From London to Hamilton - A weekend of friends, food, and real beds

Friday's bike ride took us into Breslau, ON. A bit of a longer ride of over 116km, we were all happy to finally make it into camp at Woodlands Christian School. As everyone set up tents I was able to organize my two laundry baskets that I had been living out of. I wasn't too worried about getting my tent up because I was going to be spoiled. That night, I would get to sleep in a real bed O_O!!!

My sister Melinda had a childhood best friend who was at our house so much she seemed like a sister. Despite the fact that they may have had a lot of fun at my expense from time to time, it was great to see her. Alesha and her husband Brad came to the school around dinner time and picked me up. Another plus was that we were going out for dinner in Kitchner, which meant I got to eat something new and different. Always exciting :)

We head to a place they liked called "The Works". It was an awesome burger joint that I had never been to prior to this, but was excited to try. The menu was overwhelming with hundreds of different combinations to be made. After much deliberation I finally made a decision and chose "The San Francisco Treat", a chicken burger on a whole wheat bun, topped with real kraft dinner and cheddar cheese. It sounds weird and initially I couldn't believe it would taste that great, but I decided to take the plunge anyways, assuming it was so bizarre that it had to be amazing. Well folks, let me tell you, it was. Simply amazing.

 

After dinner, compliments of Alesha and Brad, we head back to their place where I was reunited with Alesha's cat from her childhood, Skittles, and we played some games.

 

The best kind of hosts, she even made a great gluten free, vegan, banana bread :) So delicious!

 

After the most GLORIOUS sleep in a real bed, Alesha drove me back to the school where I met up with my riding buddies. Today was going to be a bit of a different day. Matt's brother, Cory, was joining us, and it didn't take long to pick him out of the crowd. Only a Hoogsteen would show up to bike 70km with a milk carton strapped to the back of his bike and an un-lubed chain :)

 

I was very blessed to have another friend to see that morning! Anthony Foster, a friend from way back when I was 16 lived in the area and we had arranged to meet for breakfast that morning. The place we originally were going to apparently wasn't open, so we meandered 5km off of the route to meet him at a great diner called Oscar's. Together our riding group and Anthony had a delicious breakfast, compliments of Anthony, and chatted the morning away. (apparently it was the week of free meals?!) Luckily it was a short riding day!

 

After goodbyes we set off on the road again, re-tracing our pedal strokes to get back to the marked route set out for us by the tour. We had debated for several minutes whether to take our own route, which would be shorter, or to follow the C's on the road and backtrack a bit. Ultimately it was decided to just use the route given. Funny how things turn out, because somewhere along the line we missed one of the lovely C's and realized we were lost, and ended up using the debated alternate route anyways!

 

Taking a shortcut down highway 8 we made great time. Matt was from the area and wanted to take us to his old workplace - A-1 Pizza where he hoped we could get some free pizza. We all agreed because everyone loves pizza, unaware that this was about 20km off of the route we had chosen to follow to Redeemer University. By the time we got there we were all eagerly awaiting the pizza, and were perhaps slightly disappointed when we got pops instead. BUT, we can't complain. Free is free.

 

By now we figured we were way off course and would have to do a lot of extra km's to get to Redeemer, but Matt said he knew a short way to get there. It was true! He did. But he failed to mention that this route included crazy climbs and descents of ridiculous grades. Without exaggeration, I can say that one of them must have been 14%. I was worried that if I stopped pedaling for a second, or leaned back to far I might go tumbling back down the hill! Regardless, it was a good workout :) And, Matt brought us to this beautiful waterfall :) 

 

Because we were feeling adventurous we decided to climb to the top. Our shoes got a bit wet, but that was okay by us. No worse than a rainy day!

 

After the waterfall adventure we made our way to Redeemer, which was only about 7km away! We were all shocked, especially because despite our detour to breakfast, Matt's Pizza place, and the waterfall, we had still done only 70kms! Amazing how that works! And, we got a great workout on the climbs :)

At Redeemer it was time to set up camp in the dorms, but also time to say goodbye to some riders. Our friend, Peter Wong, was leaving the tour, so we got a picture together before he head off. He was training for an Iron Man in a few weeks, so we wish him all the best and hope it doesn't rain on him!

