We had a pretty packed day, so there was no time to ride to Glenview. This doesn’t happen often on the trip (actually, this is the first and only time), but because of all the events that we were attending, we had to prioritize over cycling.
We woke up at 7 AM, rolled out of bed, and packed our bags for Glenview. We drove over to the headquarters of Independence First, where we had a similar breakfast to yesterday but included egg casserole…yum.
After breakfast, we drove to a Laundromat on Marquette’s campus, and did some laundry. I walked a little bit around the streets as our laundry was getting done, but we really couldn’t find the heart of Marquette’s campus.
After our Laundry was finished, we went to an Independence First “Power Lunch” with guest speaker, Lou Faligno AKA “The Incredible Hulk.” It was the first lunch fundraiser to this caliber that I have ever been a part of. The lunch was quite fancy, with a ham chipotle sandwich, grilled asparagus, and cheesecake for dessert. It was really interesting to be at the lunch, considering each ticket was $60 apiece. The Power Lunch promoted sports for people with disabilities and Kathy, our main sponsor, spoke about the bike rally that we attended, and a few personal stories. Another segment was about our trip, and our ties to Independence First. Finally, we ended with a slideshow movie about different persons with disabilities and how they overcame many obstacles. The slideshow was a little redundant and I fighting sleep throughout it.
Finally came the moment we were all waiting for, Lou Faligno’s speech. He basically spoke of his insecurity as a kid because of his speech impediment, and his ability to overcome obstacles in his life, such as his father’s respect and his lack of early career opportunities. He also spoke on how his passion for bodybuilding gave him the tools that made him the person he is today. Overall, I found his speech really motivating, although it was tough to understand him for the first 10 minutes.
After the speech, we got a hold of his notes from Kathy, and I thought it was funny that on top of his notes he wrote in big letters, “Slow Down!!” Surprisingly, Lou has really good handwriting. Although, there’s a good chance he didn’t actually write it.
After mingling a little bit with other people in the Power Lunch, we headed back to the headquarters for Independence First where we loaded our bikes, and took a picture with Lou Faligno. We then drove to Glenview. I did feel a little irritated that we couldn’t ride, but if we did, I wouldn’t get to meet Lou Faligno.
Once we arrived to lodging, we quickly unpacked our bags in the YMCA in North Brook, and we headed to our friendship visit. Today, we were hanging out with a few kids with autism at Pump it Up, an indoor inflatable playground, with slides and a trampoline castle. It was a lot of fun, but tiring, nonetheless. Regardless of all those miles on a bike, I still felt out of shape trying to keep up with these kids, bouncing up and down. After over an hour of racing and King of the Castle, we headed to the banquet room, where they had pizza, cookies, and salad.
After dinner, we headed back to the YMCA where I was greeted by my parents, who live 20 minutes away. My parents and I went back to their house where I saw Sasha and hung out with Blake. I had a quick snack with Mom’s special Biriyani and some mangos. After relaxing and watching TV, time flew by and I had to leave, to make it back to lodging before curfew. Once I arrived, I went straight to sleep, after another tiring day off the bike. Tomorrow is suppose to be pretty much another day off, with only 20 miles to downtown, all flat.
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