TWISTED SILVER - Andrea Lee and Julia Wissink

The Summer of summers

2011-08-10T14:54:00.003-04:00

What a summer. A delightful wedding in June, the lovin' heat of July, and now entering the cooler nights of August. Summer time is such a great gift to share with others. BBQ gatherings, pool parties, cottages, and beach time mark some of my favorite memories from this summer already.
We have made many new and fabulous sterling silver jewlery and hair clips for girls and ladies alike. Take a peek and see what you like;)

I am a NEW Blogger!

2010-11-12T14:14:00.003-05:00

Yay. First time blogging! Ah well, we are gonna try to find a way to make a page for you to look at the creations we make and then use pay pal to pay for them so we can ship them....gotta sort some stuff out first, then we will have it up and running! Thanks for all your support and interest in the stuff we make! Cheers!

Some family photo shots

2010-11-12T12:38:00.000-05:00

Alright so here are a few of what has happened in the last couple of weeks. This little boy was so lively and energetic, he was running circles around me every chance he could, and then would settle for a few seconds so I nabbed shots of him as quick as possible!

talking to mr. nutcracker snowman ---how you doin'

and i LOVE these trees as a new added touch to your Christmas phots

peekaboo

this photo screams BOY and PLAY to me, lets get our boots off and get dirty

NEW HAIR ACCESSORIES

2010-11-12T11:48:00.000-05:00

Hello
We have started a blog as to what is going on in the Twisted Silver world. Andrea and I have been really busy getting ready for the Christmas season, and preparing for open houses and the Handmade Harvest. We truly enjoy creating unique pieces and love crafting. I have moved to Brantford (for love) and continue to work with Andrea creating and experimenting. I hope you find this blog of use to you and that you can also see many of the items we have made.

New necklaces and hair accessories

I have also been busy taking family and children photos and then creating one of a kind photo cards. If you wish for this service please contact me at juliawissink@gmail.com.

I love taking pictures and especially capturing little ones smiles, frowns, tears, and giggles. I will attach tomorrow some photos of the family shoots - and some of the kids.

BACK AT LAST - little update

2009-09-23T21:16:00.004-04:00

i love taking photos of the nieces and nephews...expressions are priceless...and quality moments are captured, here are a few of my favorites from the summer

SKYLAR

RILEY JAKOB

ADDISON

Andrea and skylar looking out the 'train' at valley view farm

the boys and i were hanging by the pool and having a fun swim afternoon on a rainy day when i snapped a few photos of them off the upper deck, and then of course what you do with one, you do with all.... congruity

TIME keeps ticking

2008-10-21T12:37:00.002-04:00

So i have been on a couple of bike rides since sea to sea, and still thoroughly enjoy riding my bike. I am thankful to all those who faithfully read my blog, and to those who supported the cause. I look forward to doing another ride one day, maybe of this size or smaller. It was a great time, one of great comraderie and fun. Each day held new experiences and places to be, as well as more people to spread the cause too.

Since the tour, I have returned back to teaching, and feel like I didn't even leave. So funny how a shoe fits. I love teaching, and my class is quite energetic and lively this year. They keep me on my toes, and I keep them thinking (and entertained sometimes). Life is very busy teaching, extracurricular activites, weekend excursions and maintaining family and friends relationships.

This is a picture I took a couple of weeks ago from the bike path along the parkway in Ottawa, this weekend I went 'bycling' with Lawrence and Kaitlin. We did an interesting loop, starting at Algonquin, going by Carleton U then Ottawa U, then past the museum of civilization and then the war museum.....We were just so glad to be together... Kaitlin and I were wondering if we still remembered how to bike, and were afraid of falling since we have only bike a handful of times since the tour. For the most part we were on paths and trails through the city, its like a whole nother world! Dog walkers, grocery getters...city dwellers mixed with students and those with an agenda not paying any attention to the left or right of them...joggers, people with strollers and random people who just barely got skimmed by our tires.

Our school also had the opportunity of being at the Ottawa Airport for when Harper's jet landed. They were there to cheer him on and shake his hands. IT was a very fun exbition for those who went.

Moss may not grow on a rolling stone, but it does on stumps. I took this photo this weekend, along the Indian River this weekend, just thought it was a neat look at the little things in life that thrive off of dead debris. The recycling of the forest.

