Join me as I bike Sea to Sea

Grants Dispersed 2

2009-06-10T19:12:00.004-04:00

A quarter of the money raised by Sea to Sea cyclist, including myself was allocated into 45 grants for different organizations working for poverty alleviation. Here is the news release:

On April 29, 2009 the Christian Reformed Church Foundation met and considered 51 new grant proposals for the Sea to Sea poverty alleviation fund. By the end of the meeting the Foundation awarded 45 grants and in so doing, awarded all of the designated funds. This is in addition to the previous grants already awarded. It is bittersweet to end this project. We praise God that these funds are available and can be used to assist people in so many communities struggling with poverty, but the board wished there were more funds to distribute. There were so many wonderful projects!

Because of the number of applications and the distribution from Canadian and U.S. organizations, the Foundation board set the maximum grant to U.S. organizations at $7500 and kept the Canadian maximum grant at $10,000. The Foundation board gave priority to applications from CRC or RCA congregations and from those specifically endorsed by a Sea to Sea cyclist.

In total, the Sea to Sea poverty alleviation fund supported 55 projects with about $360,000. Praise God! Thank you cyclists and donors for this stunning outcome.

To see the full list of grants awarded go to this page.

Grants Dispersed

2009-04-05T10:53:00.002-04:00

This past month the first ten projects received funds from the quarter of the funds set aside for local organizations.

This is exciting and inspiring, especially considering how each grant is basically provided by one cyclist's network of family and friends.

Here is the news release:

The Christian Reformed Church is pleased to announce it has awarded more than $89,000 in Sea to Sea grant funding to 10 deserving projects across North America so far. Of the $1.5 million in proceeds raised by the Sea to Sea 2008 Bike Tour last summer, a significant portion—about $350,000—was entrusted to the Christian Reformed Church Foundation to be awarded in grants for poverty-related programs according to guidelines pre-approved by the Sea to Sea steering committee. This is the first group of projects that has received grant money from that fund.

The CRC Foundation Board met on February 25, 2009, to look over the first 10 grant proposals. At this meeting, the Board decided to cap the gift amount at $10,000 per project, which was within the guidelines, thereby spreading this money out to many communities across the U. S. and Canada. The first group of ten grants totaled $89,920.

With the current economic situation, many organizations have sent in their applications and we expect the remainder of the money to be awarded this year. If you are working on a grant request for Sea to Sea, please send it in to the contact on the application form by April 15th so that the Board can consider it at its next meeting on April 29th. After that meeting, the Board will report all the requests that have received funding, as well as if there is any money left.

To see the full list of grants awarded go to this page.

Reflections and Final Post

2009-01-01T11:44:00.003-05:00

I have wanted to right a post about my reflections on this summer, however I wanted to have time to allow my thoughts to stew. Now I have had plenty of time to think about it.

Here is a Wordle, which is a mesh of all the popular words from this blog (made on wordle.net)

First as usual, let’s start with some statistics:

Time riding: 272 hours
Average Daily Riding Time: 5:08
Max Speed: 50.8 mph
Number of days: 62 total; 53 riding; 7 days of rest
Flat tires (replaced tube): 5
Number of tires used: 3
Number of days with lots of climbing: 10 with a total of 134,874 feet of climbing

List of Climbs:

Day 2 Stevens Pass, WA 4,061' elev.
Day 3 Blewett Pass, WA 4,102
Day 9 Deadman Pass, Cabbage Hill, OR (2,000' climb on Emigrant Rd.)
Day 20 Little Mtn. Pass, UT (Emigration Canyon Road) 6,236
Day 20 Parleys Summit, UT (I-80) 7,038
Day 22 Wolf Creek Summit, UT 9,450
Day 25 Rabbit Ears Pass, CO 9,485
Day 27 Berthoud Pass, CO 11,315
Day 27 Floyd's Hill, CO 7,900 (700-800' steep climb US40)
Day 61 High Point, NJ 1,940 (6,900 feet of climbing that day)

News stories that mentioned me:

Dave Teitsma, of Grand Rapids, Mich., also wondered initially how the bike tour and poverty go together. “There seemed to be a disparity to me,” he said. “But I’m excited to see how so many of the riders and those that are supporting us and hosting us really have a heart for the poor and they understand that this is about so much more than biking.”

Teitsma said the hospitality in Madison was wonderful. “Even coming into the church there were signs along the road that said things like ‘Give poverty a flat tire.’ It’s obvious they understand why we’re doing this.” Source

Here’s another:

Despite the difficulty of linking to the Internet from some rural areas of Oregon, rider Dave Teitsma was able to post a blog for Thursday, in which he describes the challenge of the trek. "The last few days were tiring and took a lot of determination. Once I got on the road, though, knowing that it was a shorter day, my attitude was more positive."

Teitsma, of Grand Rapids, Mich., had decided on Wednesday night to bike alone so he could go at a slower pace on Thursday and be able to take in the beauty of the terrain they went through.

"After the first 20 miles I decided to stop for coffee. I don't really drink coffee but I thought it would be a great way to slow down and enjoy the town I was passing through," he writes.

"It was relaxing to sit, look and take in all the sights. I made a point of the next three cities to stop and do a little sight seeing, or to just slow down at least. In Haines, I went to the local museum which had many pieces that had so many stories of where they had been and what they were used for." Source

I was also mentioned in :

http://www.crcna.org/site_uploads/uploads/seatosea/otw-9.pdf
http://www.crcna.org/site_uploads/uploads/seatosea/otw-10.pdf

I brought my heart rate monitor along on the trip but didn’t wear it everyday. When I started the trip it averaged around 150 for the day. However by the end of the trip it averaged around 135. I didn’t keep track so this isn’t too precise, but no matter how you cut it, my heart and lungs were much more efficient by the end of the trip.

I saw a clear difference in my breathing. While biking after the tour, I took a lot less breathes throughout the day and it took a lot more to get out of breath. Since the tour I have lost the level of fitness that I developed during the tour. This was expected as I couldn’t continue biking 30 hours biking a week after the tour. I think I was the strongest this year about 3 weeks after the tour was done. I remember biking around town faster than I ever have. It was exhilarating!

Almost every town that we biked through the first few weeks of the tour told us how they were experiencing record breaking temperatures. It was hot. Especially when crawling up a mountain at 7 mph, when you’re not moving fast enough to be cooled by a breeze in your face.

Some days to avoid the heat I was up and biking by 6am, before the sun even rose. It was hard getting up, but it was even harder biking when you feel like you’re baking alive on the road!

We were blessed with great weather though. Even though it was very hot some days and cold towards the end of the tour we only experienced a couple of days where we had to ride in the rain. Most of the time that it rained it was a Sunday or night.

We were also blessed with safety. Even though several people left the tour because of severe falls, no one suffered permanent injuries. I remember cycling to Palos Heights in very dangerous traffic and along side impatient careless drivers. Also day 40 biking to Fennimore, the roads where horrible and traffic was dangerous. Both days along with many other days, I was worried and prayed for safety for the bikers, as I felt that it was entirely possible that I could arrive at camp and find that a biker had been killed along the route. Thankfully there were only two falls that included vehicles.

