Day 57: Ely, NV to Eureka, NV
Team distance: 93.92 mi Team elevation: 4,245 Dedication: My teammates Van group: Bailey and Grace Host: Diamond Valley Baptist Church There are a lot of incredible feelings on this trip, but it’s hard to top having a scheduled van day after our longest ride of the trip. Bailey and I lucked out in that sense…
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Day 56: Caliente, NV to Ely, NV
Distance: 136.52 mi (a PR for everyone on the team!) Elevation: 5,102 ft Dedication: Uncle Tim Ride group: Bailey, Rose, Glenn, Mike, and Maggie Host: St. Bartholomew Episcopal Church If you had told me at 4 AM this morning that almost the entire team would complete today’s 137-mile route before our scheduled dinner at 6:30…
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Days 54 & 55: Cedar City, UT to Caliente, NV
Distance: 102.68 mi Elevation: 3,054 ft Dedication: Uncle Tim Ride group: Collin, Katy, and Bethany, with a little riding with Mike, Glenn, and Bailey in the middle Host: Kershaw-Ryan State Park, coordinated by 4K alum Leslie Two nights ago we developed a last-minute reroute to avoid going way out of our way to Milford, where…
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Day 53: Orderville, UT to Cedar City, UT
Distance: 36.72 mi Elevation: 4,373 ft Dedication: Uncle Tim and Charlotte Ride group: Glenn, Briana, and Casey Host: Community Presbyterian Church This morning wasn’t very efficient, between trying to pack and clean up a very disheveled Airbnb and then backtracking 18 miles that we covered two days ago. That beautiful descent we had getting into…
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Days 51 & 52: Bryce Canyon, UT to Orderville, UT
Distance: 63.78 mi Elevation: 2,073 ft Dedication: Uncle Tim and Chase Ride group: Chase, Bailey, Julia, Jack, and Tori Host: Airbnb, courtesy of Katy’s dad Yesterday was a day of celebration! It was my 4K birthday (also my real-life half-birthday), Christmas in July, Chase’s last day (not that we were celebrating that), and the day…
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Day 50: Escalante, UT to Bryce Canyon, UT
Distance: 49.33 mi Elevation: 3,658 ft Dedication: Spencer Wiersberg and Uncle Tim Ride group: Rose and Bethany, later picked up Santi Host: Ruby’s Inn RV Park and Campground/Best Western One thing I forgot to mention about yesterday– it was a mail drop, which meant that our pack-up this morning was a bit of a mess.…
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Day 48: Green River, UT to Capitol Reef, UT
Distance: 104.94 mi Elevation: 5,108 ft Dedication: Michael and Eli’s dad, Doug Ride group: Collin, Julia, and Mike, then Collin, Julia, Bryce, and Santi, then just Julia and Santi Host: Thousand Lakes RV Park After a restless and hot night we woke up at 4 for a long and hot day. Unfortunately I neglected to…
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Day 49: Capitol Reef, UT to Escalante, UT
Team distance: 65.40 mi Team elevation: 5,476 ft Dedication: Liora Wolder and the team Van group: Santi and Maggie Host: Escalante High School I always fear for us logistically when we camp because our morning routine definitely does not need the added struggle of packing up tents but this morning actually went pretty well, even…
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Days 45 & 46: Grand Junction, CO to Moab, UT
Distance: 52.03 mi Elevation: 1,391 ft Dedication: Alicia, my host’s daughter, and Ethan, Jake’s brother-in-law Ride group: Jake, Bailey, and MJay Host: AirBnB in Moab Yesterday had big potential to be a logistical nightmare but actually went pretty well! Our official route covered 120 miles between Grand Junction and Moab, but temperatures were going to…
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Day 47: Moab, UT to Green River, UT
Distance: 0 mi Elevation: 13,500 ft Max speed: ~120 mph Plane group: Maggie, Bailey, Dan, Briana, and Eli Host: Green River PACT Center Daily summary looks a little different today… because we traded our bikes for parachutes! It’s an unofficial 4K tradition for members of the team to go skydiving on the rest day on…
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Day 44: Hotchkiss, CO to Grand Junction, CO
Distance: 64.36 mi Elevation: 2,228 ft Dedication: Uncle Tim and Bo Oliver Ride group: Bailey, Eli, Jack, Grace, and Jake Host: Homestay with Merrilyn Simpkins through St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church This morning I found a clear clue that we were moving out of the mountains and into the desert: a scorpion near my sleeping pad!…
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Day 43: Carbondale, CO to Hotchkiss, CO
Team distance: 74.39 mi Team elevation: 3,540 ft Dedication: Steven and the team Van group: Julia and Maggie Host: North Fork High School Today I was in the host van with Julia and Maggie as the team tackled a somewhat unexpectedly tough day. I think a lot of us focused so much on Trail Ridge…
