Day 17: Jacksonville, IL to St. Louis, MO

Tuesday, June 15th

After riding 120 miles into Jacksonville, IL and 91 miles the day before, our team wanted nothing more than to have an easy ride into St. Louis. Unfortunately, the cycling gods would not let us have our way. To start, our planned route was 89 miles—giving us over 300 miles in 3 days of riding.

Our night in Jacksonville was exceptional. After the grueling ride, we were greeted by the extremely kind church members. We were able to do laundry and were treated to a scrumptious dinner of lasagna and tortellini. The following morning, we were greeted with all different types of egg casserole and cereal. Needless to say, with the generous hospitality, the team started the day upbeat. After our morning circle and ride dedications, Abhishek did an amusing rendition of our team cheer and we set off on our way.

Our journey into St. Louis was eventful to say the least. I rode in a group with Adam, Jose, Terence, Kieran, Chorong—all terrific riders and it was a challenge to keep up. Within the first couple miles leaving Jacksonville, we missed a turn onto Main Street. This type of misfortune foreshadowed the rest of our day. At about mile 20, the rain began to come down. Our first water stop was at mile 25 where the van drivers, Pooja and Sara were able to find a beautiful church where we were able to get shelter from the rain and use the bathroom facilities. Within 30 minutes, the rain cleared and we were back on the road. Even though the roads were wet, the sun had started to beam down on us. At the second water stop at mile 50, we were able to stop at an ice cream parlor. The employees had heard we would be coming through on the radio. Even though we didn’t get any perks from our radio stardom, the ice cream was delicious. At mile 60, rain started to come down extremely hard and our group was forced to pull over at a Jack in the Box restaurant. We tried to wait out the storm, but it became apparent that the weather was too poor to bike through. The van drivers had to drive all the way to St. Louis and then come back to shuttle all the riders from various locations in Alton, IL. The groups at the Jack in the Box passed time through discussing gender roles in society until the vans were able to make it back from the city. Finally, three riding groups able to be shuttled. All the bikes were packed into the minivan and the 15-passenger van was stuffed with riders.

The three groups were immediately taken to the St. Louis Hope Lodge, were we shared stories with patients undergoing treatment in the city. Each patient was inspirational added even more meaning to our rides.

Meanwhile, one of our valiant directors, Jose, had to drive a van back to pick up the last group stranded in Alton. By the end of the day, everyone was excited to get some rest, but the work was not yet done. A group of 4 injured riders still needed to be picked up from Jacksonville. That meant another 90 mile drive back and forth. By 2 am, everyone was safely in St. Louis and ready for a well deserved day-off and an opportunity to explore the city the following day.

-Andrew Lai