Day 21: DeKalb, IL to Princeton, IL

• Distance: planned 92.03, team did 10.88 mi
• Elevation: planned 1,738, team did 200 ft
• Dedication: Cristal Ortega and Uncle Tim
• Van group: Collin and Mike
• Host: Open Prairie United Church

Today I was in the host van again for what was supposed to be a long day on the road. It was raining before we even left DeKalb but not storming, and the team was slated to cover 92 miles today but ended up doing around 10 due to our very first daytime thunderstorm of the trip. It’s kind of crazy we made it three weeks without having to rack the team, but it was also disappointing to have everyone rack so early after a rest day and a low mileage day. One bonus of the rain: before we left I went hunting for some ponchos I knew were somewhere in the van and found a stockpile of goodies in the “warehouse” section of the van (under the back bench) like Chamois Butt’r (including eurostyle!), Sharpies, and some snacks our host gave us on Day 2.

I was in the host van with Collin and Mike, and before leaving DeKalb we drove by the Egyptian Theater. It’s one of three remaining operational Egyptian theaters in the country! We then headed to Princeton and spotted some lightning early on. I called the water van to let them know and I think by that time the team had already gotten off the road to seek shelter. We were very fortunate that our host was available all day because we were able to drop off our bags pretty early in the morning and then turn right around to go pick up half of the team.

We met everyone at a park about an hour from the host. The water van took over some host van duties and got some pizzas donated; we showed up to find everyone crammed in the women’s restroom eating pizza to avoid the rain and stay warm. That’s a 4KOK moment! After a few minutes of racking bikes on the top of the van, getting people in seats, and packing all of our food, gear, and wheels in on top of them in the pouring down rain we were all on our way back to Princeton.

Because the day was cut so short and the water van got pizza we didn’t have much to do in the host van, but Collin and I still went out to try and get a little bit of food for a late lunch. We actually had some trouble with this because it is Saturday and a lot of managers weren’t on-site at their stores. We ended up getting a small donation by calling a Wendy’s, of all places, to supplement our stock of food back at the host.

I took a very solid nap at the host and spent some necessary time alone while people made trips to Walmart and the laundromat. This trip is more emotionally taxing than anything but I think I do a decent job of balancing alone time with team time. We did have a more social dinner with the host, where we were all asked to introduce ourselves and then sang along with Pastor Adam, who gave us a preview of the song he plans to use in his sermon tomorrow morning. The team then hijacked the church’s sound system to do a little karaoke before bed. I’ve really appreciated this host– they took us showing up early and spreading out sopping wet bikes and gear in their hall in stride, and it’s just been nice to have a welcoming place to rest after a stressful day. Aside from the intense storms it was a pretty tame day and as a result this post is short and I have very few pictures.

Until tomorrow,

Lauren