 

Not only was it a weekend of free food, but a weekend of seeing old friends. Kat, whom I met in Washington 2 summers ago in a summer course through the Au Sable Institute of Environmental Studies, drove 2.5 hours from Western New York to visit! She would be heading off to the Ukraine in a few days to teach English for a year, so our timing couldn't have been better for seeing one another. Also, she brought with her some Ukrainian chocolate. It didn't stick around for very long :) 

 

 

Surprises, surprises. Along the trip there are 4 mail stops where family, friends, etc. can send packages to the cyclists. I had never told any of my family or friends about these stops or when they occurred, so I never expected mail. Can you imagine my shock when I was informed that a package had arrived for me?! I didn't believe it, but sure enough my wonderful boyfriend, Todd, had sent me a package. I was very excited :)

 

The contents were 3 letters, and a wrapped boxy thing that I assumed to be a book, which it was :)

 

Inside the book were photos of him making funny faces and everything, and the "open first" envelope contained a letter/postcard. Unfortunately I have to wait until the 17th and 24th to open the other too, so I'm not sure what they contain, but I'm anxious to find out!

 

That evening we all went out to downtown Hamilton and spent the evening talking and laughing, sad that the tour was coming to an end shortly but happy that we still had 2 weeks together. Resolved to make the most of the remaining days, we had a drink and enjoyed the night.

 

 

Another evening where we could sleep in real beds was so fantastic. Again, dorm room beds are the dread of every student moving away from home, but to us, they felt like heaven :)

 

Sunday was an interesting day. Waking up just before 9 (the latest we've ever slept on the trip), we head to breakfast and quickly found out that a shuttle to Niagara Falls was leaving in a few minutes. Although I had been before, I wanted to go again since the last time I saw the Falls I was probably 5 years old and most definitely on a leash so I wouldn't run away and get lost in the crowd, or go for a spill over a railing. I thought that hitting up the falls "leash-free" would be a good experience, so I scarfed down my food and head to the car. Laura joined since she had never seen the falls before, and we head out.

 

The vehicle was being driven by Esko, a former cyclist on the 2013 tour who had been injured and left the tour. He was from the area and gave a great tour as we head to the falls.

 

After a quick McDonald's/Tim Horton's run, we eventually made it there. We were all a bit squished in the SUV, so we were glad to get out and walk around.

 

The falls were gorgeous and mind-blowing. Way better than I remember from my leash days.

 

Getting a photo was more than a challenge. So many people were hanging over the edges, so as soon as a spot opened up you had to jump on it! Very few people were courteous enough to stay out of your pictures, so it might have taken a few tries before I was able to get a shot of me by the falls without a random tourist joining me.

 

I also had recently begun using the panorama setting on my camera, and thought that this was the perfect location to get some practice in with it :)

 

The girls from the group got a picture together. We thought we looked pretty stellar :)

 

And of course Laura and I had to get one together - representing Zach's Angel's at the falls!

 

After wandering around the falls, gift shops, and convincing ourselves to not buy food there (we are almost always hungry...) we head out to see some other sights. Esko brought us to the gorge where everyone eagerly listened to his talk and leaned over the railing to get a better look.

After the gorge, we went and saw the dam. Also very Impressive!

 

 

By the time we had seen all of these things, remembering we had got out for Tim Horton's before arriving at the falls, we were all pretty sick of trying to squeeze in and out of the vehicle. So by the time we got to the flower clock, we opted for a view from the car and pictures out the windows. We can bike across the continent, but getting in and out of a car more than 6 times in a day was too much.

 

By the time we got back to Redeemer, and after torturing the Americans with songs by the Arrogant worms, a Canadian group who makes a lot of Canadian jokes, and or makes fun of Americans, my phone was dead. This was unfortunate because I was unable to take any pictures of the celebration service we had, which was amazing. By far, the best we've had. Since I have no pictures, I'll try to paint one for you with my words. It was a large auditorium with a stage up front, and 2 decks of seating. As we entered the room everyone was on their feet, shouting, clapping and cheering us in. The entire room was packed, and the applause went on for what seemed like ages! It was an amazing welcome.

 

After the service we had a small reception with a lot of cookies and coffee, and even more mingling with people you had never met, but loved the tour and hence, loved you. It's always great to feel appreciated!