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Day 42: Edwards, CO to Glenwood Springs, CO
Distance: 42.48 mi Elevation: 853 ft Dedication: Uncle Tim and Bill Pinaire Ride group: Bailey, Chase, and Tori Host: Linda and Bill Reynolds, family friends of Rose This morning I had one of the best wake-ups of my life to the sight of the mountains surrounding Edwards being lit up by the sunrise. I sat…
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Day 41: Kremmling, CO to Edwards, CO
Distance: 93.53 mi Elevation: 4,977 ft Dedication: Uncle Tim and Sharon Maloney Ride group: Rose, later picked up Briana Host: Trinity Church Today I woke up feeling extremely glad that we chose to rack early yesterday! We were facing another 90-mile, 5,000 foot of elevation day, including a climb up Vail Pass. Our climbing was…
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Day 40: Estes Park, CO to Kremmling, CO
Distance: 48.15 mi Elevation: 4,967 ft Dedication: Uncle Tim and Aunt Carol Ride group: Bailey <3 Host: Trinity Episcopal Church Today was one of the biggest days of the trip: Trail Ridge Road through Rocky Mountain National Park. The quality sleep I hoped for unfortunately did not happen because the gym we were sleeping in…
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Day 39: Longmont, CO to Estes Park, CO
Distance: 47.56 mi Elevation: 3,566 ft Dedication: Martha Riedel and Aunt Carol Ride group: Bailey, Tori, and Glenn, then Bailey and Grace Host: Estes ProActive Fitness Today we finally did the thing we’ve been fearing/awaiting for months: we entered the Rocky Mountains! The anticipation was palpable this morning from the moment we woke up as…
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Days 37 & 38: Fort Morgan, CO to Boulder/Longmont, CO
Team distance: 86.09 mi Team elevation: 2,365 ft Dedication: Richa and Uncle Tim Van group: Glenn Host: Mandy and Mike, family friends of my teammate Bryce Yesterday I was in the water van with Glenn as the team rode to Boulder, CO. It was a little disappointing to have a day off before a rest…
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Day 36: Yuma, CO to Fort Morgan, CO
Distance: 33.33 mi personal, 61.07 mi team Elevation: 702 ft personal, 1,007 ft team Dedication: Our hosts’ daughter, Bridget, and Uncle Tim Ride group: Richa, Maggie, Eli, MJay, and Chase Host: United Methodist Church Another hard day on 4K! If you’ve been following along, you’ve probably noticed that even the easy days usually end up…
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Day 35! Benkelman, NE to Yuma, CO
Distance: 70.24 mi Elevation: 1,736 ft Dedication: My teammate James’s mom, Mary, and Uncle Tim Ride group: Glenn, Chase, Shelby, and James Host: Homestays through First Presbyterian Church Today was a big day for 4K: we are officially halfway through our 70-day journey, and we crossed into Colorado! Maggie and I woke everyone up bright…
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Day 34: Arapahoe, NE to Benkelman, NE
Distance: 100.43 mi Elevation: 2,674 ft Dedication: Tammy and Uncle Tim Ride group: Maggie, Bailey, Bethany, Jake, and Eli Host: Dundy County High School This morning we were spoiled by an incredible breakfast from the folks at First United Methodist, especially when you consider that we showed up at their door yesterday evening! There was…
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Day 33: Kearney, NE to Arapahoe, NE
Distance: 65.92 mi Elevation: 1,358 ft Dedication: Bo Oliver, TJ Allen, and Jeremy Pope Ride group: Bryce, Julia, Jack, and Tori Host: First United Methodist Church Today was my first full ride in so so long and it felt great! It was a little weird to be back, honestly, but the team crushed our 65-miler…
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Day 32: Grand Island, NE to Kearney, NE
Team distance: 43.68 mi Team elevation: 416 ft Dedication: Paula and our hosts Van group: Maggie and Mike Host: Holy Lutheran Church Today our team had a nice gentle return to our normal schedule and routine. I was in the water van today so I’m now going on a week without riding a full day,…
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Days 28-31: Omaha, NE to Grand Island, NE
Distance: 32.72 mi (personal) Elevation: 962 ft (personal) Dedication: Jeremy Pope and Uncle Tim Ride group: Eli, Chase, Grace, and Bailey Host: St. Paul’s Lutheran Church We are officially on the move again! After a few wonderful days quarantining/vacationing in Omaha, we left our AirBnB paradise for Grand Island, Nebraska. After three days of sleeping…
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Days 26 & 27: Des Moines, IA to Harlan, IA to Omaha, NE
Distance: 65.36 mi Elevation: 2,687 ft Dedication: Colton Kirchnier and Uncle Tim Ride group: Rose, Bethany, and Jake, plus Eli Host: Prairie Rose State Park/First United Methodist Church/Motel 6 Greetings from a tent in a campground in Iowa… because 4K has COVID!!! Turns out the head cold-esque sickness most of the team has felt recently…
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