One cyclist fell into the middle of a busy road that was constant cars the whole day. Oddly, when he fell the road was clear and he was safe. All of the cyclists were thankfully and knew that God was supported this tour and protecting us even when any of us made bad and unsafe decisions. It’s great to know that God fully supported this tour, but more specifically supported our cause and yearns to see poverty end.

Even though each cyclists signed a statement that included banned us from listening to music while riding, several cyclists did regularly. It was their choice, but I was frustrated as someone spread the rumor that I listened to music a lot while I was biking. Many days I wanted to, but I never did. Okay, it feels good to get that off my chest.

Even though there were many days that we saw beautiful landscapes, waterfalls, wildlife, and stunning plains, there were many days that were the opposite that included long straight stretches of road with nothing to look at. Before the trip, I thought that I would go crazy thinking and planning my life, relationships, and other profound thoughts. Looking back I realize that I did muse some but most of the time I just biked and focused on getting to camp soon, thought about pictures to take, and not getting lost.

I also enjoyed the lack of talk of politics and the pending election. I was shocked once I arrived back home after the tour about how we never talked about it and the media at home discussed it endlessly (ugghh).

Before the tour, I imagined that I would bike until about four and would get to camp and then have plenty of time to explore the town, find some tourist attractions, and take in the sights. Even though I usually arrived to camp by four I was too tired and too busy setting up my tent, showering, blogging, cleaning / maintaining my bike, and preparing for the next day. Instead I explored during the day.

I wrote a post with pictures on my blog for each day of the tour, which was one of my goals. I’m very glad I did this, as I have a great day by day record of the tour which will help greatly in my photo book that I’m beginning to make. Organizing my pictures, posting them online, and writing daily blog posts took significant time. Read that again! It took a lot of time! It was very valuable though as I know many people lived vicariously through it, and loved following along! Also, I received a lot of encouragement from people that following my blog. And many people complimented me and my pictures.

Interestingly, several times people that were on the side of the road or at celebration services who I hadn’t previously known, would tell me that they read my blog or looked at my pictures. Also, many family and friends consistently told me that they were following along, and praying for me. This encouraged me to keep biking and spending energy putting pictures online and writing blog posts. What a blessing.

Random thoughts:

The tour director / organizer Ed Witvoet planned and amazing tour and paid attention to many details that made for a flawless tour. Thanks' Ed!
I bought and brought too much clothing for biking in the cold. It was hot, except for the last week, when I just layered my warm weather clothing to stay warm.
I noted that I took too much ‘stuff’. I actually took less than the average person took, but I could have completed the tour without several items. But I don’t think I would have known what not to take until the tour was done.
We all ate a lot of food, especially when we climbed a lot through the mountains. The week we biked through Wisconsin to Michigan, when the days were shorter and easier I ate a considerable amount less food (except for the deep dish pizza at Trinity).
I memorized various Bible verses and would recite them when I needed something besides the drudgery of the road to think about. This helped a lot when climbing mountains!

Many people thing that all 100+ people biked together in one big group each day. There were only a handful of times that we all biked together. During the normal day, we woke up and left when we wanted to and arrived at camp when we wanted to. We just had to check off our name when we arrived at camp each day, otherwise the days were unstructured. However, the few times that we did bike as a group (into Denver, Madison, Grand Rapids, and Jersey City) were very powerful, especially as we all wore our matching jerseys.

There were many advantages to biking across the continent with a tour. I don’t think that I would have finished if I tried by myself. However, we were stuck to a route that we had complete each day, even if it meant biking into a headwind. If I was biking by myself I could vary my course to take advantage of the wind or minimize it by making it a cross wind. The days that we had a tailwind were amazing though. It made it incredible easy and enjoyable to bike. I don’t remember too many days with a tailwind, but I know the day leaving Grand Rapids and St. Catherine's we did.

The tour was hard and challenging. Every day took a lot of energy, frequently I didn’t realize how exhausted I was until I arrived in camp and felt like I just ran a marathon. Each day by itself wasn’t that challenging, however my exhaustion built up from lack of adequate sleep and only one day off each week. Also, everyday we had to setup our tent, take showers, patiently wait in a bathroom designed for only a couple of people, bike to the store and buy items we needed. Plus, I don’t know how many times I walked between my tent, the gear trailer and the bathroom trying to get everything ready every morning. This was especially difficult when each place was hundreds of feet apart! Since we were in a different place everyday we continually had to figure out where everything was. I’m not complaining, but rather trying to describe how tedious some things became.

There were many days when I was exhausted, hot, dirty, and sore that I could have easily hitched a ride. I wanted to so badly, but I decided to go slow and make it there under my own power. It felt good to make it to camp by myself, but the last twenty miles some days were brutal. I wish I could have just crawled up and slept right away some of those days, but instead I had to setup my tent, take a shower, and get ready for the next day, which usually took over an hour. It took dedication and perseverance some days to make it there!

I may have already said this but I loved stopping, taking in the sights, and taking pictures. Many people wouldn’t wait for me as they were anxious to keep going. I’m glad that I took time to take pictures and take in the sights, even though it cost me developing some friendships along the way.

When I went to Celebration Service’s sometimes we made a special entrance where I felt like a champion. It was a great feeling. I love being encouraged and I have to admit that I loved the attention. After biking through desolate areas in the week it was great to have a chance where there were hundreds of people cheering you on.

I spent a lot of work leading up to actual riding this summer. Mainly, I spent a lot of time raising money, buying gear and a bike, and training for the trip. I spent a lot of time planning to make sure that the summer went smooth and I think it did.

My grandpa at first didn’t want me to participate in the tour and said that he would rather see me keep working for the summer (to my dismay). However he came around and fully supported me and encouraged me as I got ready to leave. So, I am sad that he couldn’t have seen me complete this adventure and talk about it with him as he died in May. I am interested to know what he would have said to me and told me, as he always had some great thoughts working in his mind. I miss him still.

I saw a lot of interesting signs this summer. For instance, when we were biking through the desert and there was nothing around only brown shrubs, a dirt road went off to the right and the street was named “Ocean View”. There was the Savage Funeral Home in New York, which seems like an odd name for a funeral home. There were many more crazier signs!

From the first day that I learned about the tour, I knew I wanted to be part of the tour. Not only would this help the plight of the poor but complete such an journey. At first, I thought this was to hard of a commitment; that I wouldn’t be able to raise enough money and have the endurance to bike so far. However with a lot of planning and time not only me, but several hundred cyclists raised enough money and biked their part!

To this day I still am surprised by the fact that I biked across the continent and every detail went smoothly. It’s a wonderful memory to have with many different stops along the way and relationships that were grown.

To bike across the country was something that I wanted to do sometime in my life. Well, I’ve done that now, however the desire is there to do it again! You never know what opportunities might pop up; I’m so anxious to see what they might be!

Thanks for following along! Once again the tour would have been completely different without you prayers, financially support, and encouragement!

Day 62 Sussex to Jersey City

2008-09-29T22:01:00.006-04:00

Distance Biked Today: 64.89 miles

Time Spent Biking: 4:46

Avg Speed: 13.5 mph

Max speed: 37.7 mph

Total Distance Biked: 3983 miles

Today is the final summary post for the tour (albeit delayed), I would love to know that you’ve been following along this summer, so please send me a quick email. If you receive this via email just reply to the message, otherwise click on Post Comment at the bottom.

