Hopkins 4K for Cancer

June 11, 2003

"There is just one place/That can light
Michigan City, IN to Chicago, IL



The route for today took the group from the Trinity Episcopal Church in Michigan City to Chicago. At the start of the ride, many people decided to return to Mount Baldy to take more photographs and just enjoy the beautiful scenery. Approximately 20 miles out on the route, Dan, who was driving the truck, set up a water stop. To this point, the roads had relatively little traffic and the ride itself was peaceful. However, after the water stop, we had to pass through Gary, IN to meet Meredith and Katie, who were setting up lunch.



Never before in my life have I seen a more run-down city. The roads were in such disrepair that I was starting to think that the only thing that was holding them together was the holes. Due to the small and poorly maintained shoulders on the road and the noise from the heavy traffic passing by, the large pace lines that had been forming in previous days failed. It was simply too difficult to communicate the numerous road hazards to the riders behind you. In spite of the conditions, the riders all managed to ride into lunch without trouble.



The last part of today’s trip was riding into Chicago itself. The riders all remained in one group after lunch. For the first (approximately) 8 miles, the support vehicles went with the riders. The van was in front of them, and the truck was behind. After that, the rest of the day’s ride was one on a bike path that went along the shore of Lake Michigan.



Because of the heavy rush hour traffic through the city, the riders were shuttled in the van the last 5 miles from the bike path into the city to the University of Illinois at Chicago, which is were we were to spend the night. The building we stayed in was the university’s school of nutrition. We were sereved a pasta dinner by the school and spent the rest of the night unwinding from the day’s ride and thinking ahead to how we’d spend our day off the next day.



Brian Patrick Mason