Hopkins 4K for Cancer

June 14, 2005

St. Louis, MO
We left Taylorville this morning with a very long ride ahead of us. At the end of the day by bike computer stood at 109.45 miles. I dedicated this day to the women I am riding for. Her name is Marijke de Boer and she lost her fight to Uterine Cancer in the summer of '04.
The morning was pretty tough, and since I have a cold, biking is even tougher. However, my group kept pushing me along to eventually right under the arch in St. Louis. Despite the hills and the normal rigors of every day, we had a surprising number of incidents of dog chasing and our first gravel road. Everything however, is a new and inviting experience.
After an arduous morning we arrived at our lunch spot, greeted by yet another dog, this one (named Brownnoser) however, was just looking for an afternoon snack. I learned from the kind woman who let us use her bathroom that the town had 46 people in it. The railroad moved out and so had all the people; this problem she says can be seen all across the country.
After lunch, one of our riders (Joe) accidently fell over a turtle and almost killed it. He was not to pleased when we all started laughing and snapping pictures of him on the ground. :-)
I was feeling much better after lunch, however, to my dismay, the wind picked up and we rode the last 60 miles against a very strong head wind. When we were finally getting some momentum we were stopped by a train that had a total of 112 cars (I counted, and yes I know I am a dork).
Luckily, our way into St. Louis (the last 30 miles) were on a bike path so we did not have to worry about cars. We stepped off our bikes the first time we caught a glimpse of the Mississippi River (realizing for probably the first time that we had BIKED there) and were surprised how strong the wind actually was; it almost blew all of us over.
After that I had a new found energy and was actually excited to get back on my bike and speed it to the arch. We crossed the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge, a bridge that crosses the Mississippi, restricted for the use of cyclists and pedestrians only, and rode into Missouri. This was by far the best state line we have seen yet. We were on a bridge in the middle of the Mississippi with the arch towering over the trees in the distance.
After crossing the state line we bolted the last 12 miles to the arch. It was about 6:30PM by the time we reached the arch, which tells you how long and hard the day must have been, since we got out at around 8:30am. We hoisted the bikes up on our shoulders and ran up the steps and under the arch. I am really excited, and proud of the distance and miles (about 1000) we have already covered.
Luckily, the day ended at this point and we were shuttled twenty miles away to the George Washington University in St. Louis, that had kindly and graciously given each of us our own dorm rooms to sleep in as well as two meals.
This day has by far been the best day of the trip, because even though it was tough and long, once I reached St. Louis I realized the magnitude of and how rewarding our journey is.

In loving memory of Marijke de Boer.

Franca Kraenzlin