And a picture of a flower...I like to take phots of STILL things, as well as active...but i have more control over the still....

FALL

2008-10-16T10:23:00.003-04:00

WEEKENDs continue to be crazy busy. What with driving all over Ontario, and finishing up some of my fundraisers family photos.

This past weekend I had some time to relax with family and friends, attend a wedding and also see Cirque du Soleil (an absolutely amazing show, I recommend to others to go see if they can).

Here are some pics of the weekend. IT was absolutely gorgeous out, especially with all the fall colours displayed in the trees and the warm weather we are experiencing for fall.

This is me, crossing the water at the Mill of Kintail, a local conservation area that has hiking trails and other items of interest (the mill, stream study...)

On the weekend I also took photos for my cousins wedding. It was a fantastic day, and I am very pleased with the photos, the weather and the colour that

JERSEY jersey JERSEY

2008-09-09T18:05:00.007-04:00

FRIDAY AUGUST 29, boohoo, second last day

2008-09-08T17:20:00.002-04:00

thursday - aug - 28 - 08

2008-09-02T14:55:00.005-04:00

on the road again...to the end...

Wednesday, and the countdown begins

2008-08-27T17:08:00.009-04:00

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

2008-08-27T16:43:00.005-04:00

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

2008-08-25T22:16:00.003-04:00

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

2008-08-25T16:45:00.002-04:00

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

2008-08-23T13:07:00.003-04:00

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

2008-08-23T12:58:00.004-04:00

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

2008-08-21T21:21:00.003-04:00

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

2008-08-20T17:20:00.004-04:00

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

2008-08-19T17:51:00.001-04:00

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

Sleepy Hollow - Richmond Michigan

2008-08-19T17:31:00.002-04:00

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

2008-08-19T16:50:00.003-04:00

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.

2008-08-19T16:21:00.003-04:00

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.

2008-08-16T16:36:00.004-04:00

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

2008-08-15T20:54:00.003-04:00

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...

Day 46 - Chesterton, Indiana to Grand Haven Michigan

2008-08-14T19:48:00.004-04:00

OKAY--here is the signage for Indiana, although we were leaving the state and entering Michigan...

WAIT -- ANOTHER STATE

KAITLYN, JENNA, JEFF, JONATHAN and I...rode today, 130k.

IT was windy, and beautiful along the shores of lake Michigan

DAY 45 -Palos Heights, Illinois- Chesterton, Indiana

2008-08-13T21:27:00.003-04:00

ANOTHER DAY- ANOTHER STATE

Kaitlyn, Theo, Doug, Kevin, Jody and I rode together. It was an awesome ride. Here's a photo of our group as we just crossed into Indianna....just a few more states and then it's ova! I can't believe how fast it is going.

From left to right, Kevin, Jody, Doug, Theo, Kaitlyn, and I.

We had a couple of stops today, the first one was at Bethel CRC, and they had some refreshments for us. The next one was Highlands CRC where they had full out lunch for us....SUBWAY...oh yeah! Lovely eats, and then we were on our way. Today we didn't encounter many times where we could hand out the sea to sea business cards with facts and information on them, nor a shifting gears book...I did manage to hand out two cards to two vehicles when we were stopped at red lights....

Along the way, we went through an area of Indiana, where a tornado had gone through last week Monday, the streets were littered with debris, and chipper trucks were running in full force. It was not a pleasant sight, but an interesting site, to see all this damage done by one force of nature. Alot of work now needs to be done to repair damaged homes, and clean up all the trees that had blown over.

We are camping at Indiana Dunes Park (very much like Sandbanks-oh baby, I can't wait), just outside of Chesterton. Indiana. It is a lovely campground...and I got to go swimming in Lake Michigan, for the first time. As well, upon arrival, another local crc had 43 types of baked goods spread out under the pavillion for us to appease our appetites with. It was a lovely spread, and again, thanks to all those who support us in every way that they do. We are all very grateful and thankful.

this is a photo of Billy and I, where Randy also felt the need to stick his head in there...Billy is in charge of the gear truck and keeps us on our toes. He also rides his harley up and down the roads we bycle on, in support of us, and making sure that all is well, sometimes he even has water for us on very hot days...today, was not so hot only mid 20's, and we also rode along a good stretch of bike path, and a not so good stretch too... see photos...we were pretending we were interior canoeing and we had to portage to the next lake.

