waiting to go on the ferry across the St. Clair River into Canada
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Sunday, Aug. 24th
Well here I am again. We are thoroughly enjoying the day off. Peter and I went to Niagara on the Lake and spent the night in a motel. What a treat and the privacy is kind of nice too. We are spending the day at our daughter and son-in-law in St. Anne's today. Nice to see family again. Our oldest son and daughter-in-law with their 3 kids were unable to make it today. We were all together on Friday for Jane Ann's birthday. It was great to get together with everybody. I will paste my diary of the last number of days in today's blog along with some more pictures.
Aug. 18, Mon.
Left from Calvin in beautiful weather. Sunny and bright as we left Calvin, cool but nice for riding. Had a great weekend away. It was nice to have some time to ourselves and now I'm ready to ride. Woke up with a sore hip and felt it as we left Calvin College. It did get somewhat better after taking aspirin and I stopped at the nurse's sag along way to get some achey muscle rub. My body is reminding me of my age I think!! Keeps me humble I guess. Peter and Joe started sagging today (that is) support and gear vehicle (not what you may have understood it to mean). Kind of neat to have them come along and serve us as we came to their stop. It was an awesome ride - just over 100 kms. with tail winds pushing us all the way. A nice way for the 'newbies', as the 60 newcomers are called, to get their cycling legs ready for the next two weeks. We have 3 newbies in our small group. It's a good way for them to feel like part of the group. When we got into camp - another State Park, I went for a swim in a small lake with my cycling clothes on since Joe and the trailer had not arrived at camp yet. It was sooo refreshing. Had a great sleep. I'm starting to remember more names all the time. Still don't know everybody from when I started in Denver but certainly recognize those who have been on the tour since I started. I met Gord Buys today (a newbie) and he works (part time now) with World Missions and knows Graemer and Case Van Wyk.
Also met Joanne Korvemaker's niece from the Clinton area. Small world!!
Aug.19 Tues.
A more difficult day today as we had 12-14 km./hr. head winds today and it was a 155 km. day today. It did get better in the afternoon. We started out early and made it in around 5:00 or so I think. Ended up not as bad as I would have thought. Well tomorrow we arrive in Ontario. Unbelievable how fast the time goes. We had a very interesting speaker at Pelaton meeting tonight. The wife of a minister who passed away in Feb. from Detroit spoke today about how her husband had a real ministry to the disadvantaged of the world. He was planning on riding the tour also but died of a heart attack at 41 I believe. Left a wife and a six year child. A member of his congregation also spoke and he talked about how he was encouraged by this Pastor to sign up for the tour. Very moving speaches, particularly by his wife. She encouraged us to do our part in ending the cycle of poverty whether that be cycling or some other form of action on behalf of the poor. Well I will now join the crowd that has gathered outside the trailer enjoying some fellowship and "refreshments". Looking so forward to seeing our family again and all the friends and familiar faces as we go into Ontario....get to sleep in my own bed in two nights. Yeahhhhh!!
A more difficult day today as we had 12-14 km./hr. head winds today and it was a 155 km. day today. It did get better in the afternoon. We started out early and made it in around 5:00 or so I think. Ended up not as bad as I would have thought. Well tomorrow we arrive in Ontario. Unbelievable how fast the time goes. We had a very interesting speaker at Pelaton meeting tonight. The wife of a minister who passed away in Feb. from Detroit spoke today about how her husband had a real ministry to the disadvantaged of the world. He was planning on riding the tour also but died of a heart attack at 41 I believe. Left a wife and a six year child. A member of his congregation also spoke and he talked about how he was encouraged by this Pastor to sign up for the tour. Very moving speaches, particularly by his wife. She encouraged us to do our part in ending the cycle of poverty whether that be cycling or some other form of action on behalf of the poor. Well I will now join the crowd that has gathered outside the trailer enjoying some fellowship and "refreshments". Looking so forward to seeing our family again and all the friends and familiar faces as we go into Ontario....get to sleep in my own bed in two nights. Yeahhhhh!!
Aug. 20 Wed.
Left Richmond around 7:30 or so. It was a short ride to the boarder. A very pretty town where we had time to enjoy a coffee and huge cinnamon bun. I shared mine with Dora. It was a meal in itself. We swamped the restaurant with sea to sea riders. The service was excellent considering how many of us were in there. Another beautiful day once again. We have been blessed with awesome weather. It was quite a site to see all the riders gathered at the edge of the water waiting for the ferry. We went over in three groups and the boarder crossing went very smoothly, without a hitch. What a hub of excitement at the other side in Sombra. There were so many people to greet us on the other side. We were warmly welcomed with clapping and shouts of encouragement. It was pretty thrilling for us, especially for those of us who were Canadian. I've never been so excited about crossing the boarder before!! Even Tim Horton's coffee and cupcakes were there to make us feel at home. Each cupcake had a Canadian flag on it. The rest of the ride into Chatham was nice and flat although we had East winds of all things. While training I don't remember having Easterly winds. What's with that. I thought we were riding West to east because of the prevailing winds!! We were well received and encouraged along the way to Chatham alongside the route as well as when we arrived into Chatham. People opened up their homes so we could enjoy their pool. There were three pools within walking distance. I took advantage of that and had a nice swim and shower at the Janssen (not sure of proper spelling). We are sure being pampered on this tour. We were served an excellent meal by the Chatham churches with more food than we could consume, and that's quite a bit when you're cycling all day.