If you've enjoyed reading, please read my other blog at blog.teitsmafamily.com or click here to subscribe to it by email.

Today, I took a lot of videos so get ready. If you haven’t watched many of my videos yet, today is a day to spend some time watching them!

I was very excited for the day to begin. I still don’t believe how far I’ve biked and that today will be the completion of a amazing, beautiful, challenging, and exhilarating journey. So many times I’ve heard people say that they could never do a trip like this. This was a trip that we just keep plugging away. You can do it slow as you want, but you’ll make it.

Last night was rainy, but I hope the thick dark clouds will pass for when we get to the ocean. We have had amazing weather for the tour (except for extraordinarliy hot weather the first weeks), so it would be sad to have it end in the rain.

Once again, several churches and groups provided snacks for us, including kids cheering (screaming) us on.

Today, I rode with Marc Stehouwer. I have become good friends with him and wanted to end the tour with him. We crested a ridge and could see the skyline of Jersey City and New York City. I really realized what I had done at this point. I had made it. So much for the dream of some day biking across the country. I realized I had done it. It meant biking many miles and hours of headwinds and mountains and bumping busy roads but I had done it.

Can you see the skyline? The Empire State Building?

This is me trying to hide my excitement.

So, all the cyclists met at our staging area where we would ride as one group by police escort to Liberty State Park for the end of the tour where we would dip our tires in the Ocean. We got the staging area early, so Mark and I decided to take advantage of our healthy bodies one last time and gorge. We were going to get a donut each, but we decided to split a dozen. Fun times. I could have ate more, but I thought I should take it easy at four, as not to get sick during the most important part of the trip.

Billy D was a volunteer that helped us all summer as the camp supervisor he made sure all the logistics went well in camp. He rode his Harley all the way too. While he passed us going to the next camp he would slow down by every cyclist and make sure we were okay and encourage us. I looked forward to the roar of his bike so much. I would sometimes try to race him, but he usually beat me. I would see him along the way sometimes talking to other bikers (motorized) about the tour and spreading the word. He was an amazing guy along with so many of the volunteers over the summer. I feel so blessed!

I also liked to help him in camp and would help him lock up the gear trailer or straighten thinks out. Even though I was incredible tired a lot, the volunteers worked really hard to and I wanted to show my thanks to them.

I also talked him into giving me a ride. So we went up and down a side road, very quickly. It felt odd having nothing to hold onto but I sat there and flew.

The staging area.

This is almost every cyclists as they leave the staging area.

Okay, you’ll probably look at the picture below and just look past it. However look at it and think about how we are being escorted by three police cars, we’re cycling as a group, we’re wearing our matching jerseys, and its the last 8 miles of the tour. Each of this things individually barely happened, let alone all at once! Look at the sea of bikers ahead! I’m excited just writing about it! I’ve been thinking about this moment every day for over a year!

We took up a whole lane of the road. Police cars were leap frogging from intersection to intersection closing them for us. In order to pass us they would go head on into oncoming traffic and make the cars pull off from them. This is amazing. The significance of the moment was accentuated by the police escort.

And then we went onto the turnpike where the closed the whole side! We took over three lanes for a mile or two. Everyone was pumping, giddy, and taking lots of pictures. This is a moment you don’t want to forget!

The police escort involved three different authorities. First the New Jersey State police escorted us, and then the Jersey City Police, who then handed it off to the Liberty State Park Police. Ed (the tour organizer) did an amazing job of this happening flawlessly.

As we got closer and closer the excitement grew. One cyclist blew a tire, but if he stopped the sweep van would have to pick him up, so he kept riding on the flat tire for several miles. This isn’t something you want to miss.

We then made it to the section of rocks and weeds were we would end a journey that had brought us from Seattle across 10 mountain passes in record-breaking temperatures, headwinds, three concurrent 100+ miles days, breath taking lush hillsides, roaring mountain rivers, three waterfalls, two flawless border crossing, and no major life-changing injuries.

Chaplain Len spoke and prayed for us and to bless the money that we raised and the lives that would be changed by it. I really don’t remember too much of what he said. I had so much adrenaline that I was focused on getting to the water. We said the Lord’s Prayer and then all went down and dipped our tires.

I went in the water, but some people went all the way in.

Do I look happy at all?

I was excited to have my parents at the end cheering me on, along with my relatives Klaas and Ada, and Peter and Trish (a nice surprise; I didn’t know they were coming). I’m glad my parents supported me so, and encouraged me along the way.

I thought we’d stick around the park for a little bit, but we all left in buses pretty quickly to go to the school, where we could pick up our stuff, change, and get ready for the evening service. Some people already started to leave to catch a plane or to begin their journey home.

After I packed up took a shower (it was so humid and stick today, yuck), my parents and I headed to an area church where we had a huge dinner. We didn’t even come close to finishing the food (a first for the tour!). Then we had the closing celebration rally. Today was an exciting day and it was evident by the energy and cheering in the room. I enjoyed worshipping with the cyclist one last time.

Look for a closing thoughts post soon!

Remember you can still participate by making a donation here.

Also check out more of my photos and videos.

Day 61 Dalton to Sussex

2008-09-29T21:59:00.001-04:00

Distance Biked Today: 83.2 miles

Time Spent Biking: 6:35

Avg Speed: 12.6 mph

Max speed: 46 mph

Total Distance Biked: 3918 miles

Wow. What a day! Today we climbed a total of 6,900 feet, which is more than any other day of the tour. It wasn’t a horrible day by any means, but it was harder than I expected. The climbs were longer than the last couple of days, where we could coast halfway up the next hill. Here we can’t as the hills are too long.

A lot of us were curious how well the cyclists who joined us for the last two weeks would do. I saw some of them struggling but there wasn’t a huge divide between the two groups.

I rode for a while with the Bonner’s and Stephanie but we separated after a little while. I also rode with Randy, and Fred for a while which included a couple of stops at Walmart and a local store to find a t-shirt of a local sports team.

It was fun going down the hills, especially the steeper ones were I could get going fast.

My video didn’t turn out like I wanted, but below you can watch Josh’s.

Beyond the crest of a climb, we were greeted with this wonderful view allowing us to see so far. Immediately in front of us was a prison with very stately building. Click on the picture to see a larger version

Our last state! Today we crossed into New Jersey! What a rush to be so close to the end.

Our biggest climb today was to High Point in New Jersey, the highest point in the state, hence the name. For once we could truly say, “it’s all downhill from here”. We were greeted with refreshments and other goodies at the top.

And goodies on the way down!

And tons of food in camp!

It rained a little tonight but by now we’re hardened campers and have our eyes dead-set on finishing the last day. No matter what happens tomorrow we’re going to bike it!

One more (albeit short) day!

Remember you can still participate by making a donation here.

Also check out more of my photos and videos.

Day 60 Binghamton to Dalton

2008-09-24T23:49:00.001-04:00

Distance Biked Today: 57.3 miles

Time Spent Biking: 3:45

Avg Speed: 15.2 mph

Max speed: 40.6 mph

Total Distance Biked: 3835 miles

Today we entered Pennsylvania. As we got closer to the mountains we had more quick climbs. Also, you could notice a big difference in road quality as they roads in Pennsylvania are much worse. In face, right after this sign half of the road was closed indefinitely, leaving only lane for two-way traffic.