Dismounting bikes, and on our way portaging.Finding the bike path...it's out there somewhere...Billy and I

interesting things of the day: we went to a bead store, kaitlyn, jody and i, and we loved every minute of it. then we also stopped at another shop along the way and got a few items...the boys had left us at this point for we were taking a while at the bead store...oh well, there loss.

roadkill: there is still large amounts of animals, creatures and insects that we see dead along every ride, today, i guess the best was dead chipmunks....yesterday, Jonathan nearly hit one, i am afraid though, that if we accidently hit one, we will not really and totally kill it, and then what are we to do?!

Day 44 August 12 Woodstock to Palos Heights ILLINOIS

2008-08-12T23:36:00.005-04:00

The windmill, in Batavia, originally from Holland, disassembled and shipped here.

ERIC...we finally have the son of Larry on our biking team...Larry, and his two sons, Eric and Mark are riding the whole tour, and we have stolen Eric, he goes back to his dad every evening so he is getting the name 'prodigal son'...we are trying to entice Mark to come to our side as well.

These guys are so much fun.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 12/08

We left Woodstock 7:30 this morning, will all intentions of staying together as a group, and just having a good time....as well making sure we did our part handing out Seatosea cards, and letting people know why massive amounts of people are biking in the same direction.

Today's route took us to a lovely bike path, called the Fox River trail, this trail went on for just under 60k...in all it was a nice path, through foliage and brush and trees (trees, we haven't seen much trees in the past while so they provide is with thoughts of home...and well, shade).

We came upon this coffee shop just off the cycling path, which had us all going in. Pretty soon, the place was overloaded with us, and our bikes....good business for them, probably more than they see in a week!
Gave them cards, and a shifting gears book so they can follow with the rest of our tour.

Us, outside the coffee shop, literally feet away from the bike path.

Jonathan, on someone....The Fox River trail was following the Fox river (of all things), and was for the most part a pretty relaxing ride. Although we averaged this day over 28k/hr....i never started my bike computer... so i am going by Jenna's comp.

We also were greeted by some people from Wheaton CRC at the dutch mill in Batavia who served us fresh baked cookies and cold water. Whereupon, I needed to get a photo of Bill, Jim and Dick, (left to right) three of the oldest men on our tour, and boy do they ever cycle well...for their age-and just in general, they can definitely put some young people to shame!

Today was also the VERY FIRST DAY we encountered a train. WE had to stop and wait, while waiting we handed out seatosea cards and let those around us know what we were cycling for.

As well, at any stop lights through towns, we would talk to those who had there car windows down...and were looking at us...maybe a little frightening...but hey, we have the time...and especially at red lights, they look at us, we look at them, and once eye contact is made, there is no turning back!

Tomorrow we will be biking south of Chicago. Please pray for safety of all the cyclists and crew. We know it can be very dangerous on busy roads especially when shoulders are none existent or in poor condition. As well, one of the cyclists did have an encounter with a collision with a moving vehicle....please continue to keep us all in your prayers as we cycle, and pray for those around us to be aware of us as vehicles on the road as well (we really aren't that hard to miss, what with glowing safety vests and all).

Theo, on the gear truck....looks a little scary in there tonight.

Tonight, I have been billeted, with Renata, our gracious hosts, the Slagter's, have opened their home to us, let us do laundry, and just enjoy the life in a home...not a tent....it's magnificent! A bathroom, two steps from the bedroom, WHAT WILL I DO?!

WEEK 7, day 43, Madison to Woodstock

2008-08-11T18:30:00.003-04:00

131km, bang on, no more no less..
WEEK 7 - still pedalling

Here we are, here we go, continuing on across this continent, God's creation, valleys and hills, fields and yonder. 2/3 and into the homestretch...

I can barely believe, hardly comprehend the enormosity of what continues on. Each pedal stoke leads us farther from the Pacific, and closer to the Atlantic (at times it doesn't seem this way what with north and south in the routes) but we are on our way... 20 more days and our tires will be in the other ocean. This is surreal.

Karen, looking good in spandex.

Today I rode the first 100k with Karen, and then the last 30 solo (and under an hour...it was amazing!) In the first 100k, Karen got... 4 flats... technically 3, but we changed her tube 4 times... the last time i changed her tire, from start to finish, in 4 and 1/2 minutes...absolutely crazy...