 

Supper was compliments of the local churches who put on a "lunch-box social" for us. We all quickly swarmed to try and grab the best looking lunch. They were great, filling, and nutritious, and some came with notes or words of encouragement. Kind of like a "I love you, sweetie" note that mom's send in kids lunchboxes. Very sweet gestures :) Plus, we love a little deviation from the norm, and it was so well executed :)

 






Later that evening, as I was packing up my belongings and bringing them back to the gear truck, I found a red tu-tu on my shelf. If you remember, this is the same tu-tu worn by Malori on Independence day. I was a bit puzzled, and while I was asking about it, I heard someone (not sure who) say that I had to wear it if I found it on my shelf. It seemed like a good rule to me, so I put it on and wore it proudly :)

 

I decided that the tu-tu was great fun, and everyone who saw me got a good laugh out of it, so I decided to make a little game out of the event. When the tu-tu is given to you, you must wear it for 1 hour before you can pass it on to whomever you like, granted they had not worn it yet. Everyone who heard the idea liked it, so we'll see how it goes. I'll keep you posted on it's progress :)

 

 

Anyways, here is my daily blog. 4 days in a row! (thanks to Gregg's persistence and the fact that I'm a bit behind). Stay tuned for tomorrow's update on Monday, the 12th as we head into Ajax, ON!

London Adventures



 

After a wonderful night's sleep in a real bed, after a real shower without 10 other women, and waking up to a beautiful breakfast prepared by Zach's dad and sister, we finally had to head back to school to get our bikes and head out on the road. To be honest, we all wanted to stay a few days longer, but we couldn't quite figure out a way to still bike across the continent while staying in one place. Oh, the dilemmas of life.

 

When we got back to the school almost everyone had left. Perhaps we had reaaallly taken our time that morning eating ham, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwiches, fresh coffee, juice, and greek yogurt. However, while we waited the Mayor of Sarnia showed up, took some photos with us, and talked with the cyclists. Can we call this a Local celebrity moment? I think so. While we waited on Matt (as usual), Mark decided to take my bike out for a spin. He suggested we switch bikes for the day because he felt really fast on mine, but I had to decline the offer. Mostly because he is over 6 ft tall and I only ride on a 50 inch frame.

 

 

The great thing about riding with a local is that they know all of the short-cuts. Zach was kind enough to show us one, which cut off about 8-10km from the original route. Now, you may not think that is much or really worth noting in my blog, but to a cyclist, 8-10km is huge. Especially with the cross-headwind we had. We arrived at SAG 1 and, even though we left last, had caught up with other cyclists who took the long way around. To be honest, I was feeling pretty tired and hoped desperately that we would be getting out of the headwind soon. 

 

Riding with women can be a challenge. Not because we chatter too much, or because we get grumpy if we don't eat often enough (both of which may happen from time to time), but mostly because we have small bladders and need to use the bathroom frequently. This was one of those days! So we stopped at a gas station along the route. It was here that I introduced Laura to the Mars bar. I still can't believe that she had never eaten one before, but I think she was happy with the purchase :) 

 

We also saw this sign on the window. Who knew?!

 

 

The rest of the ride was fairly uneventful, but included a Tim Horton stop around lunch-time. What can I say?! We're in Canada!!

 

After arriving at the school we would be staying at for the night and setting up camp in a small foyer, we got cleaned up and all spent some time relaxing. I watched a great movie on Netflix called "Won't back down" (look it up and watch it!) and my riding friends napped. However, we all had something to look forward to :) Zach's sister and Brother-in-law were coming to the school to take us shopping and out to dinner. Of course, the girls wanted to go to Lulu-Lemon.

 

Now, I generally have a rule that I don't enter Lulu-Lemon because it is so expensive. however, I had been convinced over the years that the clothing was worth the cost, so I went along. After about 10 minutes of wandering around, trying on tops, shorts, pants, etc., we were gathered into a group by one of the employees and told that they were speaking with Zach and his family about what we were doing on Sea to Sea and loved the idea. In fact, they loved the idea so much that they wanted to help us out by giving us each a free item such as a tank-top, water bottle, etc. We were blown away! We were so excited and quickly began trying on tank-tops... none of us went for the water bottle idea.

 

After a really long time of trying things on, and great patience by Zach's family, we were ready to check out!

 

I may have also purchased a pair of pants and a pair of shorts...