We stopped and had breakfast in a town, I don’t remember where. Three gentlemen were already there for their morning coffee. Surprisingly they already knew about the tour and the details about it. This I believe is a first for me, usually people don’t know about us before we pass through. They were great guys and it was wonderful talking to them. In fact, one man (I believe Ross was his name) had his picture taken with us and paid for our breakfast. What a treat, even though I don’t feel like I deserve it.

Also we saw an article about us in the front of the newspaper. Oddly the article below it discussing the new artificial field that the school we stayed at last night just unveiled, which cost $2 millon dollars. Oddly, this is the amount of money we’ve raised.

Remember, I mentioned crappy rodes? This is a huge pothole, even though it’s hard to tell from this angle.

Below is Tunkhannock Viaduct which is a railroad track that crosses this valley. I’m biking with the Bonner’s again today. James and I attempted to climb up to the bridge but the path we thought led to the top ended up just twisting around.

When we reached the bridge my stomach started to not feel to good, so I decided to have some pizza. I knew it was probably a bad decision but it actually helped me feel better.

We then had a couple more really steep hills which went up to 14% grade, which led us to the state park where we spent the night. It looked like it was going to rain, and it did.

Tomorrow’s a big day as we have the highest amount of total climbing in one day!

Remember you can still participate by making a donation here.

Also check out more of my photos and videos.

Day 59 Romulus to Binghamton

2008-09-24T23:24:00.001-04:00

Distance Biked Today: 78.3 miles

Time Spent Biking: 5:58

Avg Speed: 13 mph

Max speed: 40.8 mph

Total Distance Biked: 3778 miles

What a great day! I hiked to some awesome falls, tried some local cuisine, helped at a food bank, and saw my parents.

We biked close to Taughannock Falls, so Christeena and I hiked one mile back to the actual falls. I really wanted to get the day’s biking behind me as we had a big hill to climb and a headwind. Short side trips like this is what I love on this tour. The hike followed the stream / river as the canyon grew on both sides. The streambed was one huge piece of rock, flat as could be, and without a speck of sand or gravel.

When we got to the falls, several cyclists were already there, including Aaron, Hans, Jason, Gretchen, and Melinda. I walked in a little ways and then just stood back, skipped some stones and took in the beauty. Even though the falls are higher than Niagara the amount of water cascading over them was minimal. It varies from a trickle to a rapid-producing waterfall.

But back to the route!

After Ithaca we had a climb a sizeable hill. The church that is cooking for us tonight had some individual with water and trail mix at the top. What a great chance to take a break and catch our breath.

About a dozen of us volunteered for the last service project of the trip. We went to a local food bank to help sort goods that a local radio show had just had a drive for. We organized all the goods by type, but first checked to make sure they had no dents. If a can has any dents it most likely puncture the seal so it goes to a local pig farmer for pig food.

Valley CRC who’s serving us dinner is actively involved with this food bank. The relationship that they’re developed is great.

We also took everything out of a freezer and put everything back in all tidy so the worker there knows what is in it and can get it out easier. Plus I got a popsicle for helping.

Dinner was served by the Valley CRC congregation. The local favorite is Spiedies, salt potatoes, baked beans, and Acini de Pepe Salad. It was great food and fun to have some local taste. A spiede is a skewer of marinated meat that is placed on top of a piece of Italian bread.

My parents left home today to drive to New York to visit with relatives and then come to Liberty State Park to see us arrive at the end of the tour! And they also tried the food.

Desert was brownies and ice cream. My favorite, but I’m trying to watch my sugar intake as I prepare to be a lot less active in a week, so I skipped it. The ice cream was very hard so they tried everything they could do shave off a little.

What a beautiful sunset during our nightly Peloton Meeting. It’s hard to capture it with a camera, but I got fairly close.

Remember you can still participate by making a donation here.

Also check out more of my photos and videos.

Day 58 Byron to Romulus

2008-09-22T21:21:00.003-04:00

Distance Biked Today: 79.9 miles

Time Spent Biking: 4:59

Avg Speed: 15.9 mph

Max speed: 38 mph

Total Distance Biked: 3679 miles

Today I rode with the Bonner’s again. We stopped in a city and had some breakfast at a restaurant. There was a bunch of us already there who had the same idea. There were only a couple locals there and one waitress, but we took up the rest of the place, severely overwhelm them. We ended up getting our own coffee and busing our tables.

The Bonner’s really cruised along today so I just stayed behind them and followed along. We passed a lot of people on all the rolling hills.

East Palmyra CRC came down from their hometown and setup lunch for us at a farm. It was great food and a great place to stop in the day. I took a nap on the grass.

Going down a small hill later, I hit something that made a inch long gash in both my tire and tube. So I put a new tube in the bad tire and used a dollar bill in the tire to keep the tube from coming out of the gash. Luckily James is from around here so he knew where the bike shop is in Geneva. So, I hobbled into Geneva and bought a new tire, and a water bottle. I then used the bike stand in the shop to change the tire. There were helpful and interested about what we’re doing. I also forgot to get a picture!

As we went around the north end of Seneca Lake we stopped for ice cream. They were very generous with the soft serve ice cream!

Remember you can still participate by making a donation here.

Also check out more of my photos and videos.

Day 57 St. Catharine’s to Byron

2008-09-22T21:18:00.001-04:00

Distance Biked Today: 81.7 miles

Time Spent Biking: 5:25

Avg Speed: 14.9 mph

Max speed: 31.4 mph

Total Distance Biked: 3618 miles

Today I’m on sweep again. Since I’m one of the last people to leave I could make this time-lapse of the gear trailer in the morning, including the end when we pack it with all the duffels. If you look in the back at the end you can see me throwing the duffel bags in.

Today we crossed the border at the Rainbow Bridge back into the U.S.A. The last couple of miles before the border brought us right along the canyon. It was wonderful to bike along the edge and have so many beautiful things to look at.

All the cyclists met up at a parking lot near the bridge. Once we were all there, we biked as a group, passports ready, over the Rainbow Bridge and onto customs. It was beautiful crossing the bridge and seeing Niagara Falls just on our right and to see all of us cyclists in the same jersey and as a group. We were expecting to stop and have to show our passport, but the customs guards waved us through. Our tour organizer and the head official at the border had been planning our crossing for a while. He was so impressed when he saw us going over the bridge and orderly he told his guards to wave us through. I was amazed!

Once on the American side, we biked out to the islands by the falls, including Luna Island. On the furthest island, we could have walked in the water just up from the falls, no railing or nothing. Plus the falls were a lot quieter now as it was a Monday morning compared to a Saturday evening.

I joined up with the Bonner’s after a while. We then found a restaurant where we had barbeque sandwiches. Plus we took some wacky pictures!

At the end of the day the Bonner’s and I sprinted several times. I couldn’t keep up with them so I drafted them for a ways at 30 mph +. Wow, we were going fast!

It was a cold night too. We really layered up.

Some other campers at the campground we stayed at wanted to play music for us on their bass, Viola, and guitar.