One of my favorite tree photos of the late.

We were in the town of Delavan, where the CRC church had put on a lunch for us. It was a great feeling, to go into a church and be openly received and people to be so happy and cheering for us. The food was delish, and especially the brownies....
ALong the way, some fellow people who really felt for us, and the purpose of our tour, came out of their facility and were offering us cold water to drink. They were so enthused by what we were doing and what we had done, and were just so happy to be a part of what we were doing. Here is a pic, of pastor Len with two of the people who were serving us.

Thanks for all your support, and i super love having your comments! Although i don't return any....
SEE YOU SOON, this coming weekend we are in Grand Rapids, the following St.Catherines...and then Jersey...

SUNDAY IN MADISON Wisconsin

2008-08-11T18:13:00.003-04:00

One of my favorite signs that has been on the road. Jonathan really loves

this tractor idea as well...drafting!

In the Gardens of Crossroads Church. A bike of all things.

Oh what a glorious day...a glorious day.

It started with no breakfast for me, i slept right through it until 9 10 am....due to the fact of red bull...i had some redbull yesterday after 10pm...and well that most definitely had my eyes open in my tent til 3:30 in the morning, i was staring at the lovely seems, the screen door, and telling my body to sleep, red bull doesn't give me wings-it keeps my eyes open and my brain a-ticking.

Me, if you forgot what i look like or needed a reminder :)
So, church started at 9:30, I managed to make it...don't worry, it was 50 feet away since we camped on the churches property. Lovely service, and I helped with the offering, quite funny, we used helmets to take the offering (lined with tinfoil- quite ingenious).

Afterwards there was a time for socializing and lunch, which went well. WE also had a list of excursions and things to do....i had originally chosen to get a tour of downtown but needed to purchase a tire more importantly, so the tire won the deal.

This church also had an amazing youth room, where we watch movies, played pool and other sorts of things. Very open and accepting towards 150+ people traipsing in and out their doors.

VERY EXTRAORDINARY :
in the morning i was brushing my teeth, (yes i brush my teeth) and noticed a womans stone on her necklace...she was wiping the counter, i was brushing my teeth, so i couldn't rightly mention that her pendant was beautiful....it just so happened that after lunch i ran into her on my way to the vehicle that was driving a few of us to the bike shop...(too far to bike)... when i mentioned it to her, she immediately removed it from her neck and gave it to me.... a RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS... i have her card, but not on me, so in my next blog, i will mention her, and her business....turns out she makes jewellry, and this stone was from hawaii...i had met her son the other day, since he had brought loads of us to the laundromat...and back...lovely shuttle service...
Thanks so much, i really love the stone, and still am in disbelief that she just took it off her neck and gave it to me...lovely, absolutely lovely

In the evening, i viewed a movie, well just half, i fell asleep during the movie, and woke up sometime later to retire to my tent.

What a beautiful sunday!

FENNIMORE TO MADISON

2008-08-10T13:06:00.003-04:00

Theresa and I

SUPER T day, or ... THERESA day

All day I rode with Theresa, at the first sag stop (Julie), Matt and Hilena joined us. We had an beautiful ride together, taking our sweet time through the rolling hills and just thoroughly enjoying a ride closer to 100 k then 200k...wow have we ever gone far this week..
Theresa has also shared my tent for the last two nights...long days equals no time for some people to set up, so I offered to her some space on the floor between my fabric walls.

FABRIC WALLS : we can still hear everything...snoring, farting, talking, whispering...you must choose your neighbors carefully...most of the time there is no choice...you just set your tent up, and go shower by the end of the long day. It is not until morning that you wished you were thinking a little clearer when you set up your tent in sweaty spandex...

It rained this morning, 2nd day for that stuff to fall from the sky upon us cyclist.

When we reached a small town called, MT. Horeb, we were greeted with graciousness...a owner of a local shop offered us free beverages and baked goods...it was lovely of her to do this for us, and the cyclists.

The bike path we took was hard packed sand/gravel, but it was a lovely ride through the bush.
It made me feel like i was in Ontario!

In the last 10k i had 2 flats due to GLASS... i just picked it up from the road. At the end of the ride we met at a local park...all sea to sea cyclists, at 2:30 and road into the church together. Talk about massive amounts of cyclists blocking the roadways.