 

 

 

After over an hour at the store we were all VERY hungry, so we head into downtown London to get something to eat. Zach's family brought us to a great place called Jack Astor's where we enjoyed an amazing meal. It felt really nice to ride in a car, shop, and eat out, mostly because we felt normal again. And also the food was great because we hadn't eaten it 7 times already on the trip :)

There was so much that I had to box some of mine up!

 

And we got some pictures from the balcony where we ate our dinner, with a beautiful view of the city behind us.

 

Apparently the theme of the day was "FREE", because Zach's Sister and brother-in-law paid for our meals too!

 

After dinner we wasted away the rest of the evening walking around downtown London and getting a tour from Zach's brother-in-law. We saw some pretty buildings!

 

One of the great buildings included this CRC church.

 

 

Stay tuned for a blog about Friday-Sunday of week 7!

Celebration Sunday, Mundane Monday, and Tim-Horton's Tuesday

Well... I think it's a noticeable pattern that my blogs have been getting longer and longer. This is partly due to how far apart I space them, but also how much great stuff happens that I want to share! To keep it short, I'm going to try to break up the past 8 days into a couple of posts so as not to overwhelm you, and include simple explanations of pictures to reduce reading and writing time.

Sunday in Grand Rapids was mostly busy with the celebration rally put together at Calvin College. So many people came out to support us and join in the celebration, and gave a warm welcome to all of the cyclists there.



As Cyclists we walked our bikes in around the upper level track. We were applauded in with a standing ovation!




We were also able to raise over $6000.00 from an offering taken at the service! It is also a tradition to have several cyclists speak at each celebration service about what the tour means to them. This week Cristeena spoke for a second time and did an amazing job of not only helping everyone to understand why we are on this trip, but also her story of a young boy named Michael helped us to realize that poverty has a face. She really did an amazing job! It moved many to tears.



Monday was pretty low key. A regular riding day, except one of the new riders for the tour was sporting a different sort of riding equipment...




Jaspar is our Unicylist who bikes 10% of each day's ride on his unicycle, and the remaining 90% on his bicycle. Now, although it's a cool trick, Jaspar doesn't do this to just show off his skills, but because he says that people in poverty have a handicap, and he wants this ride to reflect the experience of poverty as much as possible, so he has given himself this handicap for part of each day. It's pretty neat and gives a lot to think about.

Monday night we stayed in a State Park and set out Tuesday morning we set out for Imlay City, MI - our last overnight stay in the United States before we entered into the Canadian portion of our tour!

Well, Tuesday's ride was another "every-day" ride, 122km to our destination. It was pretty and again, full of corn fields. I decided to spare you all the pictures of corn which all look the same anyways, and instead talk a bit about our afternoon once we arrived at Imlay Christian High School.

Well, arriving at the school brought many surprises. Not only were we provided with indoor sleeping (my favourite), but also Tim Horton's doughnuts! All of us Canadians had been dreaming of getting a Tim Horton's fix the following day in Sarnia, ON, and were so pleasantly surprised to receive it early :) After a quick shower and setting up headquarters in the school a few of us decided to get a bit more Tim Hortons in our systems, so Julia, Matt, Sara, Laura, Zach, and I all head out on our bikes :)








This was a special event not only for us Canadians to have some Tim's back in our systems, but also for Laura (our token American) who had never experienced Tim's. Well... the Iced Capp was amazing. At least for the first few sips :) Laura wasn't that impressed, but what can you expect from an American?

As we head back to the school we passed the local fair that had started up that day. At an intersection we heard children yelling at us to come and buy something. Curious, we head over and found that these kids (there must have been 7 of them under the age of 10) were trying to raise money so they could go to the fair! Their parents had purchased no-name pop as well as water and were selling them for $0.50 each. To help them out we all donated a dollar :) After all, they were so cute!



We found out after that each ticket to the fair cost $15.00. Now, even without doing the math it was pretty easy to see that these kids would have to sell a ridiculous amount of pop to afford tickets for each of them to attend the fair, and no kid should not be able to attend a fair because of something as small as $15.00.  So, when we got back to the school Laura and I went around telling a bunch of people our story, collected some money and people and head back out to their house. The parents and kids were so excited to see us again. In fact, one of the young boys was holding a small dog and was adamant that I come and see the graves of his other dog and bunny... Luckily I was saved by a photo-opp before I was dragged around the back of the house to the pet cemetery.  I'm not sure if they ever did make it to the fair, but I like to think that our contribution made a small difference.