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Day 56 Resting in St. Catharines

2008-09-22T00:54:00.001-04:00

Today is a day of rest. I slept in and had a leisurely morning. This was a blessing as every other day I wake up and have to get ready and get on the road.

Marc Van Otteren wanted to go to the Welland Canal which was only a couple of miles away, so I decided to go with him. He knows almost all the ships on the great lakes so we were hoping that a ship might be going through the locks. But there weren’t any more for the rest of the day, so we looked at the lock and the museum. The lock we went to is the third out of seven locks. So we went down to the first two locks on the way to Lake Ontario. When we got past the first we saw a ship coming up to the first lock. We were going to watch it go through the lock, but we had to make it back to the school for lunch.

After lunch we were bused to the park where the celebration was held. It was raining hard when we got there so we all sought shelter. I got tired of sitting around so Mark Stehouwer and I borrowed Karen’s umbrella and hiked around. We found a huge statue that was under repair, with beautiful flowers around the base. We found a trail that we followed for a while and actually found part of where we were going to be biking tomorrow.

Right before the service it stopped raining and the sun peaked through the clouds for a little while. We then had dinner afterwards of hamburgers and hot dogs. The food was good, but the line took forever to move. It took over two hours to serve dinner!

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Day 55 Hamilton to St. Catharines

2008-09-22T00:48:00.001-04:00

Distance Biked Today: 50.7 miles

Time Spent Biking: 3:41

Avg Speed: 13.6 mph

Max speed: 36.3 mph

Total Distance Biked: 3522 miles

Today is exciting as its the last day of the week, and we’re going to be in St. Catherine's and get to go to Niagara Falls.

The first couple miles of the day brought us through new housing developments. The houses and apartments were beautiful and expensive with wonderful designs. The problem though is everyone had almost the same design. It was beautiful, but not unique even though the houses must have been very expensive.

A huge farm vehicle that took up a lane and a half turned in front up me. I sprinted (28mph+) to catch up to it so I could draft it. Just as I almost caught up I passed a food stop. That two days in a row that soon as I find something to draft that there’s a stop. Bummer.

Today had a total of eight stops. From the supporters on the side of the road with cookies to several church that had lunch and tons of other stuff.

Today we biked down the Niagara Escarpment which starts in Northern New York, goes through Ontario, the Upper Peninsula and down into Wisconsin. It is basically a plateau that drops 350 feet at a 12 percent grade where we were. It was fun to go down but there was a stop sign at the bottom so I couldn’t go to fast. It was very steep too. So steep that at the beginning the road disappears in thirty feet in front of you because it drops so steep.

At the top of the hill were so people cheering us on. I stopped at said hi. They knew me right away as lelandboy (its actually lelandbay) or so as that is my name on Flickr where I post all my photos. Its fun to meet people who have been following my blog or my pictures. Plus, I’m flattered when people tell me that I take wonderful photos. How encouraging!

I didn’t want to just be able to talk about going down it, so I went back up (John VanderVeen and Josh Krabbe went up it also). It was so steep at some points that I didn’t think I’d make it, and I was so hot and out of breath. I couldn’t take a break though because if I stopped I wouldn’t be able to start again. We haven’t done much serious climbing in a while so it felt again to push really hard. Most of the bikers that passed me as they were going down looked at me like I was crazy. Oh, and I went up it twice.

Get it? Reserved for ~~biker~~ Byker?

Tonight at dinner, the mayor came to congratulate us and thank us for our support in helping the poor. He discussed how St. Catharine’s has been making great strides to help the poor also. I do not believe most politicians when they talk about how good of a job they’re doing, but he sounded legimate and I believe what he said.

After dinner, we had the option to go to Niagara Falls. I knew that the Canadian side was commericalized but it was amazing how touristy it was. Also down by the falls there were thousands of people. And if you know me you know that I don’t like touristy stops, and crowds of people. I had lots of fun walking along the falls and taking pictures. Its beautiful to see the water falling so peacefully over the edge and cascade along the sharp rocks at the bottom. But there were tons of people. It’s great that we could go to the falls.

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Day 54 London to Hamilton

2008-09-22T00:18:00.001-04:00

Distance Biked Today: 81.69 miles

Time Spent Biking: 5:30

Avg Speed: 14.7 mph

Max speed: 35.2 mph

Total Distance Biked: 3479 miles

Today we had many stops again. It was exciting to see everyone support us and provide tasty timely treats.

The first stop was at cyclist Aleida’s parents houses, where they had muffins and coffee. I had just breakfast, so stopped but didn’t eat anything. Ingersoll Christian Reformed Church was the second stop where they had lots of breakfast goodies also. Also, Corrine’s family had water and other goodies.

Another church had lunch for us, with sandwiches, fruit, cookies, cake, drinks, and other items.

A tractor pulled in front up me at one point and wasn’t going to fast. I caught up to them and they sped up trying not to slow me down, so I got close to them and started drafting them. It felt great! Until I realized that the next food stop was a hundred feet ahead. So I only drafted them for a couple hundred feet.

And then another church had coffee and Timbits (donut holes), of which I ate about a dozen. They were so good. Then Dirk’s small group had goodies at their house too! Once we got to Redeemer the church on the North side of the campus had drinks, popsicles, chips (I ate a lot of chips), and more. This is mainly what today was comprised of.

Once at Redeemer, I went to a local family who opened their pool to us. It was hot so I was excited to go swimming. I swam for a little, spent time going through my pictures and emailing. No one was there and no one else ended up showing up surprisingly. I had fun talking with them and relaxing. It’s weird to step back a little and think that I’m at a strangers house in a city I don’t know swimming at their pool and sitting on their deck talking to the children. This tour has brought me to some many different places where we are are constantly meeting strangers and exercise their hospitality.

At dinner, they kept running out of food. This seems like a constant for our trip when schools had food for us. They underestimate the amount of food we’re going to have (even though in the end we have enough food). I just find it funny.

Even though I was very tired I went out for drinks with Art and his friends, Aaron, and Jonathan. I even watched a little of the Olympics while enjoying everyone's company.

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Day 53 Chatham to London

2008-09-15T23:50:00.001-04:00

Distance Biked Today: 77.7 miles

Time Spent Biking: 6:18

Avg Speed: 12.2 mph

Max speed: 31.8 mph

Total Distance Biked: 3388 miles

As we bike through Canada there are going to be lots of people cheering us on and many refreshment stops. I'm excited for all the support and encouragement. Plus, I've never biked in Canada before.

There is so much corn on this continent. Where does it all go?!

There were many farm houses that had a lot of amazing accents. I'm used to plain farm houses in Michigan.

Here the Meyer's and I pass through Tender Tootsies. Kind of ironic, huh?

Hope Community CRC invited us for lunch. Thanks!

Once in London we had a lots of food and people welcoming us. There were cookies, donuts, chocolate milk, ice cream, and more.

So after eating a couple cookies, I took the pedals off my bike and left with about a dozen others to the Forest City Velodrome. A Velodrome is a indoor oval bike track with highly banked turns. This one in particular is 138 meters with 50 degree (!) banking. It was scary walking in there and thinking that I would be biking almost sideways in a couple minutes.

