Today’s ride was absolutely beautiful. We had nearly 40 miles of downhill with beautiful switchbacks coming down from Yosemite. Even though this was a 92 mile day, the ride was absolutely worth it and the hills were only temporary. We biked through Oakdale to Manteca, passing by our first official California In-N-Out. We pulled into Manteca and had a delicious BBQ sandwich dinner at the Manteca Presbyterian Church, and finally had a hot shower much thanks to Sharon for taking us in! That evening, Sarah, Zaid, Joe, Sheila, and I separated from the team to conduct a program at Big Dan’s neighborhood diner in Lathrop, a neighboring small town. Hands down, this was one of the most inspirational programs to date. We met so many folks who have been affected by cancer and want to do something to fight it. We heard stories from Ruthie who lost her dad to lung cancer from smoking: “I thought smoking would only hurt myself, but I never realized it would also hurt those I love.” We heard from Davey, who lost his grandma who beat liver failure, outlived her two husbands by twenty years, but ultimately succumbed to breast cancer—at one point not being able to sleep due to the chemo which caused her even more pain. We heard from Big Dan who shared about his bout with leukemia and his God daughter Sophia’s bout with cancer—the doctors said she could never be pregnant again and is now six months pregnant. Cricket shared about her dad who passed from cancer and one of the twelve year olds in her bus who now is undergoing treatment for leukemia. From strangers, we heard story after story about how great of an encouragement our mission and team is to them all. We saw big tough guys choke as they shared their stories. We witnessed some folks sharing stories for the first time in front of a group of people. We saw a community of different races and creeds united because these people have all been affected by the undiscriminating “c-word,” as Big Dan calls it. People were so eager to hear about the ride, and even more encouraged that we were riding alongside them. I got the opportunity to give one of the ladies at the diner my T4k bracelet which I had carried on my wrist thus far—and Davey ended up giving me the bracelet his grandma Angie had wore as she battled breast cancer. It’s a pink bracelet, definitely worn out a bit, with the simple word HOPE (in light of our mission: Hope Knowledge and Charity). Words cannot describe how inspirational tonight was. I only hope that the entire team was there to meet with these wonderful individuals. Tomorrow we go to San Francisco. I’m excited to see my mom and sister. This has definitely been a wonderful experience. Thanks for following my journey so far.