For Wednesday (the day we get into Canada) through the rest of this week, stay tuned! my hope is to post again tomorrow to continue filling you all in on the events of these last few weeks of the Sea to Sea 2013 tour! Blessings!

6 Days, 5 friends , 4 bowls of ice-cream, 3 States, 2 Storms, 1 Cause

Almost a week has passed from our last update, and they have been very packed so I'm going to attempt to reduce the amount of reading you have and writing I will do, but I make no promises :)

Day 1 - Monday began what turned out to be the first of 4 very long days, but despite biking 90+ miles each day, we had fun things along the way. For instance, we saw this sign on the road while biking Monday, and assumed there would be, as said, a bit of gravel. We found it was a bit more than a bit, and it stretched on for a while.

 The day was also fun because we had the chance to go into Illinois, crossing over the Mississippi river in the process. It was beautiful, and as usual, fun to cross into yet another state!

As we stood to get our photos taken at the Illinois sign we had a lot of people honk and support us, as well as a few people who shouted out that Iowa sucked and Illinois was better. Always entertaining on Sea to Sea. 

 

 

That evening we stayed at Unity Christian School in Fulton, IL where we were treated to an amazing dinner of Boneless, skinless chicken breast, pork chops and vegetarian spaghetti, with salad, homemade pie and ice-cream. Unfortunately the spaghetti might have been neglected. We had eaten it twice already in the last 2 days. But the food was great and we also had a local band called Tone Deaf play some "spiritual songs" for us. Don't worry, they were better than their name would suggest :)

Day 2 - Tuesday was the first of the two rainy rides in this week. We started off in the rain and it was as persistent as the corn fields as the day went on. We were cold, wet, and feeling pretty exhausted because the wind was not only cold, but strong and against us. It may not sound tough, but it was mentally and physically exhausting. Luckily there were small moments of reprieve where the rain would let up just enough to feel that there was hope :) We also got to see an intersection completely surrounded by corn. It looked pretty cool so I stopped to take a photo, but as soon as I did it started to rain again. I took it as a sign to stop doddling and get my butt into camp.

One challenge on Sea to Sea is washrooms. We have 1 porta-potty at the first SAG stop and then after that, you are on your own to find a place to go so sometimes we have to make due. On this particular rainy day Sara and Laura found the best option around - 4 rows deep in the cornfield.

 

The third SAG stop was a pleasant surprise. At a Shell station we were treated to free Coffee and Hot Chocolate by the owners of the Shell Station, so all of us cyclists took advantage and used to opportunity to warm up from the cold wind and rain.

 After this SAG stop we took a wrong turn and realized we were in the wrong place, so we just used Laura's GPS and found an alternate highway to take so we didn't have to backtrack to our route. It meant skipping the last SAG stop, but we made due and ended up cutting a few km's off of the total route distance for the day!

 

 

That evening we had rain again and woke up to soggy tents, but at least it wasn't raining during the day!

 

Day 3 - This day our group started out together, but when we were getting passed by a group going faster, Laura, Zach, and I hopped on the back of their pace line. They were going about 10km/h faster and since we were at the back of the line, we didn't have to work quite as hard to keep up :)

 

We came to our first SAG stop in a town called Sandwich, at the local fire department. Because Jamiel and Riel like firetrucks so much I took some photos for them to OOooo and Ahhh over. 

 

Because we were traveling at an average of 30 km/h and not stopping for coffee or spending much time at the SAGs, we got into camp early. Oh yeah, and also because Mike pulled the entire way so we just drafted into camp :) (That guy is a machine!) But getting into camp by 2 on a 90 mile day was great. In the time we normally spent on the road I was able to set up my tent to dry it out, set up my sleeping quarters in the gym, shower, and go to McDonalds to work on uploading pictures. All of the things you can accomplish in such a short time! Don't get me wrong, I love going with Zach's angel's and enjoying the day, but it is nice to get into camp quickly sometimes and have the luxury of time to yourself before dinner :) It was such a shock for people to see us in that early that Barb came to check my temperature to see if I was doing okay :P

 

Tuesday night we were staying at Illiana Christian School, the former Education site of one of our cyclists. They welcomed us with open arms and let us sleep in their gym which was beautiful, clean, and air conditioned :) Everyone came in that night, so needless to say it was good that I got a spot before most people arrived.

