on how farming has changed throughout his lifetime. I hope that our visit helped him to enjoy his day a little more, and that we left him with some sort of memory like that he left with us. We all enjoyed conversing with the residents, learning about their lives, and sharing our own cancer experiences.

~Erin