ONE DAY LEFT...What an incredible journey with amazing challenges! Tomorrow's activities will punctuate just what it takes to always content and let each moment of each day take care of itself.
Many times during our conversations, we caught ourselves taking back words we inadvertently expressed about our fears thinking about the next day's ride. For instance, the east coast mountains presented an entirely different terrain from that of the west coast mountains and Rockies. Some feared the wide swing in grade level changes would crush us and we would not be able to continue. And yet, we all arrived somewhat on time to enjoy an awesome supper and celebrate how great our God is.
May we all remember how we prepared to cross into the US from Canada. What an amazing discovery that was when we cycled across the the bridge into the US without any interruptions from the border guards. Just an example of diligent planning.
So...may we pray for tomorrow's activities as we use three separate police escorts from three different jurisdictions protecting us as we wander through 10 miles of heavy traffic to dip our tires into the sea. What an amazing process that will be as we leave early in the morning to be certain we arrive on time and begin the escorting process.
After I arrive back home I hope those who read blogs will continue to read them as some of us were quite challenged by Internet access and other technical hiccups. I will post pictures and other stories that should prove entertaining and fun.
Any comments....please...
Friday, August 29, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
yes, we have no internet today
Our dish needs repairs and will not occur until NEXT week, sad but true.
So we must wait for libraries tomorrow.
Try leaving a comment!
So we must wait for libraries tomorrow.
Try leaving a comment!
Sunday, August 24, 2008
What about St. Catherines...?
Despite what seemed to be an overwhelming amount of social activities especially on our day of rest, we were refreshed when we discovered just how sincere our hosts showed concern for our well being. Everyone wanted to connect in some way with each rider. An unusual discovery occured as we learned just how often our blog sites were being read!
During our celebration ceremony, we discovered just how many people read ALL various blog websites. Because there were so many readers, the time required to "get acquainted" during the celebration ceremony was shortened significantly. Under much different circumstances, it might have been considered rude to suggest to someone you just met that they were not "blogging" often enough. And yet, with so many people reading the blogs, we had conversations like we were all "old" friends. So it was suggested that if comments were submitted more often, it might enhance the overall participation level and response time bloggers blog. This could expand way beyond our immediate support groups as well?
So with some simple survey questions, why did the world-wide Sea to Sea blog readers avoid leaving comments and enhance the desire of cyclists to blog more often? Some readers were unfamiliar with the technical methods on how to submit a comment and some were either shy or wanted to keep their messages private. In any of these cases, it was suggested that during the last six days of riding, it might be fun to expand our friendships and overall number of supporters.
Some cyclists launched some internet tools to measure the amount of "hits" their respective blog sites actually receive per day. Some sites receive over 200 hits per day! Still others monitor our progress using Google maps with "Street View" to get the feeling of the actual ride.
The published book called "Switching Gears" was distributed to attendees who wanted to follow share the trip's route with others. Some of these books were autographed to encourage new sponsor's with a specific cyclists name. This helps any of us feel we have a specific connection and ownership with this whole effort to raise awareness towards poverty and its devasting effects.
Thank you St. Catherines.
Special note...Chris and Joanne, who attend Maranatha CRC, made an extra special effort and assisted me some laundry needs. They actually delivered the laundry to the door of my tent! I missed saying 'Thank you' because we were all attending Sunday nights meeting preparing for tomorrow's ride. So...a special thanks to Chris and Joanne's effort. (Please help Chris and Joane receive word of my appreciation.)
All comments are welcome and encouraged!
During our celebration ceremony, we discovered just how many people read ALL various blog websites. Because there were so many readers, the time required to "get acquainted" during the celebration ceremony was shortened significantly. Under much different circumstances, it might have been considered rude to suggest to someone you just met that they were not "blogging" often enough. And yet, with so many people reading the blogs, we had conversations like we were all "old" friends. So it was suggested that if comments were submitted more often, it might enhance the overall participation level and response time bloggers blog. This could expand way beyond our immediate support groups as well?
So with some simple survey questions, why did the world-wide Sea to Sea blog readers avoid leaving comments and enhance the desire of cyclists to blog more often? Some readers were unfamiliar with the technical methods on how to submit a comment and some were either shy or wanted to keep their messages private. In any of these cases, it was suggested that during the last six days of riding, it might be fun to expand our friendships and overall number of supporters.
Some cyclists launched some internet tools to measure the amount of "hits" their respective blog sites actually receive per day. Some sites receive over 200 hits per day! Still others monitor our progress using Google maps with "Street View" to get the feeling of the actual ride.
