Hopkins 4K for Cancer

June 13, 2007

Montgomery City, MO
Today we ventured from the beds of Washington University in Saint Louis to the farms of Montgomery City, Missouri. Unfortunately we left Saint Louis down three riders, as Jen was taking her nursing exam, Shantha was off being the maid of honor at a wedding.

The ride took our group through the many rolling hills of Missouri, and we finally saw fields of something other than corn and soy; we were treated to wheat and hay! Though the trip itself was not the most physically demanding, two new 4K records for flats in a day were set as the team lost 15 tires and Arun lost 4 to the Eastern Missouri roads. After our 86 mile ride, we were welcomed to Montgomery City by the Chief of Police and the Pastor of the Montgomery City First United Methodist Presbyterian Church. We were treated warmly to lasagna and you’re your own banana splits.

A reporter presented us with photos of last year's 4K group and a copy of the newspaper article that had printed, then interviewed some of us for this year's coverage. Several of us received a personal history lesson from her husband and another host about Montgomery County-- they had authored a book about the area and gave us a copy! We received many food donations from a variety of area churches that provided us with all the waterstop snacks we'd need for the next day.

Unfortunately, our itinerary didn't allow for us to join their community's Relay for Life that took place just two days before. As the day wound down the team completed some much needed bike maintenance before playing a game of “mafia” and finally going to sleep.