May 30th,2010 will be the day that I will always remember vividly as each and every memory associated with this day is unique in one way or another. The 72 miles that each of the 28 riders rode their bicycles was made somewhat easier with the love and the support of awesome and wonderful 4K alums.
It all started at 5:00 a.m. on Sunday morning, when most of us would normally be sleeping away to glory. Instead we gathered behind Shriver Hall to pack the vans and see the sunrise. I heard someone saying, we will be seeing a lot of sunrises this summer. I thought to myself, every single one of them except the 11 rest days we will have on the trip. Soon after some eeee…haaaaaaa… we headed to the Inner Harbor for the send-off ceremony. We formed a caravan, with one van at the front and one at the back and the 28 riders forming a double file behind each other. It just seemed so grand; the reality of each of us being a part of something historic dawned on me for the first time. We arrived at the Inner Harbor to an arousing welcome by the friends and
family members of the 4k riders. Jose and Krisitne, the co-directors for the 2010 gave a brief introduction about the 4K, how it was started by Ryan Hanley and Leah Bloom in 2002 to honor Ryan’s father who died from cancer in 1995. They talked about expanding the 4K and having three different cross country rides in 2011. Representative from the two main beneficiaries of 4KforCancer, Baltimore Hope Lodge coordinator Karen Seaberry and Dr. Jean Ford of the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center gave brief speeches acknowledging the great efforts of the riders over these past 9 years in helping further cancer research and providing quality care to cancer patients at the Baltimore Hope Lodge. Soon the riders dipped their back tires in the holy waters of the Baltimore Inner Harbor
and after some final goodbyes and hugs to friends and family headed in the NW direction towards Waynesboro in groups of 3-6 riders. I was riding with Kieran, Henrik, Sara and Kristen- some of the strongest riders in our team. Henrik and Kieran are the only two in the group that have some professional biking experience and I learned a lot on Day 1. Just watching Kieran glide down on some of the down hills was amazing and I soon incorporated that biking posture in my ride. Henrik and Kristen started pace lining and it was an absolute treat to watch Kristen follow Henrik so closely, separated by no more than a couple of inches. I was also inspired by Sara's rock steady cadence on the first hill towards the end of the day...there is so much to learn!!!At mile 15, we made our first water stop at a fire station.
It made me really happy to see a jar of Nutella on the table as I had mentioned at one of our team meetings how I hated Peanut Butter and loved Nutella. The 4K alums who were riding with us were truly epic. Needless to say they took care of everything from driving the vans on Day 1, to arranging all the logistics of the water and lunch stops and shuttling the bags to our destination. What really impressed me was the chemistry that the 4K alum shared and I only hoped for a special bond with our group of 28 riders. At mile 35, we did our lunch stop and again the 4K alum were just ready to feed us nicely crafted sandwiches that just melted in the mouth of the riders…it was like a p…p...party in my mouth!!! kinda feeling. At the lunch stop I ended up getting some `gyan’ (knowledge) from Rob, a 4K alum. He mentioned how we need to force feed ourselves and that we would develop rock solid legs by the end of the trip, something that I was really looking forward to. After the lunch stop we would encounter the first hill of the trip that was a 3 mile steep ascent that I did at 4mph average speed. Our group finished first and Jeff, one of the support staff at the church showed us the showers and snacks. The other groups started flowing in at regular intervals and after a fabulous feast the 4K alums wished us good luck and headed back to Baltimore.
Just when everyone was ready to crash down and start snoring, we were told that we are having a team pow wow!!! Wasn’t too excited at the idea of keeping awake for another few hours...but what soon followed was truly inspirational and heart moving for me. Each rider shared something close, something personal about their lives and their reasons for being on this trip. After a lot of tears and laughs, it felt as if we were already starting to bond together as a group.
-Abhishek Gupta
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