The published book called "Switching Gears" was distributed to attendees who wanted to follow share the trip's route with others. Some of these books were autographed to encourage new sponsor's with a specific cyclists name. This helps any of us feel we have a specific connection and ownership with this whole effort to raise awareness towards poverty and its devasting effects.
Thank you St. Catherines.
Special note...Chris and Joanne, who attend Maranatha CRC, made an extra special effort and assisted me some laundry needs. They actually delivered the laundry to the door of my tent! I missed saying 'Thank you' because we were all attending Sunday nights meeting preparing for tomorrow's ride. So...a special thanks to Chris and Joanne's effort. (Please help Chris and Joane receive word of my appreciation.)
All comments are welcome and encouraged!
Friday, August 22, 2008
The Incredible Day...in Canada
Simply amazing to ride for a day and have SO many rest stops filled with SO many people clapping and cheering! Should we discuss the food and refreshments provided? I chose to ride aggresively between stops to be certain ALL the consumed products eaten at the last stop were completely digested and burned off before arriving at the next stop.
Here is the other observation...many of the well wishers actually engaged in proactive conversations with sincere curosity. Once they learned your name and home town location, they wanted to know about your well being, where you started, how far to you intend to travel, etc. In some cases, we had to pull ourselves away from all the questions to continue on to the next stop. (Pictures will follow soon due to some technical challenges.)
By the way...comments posted to this Blog site were read to tonite for the first time. My apologies for not paying attention to this feature when using blog sites.
Danae, our 4th of 6 children, chose to drive to Chatham, ON Canada and drop me off so I could rejoin the tour. Soon after arriving, a time trial event was discussed with others. There were some restrictions. One, you had to ride out about 40 Km and in order to arrive at the start line before 9:00am. Second, you had to register the day before!?!?
Anyways, the 9:00am deadline was met. The registration effort was accomplished with a permanent marker number scrolled on my right leg calf, "30". I felt "attached" to an elite group of cyclists. Each of the 30 cyclists started fully clipped and launched after one minute intervals. We were to race against the clock for another 40 Km. There was a slight head wind and a slight up hill grade. Breaking time without an age compensated bhandicap was one hour and 18 minutes! The equates to 18.74 mph! I was number 20! However, if there was an age handicap, a sixty year old guy beat me by 7 minutes.
(Pictures arrive during the weekend Stay tuned.)
Here is the other observation...many of the well wishers actually engaged in proactive conversations with sincere curosity. Once they learned your name and home town location, they wanted to know about your well being, where you started, how far to you intend to travel, etc. In some cases, we had to pull ourselves away from all the questions to continue on to the next stop. (Pictures will follow soon due to some technical challenges.)
By the way...comments posted to this Blog site were read to tonite for the first time. My apologies for not paying attention to this feature when using blog sites.
Danae, our 4th of 6 children, chose to drive to Chatham, ON Canada and drop me off so I could rejoin the tour. Soon after arriving, a time trial event was discussed with others. There were some restrictions. One, you had to ride out about 40 Km and in order to arrive at the start line before 9:00am. Second, you had to register the day before!?!?
Anyways, the 9:00am deadline was met. The registration effort was accomplished with a permanent marker number scrolled on my right leg calf, "30". I felt "attached" to an elite group of cyclists. Each of the 30 cyclists started fully clipped and launched after one minute intervals. We were to race against the clock for another 40 Km. There was a slight head wind and a slight up hill grade. Breaking time without an age compensated bhandicap was one hour and 18 minutes! The equates to 18.74 mph! I was number 20! However, if there was an age handicap, a sixty year old guy beat me by 7 minutes.
(Pictures arrive during the weekend Stay tuned.)
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Appointment Conflict Resolved...!
This picture shows the "DNA" supporters.Our schedule conflict went away when Hurricane Fay rained on everyone's parade in Key West.
Without this scheduling conflict, I will continue to ride to the Atlantic Ocean and dip the tires!
Without this scheduling conflict, I will continue to ride to the Atlantic Ocean and dip the tires!
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Trinity College
What a wonderful level of encouragement and refreshments from the staff and others as we approached the college. It was so well attended with people interested in our bike stories. Herman, from Trinity, wants to find a way to ride along with us respecting the rules for safety and liability.
It is true there are many people who have secret desires to ride, but looked for excuses which they felt complied with a reasonable justification level.,
It is true there are many people who have secret desires to ride, but looked for excuses which they felt complied with a reasonable justification level.,
Monday, August 11, 2008
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Madison Crossroads Church
Our weekend in Madison demonstrated what it is like to be serviced. We received a fanfare greeting with waves and waves of follow up supplies that filled our bellies and met our physical needs of our bikes and sleeping accommodations. They attended to entertainment needs as well as our escape from camp routines.