Left Richmond around 7:30 or so. It was a short ride to the boarder. A very pretty town where we had time to enjoy a coffee and huge cinnamon bun. I shared mine with Dora. It was a meal in itself. We swamped the restaurant with sea to sea riders. The service was excellent considering how many of us were in there. Another beautiful day once again. We have been blessed with awesome weather. It was quite a site to see all the riders gathered at the edge of the water waiting for the ferry. We went over in three groups and the boarder crossing went very smoothly, without a hitch. What a hub of excitement at the other side in Sombra. There were so many people to greet us on the other side. We were warmly welcomed with clapping and shouts of encouragement. It was pretty thrilling for us, especially for those of us who were Canadian. I've never been so excited about crossing the boarder before!! Even Tim Horton's coffee and cupcakes were there to make us feel at home. Each cupcake had a Canadian flag on it. The rest of the ride into Chatham was nice and flat although we had East winds of all things. While training I don't remember having Easterly winds. What's with that. I thought we were riding West to east because of the prevailing winds!! We were well received and encouraged along the way to Chatham alongside the route as well as when we arrived into Chatham. People opened up their homes so we could enjoy their pool. There were three pools within walking distance. I took advantage of that and had a nice swim and shower at the Janssen (not sure of proper spelling). We are sure being pampered on this tour. We were served an excellent meal by the Chatham churches with more food than we could consume, and that's quite a bit when you're cycling all day.
Aug. 21 Thur
Today I get to cycle home. What a wonderful feeling to be in familiar territory again. It's been almost 4 weeks since I've left my comfortable bed and home. It seemed like a long ride today but I think it was more the excitement of going home and seeing friends and family that made it seem long because we only did 121 today. We did experience head winds though which made it tiring. East winds once again. Today was the flattest roads we've been on since I started in Denver. Along the way once again people were at the end of their driveways cheering us on. The support is so encouraging!! We stopped at one spot where some kids were fixing fence where sheep were grazing. We stopped to talk to them about our trip and gave them some wrist bands we had taken along to give out. The oldest boy went to the house and came back with a donation for us. Several other cyclists have had this experience along the way as you may have read on other sea to sea blogs. As soon as we arrived near in London at Springbank Dr. I met someone I knew. Then at the fork of the Thames some more familiar faces. It was good to get to the highschool where I knew my family would be waiting for me. Many of my close friends were there also. On route to the highschool were Peter, Amanda, Andrew and Ryan as well as Emma whom Amanda babysits. Andrew who is 2&1/2 kind of gave me this funny look. I guess I didn't look much like Grandma with my helmet and sunglasses on. It didn't take long though and he gave me his winning smile. Tim arrived later at the highschool. Andrew thought I should share my supper with him, especially the corn-on-the cob which he loves. Marg and Willie were there as well to greet me. You realize how precious friends and family are when you've been away for a while. I was sooo looking forward to sleeping in my own bed. We invited several other c2c riders to stay at our house. Peter had all the beds clean and even did laundry for us the day before. I need to go on a bike trip more often I think!! I thought it would be more difficult to leave our home the next morning but knowing it's only one week and I'll be done the tour helps I guess. Of course it helps that my husband Peter is riding along the last two weeks as "sag" driver (support and gear).
Aug. 22 - Fri.
Started out around 7:15 from the highschool in London. Our local paper in Dorchester, the Signpost met us at 8:00 to take some pictures of us coming up the bridge before turning on Hamilton Rd. Jake Pasma, Kevin Pasma, Alida Spoelstra and myself would have o ur moment of fame in our local weekly newspaper. We had several stops along the way to Hamilton. The first was a coffee and muffin stop in Ingersoll. Another one along the way to Woodstock where "boter Koek" was served and then in Woodstock where we had lunch. Also had a stop in Brantford and well wishers along the sides of the streets. So much support. It's so neat!! Jane Ann's birthday today. I am looking forward to seeing the rest of our children today. We plan on celebrating her birthday together in Hamilton tonight. I wasn't sure who would be at Redeemer to greet me but there they were, Peter, Jane Ann, Karen & her 4 girls, Jessica, April, Bethany and Lydia, Char, Ken & little Caitlin, Vince, Randa and Peter, Mya and Leah. I really was surprised to see them all there!! Had a nice supper with them all that evening. The ride was great today. Winds from the South East I think.
Aug.23-Sat.
