Today’s ride was mediocre in length at about 70 miles. We woke up early and were able to beat the heat for the most part. The last ten miles was super cool because we rode side by side with the Mississippi. I’m from Illinois so it was cool to see home, but for some guys it was their first time seeing the mighty Mississippi. We had a sponsored lunch Buffet at Happy Joe’s Pizza where everyone stuffed themselves because it was so good. For our friendship visit, we hung out at Splash Park which was the local water park. We had so much fun playing on the slides and jumping off the diving board. Everyone was cheering each other on for motivation. We even played catch in the pool and a game of tag. I remember doing a cannonball contest with two young girls named Emily and Angelica. It was a fun friendship visit where we could stay cool and have fun!
– Derek Lahey, Western Illinois University (Iota Rho)