After racing all over the world, from China to Taiwan to Azerbaijan to Korea, Team Illuminate was thrilled at the chance to finally race in Europe.
Although Romania was a country they knew little about beforehand, the team was stoked to get a big win and to connect with the local community. As filmmaker Kris Evered notes, “We had a local bike mechanic on our team and he took us to meet his family. When we went to his house it was amazing to see how self-sufficient they were. They pretty much grow everything or buy it from their neighbor. They even make their own alcohol (wine and rakia), and I was really impressed with their quality of life. Everyone seemed really happy even though they did not have much.”
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