A short day today, only 80 kms. or so. It's always more on the odometer on my bike than the route tells me it is so I always need to add about 5 kms. or so. Today should have been a short day but we had so many stops today since Hamilton, Beamsville, Grimsby and St. Catharines are all very close together and we also stopped at Shalom Manor - a senior's complex in Grimsby. I grazed all day long, eating every 10 kms. or so I think. So neat to meet so many people and experience the incredible support along the way. I may come home 10 lbs. heavier at this rate!! Peter and I are staying in a motel tonight and going out for a nice quiet supper. We ended up in Niagara on the Lake since all the motels in St. Catharines were pretty full. We had made reservations at one motel and then realized there was a room next to us with several party people. Felt we wouldn't get any sleep that night so moved on to Niagara on the Lake where we did find a room available. Tomorrow, Sunday a day off. God knows we need that day of rest to be inspired and refreshed spiritually again for the week ahead. Looking forward to spending the morning with my family and having them join us at the celebration service in St. Catharines.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Two short rides
It was sooo good to wake up yesterday morning and know we have just a short 75 km. ride to Grand Haven and what a beautiful day it was. Pretty cool in the morning. It's not the nicest thing when your tent is wet from morning dew and you have to pack it away wet. This is the last day I have to set up my tent. Peter and Joe are coming tomorrow and hauling the trailer. I get to sleep in the trailer along with Margaret and Joe and Peter gets to sleep in the tent. Luxury living for the last two weeks of the tour. If there is one thing I am not particular fond of it is waking up at such an ungodly hour and having to take down the tent when it seems like I should still be sleeping. My brain doesn't usually kick in until around 9:00 in the morning. As we cycle closer to Grand Rapids there are more well wishers and people along the way encouraging. It so neat when you see a group of people cheering you on as you cycle. Each day I feel more connected to the group as a whole. When I started out today my legs seemed very sluggish and achey. We also had some head winds again. I thought we would be pushed along by the prevailing west winds??? Not sure what happened to that theory. We had a few stops along the way today. It's kind of ironic sometime; we are cycling to create an awareness of global poverty and we are getting fed so much along the way. It shows us again how truly blessed we are as a nation and sometimes it is hard to comprehend the many in our own neighbourhoods who live in poverty. A little over half of the way to our destination for the day we arrived in Graafschap. This is where the first CRC in North America had it's beginnings in 1857. There is a small log cabin where they originally held church and then the church they still worship in today. They have opened a museum of the history of the Reformed churches in Ontario. Very impressive. Just as Margaret and I were cycling to finish the day's journey we met Peter and Joe heading towards the church. Nice surprise because I didn't expect to see them until we got to the Conference grounds. We stayed at the Conference Centre in Grand Haven for the night. A beautiful campground right on Lake Michigan. Too bad we couldn't have stayed there for a few days. World Missions put on a great dinner for us at the conference grounds. There were people leaving the tour and at Peleton meeting they each had an opportunity to speak. It was quite moving. I think it would be difficult to leave in the middle like that. Of course people have family, committments and jobs to go back to.
Sat. Aug 16th
Peter and I got to sleep in the trailer on our own tonight since Margaret & Joe went to visit Margaret's relatives in Grand Rapids. Woke up an hour earlier than I had to. My watch said it was 6:00 when it was really only 5:00. I wondered why it was so dark out when I got up. We are now in eastern time zone. I wondered why nobody was up yet?? We left the campgrounds around 8:00 I think. Wally, Margaret's brother is joining the ride today until St. Catharines I think. There were more people along the route which was only 71 kms. today. Another beautiful ride. A few hills near the end of the route but a very good day with awesome weather. Hardly any wind and we did have a tail wind today. We arrived at Calvin around 12:30 after stopping at a school and a church for refreshments. All this eating is only going to get worse as we cycle into Ontario. I think we'll be "grazing" all day long by the sounds of it. Good thing we're cycling but there is a limit right? We all met for a staging as we rode into Calvin College grounds together for about 3/4 of a mile. What a thrilling feeling when we are all cycling together. It made me realize what a large crowd we really are and next week we will be adding about 60 more. Tomorrow is a lunch and after we will gather at a ball park for a celebration service. Please check other blogs for pictures. I'll get someone to give me some lessons on how to post pictures someday. I only get frustrated when I try it. Later...
Sat. Aug 16th
Peter and I got to sleep in the trailer on our own tonight since Margaret & Joe went to visit Margaret's relatives in Grand Rapids. Woke up an hour earlier than I had to. My watch said it was 6:00 when it was really only 5:00. I wondered why it was so dark out when I got up. We are now in eastern time zone. I wondered why nobody was up yet?? We left the campgrounds around 8:00 I think. Wally, Margaret's brother is joining the ride today until St. Catharines I think. There were more people along the route which was only 71 kms. today. Another beautiful ride. A few hills near the end of the route but a very good day with awesome weather. Hardly any wind and we did have a tail wind today. We arrived at Calvin around 12:30 after stopping at a school and a church for refreshments. All this eating is only going to get worse as we cycle into Ontario. I think we'll be "grazing" all day long by the sounds of it. Good thing we're cycling but there is a limit right? We all met for a staging as we rode into Calvin College grounds together for about 3/4 of a mile. What a thrilling feeling when we are all cycling together. It made me realize what a large crowd we really are and next week we will be adding about 60 more. Tomorrow is a lunch and after we will gather at a ball park for a celebration service. Please check other blogs for pictures. I'll get someone to give me some lessons on how to post pictures someday. I only get frustrated when I try it. Later...