Many families rushed in to provide meals in restaurants and sleeping accommodations in real beds without normal camp life distractions. With the cooler weather and sunshine it all appeared as a day of significant rest despite the fact we frantically got caught up with our blogging as Internet access became high speed in the church Wi-Fi bubble. Praise the Lord!
Just imagine soda from a self serve fountain and snacks laying around to consume as bike and camp gear is re-organized (again) getting ready for the new week's ride.
Just a brief note about lifestyle. As we ride with the same group of people over many weeks our minds map characteristics of each rider and we begin to believe this is our life and future lifestyle. It is somewhat disturbing to think how abruptly this will end and yet it sort of reflects on the potential how fragile our lives are anyways.
Maybe we could reflect and act in tangible ways how it is we stay so overwhelmed in our personal lifestyles often at the expense of others as we rush past them.
This past seven weeks demonstrates to all of us just what it takes to catch our own attention let alone the attention of others concerning poverty lifestyles. In some respects how do we end our own poverty lifestyle?
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Day 38
What a new adventure riding in the rain on a 114 mile day! WOW! We ate so much food in order to deal with the demands of this longest distance ride and yet...wait, there is more. We have another LONG distance ride in tomorrow, too.
Today all of us were very excited about the cool rains, cloud cover and TAIL WINDS! (Sweet)
The extra challenge today included not one but two flat tires. The first occured inside the dormitory at Dordt College out of the rain. The second, well with a little help from friends, we changed not just the tube but the whole tire. Two thousand miles on one tire was not too bad. I rode the whole day with Justin. Great ride getting to know about each other and fullfilling the intergenerational interaction relationship building activities. (Thanks Justin!)
Our satellite technician may arrive tomorrow so many more will be able to post blog content soon. I am using cell phone technology as a modem.
Remember, it is ok to post a comment or two.
Today all of us were very excited about the cool rains, cloud cover and TAIL WINDS! (Sweet)
The extra challenge today included not one but two flat tires. The first occured inside the dormitory at Dordt College out of the rain. The second, well with a little help from friends, we changed not just the tube but the whole tire. Two thousand miles on one tire was not too bad. I rode the whole day with Justin. Great ride getting to know about each other and fullfilling the intergenerational interaction relationship building activities. (Thanks Justin!)
Our satellite technician may arrive tomorrow so many more will be able to post blog content soon. I am using cell phone technology as a modem.
Remember, it is ok to post a comment or two.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Day 36
Shifting Gears booklet indicates we are on our 36th day of riding. We departed from Fremont, NE and headed into head winds. After 3 hours of riding, Tekamah seemed like a bustling community that would support a thriving cafe. The Tailgators Bus Stop Cafe certainly proved to be the spot for a breakfast recharging station.
Diane served a pancake the size of a medium pizza for an awesome price of $1.50! She obviously had to ask where I was going with all the bike stuff on. She quickly donate money for the effort.
Later at camp, Diane enthusiastically served many other who came along later in the day. She proudly displayed the "Sea to Sea" bracelet I had given her for generous donation.
Many tonight decided to sleep inside a basketball court gymnasium. I appreciate the generosity of the local community leaders for opening up their facility, but it seems a bit too crowded especially IF I were to display my snoring performance at an inappropriate time. So, with the threat of rain, my tent is under the roof of an outdoor shelter next to the train tracks. YIKES!
Enough of all this for now...I have been quite challenged and amazed how difficult it has been for me to post to this blog daily and yet thrilled to see so many passionate journalists who overcome all these daily details to post to their blog sites so faithfully.
Quiz for a Google look up... What is Dordt College all about?
Diane served a pancake the size of a medium pizza for an awesome price of $1.50! She obviously had to ask where I was going with all the bike stuff on. She quickly donate money for the effort.
Later at camp, Diane enthusiastically served many other who came along later in the day. She proudly displayed the "Sea to Sea" bracelet I had given her for generous donation.
Many tonight decided to sleep inside a basketball court gymnasium. I appreciate the generosity of the local community leaders for opening up their facility, but it seems a bit too crowded especially IF I were to display my snoring performance at an inappropriate time. So, with the threat of rain, my tent is under the roof of an outdoor shelter next to the train tracks. YIKES!
Enough of all this for now...I have been quite challenged and amazed how difficult it has been for me to post to this blog daily and yet thrilled to see so many passionate journalists who overcome all these daily details to post to their blog sites so faithfully.
Quiz for a Google look up... What is Dordt College all about?
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