I took my pedals from my other bike as we can't ride our bikes in here. They have to be fixed gear bikes, so we rode the ones they provided with our own pedals. Fixed gear bikes only have one gear and the pedals are directly tied to the wheel. So whenever the wheel moves the pedals move. Notice how there are no brakes. You brake by stopping your legs from pedaling. This bikes are required, because if there were any braking with normal brakes would most likely cause an accident.

We spent about an hour learning how to bike properly in the velodrome, spending most of the time below the banked part. We then biked with half of the group on the banked part. It is so steep and daunting as you go into the turns. There are so many different things to consider as your biking, including staying on the correct part of the track so your pedals don't hit the course. We weren't allowed to go very high, but the bottom is actually the fastest part, so we spent most of our time down there.

At the end of our time we got to go solo on the track. It was a lot of fun. As you go into the turn you are flipped sideways and can feel you body being pushed into the turn by centrifugal force. It's really exhilarating to bike in the velodrome. I will definitely like to go again.

We had to do a podium shot!

We had an amazing dinner of hamburgers, corn and many other things. Plus tons and tons of desserts!

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Day 52 Richmond to Chatham

2008-09-15T23:47:00.001-04:00

Distance Biked Today: 77.7 miles

Time Spent Biking: 6:18

Avg Speed: 12.2 mph

Max speed: 31.8 mph

Total Distance Biked: 3388 miles

Today we crossed into Canada. I wasn't sure how smooth it was going to go, but it went great thanks to wonderful planning and organization by Ed the tour manager. We all biked to Marine City by 9:45 and then took a ferry ride across to the Canadian side and went through customs there.

Behind me is the ferry that we boarded. It also ferried all the support vehichles (motorhomes, vans, and semis) across. It didn't seem like a semi could fit on board but it all worked out.

We went through customs just showing our passports and being checked off a list showing that we were pre-cleared. After customs we were warmly welcomed by many Canadians and lots of food. The Canadians on the trip have been anxiously waiting getting to Canada, and this shows why. Just look at all the people in the video below.

I am final sweep today along with the Meyerink's, Bonner's and Brower's. So after we milled around eating and drinking and socializing, we went to a cafe and had lunch as we waited for all the cyclist to leave.

Tonight we're staying at a ice arena. There was more food when we got there including yellow watermelon. It tastes the same, just looks different.

They had a potluck for us tonight, so my dinner plate consisted of just a little bit of everything so I could try it all.

I found a great place to setup my hammock tonight.

The sunset was absolutely beautiful. Check out the pictures link for more pictures of it.

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Day 51 Laingsburg to Richmond

2008-09-15T22:21:00.001-04:00

Distance Biked Today: 96.52 miles

Time Spent Biking: 6:22

Avg Speed: 14.9 mph

Max speed: 36.4 mph

Total Distance Biked: 3254 miles

Just as yesterday was a short day with a nice tailwind, today is a long day with a headwind. I would have preferred the tailwind for the long ride. Everyday though we have to get up and deal with whatever comes our way. Most of us just take things as they come and just work to finish, wether its wind, cold, rain, not many showers, bad roads.

Today I rode with the Bonners, Steph, and Mark for the last half of the day. At the end of the ride we stopped for ice cream. I tasty treat to look forward to throughout the day.

Here's Bill D and his ice cream.

Don't you make salad in 30+ gallon Rubbermaid containers? We do and it was broccoli salad again.

As promised here is the picture of my hammock tent as the sun sets.

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Day 50 Grand Rapids to Laingsburg

2008-09-15T21:58:00.001-04:00

Distance Biked Today: 69.78 miles

Time Spent Biking: 4:22

Avg Speed: 15.9 mph

Total Distance Biked: 3156 miles

Today I had to leave my nice bed in the morning, get in the car and go to Calvin to start my ride.

I noticed a bulge in my back tire this morning, but forgot my spare at home so I was going to bike the day on it. But it seemed like it would pop, so I borrowed a tire and swapped it. The new tire was a different size and I realized later that it didn't fit. It was rubbing on the frame, so I fudged it so it would work but I promptly changed it tonight.

Calvary Christian Reformed Church of Lowell hosted us for a refreshment stop. I took a picture of their signup list showing all the work that they did to organize this stop. I had quiche and OJ there! Thanks for everything.

Our route followed David Hwy for a while. Winds pushed us to Sleepy Hollow State Park making the ride very easy. I was cruising at 20+ mph. I wanted to go faster but thought I would take it easy as we have a long day tomorrow. It felt so good to have a tailwind!

I have spent several days biking with Lynn Verros. Last Tuesday on the bike path in Illinois a sunflower wrapped around her handlebars and caused her to fall right on her knee. After a couple days of rest, and a couple of days biking, she decided yesterday to leave the tour. Her knee was very swollen and wouldn't have improved. I didn't get to say goodbye to her. I'll miss talking and biking with her.

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Day 49 Resting in Grand Rapids

2008-09-14T01:32:00.002-04:00

I get to rest today! Well at least not bike. I went to the service at Shawnee Park the morning and updated them on the tour. I didn't prepare what I was going to say as much as I would have liked but it turned out great. It was a great service and I passed on lots of good information about the tour and what God has done through it. The service encouraged me and it was great to see people that I know well.

This picture was in the bulletin and on the screen during the service. It is a pictojaunt by Robin Jensen, who gave me permission to post it here.

I keep hearing about how many of you have been reading my blog. Thanks! If you haven't told me, please comment to let me know.

I then had supper at home.

Stopped at my apartment. And then went to the celebration rally at Fifth Third Park. Shane Claiborne spoke to us about gentleness.

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Day 48 Grand Haven to Grand Rapids

2008-09-14T01:09:00.003-04:00

Distance Biked Today: 45 miles

Today my mom, my friend Tim, Joyce Altena, and Bill Waanders biked with the tour for the day. There were over a hundred people that joined us for the day. So the route was much more chaotic than normal.

Unfortunately some of the day riders were really unsafe. I was biking behind a family that turned out in front of cars, would take up the whole lane, and other very dangerous things. I saw several other people biking unsafe. I was glad that everyone was okay at the end of the day.

I rode with my mom for a little while before me and Tim went ahead. Tim's grandparents-in-law live on the route, so we stopped there and had some delicious bars and saw his in-laws including his wife Katie.

A church had snacks for us along the way. Just as we're leaving my mom caught up to us. Here we found out the Josh Krabbe as he was pedaling standing up, switched gears and his chain skipped causing him to fall taking the brunt of it with his shoulder. At this point we heard it was a broken collarbone (this would be number 3 for the tour so far), but turned out to be just a sprain. I was devastated by this as I had been in contact with him before the tour started. He ended up riding the rest of the tour though, thankfully.

Wow, I still can't put my head around the fact that I biked to my hometown, Grand Rapids, from Seattle!

The tour went one street away from my apartment so I had to stop and look. The house was going to be painted this summer but it doesn't look like they're done anything. I didn't have keys along, so I couldn't go inside. It's a good thing because I would have tried out my bed and probably not gotten up again. Plus at this point it was 12:08 and I had to be near Calvin at 12:30 for a group ride to Calvin. So, I went ahead and booked it that last 5 miles.