Thursday, August 14, 2008
blogging once again
Sorry everybody. I wonder if I should've told everyone I have a blog. It is so unpredictable as to when it works. Today we went from Indiana Dunes State Park in Chesterton to South Haven. What a beautiful park. We were on Lake Michigan. Decided not to go swimming. The shower was too inviting when we got in. Left this morning at around 7:30. The route was absolutely beautiful. We followed Lake Michigan. It was a gorgeous day. Nice temperature and no hills to speak of. The last 40 kms. was kind of tough because we had head winds in the afternoon. I'm getting to know more people every day. I had a flat today. I took the wheel off and low and behold some nice young sea to sea fellow by the name of Reuben Vyn changed the tube in no time flat (no pun intended). He had gone off tour to visit a friend so happened to come by at just the right time. All in all it was an excellent day and to top it off when we got to the school in South Haven Pastor Gerrit Haagsma was there on his bike to say hi to us. He just lives about 4 miles from where we are staying. It was nice to see a familiar face to greet me there. Tomorrow we have a nice easy day. Only 75 kms. to cycle and no major hills. World Missions is providing dinner for us tomorrow night. My dear husband is also joining us once again as a sag driver.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Sunday, Aug. 10th celebration service
Well finally I'm back in business I hope. One of the cyclists brothers helped to rectify the problem. Not sure what he did but it works. I will paste some of my previous diary entries on this day. We arrived in Madison yesterday on a beautiful day. I got in too late to join the celebration festivities at a park close to the Crossroads Community church where we are staying. Apparently they had instruments and the whole works to welcome everybody. They have been great hosts here. You could sign up for various activities. There was also a massage therapist as well as foot massage service available. The service was awesome. Great praise and worship team to lead us and the pastor spoke on the fruit of the Spirit - faithfulness. Good message to start us off for the week. It is beautiful out today. A nice cool breeze, sunny and around 75 f. I think. We were also shuttled for laundry service to a local laundrymat yesterday and today. I actually cleaned up my own bike. Got instructions from someone else. Yesterday we rode on a bike path for quite a few kms. and it was packed sand so the bike got pretty dirty as well as rain yesterday morning for a while. Everything was wet when we packed up our tents. It doesn't take very long to dry once we set it up in Madison. Two new cyclists joined the tour. Peter Pereboom and a girl from Michigan. I can't believe how fast these two past weeks have gone. Yesterday morning my legs were pretty stiff and achey from some steep hill climbs the day before and the long days on the bike also did it's number on my legs I think. I'm starting to get to remember more names. Wisconsin is a beautiful state. More forested areas and crossing the Mississippi River was a beautiful site. I did take a few pictures before going on the bridge. The roads in Wisconsin were much better than Iowa the last few days we spent in that state. It was pretty scarry on one particular road especially. There were huge ruts and holes in the road so you needed to be constantly looking down. We couldn't really enjoy the view very much. We were allowed to sleep in the church last night so Margaret and I slept on the couches they had in the Youth room. Well I shall attempt to download some pictures. Hope it works. I'll try and keep in touch but will make no promises as time becomes a factor some nights. There isn't much time by the time you get into camp, shower, have supper and pelaton mtg. as well as small groups. I try to get to bed by 9:30 or earlier depending on how long the ride is the next day. This afternoon at 4:30 there is a special choir at the church here.
July 29, 2008
addition to blog: July 28th:
I wasn't sure I would be able to stand the heat, but we took several breaks and drinking more water and energy drinks than I've ever consumed I did make it which was 143 kms. The worst part of this day was that we never got any relief from the heat. If there was a sign on the side of the road we were happy just to sit in it's shade for a few minutes. You couldn't stand around too long or it is very hard to get going. It felt sooo good to get to our destination which was Fort Morgan. We had the use of the highschool showers and gymn. It was a nice cool night for sleeping. We finally got in by 5:15 - 8hrs. 40 mins. on the bike total - avg. 22.5 kms. per hr.
July 29th ride: 141 kms. from Fort Morgan to Wray
What a beautiful day compared to yesterday. It was nice and cool when we started out about 7:00 a.m. The road was a beautiful paved road with nice wide shoulders for most of the way to Wray. What a difference when the weather is a bit cooler. It was around 93 by mid afternoon but there was a nice breeze. We did have a head wind after lunch. Peter and Joe are still with us. They decided to stay an extra day...no objections from Margaret or I since we get to sleep in the trailer for another night. Tomorrow we'll have to set up our own tents. I did have a flat today. Didn't even notice it until I looked down at my front tire . We were riding with all ladies and Peter and Joe had just passed us when it went. Fortunately for us about 9 guys came along and of course we acted like we didn't know how to change the flat. Johnny Pierce and Peter Kranenburg changed it for me. You need a lot of power to use those little pumps that attach to your bike so I was very grateful with these guys stopping. One of the others who passed us said "how many North Americans does it take to change a flat tire". We had a good laugh over that one. Hopefully I can add some pictures at one point when the satellite actually works good. I am now going to open my album to page 2 and see what surprise my kids have for me. We are having a birthday party for Adrian's birthday. He's going home with Joe & Peter. The younger set are all at a local pool which is close to our campsite. We had to walk or ride if we so chose to have a shower which is about 8 blocks away. Peter and Joe thought they'd pull a fast one on us. We took the truck to have our shower and low and behold when I got done there was no truck in sight until we had walked about 4 blocks. Nice guy!! We are having a lot of fun and it's amazing how much energy you still have after cycling all day. Today we got in around 4:00.
A very good day.
July 30th - Wed. Wray to McCook
I feel so bad that the satellite isn't working properly. It's got to be frustrating for the media guys who set it up. Today I will tell you what a typical pattern is for every day. Get up around 5:00, get dressed, take down the tent and make sure you don't leave anything inside the tent before rolling it up...been there, done that, get your lunch made for the day, eat breakfast, lots of carbs, my usually breakfast is oatmeal with raisins, cinnamon and milk. Fill up water bottles, check the air pressure in your tires and do an overall check of the bike. Put all your stuff in the gear truck and drag your bag with tent, chair etc.beside the gear truck to be loaded later by the sweep team. All this takes about 1&1/2 hrs. total. It takes a bit to get into a system. Hopefully by the end of the week I'll have it all organized. I should have written something down every day because I'm not sure what kind of a day it was. All I can say is it was hot, hot, hot. We start off around 6:30 in the morn. and by 9:00 you can feel the sun starting to beat down on you. We have had a bit of cloud cover on some of the days. I believe this was a pretty good day for riding. We stopped at the Nebraska state line sign to take a picture. We also crossed another time zone so are now only an hour difference from home time. When we got to McCook, Peter and Joe and Adrian had set up Margaret & my tents up for us. Nice way to arrive after a tired, hot ride. During the night there must have been an owl in the tree right near my tent because I could hear him very clear. I wanted to get out to take a look but thought I may not be able to get to sleep after. Sleeping has been a problem so far but I'm hoping that when I get into more of a routine with everything after the first week it'll get better. I am so enjoying opening my album every day. It certainly connects me to my family being so far away from them. You don't know how much it means to me!! Thank you dear children & grandchildren!!