In the afternoon-evening, they had shuttles for us to go to the showers at a local high school (for we are staying in the yard of Crossways Church), as well as to the laundromat.

OH, and thanks for the MAIL, Bouma's, Jer, and MOM.... YEAH i got mail finally!! It was very nice to receive snail mail.

Getting ready to ride in to the church (slight photo op, all in sea to sea jerseys).

Friday August 8- New Hampton to Fennimore

2008-08-10T12:54:00.003-04:00

my groupies of the day...riding double...

161 km.....just another day, of lengthy cycling...or as i now have named it bikling. The mixture of two.
Today we left on time... like 7 ish, or maybe even earlier...can't quite recall as now the days are beginning to blur into one. Jenna, Annette, Jonathan, Jeff, (Hilena at the beginning), Denise, Eric and Heidi for the last 20 k, and our loverly caboose of all times. In a little town of Postalia we stopped for some lovely coffee and an apple turnover, at the local bakery. It was at the 70 k mark and we just had a lovely time sitting, chatting with the locals, and relaxing for we put in almost half of the day by 10 am. It is now funny how we now are thinking that 160 is a shorter day...can't wait for the 75 days, and we will be done before noon. Actually our intent, on those days is to take our time, and go to all the local towns along the way to chat with the locals and let them know about the tour. Word is definitely getting out, for people now see us and say, HEY, I SAW SOMETHING ABOUT YOU ON THE NEWS LAST NIGHT!....It is quite cute to see how the people respond to us, and get excited.

We have left Iowa, the lands of flowing corn, to come into Wisconsin, the land of flowing corn...intermingled with the smells of farms you have before you the ultimate ride of your life.

WELCOME TO WISCONSIN!

Eating lunch in Wisconsin, not much different then the last state..
Today we played leap frog with Gerry and Jake, as well we stopped and picked up a slow moving vehicle sign that was in the ditch and attached it to Gerry's bike, amusingly enough, Jake informed us, we should have picked up the plastic sorts, this one would be too heavy to transport to Jersey...

Gerry and his new, important sign.

In a day, we pass the same people, for we stop then go, and pass people, stop then go, and pass the same people...and on it goes, generally its taken pretty well, and in good fun.

Jonathan, and in almost super tuck mode! Looked so funny that i needed a shot of it....for memories.

Riding the great big fish, just after the border of Wisconsin...but this fish, bit my bum, and put a whole in my spandex right to the chamois land...there goes a pair of spanx.

ALGONA to NEW HAMPTON 182 - Day 39

2008-08-07T21:36:00.002-04:00

THE SECOND IRON MAN LENGTH
really truly, now they are done and i can say i have done two iron man lengths of cycling.
Today i rode with....you guessed it ANNETTE, JENNA ,ZINGER and JEFF, for the first half...then JEFF, JON, JUSTIN and BRAD and I. We did have a headwind, and a cross wind, which made todays ride a little longer...

DRAFTING TRACTORS: is something boys do, and i will learn how soon---because...that means i don't have to work so hard to catch back up with them when the tractor leaves.....OKAY we were standing at a gas station in some small town today, when Jon said, i wish there was a tractor that i could draft, not even 1 minute goes by and this tractor pulls out with two feeder wagons attached...and out we rip from the gas station...i lost the draft right away for there were four other boys fighting for it... i managed to stay behind...and catch up after the tractor turned off...but that was 9k later when i was hauling butt at 30 some k an hour just to stick with them.
This was the second tractor of the day.
The first tractor was on the way into that town....and i was IN FRONT OF IT THE WHOLE time when 3 others were behind it... see i was going faster than the tractor, but it would be nice to draft sometime and not have to pedal..but then i wouldn't be part of the EFI club then...

THE BRICK: I was apparently used today as 'the brick' (which i did terribly) see the brick is the one who is supposed to maintain the speed for the last 20, 30 k of the day so you don't over expend yourself, or 'bonk' well, me as brick is not a good idea, for as soon as i see someone further ahead of me, my goal is to catch up with them, and if there is a hill, i zoom down it to get up the next...i maintain good steady cadence....but i like to go...so the guys kept shouting at me to BE THE BRICK---i was also anxious to get the last 30 k done, so i wouldn't have to sit on my bike any longer....