 

 

After another spaghetti dinner we were treated to Ice cream sundaes! They were so delicious and most people took advantage of the over-abundance of ice-cream and had 2-4 bowls of it! It did taste really good, and plus it was free!

 

While some people were working on their 4th bowl of ice-cream and the accompanying stomach ache that would later ensue, others went to the tent set up outside by a local bike shop called Good Speed Cycles. They were generous with not only their time and skills, but also their resources. They had been in contact with a cyclist on our tour who had been takin gorders of items people needed but had not yet been able to get, so they brought them all over! They also did free tune ups and trued my wheels for me! Plus, they were giving away free bike tubes which was a blessing. Especially for the people who had experienced something like 3 flats in a day, or 9 in a week sort of thing :)

 

And to keep things interesting, we have Barb, and on this day Barb had this turtle suit. Don't ask me why or how, but she did and it made my day that much better. If biking doesn't work out for her, I think she has a future in the Professional Sports Team Mascot field of work.

Day 4 of 90+ miles was a bit of a slower one for most people and was challenging. The route was fine, the terrain was fine, and the weather was good, but after traveling so quickly the day before, slowing down to 20 km/h was mentally tough. Understandable, the middle of the week and 2 long rides are tough on the body and so a slow day was probably best for us all, regardless of whether we wanted it or not. But, even on the tough days we can find ways to have fun. We stopped at a little store that was in an old school house. It was adorable and filled to overflowing with cute doo-dads and trinkets. Some people in our group wanted to stop for coffee and a break so we head in, found a few other cyclists in there, and looked around.

 

My Favourite part of the store was inside the washroom where I found this sign. It just seemed so clever and fun that I had to take a picture of it. Perhaps a few of you will enjoy it also.

 

 

Another great thing about having a slower day would be the view. This day began our lake-side riding along the Lake Michigan, which was a sight for sore eyes after 4 straight states of corn and soy-beans. It was so refreshing and relaxing to see a body of water not in the middle of a crop or smelling of manure.

 

AND, we got to go through 3 state this day! We started out in Illinois, rode through Indiana, and ended up in Michigan!

 

Unfortunately we didnt' get into camp until after 6pm, but that was mostly because we decided to stop at a rehydration station and take a break around 5pm. It was there that we met a man named Al who worked in Health Insurance. We had a great long talk about the ride, the cause, and about him and he said he would donate online - time well spent :)

 

That evening we were staying at a Church in the poorer section of town in Benton Harbour. WIth the option to sleep in or outside, I obviously chose inside :) The church was beautiful and filled with snooks and crannies, old passage-ways and beautiful stain glass. I'm sad that I didn't get any pictures of it but my phone was dead and so was I. We had a great dinner there and after peloton were served ice-cream yet again. In case any of you are wondering why I might come back from this trip heavier than when I left, I blame the ice-cream.

 

The evening was spent relaxing, talking, and watching a movie and sleep was very welcomed. I must have been tired because when I woke up the next day people were talking about a very loud alarm that went off right by my sleeping spot, trains passing by and loud-talkers on the street that kept them up that night, and I didn't hear a thing :)

 

Friday began the second of the two storms we encountered in these 4 days. What began as a small drizzle quickly turned into a full-out storm which drenched everything and forced probably 30 people to hide out in the small confinements of the gear trailer. Some were eating breakfast, others were interrupted while making lunch, and some were just hoping the rain would break so they could hop on their bikes and go without getting soaked. Well, the storm didn't break. The peanut-butter jar was developing a puddle in it so some brave souls ran out and moved the break-fast and lunch items into the Kitchen Semi. We thank them for their courageous service to this tour and for all of the lunches they saved with their efforts.

 

Once the rain stopped pounding down and was just a light downpour we evacuated our hiding places in the gear truck and went about the morning. Many of us had yet to make our lunches or eat breakfast, so we crammed into the small confinements of the kitchen Semi and tried our best to work around each other.