July 31st - Thursday, McCook to Minden
No change in the weather. Those who rode from Seattle have been in this heat since June 28th. They only had a few sprinkles here and there but continuous hot days of 90-100 plus. It's got to break one of these days I hope. The countryside is more lush around here than in Colorado. Corn and soya beans are the staple crops you see alongside the road. Miles and Miles of it. Finished the day around 6:00 I think. I was supposed to be in by 5:30 to help with supper but got in too late. We just have to help set up and serve. There were enough others on the sweep team. Ralph and Dora were on my sweep team. The suppers are unbelievable for such a large group. We get a real variety of exclusive meals. Every day is different. We sure aren't suffering!!
Aug. 1st. Minden to York-Friday
Started out early in the morning again. I felt pretty lousy today, dehydrated and lack of sleep I think. I had to help with breakfast this morning so we didn't get away until 7:30. It was tough at first until I stopped several times to get a bite to eat and drank tons of water. Things were going pretty good until after a no. of kms. we had construction and were down to one lane. The shoulders were very rough so couldn't ride on them. They let us through but when the oncoming traffic started to come our way a transport truck was coming on toward us and we had to get on the shoulder which was torn up. Right when I got on the shoulder there was a pile of dirt and I fell at that point but no serious damage and off we went again. This was the longest day I have every gone on the bike- 151 kms. Felt good when I got in to York University.
Aug. 2nd - York to Freemont - Sat
Last night I was on sweep which means you need to be at the next destination by 5:30 to help set up for supper and serve. This was another over 150 km. day and we started off with a head wind. Thank goodness it was fairly flat at the beginning but we were in a head wind for about the first 40 kms. which was tough. You're constantly pushing. Very tiring. Once we turned we had nice rolling hills down one and almost up the next without much hard peddling. I had gone about 84 kms. on hwy. 92 and was coasting down a hill when I had to get over on the shoulder (which was rather rough) when I heard this rattling on my bike. I thought it was something wrong with the tire but realized when I stopped that the back brake had lost a nut that secured it to the bike. Had to call one of the sag wagons and Julie came to my rescue about 1 hr. or so later. Found a nice shady spot on the hill under a tree. Dora, my biking partner that day stuck with me till Gayle came along and waited with me until Julie came along to pick the bike and myself up. That of course ended my biking for the day. Rather disappointing but out of my control. Just like life I guess. The scenery was pretty along the way. Lots of beautiful cash crop farming which looked very lush. People around here say the weather is unusually hot around here. One of the sags took us to a laundry mat tonight so it was nice to get that over with.
Stayed up later tonight and sat around and talked to Andy H. and Bert & Diane S. and Marg. It was very stiffling sleeping but I did have a good sleep when I
finally put in ear plugs and fell asleep. So great knowing we don't have to cycle tomorrow and can actually sleep till 8:00 or so instead of 5:00
Sun. Aug. 3rd.-Sat. Aug.9,
This week has flown by. Can't believe I've been on the tour for 2 weeks. On Sunday we went to a Lutheran church across the street from the local Y where we were staying. On Sunday some of the young people were skating in the arena. What a contrast. Hope someone took a picture of someone in their cycling shorts and skates holding a hockey stick. We slept in tents at the local Y and some of the younger set stayed indoors. It was such a hot day today. I believe the temperature was 105 with the humidex reading. There were buses going to two services in Omaha which would be an hour long bus ride so some of us decided to go across the street instead. One was a church that reaches out to inmates and I guess there were some testimonials. Apparently it was quite a unique service. Others went to a more traditional church also in Omaha. It really paid off for us to go across the street. The church there was wonderful. There were probably about 20 of us or more that went. We all wore our yellow sea to sea t-shirts and of course they announced what we were all about. The next thing we knew the pastor announced that we would all receive refreshments and goodies. Well they kept feeding us all afternoon. One of the guys from the church even went home and made more fresh brownies. They also told us we could sleep in the church at night. Someone stayed there all night so we could do that. It was nice and cool. We slept in the foyer and hallways. A beautiful church with wonderful people. We gave them a shifting gears book and they asked all of us to sign it.
Mon. Aug. 10
This was 138 km. day I believe. It was a pretty good day if I can remember. I haven't been keeping up my blog because of the sea to sea satellite not working properly and it seems I can't get on any other wireless connection. Not sure why. Tues. was around 143 kms. or so I think and then on Wed. and Thurs. were our longest days, 182 kms. in a row. Wed. went very well. We had super weather and the roads were nice and quite. A few hills but nothing major. Margaret and I rode together and we made it in just over 8 hours. Had to wait until after supper to have a shower. Thurs. was another 182 km. day and that was much more tiring because we had head winds pretty well all day. Margaret wasn't feeling well so I went with Dora and Rita. I started the day off on the wrong foot because when I went to check the air in my front tire the tube blew. Well Ed G. was nice enough to come to my assistance and put another tube in which when being pumped up we found it had a leak in it. We still left around 7:15 or so in spite of the flats but then I kept loosing air and found out there was a bulge in the tube. It hadn't been seated properly so another tube gone. Some young guys came to my assistance and changed the tube. I had to continue to put air in every time we came to a sag driver. I did make it in to camp and George was kind enough to check the tire when we got in to camp and found the slow leak. He patched it up and it looked good the next morning.