I AM BORED OF CORN : we see fields and fields and fields and fields of this stuff...and lately i am thinking what is all the uses of this corn... there's popcorn, tortilla chips...used for bio gas - ethanol...feed for animals, heating the home in corn stoves... but really, this many fields...(it is also a wonderful many stalled facility for us women...along the road when towns are few and far between, all you have to do is go in a few rows and bingo, insta-privacy-insta-walls, and a lovely place for business...hope the farmers are down with this).

ONE HUNDRED, EIGHTY EIGHT KM

2008-08-07T20:56:00.003-04:00

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 6 2008

THE DREADED FEARED DAY : Well when i first got my shifting gears book, and printed out my schedule of the cycling we were to be doing, i right off the bat looked for the long days. 182 km back to back sounded pretty tough....well, as i dreaded it, it approached all the more quickly...and creeped right up and now it's done.

It ended up being 188 k and it went fantabulously! If i do say, the people i rode with and the stops along the way made it one great ride. The wind was also blowing, FINALLY behind us when we were cycling east, but not when we were cycling north, we did a smattering of both the whole day.

AT first, when we were getting our stuff together, at dordt college, and getting out of the dorms and running around like usual, fill water bottles, make your lunch, pack your stuff for the day, you know the normal stuff, IT STARTED TO POUR, so we went to the breakfast hall and had breakfast, hoping it would stop. This was the first real day of rain we have encountered, and it continued on and off until around 1pm...Kaitlyn and I both had left with just our tank tops...no jackets because the forecast was calling for 7% chance of rain so we figured it was going to clear up...eventually. I rode with Jonathan, Annette, Jenna, Kaitlyn and Jeff (caboose-cause he always is at the back) and Jonathan's Fiance is in town-with her friend and they are being our personal SAG drivers....they are the best in the world. Jonathan had extra clothes in their car, and he lent us his jackets.

We had to fabulous stops at to churches along the way. They had refreshments and conversation for us. We enjoyed them immensely, they gave us a chance to get out of the rain. One time i dried my gloves by the hand dryer in the washroom.

In all it was a great ride, and it felt shorter than 188 - maybe because we were on the bikes for less than 6 and 1/2 hours....we were expecting alot longer.

We got into camp and set up. Had showers at the local YMCA...and then time for peleton, small groups. Many people needed to clean their bikes, as did I since the rain made it seem like i had a nest of birds taking a free ride....my bike was chirping something fierce!

MOST FUNNY TIME OF THE DAY

When Jeff went in the ditch...in the following picture this jeff coming out of the ditch from an experience of a lifetime...there are rumbles when you approach a stop sign, three sets...and well he just went too far over and went right into the ditch. What was even funnier, was the fact that he landed on his back and his feet were straight up and that was all you could see in through the grass, a set of legs, and nothing else..

OH YEAH, dordt is surrounded by fields...and the smell of this land in IOWA is over bearing...

likelihood of fainting, or falling off your bike due to the smells of pigs and cow manure is HIGH!

SIOUX CITY TO SIOUX CENTER

2008-08-05T17:56:00.002-04:00

SWEEP DAY

I rode with Johnny Pierce all day, and the last 8 k we rode with Theresa in to Dordt College.
It was a long, but short day. See it started at 5 to 6, and we left camp at 8 20, thereby making it a late start, but not really for a 96k day. Got to Dordt at 2:30, but we had stops along the way, and other things that came up.

I will finish this blog later, I am running to the dropje store that is near here, i am in need of some black licorice!!

MONDAY - day 36 - Fremont -NEBRASKA to Sioux City - IOWA

2008-08-05T17:37:00.003-04:00

WELCOME TO IOWA

OKAY, if yesterday was so hot, today was cold in comparison, we broached 90, and maybe got to 95, but we were utterly thankful for the cloud cover.
WIND : yes of course there was wind...absolutely, positively, and what more, in our faces...it seems as though whenever we would like a little bit of wind in the direction we are going, it just won't happen... let's hope it cooperates with us on WED/THUR the 182 k days.

Today I really enjoyed my ride with Jenna, Annette, Jon, Jess(beginning) and Jeff at the end tagged on.

