Wednesday, and the countdown begins

The falls we stopped at today, and what a trek on the bike uphill to get to them... slight detour off the route.

June has led to July, and July has led to August, last week has brought us to this week, and everyday continues to march on, as we continue to pedal to the eastern shore and the Statue of Liberty.

Today I rode with Jonathan, Marc and Jeff....and then Stan DeVries tagged onto our combo....we had a few good climbs today, and I really enjoyed them, to the best of their capacity, they brought me down to my lowest gear, a humbling effect after not being there for a while.....

I also took a tumble, that makes 5....no injuries though, just a large bruise forming on my derriere...my landing pad, haha. Alright, so what happened, climbing a hill and Jon was gearing down, and I was speeding up...got a little close and my bike tire kissed his bike tire, causing me to tumble to the left...good thing we were going up hill and at a medium rate...no high speed road rash for me today...all is well with me and the bike, i laughed it off, it happened somewhat in slow motion, and the whole while I knew I was going down...CHEERS! Hopefully this is the last one for this tour.The gear truck in traffic (above), the gear truck unloaded at the site (below).

Top speed of the day : 74k SO GOOD, love the speed

Todays ride went well, much better then yesterdays, yesterday i feel we were all in a slump, contemplating the end of this tour, and some of the things we have done along the way and how much we are going to miss the comraderie and friendships we have made, as well as the biking together...we have really grown to be a great community.

The hills went well, and riding got into the groove after the 40 k mark or so.

I look forward to the next few days with mixed emotions and feelings...i have had an absolutely wonderful time. Remeber all those who are going back to school, going to work, or play (retirees).... as well as those who quit their jobs to come on this trip.

TUESDAY - goodbye ruby tuesday

To my faithful followers of the blog….
Thanks so much for reading this, I hope you have enjoyed and been entertained. For the most part I have enjoyed writing it, and been entertained….sometimes I have thoroughly enjoyed plotting what to write, other times, I just go with the flow, and the words that come out are blatant and true.

Tuesday, August-26-08

Today started out rough, I lost my camera (or so I thought-generally I am pretty good about being organized),so somewhere in the time between last nights camera and this morning’s wake up. It was when I was going to take a picture of Marty and Coby (the newest Canadians on tour – meaning yesterday, they went to become official citizens of Canada…. after living in Canada for sometime, and most definitely they are proud Canadians), at that point I realized that I didn’t have my camera and started the search. I searched my laundry baskets two times…took out my tent and set it up…looked inside, shook out the fly, looked around the picnic table where I was the night before, looked and searched, asked a few people….and still at a loss for where I had placed it. With that first half hour wasted….I went ahead and ate some breakfast pondering in my brain where I had put it, I knew it was in my sweatshirts pocket…so I went back to look in my baskets for the sweatshirt I wore…not there… I was about to give up… when I thought, maybe I had gone to bed with it still in my sweatshirt so I was hoping it was in my sleeping bag!!! OH BABY, it was, I was so happy to find it in the bottom of my sleeping bag….since it is the last week I am trying to get in some extra photos about all the things that come along in a day.

The two new official Canadians!

RIDING friends…. Jonathan, Jeff, Annette, Marc, (Ryan last 40k), and Matt from t-bay.
I was in a slump, not liking the fact that every pedal stroke we take, is making me closer to the end of the tour, closer to ending this chapter of cycling, closer to going back to work (I love my job, but I also love this- torn!) Again, every motion forward is driving us physically to the end of this tour, so peoples thoughts and feelings are being bombarded by the end of this tour….some of us thought that there would be a lot of hype, a lot of energy, but mostly it is mixed emotions and thoughts of not having enough time with those we have grown fond of. WE also are taking a little longer in the riding time, to chat longer with those we ride with and really getting to know some phenomenal people.

Riding in the early morning is a very nice time.

The nine weeks have definitely had an effect on many, and causes us to reflect upon what we are going back to, as well as what we have left. It is not that life has really changed, its just that our routine of life has been altered, and we are made to think about what we do, and reflect upon how we can fall back into what we normally did before this.
Returning to the familiar which may now be strange, back to work, retirement, school, home life.

This morning was chilly, and Marc mentioned he needed a second heart to pump his blood back up his legs. It was chilly and it didn’t help what with biking into the wind, and it blowing what warmth we had off of us.