My dad passed me in the car carrying my mom and her bike. She went further than she planned at 35 miles. Great job mom!

I made it on time for the group ride. It's amazing riding as a group when everyone has the same jersey and no safety vest. There were a lot of people at Calvin welcoming us. But we were all surprised that it was only people welcoming us. Every other weekend we have had cookies, drinks and offers to have trips around town. Calvin not only didn't open their doors to us, the barely even cracked the door. Thanks to all the locals though who were willing to billet people. Many people have contacts in Grand Rapids so they already have plans.

My family was there waiting for me along with many other people that came to say hi, see how I'm fairing and to encourage me. Thanks guys! Now I get to be at home for a couple of days and enjoy life where there's beds and couches! I ran lots of errands around town, including fixing my bike and getting new parts for my shoes.

The night was spending time with family and friends eating and relaxing to the olympics, which I fell asleep to, really early.

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Day 47 South Haven to Grand Haven

2008-09-14T00:11:00.001-04:00

Distance Biked Today: 48.5 miles

Time Spent Biking: 4:00

Avg Speed: 12 mph

Max speed: 24.7 mph

Total Distance Biked: 3035 miles

Today is a walk in the park as the route is under fifty miles and we have a couple stops along the way where we can relax. I biked with the Dave, Liz and Larry Meyer today. At Cory's stop today was lots and lots of blueberries. I have been longing for Michigan blueberries. I promptly chowed down on these. There is so much sugary stuff (granola bars, clif bars, peanut butter, ...) for lunch that I am happy to eat fruit now.

Graafschap CRC hosted us for lunch. Also, since this is the first CRC church is was basically a must that we had to stop.

I've been thinking about switching bikes, so I tried this one out, but something about it just didn't feel right.

A mile from the end a family had a refreshment stop for us with blueberries, water, and the bean bag toss game. I was ready to get to camp though. The last bit of today's ride is a route I like to bike as it goes along the lakeshore. It's nice to be in familiar territory after being in foreign places.

It's great to be camped right on the lake. I went swimming but only for a couple minutes as the water was quite brisk. My dad and mom came for dinner which was steaks provided by Christian Reformed Home Missions. It was nice to see them and catch up. My dad's really proud of me and Afterwards we had the sendoff for the individuals how biked the middle 3 week section of the tour, which concluded with communion which I served alongside Heidi Bentum. My friend Tim also came out for the night as he is going to bike with the tour tomorrow.

I also purchased a hammock tent that I'm excited to use. It's exactly what it sounds like a hammock that you sleep in. It has netting to keep out the bugs and a rainfly. It's very light and easy to setup.

One day and I'm home, but only for a couple of days.

Below is a video update that I took at the lakeshore as the sun is setting.

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Day 46 Chesterton to South Haven

2008-09-08T22:33:00.003-04:00

Distance Biked Today: 80.5 miles

Time Spent Biking: 5:08

Avg Speed: 15.6 mph

Max speed: 27.8 mph

Total Distance Biked: 2986 miles

Today is another exciting day. We will be entering Michigan and I will get to see some family tonight in South Haven. So I had to hurry to get here soon as possible

We basically took over this campground. It has been sold out, so other campers were curious why half of a loop (20+ campsites) were vacant. They were even more curious when our semi's came though and us cyclists. It really is quite the sight.

Every tends to set up there tent right next to the trucks and really really close together. I walked a little further and had my own campsite plus to empty ones on both sides. Some people had 10 tents on a site!

The first twenty miles around Michigan City were gorgeous. Ed picked a good route that brought us right next to the lake. I was feeling good, so I biked with Nick Ellens for a while. He's fast so I impressed that I kept pace with him.

I stopped and had a hamburger for lunch at Gersch's Hamburgers in Stevensville. I was only going to eat half and save the other half, but I ate the whole 1/2 of beef. Opps. All that food makes me really tired.

My mom, Tina, and Claire (cyclist Toni's wife) met us and cheered us on in South Haven. After I changed I went and cheered on the rest of the cyclists that were still coming in.

Then my brother and his pregnant wife came. We decided to go out to eat at Clementines. It was relaxing to talk and be around people I've known for more than a month and a half.

I've been told that Sherman's in South Haven has the best ice cream, so I had to check this out. Look at that cone! and that's only a single. Can you imagine the damage that a triple would do! I had Merrien County Berry, just like in Huntington.

Here we are with our ice cream.

What a fun day, especially getting to see my family. I get more excited the closer I get to home.

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Day 45 Palos Heights to Chesterton

2008-09-08T22:31:00.001-04:00

Distance Biked Today: 55.4 miles

Time Spent Biking: 3:44

Avg Speed: 14.7 mph

Max speed: 26.6 mph

Total Distance Biked: 2905 miles

After ending the day fighting horrendous traffic, I was nervous about biking today. But I am excited and encourage after having great food, great conversations at the film festival, clean laundry last night. Today, I am happy that we are leaving later as there is a send-off service at 8 (I slept in till about 7!), I am carrying the gps-tracking device today, we are going to be at a wonderful state park tonight overlooking beautiful Lake Michigan, it a shorter distance today, and we have a lunch stop.

I am biking with the Mark and Larry Stehouwer today. And they were helping someone with a bent wheel so we didn't end up leaving till about 9:30, whereas we're used to leaving at 7-7:30. Yikes! We needed to get going!

And I forgot to mention; we had french toast for breakfast! Here the wonderful kitchen volunteers that have traveled with us are cleaning up after breakfast. Even though they work hard they have a lot of fun during the day.

Trinity Christian College had a send-off service for us. Aaron Carpenter, a student here had words of thanks to Trinity and encouragement to us cyclists that 'this is only the beginning' of a chapter in our lives focusing on poverty which will continue long past when we reach Liberty State Park and stop cycling.

Bethel Christian Reformed Church had refreshments along the way right before we crossed into Indiana. I later found out that the gps that I was carrying ,so anyone could track the tour and see where we were, stopped working here. I didn't break it; I promise!

Second Christian Reformed Church had lunch for us. Just look at Brian Garrett's plate below. We had it all and plenty of it. And the welcome! Wow, were those some exciting kids. How could the not make you smile? Just watch the video below.

Yes, I know I parked in a handicap spot...

The "Welcome to Indiana" sign below has every single persons name written on it! Very impressive.

Ten miles towards the end of the route toady were on a bike path. I still had a lot on energy, so I sprinted a lot especially as there were no cars to worry about. Man I am getting fast!

I am very excited to see Lake Michigan and spend a night at a campground instead of a boring school. I everything about water plus I spend a lot of time each summer at Lake Michigan so riding to the lake will be a great end to the day.

A church baked dozens of dozens of sweet items for us and were using four picnic tables to hold it all. What a treat once we got to the park. Except I ate too much. So much good food! I wanted to try everyone, but didn't even come close.

At the park I went swimming with Mark and Josh. We had to hike over some big dunes to get to the lake but it was worth it. I was hoping to make it up to the top of one as the sun set, but I missed it because of our nightly peleton meeting. So I went up when it was dark and took this photo. The shutter was open for six seconds on this picture! If you look closely you can see downtown Chicago on the right.