On Friday we crossed the Mississippi river into Wisconsin. What a beautiful spot. I did take one picture of the river but it would've been nicer from the middle of the bridge but of course couldn't stop there since it was very busy with traffic and no bike lane. Going down just before we got to the bridge was a very steep hill nice and long. The roads at the beginning of today were very bad. Lots of ruts in the road. You had to keep your eyes on the road in front of you to dodge these long ruts and holes in the road. Ed said he was pretty worried about the ride today because of the road conditions. Another road had a nice paved shoulder but there was a rumble strip down the one side all the way and then they had put fresh gravel on the right side of the paved part so very narrow to bike on plus you had to often get over on the road because of gravel on the paved part. Very scarry since it was a major road and very busy with transport trucks, etc. Thank God we all made it without major injuries although Don fell on the loose gravel and cracked his collar bone I believe. He had to be taken off the tour. You feel so bad when someone gets injured like that because after all the training and doing so good on the first 5 weeks of the trip he has to quite. I got another flat just as we got into Wisconsin. John V.S. just happened to be at the tourist office while I was there having a bite to eat and so he graciously changed the tire for me.
Sat. Aug. 9 - This was a nice short day compared to the other days this week. We woke up to rain around 4:00 or so and I got up about 4:30 and started packing up everything in the tent and got dressed. We had to pack up our wet tents but at least I didn't get wet inside the tent. We never got away until after 8:00 trying to decide what to wear and to stay dry. It didn't rain once we got started but because it was quite cool we kept them on for a while and finally stripped down to shorts and top when the sun came out. It was a beautiful day for cycling - middle to high 70's pretty well all day. Had a great ride and got into Madison around 3:00. The roads were very well marked because we had to make a lot of turns when we got into Madison. There was one guy on a recumbant 3-wheeler - Bill and I was just watching someone's video picture of two guys pushing him each on one side up 2 huge hills - amazing how strong some of these guys are. There was also one of two guys drafting behind a manure spreader. We had a great day. There were some steep hills but a lot of rolling hills. The church here has been great .
July 29, 2008
addition to blog: July 28th:
I wasn't sure I would be able to stand the heat, but we took several breaks and drinking more water and energy drinks than I've ever consumed I did make it which was 143 kms. The worst part of this day was that we never got any relief from the heat. If there was a sign on the side of the road we were happy just to sit in it's shade for a few minutes. You couldn't stand around too long or it is very hard to get going. It felt sooo good to get to our destination which was Fort Morgan. We had the use of the highschool showers and gymn. It was a nice cool night for sleeping. We finally got in by 5:15 - 8hrs. 40 mins. on the bike total - avg. 22.5 kms. per hr.
July 29th ride: 141 kms. from Fort Morgan to Wray
What a beautiful day compared to yesterday. It was nice and cool when we started out about 7:00 a.m. The road was a beautiful paved road with nice wide shoulders for most of the way to Wray. What a difference when the weather is a bit cooler. It was around 93 by mid afternoon but there was a nice breeze. We did have a head wind after lunch. Peter and Joe are still with us. They decided to stay an extra day...no objections from Margaret or I since we get to sleep in the trailer for another night. Tomorrow we'll have to set up our own tents. I did have a flat today. Didn't even notice it until I looked down at my front tire . We were riding with all ladies and Peter and Joe had just passed us when it went. Fortunately for us about 9 guys came along and of course we acted like we didn't know how to change the flat. Johnny Pierce and Peter Kranenburg changed it for me. You need a lot of power to use those little pumps that attach to your bike so I was very grateful with these guys stopping. One of the others who passed us said "how many North Americans does it take to change a flat tire". We had a good laugh over that one. Hopefully I can add some pictures at one point when the satellite actually works good. I am now going to open my album to page 2 and see what surprise my kids have for me. We are having a birthday party for Adrian's birthday. He's going home with Joe & Peter. The younger set are all at a local pool which is close to our campsite. We had to walk or ride if we so chose to have a shower which is about 8 blocks away. Peter and Joe thought they'd pull a fast one on us. We took the truck to have our shower and low and behold when I got done there was no truck in sight until we had walked about 4 blocks. Nice guy!! We are having a lot of fun and it's amazing how much energy you still have after cycling all day. Today we got in around 4:00.
A very good day.
July 30th - Wed. Wray to McCook
I feel so bad that the satellite isn't working properly. It's got to be frustrating for the media guys who set it up. Today I will tell you what a typical pattern is for every day. Get up around 5:00, get dressed, take down the tent and make sure you don't leave anything inside the tent before rolling it up...been there, done that, get your lunch made for the day, eat breakfast, lots of carbs, my usually breakfast is oatmeal with raisins, cinnamon and milk. Fill up water bottles, check the air pressure in your tires and do an overall check of the bike. Put all your stuff in the gear truck and drag your bag with tent, chair etc.beside the gear truck to be loaded later by the sweep team. All this takes about 1&1/2 hrs. total. It takes a bit to get into a system. Hopefully by the end of the week I'll have it all organized. I should have written something down every day because I'm not sure what kind of a day it was. All I can say is it was hot, hot, hot. We start off around 6:30 in the morn. and by 9:00 you can feel the sun starting to beat down on you. We have had a bit of cloud cover on some of the days. I believe this was a pretty good day for riding. We stopped at the Nebraska state line sign to take a picture. We also crossed another time zone so are now only an hour difference from home time. When we got to McCook, Peter and Joe and Adrian had set up Margaret & my tents up for us. Nice way to arrive after a tired, hot ride. During the night there must have been an owl in the tree right near my tent because I could hear him very clear. I wanted to get out to take a look but thought I may not be able to get to sleep after. Sleeping has been a problem so far but I'm hoping that when I get into more of a routine with everything after the first week it'll get better. I am so enjoying opening my album every day. It certainly connects me to my family being so far away from them. You don't know how much it means to me!! Thank you dear children & grandchildren!!