When we got to the town of Avon, about 35-40 k in we decided to have a coffee break, which turned out to be a second breakfast for many. The place was crowded, and those who worked there running off there feet….our table needed more coffee, so I grabbed a pot, and served us, then wandered the place and served others…a little bit of help goes a long way.

Moving along, there wasn’t much interaction with locals other than in the breakfast stop this morning. We had a lunch stop provided by a CRC church at the 80k marker, on someones farm. It was lovely to have breaks today, as the rolling hills, which normally I love and conquer oh so willingly, were beating me rapidly, and causing me to sometimes come down to a screaming low km/hr when all I wanted to do was fly over them.

Much appreciated, was when Jonathan and I started playing a game...(we play games often) this time we played word association, which made the last 10k fly by.

The camp we are staying at is beautiful, caught the sunset, had peleton, and last group meetings. Things are winding down as we prepare to come to the end of this journey and tour. Friends have been made, people will be missed and hearts were touched. We need to remember the cause and the purpose why we set out 9 weeks ago as well as what is in our hearts.

The internet is down, and probably down til the end of the tour, but I will try and get these up along the way.

St Catherines to Byron NEW YORK! NEW YORK

LAST MONDAY

Today, I rode with boys...guys, men, your choice...

Zinger, Jeff, Gresham, Stretch -Marc, skinny Matt from t-bay, must be the cold air that he survives in year round...we are going to try and work on that this last week on tour.

The border crossing : FLYING COLORs, we crossed rainbow bridge from Canada, into New York in record time... we just rode over the bridge through customs with out even having to show our passports. Ed put a lot of work into organizing an easy passage back into the states.

"According to Ed Witvoet, Sea to Sea tour manager, Monday’s border crossing at Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls, Ont., went flawlessly.
“The cyclists could just ride right through (customs and immigration), they didn’t have to stop at all or even show their passports,” he said. “It was just like riding over any ordinary bridge…

Touring around Niagra falls was fun, and easily done on bike. We just went up and down the paths, getting shots of the places we wanted and then moving on. " - from On the Way.

Heading back to the road we were to travel, we took two wrong turns, and then went back the way we came from... en route, we just boogied, even with a crosswind, the ride of over 125 k felt like 100. Which means... we are getting stronger and better at cycling. Or the ride wasn't actually that hard. Your pick.

SEA TO SEA ROUTE THIS WEEK
Week 9: Aug. 25-30, St. Catharines to Jersey CityTotal riding distance this week: 430 miles, 692 kmsDaily average: 72 mi, 115 kmLongest distance: 82 mi, 132 km on Friday, Dalton to SussexShortest distance: 58 mi, 93 km on Thursday, Binghamton to SultanMost climbing: 6,857 feet on Friday; most climbing on any day of the tour (including the Rockies!)Longest police escort: About 9 mi, 14 km on Saturday, beginning in Kearney to Liberty State Park and the tour’s completion.

SUNDAY

Sunday in St Catharines....
A lovely day in the town of St Catherines....
We had a celebration service at the Brock Memorial, or the Queenston Heights Park...It poured rain, and forced us all to be under a pavillion in hopes of the skies clearing...
We all sat on soggy grass or in camp chairs...to listen.
The service was nice, and then supper was well done. So many people to be fed...and the line was huge...but that allowed for chatting in lines.

Thanks parents and Mel, Jay and Jer for coming out...thanks for all the good times!

Hamilton to St.Catherines

SECOND LAST SATURDAY - booo

I got dropped off at Redeemer around 7 am....and left with Kaitlyn at 8.
We got into St.Catherines around noon, and that is super time, especially with all the stops along the route. A few church stops, and individuals who know people on tour...had stops in their driveways or along the roadway.

Kaitlyn and I made a great team....and the cycling flew by. We managed to keep our stops short and our riding speed high...although we did have a terrific crosswind all day long.

Upon arrival at the school we are staying at, we put our bikes inside, and picked up our mail. I received a care package (thanks Marg) with some lovely things inside....including a new outfit...what a lady!

Best part of the day: going down the escarpment, it was a lovely ride down, although i had my brakes on for most of it, fearful my body was going to meet pavement on one of the turns, i only reached the speeds of 73, and that is fine with me, some others on the tour beat their highspeed records coming down the hill, i didn't want to go anyfaster because of the turns, as well as the stop sign right at the bottom of the hill.