 

Unfortunately the rain didn't let up for over an hour and we all braved the storm and biked through it. Now, don't be fooled. This was not a "light drizzle, rain-is-pretty-and-fun-to-bike-in" sort of storm. This was a "flash-flood, soak-through-your-rain-jacket-instantaneously, create-puddles-in-your-shoes, miserable-to-bike-in" sort of storm. The wind wasn't that cold, but drafting was not a possibility because it resulted in a face-full of water and sand from the tire in front of you running through the river that was once called a street. You think I'm exaggerating, but I'm not. Don't get me wrong. I love the rain. I think it is beautiful and wonderful, but when every inch of your body is soaked, you have sand EVERYWHERE, and your shoes squish with every pedal stroke, you kind of just wish you could be dry.

 

While enjoying this large storm we biked quickly to our first SAG stop at a church about 25 miles from camp. There we were served blueberries, home-made cookies, chocolate bars (a rare treat), donuts, coffee and juice. It not only gave us reprieve from the storm, but they had a hand-drier which some of us used to warm up and dry out the insides of our coats.

 

Our next stop was at another church just outside of Holland, MI and was said to be the oldest CRC church?? This was a rumour I heard... perhaps someone can clarify or verify this statement. Here we were again fed Ice-cream. I mean... how can you say no?

 

 

Holland, MI gave us a great welcome as we rode into Hope College where we would be staying for the evening in their dorm rooms (Such a treat!). Zach's Angel's worked to get in early and so we had the afternoon to sit and enjoy ourselves. In Benton Harbour we were given tickets to a local Pub called the Holland Brewery which is famous for it's brews and chews, so many of us made our way there for an afternoon snack and Brew :)

 

 

 

We heard that they had amazing pizza, so naturally I chose a BBQ chicken pizza for my pre-supper meal

 

Afterwards we walked around to shops, went into some boutiques and basically enjoyed the town. We also stopped in this store to sample some of their delicious food.

 

Our "family" had a good time in Holland and made friends with some musicians. We tried to share our pizza with them, but they just wouldn't bite!

 

 

 

After a great meal from Hope College this morning we set out on our shortest trip yet! 65 km (38 miles) into Grand Rapids. Our bike Mechanic Harold is a pastor at a church just outside of Grand Rapids and so he had a whole pile of supporters along the way! It was great to see, but we also got chocolate milk, cookies, muffins, and a bunch of other great items out of the deal, so we were happy that they were there! Plus, it was really encouraging to have so much support along the route from members int he community. It makes me feel like the tour is recognized, supported, and encouraged in the communities we pass through which isn't always the reception we get, so Michigan has been good to us and good for us :)

 

At one of the food stops we met a little girl named Otti (I think I butchered the spelling) who was riding her bike around. I asked if she was going to ride with us and she was very certain she was, so Matt suggested she take the lead and we would all draft behind her. She liked this idea a lot and was more than willing to pose for a picture of it taking place :)

The ride into Grand Rapids was fun, relaxing, and wonderfully short. Malori got a great gift from her Boyfriend which allowed her to play music quite loudly from her bike, so there was a lot of fun whenever they rode close to us. Especially at red lights!

About 3 miles from Calvin College - our weekend stay - we had a stop at a church where we were fed lunch. Unfortunately the number of us was confused and so they ran out of food! however, they ordered some pizzas to feed the rest of the hungry and no one complained about that!

In large cities where we are strongly supported the organizers have us ride into our destination together wearing our Sea to Sea gear. Seeing 150 cyclists go down the road  spaced out is impressive, but seeing them all at once in a huge group is something else and really draws attention. Especially when we hold up traffic for a few lights worth. So we waited at the church until about 12:30pm and then head out as a massive group!

 

The line of cyclists went on for what seemed like forever.

 

And although we might have held up traffic and upset a few people, we got great reception from those lining the streets, cars passing by or waiting for us to pass by, and those who were waiting at Calvin College.

After a shower, free laundry, a chai tea, and a relaxing afternoon spending some time in my dorm room which I have to myself :O (what a blessing to have my own space!) we were served a delicious meal by the college. They really rolled out the red carpet for us! Tomorrow will be filled with a celebration rally and maybe a Skype conversation or two to friends and family! overall, a weekend to celebrate :)

 

6 weeks are done and only 3 left to go! The tour is going so quickly and I'm sad that it is coming to and end, but looking forward to accomplishing what I set out to do. Thank you to all of you who read the blog, support the cause, and provide finances, encouragement and prayer to us on the road! Continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers :)

 

Until next time!