#4kok

Our breakfast was amazing, but I could hardly eat for the excitement. Our group headed out early and were following Chey’s chalking along easily enough. A quick, hard stop downhill led to Dana breaking a nipple on her bike and a potential major delay. The circumstances were frustrating, and we had a ferry to catch! But, with the both of us, we managed to replace the nipple and tune her tire in less than 10 minutes. (You can get scary good at repairs on the 4K!) It was hard not to laugh in that moment; our journey had been plagued by tire repairs and it ironically fit that we could potentially miss the ferry for a broken nipple. 

You probably know we didn’t miss the ferry though. We made it with plenty of time to spare and lined up to get to the ferry, cheering, singing, dancing and general merriment abound. The ferry was somehow even more beautiful and special than it had been the last time I was on it. I guess a journey like this can do that to you. But the trip replayed itself in my mind, over and over, as the shoreline got closer and closer. We had our team cheer on the prow of the ship - one of the best cheers I think we’ve ever had and full spectacle for the rest of the passengers, too! 

I ran to the bathroom as we were docking and almost missed getting off the boat! Yikes! That would have been unfortunate... However, for once in our entire trip, we were early! And, as fortune would have it, we found a perfect place to pull off and regroup right next to Subway. Subway had been a staple in our diets across the country, so looking back, it shouldn’t have been surprising. Eric and I went exploring and met this guy with two awesome dogs, Pebbles and Booger. He worked for the National Park Service and we chatted for a long while before it was time to make our way through Pike’s Place. The final irony, had us at the bottom of a pretty large hill before the final finish. Kyle ran in front, American flag flying behind him, and we rode the final stretch of our journey cheers erupting among us.

Families, friends and strangers all greeted us at the end. Hugs and love were shared and (of course) tears for many - don’t worry, crying is 4KOK. Somehow, the team found our way back together and an anticipation-filled silence settled over the team. We slowly started rocking back and forth as we prepared for the final team cheer. What began as a group of 24 strangers had become a single voice that grew louder and louder until it echoed across the park and beyond and the last of our strength poured into it. The air burst with the final call of “who are we?” and Elli delivered a wonderful speech, complete with overwhelmed moments, and then we ran together for a final, huge, jumping hug. 

We got going and encountered some of the best downhills, not in terms of grade or speed, but in sights we had seen. I was thrilled because (for once!) I had remembered my GoPro. Woot! We were moving just fine but we finally reached the rolling hills one might expect from South Dakota and Jess T. started to get a pretty bad headache. She ended up getting in the van because she didn’t feel well while we were at the water stop. While there, the next group pulled up. Ev didn’t look so hot and I told him he should get in the van…it probably didn’t do anything because he would get out later anyways but it is hard to realize when your body has had enough and this trip really pushes people to the limit. I know I would be really annoyed if someone told me that too so I could see why someone would get upset about being told to get in the van – oh well. We adopted Mia and Jackie from their group and continued on. It was a smooth ride, if a bit hilly, and we arrived at lunch in no time. Ev rejoined us there making an almost super group of Bailey, Jaya, Jackie, Steph, Mia, Ev, and myself after lunch. It was so gorgeous after lunch – we came back to the river on a gorgeous downhill and would cruise with it the rest of the way into town. We took a quick dip in the river at a little fishing pull-over before we would finish our ride into the capital of South Dakota.

Despite a pretty great finish (minus a huge a$$ hill at the end) to a difficult day, we weren’t in the best of moods pulling into the host. But that would all change very quickly, We arrived at the church to find out we were late for our Italian dinner reservations! Oh dear! Our bikes were graciously taken from us by our quality wait staff and we were seated at an elegant white tablecloth covered table in the main hall of the church. There we got to meet our servers and staff more closely. (You may be confused right now, I was too…) Essentially, the people who had vanned or been grabbed by the van had organized a spaghetti dinner and had all drawn mustaches on and were speaking in Italian accents. I died it was so funny. To see Elli, Kevin, Erin, Dana, Chey, Matt, and Rachel parade around as subservient Italian waiters and waitresses stunned me. It was AWESOME and probably one of my favorite 4K memories. Kevin (or Pepe, as he is referred to in the industry) was so into it while Dana could hardly keep a straight face. It was absolutely perfect in every way and I was so thankful to have such thoughtful and incredible teammates.