I am waiting for my parents and my sister and her husband to come by. Apparently the QEW is backed up due to construction, so i scooted into the schools computer lab to get some of what is happening up. We are going to be going out this weekend, and then i will be back to ride early Monday morning....we also are waiting for the gear truck to arrive, we can't take any showers until that happens, we need to unload it, and get our stuff out of there....saturday, clean the truck day...

Alright, i am going to scoot back outside and see if anyone is out there for me.
Have a fantastic weekend, and see most of you in little over a week...

LONDON to HAMILTON

Friday August 22, 08

WIND wind blow on me...

Biked with : Jonathan, Jeff, Hilena, Ryan, Marc, Kaitlyn, Dave T and I road together, for many k we rode 2x2

On the way to Redeemer, we rode pretty quick, going from stop to stop with eager anticipation. Some of the guys were getting billeted...we needed to be in between somewhere near 2.

The last stretch of 10 k we were riding quickly but done for the day, we continued to push ourselves to maintain a good speed.

Total km - 125 in 4.5 hours

Get to Redeemer and I am greeted by many Miedema's, THANKS, and especially, thanks for the lovely stuff Joyce, it's fantastic!

Enjoyed a freezing cold shower (sarcastic) and didn't have to set up my tent...yeah!

LONDON IS CALLING

CHATHAM to LONDON

August 21, 2008

TODAY today, finally getting to see people that I know. I have long awaited this day, almost seeminly knowing that it would occur, as do days go by one at a time...but now, it's here and I would love for it to go slowly...involved in every minute and slow motioning the time so that it lasts.

We left Chatham....Jonathan, Kaitlyn, Jeff and I - in search of London...along the way our dearest Jeff (caboose) actually caboosed it on a set of train tracks...these were the worst tracks we have encountered, and we are genuinely careful every time, but this time, there was no stopping the tippage. Jeff went down, his bike went sideways, and his front tire blew like shaken pop can...hissing and spewing air all over the place. Quite scary.
We managed to get him over to the side of the road, and his bike fixed up. I changed the tire, and Jonathan went back to where we had seen Art (SAG) parked about 400m back. It took us some time to get his bike running smoothly...and he is still a little hurting...
I am absolutely thankful nothing worse happened and that the traffic was light.

Onwards, we came to the 40 k marker, and today people were doing time trials. The last few were taking off while we watched and waited. Onwards, towards the CRC in Mt Bridges. They provided for us a lovely lunch. Thanks for the meal!

The ride today went well, no more mishaps, and a few others joined us. Newbies : John (michigan) Chris Mulder (MI) , Art Mulder, and Ralph(y boy) (Dunnville)... it was great riding with them, as we were in a large peleton. After leaving the church we had whittled our group...and regrouped, to Doug, Jeff, Kaitlyn, Hilena, Jonathan... (theo and marc for maybe 10 k and then they went on without us....booo hooo).... we went on a bike path through the back of London, and then onto the busy streets....WE managed to get to the school a little after two, whereby I was picked up by my cousin Linda, and her three girls...SO GOOD to see family...

I will upload photos later, they are of various stops of the day, a few of the time trial, and some of our peleton.

CANADA --- CANADA

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 20-08

Welcome to Canada, home for many of the cyclists...land of kilomerters and Tim Horton's.

RIDING PARTNERS: Jonathan, Marc, Brad, Jeff and I rode together, and then Kaitlyn joined us at the end.

HEADWIND? of course, we wouldn't have it any other way...why make cycling easy when it can all be training weather!

GOOD TIMEs: always...

We were required this morning, to have breakfast done by 7, and everyone packed up and ready to go. We had to get to Marine city, for the ferry crossing by 10....I don't know about you, but it being 30 k away, really was a generous amount of time to give us to get there. So, 3 hours, to get in 30k when by QUICKLY, we arrived and went into a coffee shop, overwhelmed the place with hords of cyclists.

Crossing over into Canada was momentous for some...it was quite the hype for many, coming back to home soil after 8 weeks away. Our greeting on the other side was AMAZING, there were trays of goodies, Tim's coffee and timbits, and all sorts of other things. Many people were there to cheer us on and meet family, or church memebers who are on the ride.

The rest of the ride, the next 60 k was a battle of the wind, we took turns, and had some conversations (as always) right into town. Upon reaching the outskirts of town, we arrived at some tracks, where we had to wait, 2nd time of this tour....then at the next set of lights...a newbie couldn't get his shoes unclipped and tipped over...he's okay, but it was funny.

