Why Not?

On Saturday, April 2 at 9:45am the 2011 team had our first team training ride.  We rode our first 37 miles together and practiced riding and communicating as a group.  And I am not going to lie- it was definitely NOT the easiest thing I have ever done.  It was just plain hard riding directly against strong headwinds.  I learned quite a few things including why it is not recommended to wear underwear under your bike shorts (chaffing) and how much your shoulders and neck can get sore from riding in that position for so long.  When I tell everyone this, and that I will be doing that ride (37 miles) times two almost every day people usually have one thing to ask: "Why?"

I have been writing a lot about falling off my bike and aches and pains and my loathing of PB&J.  I could write a very long list of fears that I have about this trip (which I will later).  But this past weekend during our first training ride I learned something that outweighs all of my worries- that it is all going to be completely worth it and I was reminded why I wanted to do this trip in the first place.  So to answer the question everyone has been dying to know...

I want to do this because:

1.  I get to tour the United States and see dozens of cities and towns and communities that I probably wouldn't otherwise.
2.  I get to ride with 29 other GREAT people.  There is no other way to describe our team- we are all so, so different in every way possible- our year in school, our studies, our families, our ethnicities, our biking abilities, athletic abilities, personalities, you name it- but for all of them to give up their summer, raise money for a cause, and to commit to doing something of this magnitude says a lot about their character.  I already know that I am going to have so many new great friends after this trip that I would never have met otherwise.
3.  I actually get to make a difference in the fight against cancer.  I am not a scientist or a doctor or even a nurse that gets to fight cancer every day.  I haven't even volunteered for the ACS before.  But now I get to donate over $3,000 to them.  I can't even remember being able to raise over $75 for elementary school fundraisers.
4.  I have gotten to see first hand how many people support me and the cause.  I never imagined I would get all this support.  I have received donations and encouragement from friends of friends and my grandparents friends, and my dad's barber, and my old teachers, and even complete strangers.  It is truly amazing to see.  THANK YOU if you are reading this.
5.  My major was in health communication and I get to practice it first hand on the trip.  One of the goals of the Illini 4000 is to meet people across the nation and hear and pass on their stories of cancer and how they were effected.
6.  It is my last summer without having to work.  I am probably going to work for many years once I get a job and when I look back on the summer of 2011- the summer after college, the summer I turned 22- I don't want to remember just another summer of work that blends in with all the rest.  Once I get a job and have a family I cannot just take a extended leave of absence for 72 days to ride a bike across the country.
7.  It gives me a great reason to work out and hopefully my body is going to be in the best shape of my life once I hit the beaches in California.
8.  I get to have a potential hobby.  At least for this summer (I am hoping it lasts longer than that).  Ron has a hundred hobbies such as fishing and hunting and golf and I just have a few little spurts such as running to prepare for my half marathon and tennis in high school but I never truly had a life hobby.
9.  I get to take a once in a lifetime 72 day trip with my future husband!  We get see the country together, overcome obstacles together, share memories together, push each other, support each other, learn biking together and hopefully grow stronger together.
10.  I get to meet so many people along the way.
11.  I have such high expectations for that moment when we ride that last stretch across the Golden Gate Bridge- that moment alone might be worth it.
12.  Just think about all the photo opportunities!
13.  I am going to grow so much out of this experience.  I never would have imagined I was capable of actually going through with this- I am going to be outside my comfort zone on so many levels (literally).  I am going to physically bike around 80 miles a day for 72 days, live out of one incredibly tiny bag that will hold everything from a pillow, to 3 pairs of underwear, and 3 T-shirts, eat limited food (like PB&J), sleep on hard floors with a sleeping bag every night, and I doubt I will get to take my usual long hot showers.  I am also going to learn so much about cancer itself and healthcare and see it in so many different points of view.
14.  I get to say, "I did it," at the end.  "I rode a bike 4500 miles across the country."

*15.  Why not???  I am pretty positive there isn't going to be another chance in my life to do this.


"As you grow older, you'll find the only things you regret are the things you didn't do."  ~Zachary Scott