III : intentional intergenrational interaction. Since there is a age range of 18-81, there is much intergenerational interaction that needs to go on. I thoroughly enjoy talking to all the people on the tour, and yes those decades older than me...or even the some that there are, a decade younger than me. The older gentlemen ( i want to call them old guys) are phenomenal people, well equipped with knowledge, leadership, good cycling skills and just a drive to bike. They impress upon me that if they can do this, definitely us young pups can.

Jenna and I, we were able to talk to a lot of people today about the tour and the properties there of. We were cycling by this huge farm...and say a small building with the word office over it, (i needed to use the facilities--and the cornfields are always inviting but if you get a chance to sit on porcelin...you take it)... so we stopped at this office, and started chatting with the people that worked there, used there facilities, and best of all, got a donation towards the tour.

We also talked to people along the side of the road who were gardening, and a lot of people at the gas station and everyone in subway...they were all curious cats!

SUBWAY: may it be known i love subway, and especially the pickles...oh so love pickles....

Jenna and I had subway nearing the end of our trip as well as a coffee with expresso shots, now i never have really introduced caffeine to my cycling routine, but we flew the last 22 k into camp...we had wings...and we used them, for we were still going against the wind but 28-32k/hr..... (okay, thats fast for against a headwind...and on rolling hills)....

Sunday in Fremont Nebraska...

2008-08-03T18:12:00.000-04:00

This is me outside one of the schools the other evening...when i was internetting it up...thanks bradley for snavooing my camera and taking a photo of me after you farted in my face!!

Well here we are, another weekend almost over. This morning we were shuttled to a CRC church in Omaha - somewhere in the middle of America.

It was wonderful to go to church, to a building and sit indoors, rather than be outside in a park. WE are definitely a flexible group here, willing to do pretty much anything.

Last night lots of people slept in the arena, and now, the Lutheran church, just a minute walk from the park we are staying at, has oh so willingly opened there doors to us, and are serving us refreshments and snacks. They are also letting us sleep over inside the church. The weather is hot, HOT, hot. It is around 110 or more...or 44 or more...its quite the day.

The park we are staying at as well, has a kid water park, which i refreshed myself at until i decided that i was going to head indoors to the church to bring my bed over and use the Internet. I haven't been on in a couple of days for we have technical difficulties often...a little blitzy.

LEGS LEGS LEGS...

2008-08-03T17:51:00.000-04:00

the order of the legs...

JULIA-GAYLE-SARAH-ED-STEPHANIE-BRIAN

YORK NE - FREMONT NE

2008-08-03T16:26:00.000-04:00

JUST ANOTHER DAY PEDALING AGAINST THE WIND

ROAD KILL : every where and anywhere

skunks, racoons, families of racoons, snakes, grasshoppers

and most of all today FROGS...it caused me to ponder a while, and think why frogs?

and i have come to the conclusion, the road is warm at night, the frogs come out

to play...and thusly they die quickly and an untimely death.

Here is John fixing my flat tire, see we were just about to head out...and last night, since after the FALL on Friday, my bike was all fixed and ready to go for Saturdays ride, i leaned it against a tree...and in the morning i had a flat. Must be due to all the super killing ants around here and maybe not the goat heads....i have no clue what did it, there was nothing in the tube, and neither was there anything in the tire.
This mornings ride was challenging...mainly due to the fact that there was wind. GOSH you may say, yes wind! Great big gusts of it...and blowing either - your choice - in our faces or crosswind....quite the crazy effect is has on the effectiveness of cycling. Surely we know to slow down and smell the roses but, it's not necessary to get us to a standstill.
Above is a photo i took, (cycloto) of the field being watered early this morning.

Just another photo from when we stopped...along the road...of a field...and I think it is pretty.

We took turns leading, and really weren't getting anywhere, and then Stretch managed to bail his bike while following...into the ditch he went, he is okay. He said he was getting close to someone and didn't want to rub tires...in the end he is missing a little bit of skin from his arm to Nebraska, and on we went. WE got to a town called WAHOO, and we had a wahoo of a time, i believe we spent about an hour and a half in this little Retro cafe and had shakes, and moved on to fries...and then juice...and Annette had to have a butterscotch dipped cone, which i believe she managed to get more on and in her hands then into her mouth. That's how quickly it was melting and displaying how hot it is.