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Day 44 Woodstock to Palos Heights

2008-09-08T22:28:00.001-04:00

Distance Biked Today: 86.1 miles

Time Spent Biking: 6:06

Avg Speed: 14.4 mph

Max speed: 30.5 mph

Total Distance Biked: 2849 miles

It was exciting to have 37 miles of today's ride on a bike path. But it was a lot harder than I thought. The further we went South the harder and harder it was to stay on the path as it kept splitting, leaving us standing at unmarked splits trying to figure out what way to go. Eventually, I made it there. One group of people ended up going ten miles down the wrong path.

One person almost fell in front of me and caused a huge pile up. Luckily he didn't fall, and I braked quick enough to avoid running him over. Crisis averted.

We passed lots of little cafe's, so I decided to stop in one and have a quick sandwich. As I waited I caught a couple minutes of the Olympics. This few minutes has been the most that I've seen.

At the end of the path we climbed some stairs and the route merged with a road again. Going through a little crowded suburb, a bicycle cop decided to help escort riders through it. He would meet up with several riders and have them take up the lane and continue through red lights. He did this for group after group after group. It was great to have his support and protection. When I first saw him, I thought he was going to get after me for something, but we was only going to help.

Here's a video of some friends biking down the bike path. There is a long lead in, so you can skip the first few seconds.

I like bike paths because you get to bike off of busy road and in more secluded and peaceful areas.

I see a lot of signs everyday and some just stand out as very odd. Especially this one on a fence around a school playground outside of Chicago.

More encouragers along the way!

What's this? A Meijer? I must be getting closer to home!

The first half of the day was stressful trying to find the right way. The rest of the day, the traffic was horrible. Quite possible the worst traffic and the unsafest conditions for the whole tour. Not only were we on a busy rode, but the occasional drivers were rude and crowded us. Let's hope they get better. Also, we're very thankful to God that we were safe today. I know that he protected us immensely today.

Tonight we are staying at Trinity Christian College. We had a wonderful welcome along with many amenities, including free laundry. So, I did a load and updated this blog while I waited. But it looks like rain, so I had to couldn't let my clothes completely air dry outside. With the chance of rain, I found a nice spot inside and slept there, instead of setting up my tent.

You guessed it! We had Chicago deep dish pizza for dinner. We barely have had pizza on the tour so this was very welcomed.

And lets not forget the soft serve ice cream machine! Mark really knows how to make a sundae.

Lately we have had a lot less flats. This is attributed to the face that we are out of Goathead country now.

Trinity really understood why we are doing this tour. I am excited along with all the people that we meet that we're biking across the country and seeing amazing places. But this is secondary. This tour is about alleviating poverty. About raising awareness and funds for people that do not have the necessities to live because of uneven social structures. Trinity understood this as they showed through the film festival they had were three professors showed films relating to poverty and led discussions sparked by the films. I attended one about housing projects in the area that were torn down to make way for a new highway. I was extremely interested but also extremely tired, so I left early.

Thanks Trinity for your work!

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Day 43 Madison to Woodstock

2008-09-08T21:33:00.001-04:00

Distance Biked Today: miles

Time Spent Biking:

Avg Speed: mph

Max speed: mph

Total Distance Biked: miles

Today was a perfect day to find a coffee shop and hang around for a bit. Unfortunately I didn't find any, except one which ended up being closed.

About twenty miles in, just after where Julie, a sag wagon driver, was parked I turned a corner and a bug flew right in my mouth. I've had several hit my glasses, or helmet before, but his bug went right in my mouth. I promptly spit it out just after it stung me on the tongue. I don't know what it was but I believe it had to be a bee.

Delevan CRC had a lunch stop for us with ample food. I love stopping and relaxing, chatting with people from the area. Also, it was a great spot for a stop in the day as it was towards the end of the ride. So much so that I took a nap on the lawn.

We went by this beautiful lake, but I just had a nap so I figured I shouldn't stop again.

Today we crossed over into Illinois. The road wasn't major enough to have a welcome to Illinois sign so we made one.

Nope this isn't the Woodstock you're thinking about. I also caught up to Dave and Liz and enjoyed riding the last part of the day with them.

It felt great today and could have biked more, but I was still glad to get to Woodstock and set aside my bike for the night.

I switched over my back wheel tonight to the replacement one I got this last weekend. Larry helped me switch the cassette over and taught me some useful tricks.

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Day 42 Resting in Madison

2008-08-24T23:02:00.001-04:00

Today was a relaxing day. I'm a little behind, so excuse my terseness.

We had celebration service in the morning. This weeks fruit of the spirit is faithfulness.

Later someone introduced the ministry fair to everyone and read this quote from a Christian Reformed World Missions brochure.

To go fast go alone, to go further go together

It's fairly obvious how this connects with our tour so I don't feel like I need to explain it.

The church we stayed at even made a little Sea to Sea vanity plate!

Cool signs! huh?

We had an abundance of food. What a blessing!

If you look closely you can see our biker tan lines. A local family let us use there pool. It was wonderful!

The local church arranged to have a Angklung choir come. I was a little late getting back from the swimming pool, but I walked into them playing Chariots of Fire, my favorite song. It was wonderful.

Communicating with our familys and friends is important so the internet so here you can see everyone busy emailing and blogging.

Look at the food!

It was a great day to prepare and energize for another week of biking.

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Day 41 Fennimore to Madison

2008-08-24T22:47:00.002-04:00

Distance Biked Today: 76.76 miles

Time Spent Biking: 5:22

Avg Speed: 14.2 mph

Max speed: 34.2 mph

Total Distance Biked: 2675 miles

Today was a great day, even after riding on the gravel path below for ten miles.

Early in the morning I found a brochure for Cave of the Mounds at a local gift store that I stop and walked around in. I was excited as the route went right by, so for the next couple of miles I planned a visit. It was just off the route, so it was perfect.

Cave of the Mounds is a cave that was found by a farmer less than a hundred years ago while he was blasting to start a quarry. He ended up finding a sizable self contained cave that was sealed off from everything. It included stalactites and stalagmites. It isn't anything as big as Mammoth Caves but it is similar.

I enjoyed taking pictures with a long exposure (2-6 seconds) with Tyler's tripod that he let me borrow. Thanks Tyler!

Claire Kooistra also stopped and went on the tour after I left, but I was surprised none of the other cyclists stopped.

They also had a huge garden that was absolutely beautiful.

I also stopped at Little Norway and was going to look at the building and such. But you have to pay ($12!) to get in. That's out of the question. So I talked to the gift shop people for a couple of minutes and one lady was amazed at our trip, when I told her how much money we've raised it literally took her breath away. You can see one of the houses peeking through the trees.

I stopped again at a bakery and had some bread pudding.

My extra stops along the way did cause me to arrive very late.

With all my stops today, I arrived late at the end and missed riding with almost everyone else as a big group to the church where we're staying. They did give us a very warm welcome including all these fun signs!

But Josh Krabbe was in the group and shot this video.

My bike wheel did fail last week. There are little cracks in it which is a bad sign, so I got it replaced tonight under warranty. Let's hope this one holds up.

The local church also provided tons of great food, activities, movies. It was wonderful!

Remember you can still participate by making a donation here.

Also check out more of my photos and videos.