July 31st - Thursday, McCook to Minden
No change in the weather. Those who rode from Seattle have been in this heat since June 28th. They only had a few sprinkles here and there but continuous hot days of 90-100 plus. It's got to break one of these days I hope. The countryside is more lush around here than in Colorado. Corn and soya beans are the staple crops you see alongside the road. Miles and Miles of it. Finished the day around 6:00 I think. I was supposed to be in by 5:30 to help with supper but got in too late. We just have to help set up and serve. There were enough others on the sweep team. Ralph and Dora were on my sweep team. The suppers are unbelievable for such a large group. We get a real variety of exclusive meals. Every day is different. We sure aren't suffering!!
Aug. 1st. Minden to York-Friday
Started out early in the morning again. I felt pretty lousy today, dehydrated and lack of sleep I think. I had to help with breakfast this morning so we didn't get away until 7:30. It was tough at first until I stopped several times to get a bite to eat and drank tons of water. Things were going pretty good until after a no. of kms. we had construction and were down to one lane. The shoulders were very rough so couldn't ride on them. They let us through but when the oncoming traffic started to come our way a transport truck was coming on toward us and we had to get on the shoulder which was torn up. Right when I got on the shoulder there was a pile of dirt and I fell at that point but no serious damage and off we went again. This was the longest day I have every gone on the bike- 151 kms. Felt good when I got in to York University.
Aug. 2nd - York to Freemont - Sat
Last night I was on sweep which means you need to be at the next destination by 5:30 to help set up for supper and serve. This was another over 150 km. day and we started off with a head wind. Thank goodness it was fairly flat at the beginning but we were in a head wind for about the first 40 kms. which was tough. You're constantly pushing. Very tiring. Once we turned we had nice rolling hills down one and almost up the next without much hard peddling. I had gone about 84 kms. on hwy. 92 and was coasting down a hill when I had to get over on the shoulder (which was rather rough) when I heard this rattling on my bike. I thought it was something wrong with the tire but realized when I stopped that the back brake had lost a nut that secured it to the bike. Had to call one of the sag wagons and Julie came to my rescue about 1 hr. or so later. Found a nice shady spot on the hill under a tree. Dora, my biking partner that day stuck with me till Gayle came along and waited with me until Julie came along to pick the bike and myself up. That of course ended my biking for the day. Rather disappointing but out of my control. Just like life I guess. The scenery was pretty along the way. Lots of beautiful cash crop farming which looked very lush. People around here say the weather is unusually hot around here. One of the sags took us to a laundry mat tonight so it was nice to get that over with.
Stayed up later tonight and sat around and talked to Andy H. and Bert & Diane S. and Marg. It was very stiffling sleeping but I did have a good sleep when I
finally put in ear plugs and fell asleep. So great knowing we don't have to cycle tomorrow and can actually sleep till 8:00 or so instead of 5:00
Sun. Aug. 3rd.-Sat. Aug.9,
This week has flown by. Can't believe I've been on the tour for 2 weeks. On Sunday we went to a Lutheran church across the street from the local Y where we were staying. On Sunday some of the young people were skating in the arena. What a contrast. Hope someone took a picture of someone in their cycling shorts and skates holding a hockey stick. We slept in tents at the local Y and some of the younger set stayed indoors. It was such a hot day today. I believe the temperature was 105 with the humidex reading. There were buses going to two services in Omaha which would be an hour long bus ride so some of us decided to go across the street instead. One was a church that reaches out to inmates and I guess there were some testimonials. Apparently it was quite a unique service. Others went to a more traditional church also in Omaha. It really paid off for us to go across the street. The church there was wonderful. There were probably about 20 of us or more that went. We all wore our yellow sea to sea t-shirts and of course they announced what we were all about. The next thing we knew the pastor announced that we would all receive refreshments and goodies. Well they kept feeding us all afternoon. One of the guys from the church even went home and made more fresh brownies. They also told us we could sleep in the church at night. Someone stayed there all night so we could do that. It was nice and cool. We slept in the foyer and hallways. A beautiful church with wonderful people. We gave them a shifting gears book and they asked all of us to sign it.
Mon. Aug. 10
This was 138 km. day I believe. It was a pretty good day if I can remember. I haven't been keeping up my blog because of the sea to sea satellite not working properly and it seems I can't get on any other wireless connection. Not sure why. Tues. was around 143 kms. or so I think and then on Wed. and Thurs. were our longest days, 182 kms. in a row. Wed. went very well. We had super weather and the roads were nice and quite. A few hills but nothing major. Margaret and I rode together and we made it in just over 8 hours. Had to wait until after supper to have a shower. Thurs. was another 182 km. day and that was much more tiring because we had head winds pretty well all day. Margaret wasn't feeling well so I went with Dora and Rita. I started the day off on the wrong foot because when I went to check the air in my front tire the tube blew. Well Ed G. was nice enough to come to my assistance and put another tube in which when being pumped up we found it had a leak in it. We still left around 7:15 or so in spite of the flats but then I kept loosing air and found out there was a bulge in the tube. It hadn't been seated properly so another tube gone. Some young guys came to my assistance and changed the tube. I had to continue to put air in every time we came to a sag driver. I did make it in to camp and George was kind enough to check the tire when we got in to camp and found the slow leak. He patched it up and it looked good the next morning.
