We embarked on this journey on the morning of Sunday, May 27, in the Baltimore Inner Harbor. My brother, my Dad, and a few of my friends came to support me at the sendoff at the bright and early hour of 7 AM. We dipped our back tires into the harbor and we were sent on our way.

Victor sending me off on the big day

My team, consisting of Ana, Kevin, Tony, Patrick Schneider, and an alumni of the 2011 San Francisco ride named Nick, made our way through the confusing streets of Baltimore and headed South. Because within the first five minutes of the ride I proclaimed that I had to pee, we named our team Urine-Nation. We biked down the Gwynn Falls trail without any trouble to the loop around BWI Airport to some beautiful views. The ride after the first two water stops was when it became rough for me. All the blood rushed to my stomach to digest the tons of calories I had just eaten. But my group helped me push through and I kept going. We biked through some other absolutely beautiful trails through the woods and finally made it to downtown DC. I loved riding past the Washington Monument, the Jefferson Monument, and making our way into Virginia. We finally made it through the 65 miles to the church in Alexandria, which is more miles than I have ever biked at once. I was exhausted, but I did it. We as the 4K team, made it through our first day in one piece.

A late afternoon of the Washigton Monument

On day two, we made our way to Warrington, VA. The morning ride was cool and comfortable and my team was cheerful. Consisting of Vince, Peter, Jeff, and Marilyn, we dubbed ourselves Team Thusiasm. The bike trail through Virginia to Vienna was through the woods full of adorable dogs (I think Vince and I counted 15). We also picked up a random cyclist named Steve who rode in the middle of our pack until Vienna. While the morning of the ride was great, the second half was rough. It was hot and humid, and there were more hills than the day before. I was exhausted. We made it to the last hill before getting to our host and I just burst into tears. I was just so sad and intimidated that we had yet another hill to overcome. But we made it through the entire 60 miles, thanks to the amazing support of my team.

Team Thusiasm at the last water stop of the day

We arrived in Warrington to finally take a shower and a meal donated by Chipotle. We also received a massive donation from Panera, and since then have been carrying around three garbage bags full of bread and pastries.

The third day I dedicated my ride to my brother Sam, who has been amazingly supportive of me before the ride and has been sending me an encouraging email every day. It means so much to me how proud he is.

I woke up even more sore than the last day, which made the first half of the ride tough since my muscles were so tight. But my team, made up of Drummond, Michael, MJ, and Alice, helped me push through. After a few country roads we biked down 29 South, which is essentially a highway. It was scary to be biking on a small shoulder with trucks flying by, which made the 25 miles on that road drag by. My inspiration for making it through the day was Alice: she had been on van duty the day before due to an extremely tough first day for her. But she was determined to finish and I could not have been more impressed. If she was going to finish, I was going to as well. MVP of the team definitely goes to MJ: he rode at Alice’s pace and helped her keep going. He made sure that everyone on the team was okay, even when we were far apart in pace. He’s easily one of the strongest cyclists on the team. We finally made it to the host, only to learn that our host changed, so the 29 of us biked through Charlottesville together to the Boys and Girls Club. This day had definitely been tougher than the past two, with a tool mileage of 72 miles and a climb of 3600 feet.

The transformation of the Jackson Five to Team Weed with leaves in our helmets

Day four was a great day for me. I had a huge breakthrough. I woke up more sore than the past three days, so sore that I wasn’t sure that I could ride that day. Watching me trudge around to get ready, Leah even offered me her spot on the van. I decided to stretch and at least try to make it through the day. It was the best decision I’ve ever made.

My team was absolutely incredible. We named ourselves No Child Left Behind, because really, we were so together. I could not have been with a better group of people to get me through the day. Nana, Peter, Hyo, Ana, and Steph all helped me find my inner strength. The morning of day four was hard since my muscles were still really tight, but once we got through 20 miles, everything fell into place. We accidentally missed a reroute and ended up biking on a two mile stretch of gravel road. Surprisingly, none of us got a flat or fell. Because we missed the reroute, we also missed the first water stop. We didn’t even realize this until hitting 20 miles, when Patrick Sheridan’s group caught up with us and told us what had happened. We were out of water and starving, and luckily the van found us and helped us out.

A view of the Appalachian Mountains, the mountains we’re climbing

After this stop is when the group really got in synch. Sometimes, it was literally like we were riding a tandem bike. We pushed each other to get up each grueling hill. I was no longer scared of the hills though. Yeah, they were still hard and they still hurt, but I could deal with the hurt. MVP of the team was definitely Peter: he was always smiling and positive, lead the group the entire time, and didn’t complain once when all of our bikes broke and he had to fix them. He is an amazing team member.

Riding into the heart of Lynchburg was exhilarating, since we zoomed down a huge hill with a top speed of 41 mph. But, to our dismay, we learned that Lynchburg is “the city of hills.” We climbed some incredibly steep hills after that, and surprisingly, I didn’t cry. I was ready to overcome them. By the end of the day, even with the toughest hills yet, I was having fun. Day four, with a total mileage of 72 miles and a climb of 6700 feet (more than a mile!) was my best day so far. We arrived at United Heritage Methodist Church to a ton of food.

Team No Child Left Behind after arriving at the host in Lunchburg

I had dedicated my day four to my Uncle Jim, who five weeks ago had a benign tumor removed from his brain. He is an avid cyclist, and since then has not been able to get on his bike. He has been almost obsessively following my ride and has given me so much support.

Now, on day five, I’m reflecting on my journey of the past four days. I can’t believe that I’ve biked a total of 275 miles. I never knew how strong I was. I finally understand why the 4K alumni were telling me how jealous they were and how they never wanted the 4K to end. I am amazed by the generosity of our hosts and all of the places that have donated food to us. I’m able to appreciate the basic necessities of life, like having food and a place to sleep. I can’t wait for the rest of the 4K.