There are no showers at the facility we are staying at so many drivers were circling the parking lot and taking us to there homes...Kaitly, Theo, Jeff, Jonathan, Marc, Bradley and I lucked out, we got a hot tub with the deal. Very nice, we hung out in the backyard, had some cake, FOR ITS ZINGERS BIRTHDAY... hopefully by now he can say he's had a pretty good b-day....he didn't have to take down a tent this morning, was sung to 4 times, and now cake!! tonight we will celebrate a little more after peleton.

I am really looking forward to this weekend!! Thanks in advance mom and dad for coming down to St Catherines....this should be a lot of fun...and oh sister, brother in law...RIDE WITH ME SATURDAY!!! COME ON!

Talk to you all soon, those of you who I know who read this, and thanks for everything that you have done, past present and soon my future!!

GEAR TRUCK RAMP FUN

Sorry, please rotate your head so you can see the video...

Sleepy Hollow - Richmond Michigan

Tuesday August 19 2008

Today, changing up the scenes...
I rode with Sarah and her brother Bob, a new glory rider, Brian (PEI), Matt and Jeff. We had talked with each other outside the gear truck last night and thought it would be fun to ride together. We enjoyed each others company and battled a headwind the whole way - 155 k of headwind, i wonder what the newbies are thinking now, after yesterdays easy ride...and whamo today the wind hits them...

In this pic, Bob, Eritia, Sarah. Eritia and Josh rode with us for a while to battle the wind together. Heading down the road, and up the road...and all over the country side...looks like a good paceline to me!
Who knew ... I like trees. Two of the recumbent bikes on tour...having a good ride together.

Today was a good ride, although, again, there was a lot of roadkill out there. EW - could we not aim for the furry creatures that cross the road at night, its hazardous the next day for cyclists...and then if its old road kill, STINKA! Sometimes it's an amuzing site, when all thats left is fluff and bones...or teeth, thats a site, a jaw bone full of teeth and then fur on the road.

(Just thought i would let you in on that one.)

MONDAY - Grand Rapids to Sleep Hollow State Park

Crossing the covered bridge.


RIDE WITH : Jonathan, Jeff, and Ryan.
in that order, in this photo

WE had a FABULOUS RIDE. We managed to 113k in 3 hours and 20 minutes...we absolutely FLEW. Thanks to a lovely tailwind. I believe this is the second time on this tour we have had a tailwind. So we used it for all it was worth.

Our first rest stop was at a CRC church, and they had some lovely treats for us and drinks as well. It was a very nice ride through the countryside. AT one of the SAG stops there was this little kitten that I played with for a few minutes...it was very cute.

I was contemplating making it my riding partner, but didn't know how much I would enjoy a kitten in the pocket of my jersey for the next 50+ k. I don't think it would be that lovely.

When we got to Sleepy Hollow State park, we arrived prior to the gear trucks arrival. So we went ahead in. I took a nap on a picnic table, as did many others, when the truck came in we all went to help unload. This was the first time for the 'newbies' (the 60 new cyclists that joined in GR) to see what really goes on. The truck was emptied in record time, I don't think that many people will show up again. After that, set up of tents and getting stuff organized for tomorrows ride is what happened, and then a bunch of us headed to the BEACH. I love the beach. We spent a good three hours there. (there is nothing to else to do at sleep hollow park, and the nearest town was 10 or more k away, roundtrip over 20 and we didn't feel like having that much bonus mileage for the day).

Went back to our camp sites and had supper and then a lovely fire, and celebratory time for Karen, it was her birthday. Very enjoyable time at Sleepy Hollow, although....at peleton we were told that we were going to have a huge headwind 16-22km/h and that put some people in a frenzie...

Waited by a telephone til 11:15, then I gave up trying to make a phone call...thought I should go to bed, then hang out by a payphone getting bitten by mosquitoes...

SUNDAY IN G.R.

Sunday...in Grand Rapids = no cycling...oh yeah.
Finally a lot of us got to sleep in, there was breakfast offered by a local church, but it's window of serving us was from 7:30-8am, and well, it was the first chance for many of us to sleep in, as well, the 10 minute plus walk was a deterrent. I decided to sleep in, and then get some of my stuff organized as well as clean my bike. I think this will be the last time for the tour, unless it rains, which is quite like since Ontario ,has nothing but liquid falling in the shape of drops, from the sky.
At noon, we had lunch across from the seminary and then were shuttled to the Fifth Third Park stadium...quite the turnout of people...maybe because our numbers have increased by 40-60 more cyclists.....more names to learn and people to trip over in the gear truck, (I think we are nearly at 200 now...)
This us waitung (above) and below, we are waiting in one huge arc along the fance line and rounding all the way past third. We are a large group.