On Friday we crossed the Mississippi river into Wisconsin. What a beautiful spot. I did take one picture of the river but it would've been nicer from the middle of the bridge but of course couldn't stop there since it was very busy with traffic and no bike lane. Going down just before we got to the bridge was a very steep hill nice and long. The roads at the beginning of today were very bad. Lots of ruts in the road. You had to keep your eyes on the road in front of you to dodge these long ruts and holes in the road. Ed said he was pretty worried about the ride today because of the road conditions. Another road had a nice paved shoulder but there was a rumble strip down the one side all the way and then they had put fresh gravel on the right side of the paved part so very narrow to bike on plus you had to often get over on the road because of gravel on the paved part. Very scarry since it was a major road and very busy with transport trucks, etc. Thank God we all made it without major injuries although Don fell on the loose gravel and cracked his collar bone I believe. He had to be taken off the tour. You feel so bad when someone gets injured like that because after all the training and doing so good on the first 5 weeks of the trip he has to quite. I got another flat just as we got into Wisconsin. John V.S. just happened to be at the tourist office while I was there having a bite to eat and so he graciously changed the tire for me.
Sat. Aug. 9 - This was a nice short day compared to the other days this week. We woke up to rain around 4:00 or so and I got up about 4:30 and started packing up everything in the tent and got dressed. We had to pack up our wet tents but at least I didn't get wet inside the tent. We never got away until after 8:00 trying to decide what to wear and to stay dry. It didn't rain once we got started but because it was quite cool we kept them on for a while and finally stripped down to shorts and top when the sun came out. It was a beautiful day for cycling - middle to high 70's pretty well all day. Had a great ride and got into Madison around 3:00. The roads were very well marked because we had to make a lot of turns when we got into Madison. There was one guy on a recumbant 3-wheeler - Bill and I was just watching someone's video picture of two guys pushing him each on one side up 2 huge hills - amazing how strong some of these guys are. There was also one of two guys drafting behind a manure spreader. We had a great day. There were some steep hills but a lot of rolling hills. The church here has been great .
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Dordt College
Today was a beautiful day, not so hot, in the low 80's. Once again I apologize for not sending pictures. I am still having problems getting on my own laptop. I am trying to get the problem rectified. Today was a beautiful day!! The coolest since I've come on the tour. In the mid 80's I think and nice cloud cover most of the day. We did a shorter ride today 98. kms. although my odometer said 99.99 kms. The scenery was beautiful, lots to see, rolling hills ...lots and lots of rolling hills. I thought it was all downhill from here. Once again, not true. The local church about 25 kms. outside of Sioux Centre gave us strawberry smoothies and root beer floats. Very yummy and refreshing. We had a delicious dinner served by the Dordt community. One of the ladies in our small group is from Sioux Centre and helped organize the meal. Also for breakfast tomorrow. I'm starting to get to know more people every day (not saying I remember their names) but eventually I hope I will. We had a bit of a celebration service after supper here at Dordt. We actually get to sleep on a real bed tonight and need only to share it with one other person. Wonderful. I'm typing really fast so I can get to bed because tomorrow is our 182 km. day and we have one that distance the next day too. It's amazing how everybody helps each other out and we become a real community. As one of the cyclists who is finished his leg of the trip said tonight at the celebration service. We need to do the same thing in our churches and not let our differences interfere with what church is meant to be. So true, isn't it. Please check out the pictures on the sea to sea website, you can view them with Flickr I think. It will tell you on the website. It's amazing how you don't even know what's going on around the world. Your day is centred on getting from point a to point b. Time just flies believe it or not!! So far so good. It's so great to know you have so many people lifting you up in prayer for safety. Today we didn't get a chance to hand out many cards as we didn't come across any towns to speak of but when we stop in for a drink at a service station or restaurant, several sea to sea cards are handed out. I also got to meet someone whom I hadn't seen in years. Never expected to see anyone I knew. Met Leonard and Herma Verbruggen and Mark. What a surprise!! Also met Willie DeKoter's sister and husband; their daughter is cycling also. Neat to make connections. Dutch bingo get practised a lot on this tour I can see.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
a frustrated blogger
I am so sorry I haven't been putting up new posts for you. The sea to sea satellite isn't working properly and for some reason (maybe I'm not computer literate enough I can't connect to the Lutheran church's wireless (they have been such a wonderful host to us today). Some of us attended the church across the road from where we are staying for the weekend in Freemont, Nebraska.
This will be a quick post as I am using Peter VN's computer. I'm doing well. I have done my first week and feel good I've accomplished six days of cycling, this being one of the longest kms. weeks of the tour. Who said there are no hills on this part of the journey. Did I say it was all downhill from Denver. Sorry I lied. Tomorrow we start out and will end up in Iowa. The most major concern of this trip is the heat. We have had mostly near or at 100 F temperatures every day. It'll be great to get some relief from the heat. Thank you so much for your encouraging comments. It really helps and thanks dear family for the wonderful album I look forward to reading every day. It truly keeps me connected with you all. I took pictures and hope to post them as soon as possible. I am trying not to get too stressed about the computer problem but will keep trying. Thanks for your prayers. It's 1 km. and one day at a time. Take care.
This will be a quick post as I am using Peter VN's computer. I'm doing well. I have done my first week and feel good I've accomplished six days of cycling, this being one of the longest kms. weeks of the tour. Who said there are no hills on this part of the journey. Did I say it was all downhill from Denver. Sorry I lied. Tomorrow we start out and will end up in Iowa. The most major concern of this trip is the heat. We have had mostly near or at 100 F temperatures every day. It'll be great to get some relief from the heat. Thank you so much for your encouraging comments. It really helps and thanks dear family for the wonderful album I look forward to reading every day. It truly keeps me connected with you all. I took pictures and hope to post them as soon as possible. I am trying not to get too stressed about the computer problem but will keep trying. Thanks for your prayers. It's 1 km. and one day at a time. Take care.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)