Day 1 — Recap

Early morning. I left my hotel at 6:30am Central time, and walked 0.8 miles with my bike (along with a carry-on suitcase, my "jump" bag of snacks and bike attire/sunscreen/etc., and snacks) — to Lurie Children's Hospital.

We loaded our bags into one of several support vehicles, checked tire PSI, then we met a pediatric oncologist and a community outreach leader from Luries, to talk about the impact of community giving and advocacy. 

Several of us spoke to the press, including the Chicago newspaper and two TV stations. Then, we heard from two riders this year — Ken Olson (father, and 6-time rider of this event at various distances and various cities across America) and his 21-year-old son, Max. Max surprised his dad by telling him he was joining, on a break (approved by his professors) from Creighton. They spoke about Ava — Ken's daughter, Max's little sister. Ava was diagnosed with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) in November 2016. DIPG is 100% fatal, as so little is known about it and how it can be detected esrlier and treated.

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After group photos, we rolled our slightly after 8am Central, headed towards the bike trail along Lake Shore Drive and Lake Michigan. So many bikers on Divy city bikes, runners, other club cyclists. I grabbed a few photos, but here's one Ken Olson grabbed of the group.

We rode through Chicago and into Hammond, Indiana — where we rolled through the city and onto a bike trail that met up with a trail through the Indiana Dunes National Park. Our first rest stop for snacks/bio break/water refueling was in a Cabela's parking lot just outside of town. This was about 2 hours into the ride.

We continued onward into Indiana, along the beautiful shores of Lake Michigan (its southernmost point). Very scenic (and very large) homes. Lots of lake effect cross wind too, on Oak Avenue.

After another 2 hours, we made it to our lunch stop in an Aldi parking lot. Refuel and repeat. Then back on the road. We discussed moving riders around in the group to make sure they're getting sufficient drafting potential. Nothing tougher and more demoralizing than getting dropped and trying to overexert to catch up.

We crossed into Michigan, still along the lakeshore, then rode a bit on neighborhood roads and a few highway shoulders — until our last rest stop at mile 93. We decided to keep a peloton of our entire group, rolling at 18mph, at times 2-wide and others (when the shoulder was narrower) in a single file line.

18.3 miles later we arrived at our end for day one at our hotel in Saint Joseph, MI — 111 miles and one time zone later.

We checked in and a few of us decided to walk to the lake for a dip — to cool our muscles and rinse off the sweat and road grit. Kevin and Stephen even went for a swim! The lake was much warmer than Lake Superior, and we saw kite surfers and families enjoying the early evening.

We headed back for dinner in the parking lot at our support unit RV. It was a time to reflect on the day, enjoy some snacks, adult refreshments, play bags, and recouperate with some therapy compression leg boots. 

We had a rider meeting at 8pm to discuss the day (pace, terrain, breaks) and adjust for the next day. 

I headed back to my room to clean and re-lube my chain, get my jersey and kit set up for tomorrow, making sure I plugged in my tail light, head unit, touch up my watch, and charge my phone.

Stay tuned for the stories of the kids we are riding for tomorrow as we head to Muskegon, MI.