The sun going down over camp...while we were heading out for the evening.Sundays service in the park was another huge rally. It was a nice service and what put the icing on the cake for many, was Kyle Meyerink sang a song he composed and wrote the words. It was absolutely beautiful....

Sunday night, I billeted out and had a good evening, relaxing and watching olympics...I LOVE THE OLYMPICS!

DAY 48 - Grand Haven to Grand Rapids....or G. R-usalem.

Today, Saturday, and a glorious cool one at that, had to pull out some arm warmers...1st time for everything....who knew that out of the mountains would have cooler weather than in the mountains.
We, Zinger, Jeff and I rode like machines through the streets of Grand Haven and into Grand Rapids....it was a good ride, although some of the roads were very rough. I am learning to take it in the seat, as well as through the arms...everyone has to ride through it....

'WE passed by this cemetary and the sun was shining so nicely throught the trees so i cylcloto'd a photo, above.

Below: a shot of Dirk and Pieter, waiting at a stop like, and then we were off!

Arnie and his wife...at the stop TYLER's house, thanks Tyler for opening up your place, and making it such a nice stop.
When we gathered, to enter as a group to Calvin College, we were all hanging out together, and just waiting for the go ahead. 12:30 and almost everyone was in to get going. Above: Heidi, Kaitlyn and Jody.

Below: Pieter, and his tongue.

The shark mobile, imagine riding this in crosswinds. Riding into Calvin college.The Gear truck and all our stuff exploding out of it...today, clean the gear truck day, and make Bill happy.
LOVELY time at the SEA TO SEA spa, they had massages: hand, feet, back...neck, foot baths, hand baths...haircuts..absolutely positively amazing!

South Haven to Grand Haven DAY 47

Last night we went out to do some Kareoke, and combined that effort with Lawrence's birthday. He is the one in the pink t-shirt, he received that as a complimentary gift from Jake's lakehouse, where we went last night. Great fun had around the mike and at the table, we were watching alot of the olympics...TV fantastic TV, our eyes were glued to PHELPS swimming...and winning.

me This morning for breakfast, cyclists lined the curb, eating, for most of there stuff was all packed up. Today was my teams sweep day again, and we finished packing up the gear truck around 9, and headed out soon there after...quick eye sweep of the grounds. We made super good time, and were at Cory's stop, 35 k in in just a little over an hour, and this was with a headwind. It was crazy windy all day. Had some lovely fresh blueberries...so tasty, great lakes blueberries...how fitting for when we are cycling along the coastline of Lake Michigan.
Stopped in Grafshap, the first CRC historical site, toured the inside of the church, they had an historical musuem set up in the basement of the church which was lovely to look at the dutch heritage, and the ways we have developed as a church and how far we have come as well as where we have come from, the founders and what went on to get here.
The peanut shop, very close to a candy mountain back in Ottawa. Purchased some Dropjes...oh yum

Here is a really cool bike rack, outside the bike shop in Holland MI, Kaitlyn and Jody are just getting there stuff together here.

We also had coffee in Holland Michigan and had a lovely time in the bike shop, i fell asleep in the front window thats how long we were in there, and i didn't neet anything...soo...i rested.This is the crew leaving, we are losing 10, but gaining 50 riders for the next two weeks, the number of cyclists is going to be ut to 210. And tomorrows ride is going to be crazy, Grand Rapids, the mecca of CRC, we are riding with over 300 people...all in the name of poverty. It will be quite the site, and alot of people we will witness to.

KM's today: supposed to be 77, but we did 89
I rode with Kaitlyn, Theo, Jody, Lawrence, and Jeff. We battled wind and rolling hills, but loved the last bike path into the CRC conference grounds, on the shore of Lake Michigan.

We took a few detours, first to Holland MI, and then to the beach where there was this lighthouse, we were going to stick around there but we decided we should get into camp, arrived close to 4, and then Jody and I went to the beach, but the wind made us feel freezing cold so we just sunned ourselves instead of swimming...another day for swimming...