We headed from Wahoo to Fremont with a wonderful tail wind and we were sailing above 35km to 40 an hour...but this was shortlived when we took a turn, and now headed into a halting and hindering wind. Perseverance, and a will to do every inch...every inch...we are deciding on making a club labelled that.

Fremont...sign in ... set up camp...shower in an ARENA, oh land of the hockey...makes me feel like i am back at home... The smell of the ice (yahaa) and arena love make it interesting.

Went out to a movie after supper and saw 'the dark night' i do say it was good. As well, it just felt like i was going out to the movies with a bunch of my friends and later was going to return home...but home is a sleeping bag on a mattress right now...a travelling home.

I like this shot above...we see many run down barns amid the fields...and I want to snap shots of all of them, but sometimes we pass them before i even get a chance to get my camera out of its little holder and i don't want to get off my bike.

Friday August 1st - Day 33

2008-08-01T22:55:00.000-04:00

Today we left EARLY...oh we got up with those early birds, who make a racket at 5 am...some are even up before then and are clanging there tent poles and getting on there bikes and out of camp before 6... most mornings i am not up until nearly 7....this morning we decided to head out early...early enough to see the sun rise. We were on our bikes and heading out of the parking lot jsut after 6:30...ahhh. What a beautiful sunrise over the horizon as we headed out of Minden, Nebraska.

Today we reached the halfway point for mileage, it was more of a hype than necessary. We toasted with ... water bottles (boo) but hey it was 8 am... we will see if we can do something special this weekend in Fremont. (in the pic - Annette, Jenna, Julia... and Zinger).

The sun was shining just right, and i took this shot...while cycling...perfecting the art of cycling and photo taking... cycloto...is the name for it.

We made some good time, until the headwind hit us, and boy was it a doozy. George told us it was similar to '05 when they were heading into T-bay, minus the rain...

Our speed was dropped to mid-low 20's which really makes for a long 155 k ride.

When heading onto the highway, the last leg of the trip into York, my rear tire BLEW...like a shotgun was the noise....

SCARED FACTOR : huge, for i wasn't really sure what happened, i knew something was going on... and well, now i have a NEW busted tire. See i just put these new tires on the other day and now i have to go get a new one...blew the tire, and the tube...managed to repair it, and put a 'boot' in it to keep the tube in. Pumped it up to 70 psi, and managed to make it to 5 km from the camp.

The following picture is my new warwounds... they hurt... alot...and i even scraped my side, anid hip area... I have no clue how i fell off my bike, only that i did....and scraped my body pretty good. We were going at a good clip, 30km, and then we weren't... i swerved, swerved, swerved and fell... it hurts alittle still now, but livable.

THE WORST THING: When i went to shower and rinse of my new acquired war-wounds, i slightly screamed out in pain, because of the salt that i had emitted from the ride, went over the wounds which hurt more now then they ever did before....note to self, salt in wounds HURTS!

Nebraska was asking for a piece of me...so i donated.

I think what hurts more, is the brain, the thought of how actually did i fall, for i have no clue. One minute i am cruising, the next i am laying on the ground. Jenna a Jon saw nothing but me go down...I am doing fine, but it was interesting, for we had to walk the last 5 k to camp because my front tire was no longer 'true' and my front brakes were misaligned. I am thankful that Jenna and Jon stuck with me, for i would not have called the sag for any reason.

We have been chatting about calves, and Josh and I have measured ours...mine were the same as his at the beginning of the tour...the discussion continues -- here is a photo of some legs and see if you can identify who they belong to. The people are Brian, Ed, Gayle, Sarah, Stephanie and Julia. List your guess in order of the picture from left to right as a comment...or just guess for mine...come on!Alright, so finally i have caught up with this week, I hope you have enjoined some more adventures... keep sea to sea and all the people in your prayers..

THURSDAY JULY 31 - McCOOK to MINDEN

2008-08-01T20:45:00.000-04:00

JONATHAN ELZINGA day --- ZINGER

We left this morning at 7am, and arrived at the next destination before 2.
BIKE TIME : 5 hours and a few minutes

AVERAGE SPEED 30km/hr....absolutely amazing day!
we even managed to do 10 k in 16 minutes (thanks to a tail wind near the end)
Jon and I left camp and went out to be met by rolling hills, rolling hills, and more rolling hills. I play the game, bomb down the hill to get nearly up the next one.... it worked for the most part and Jon and I were pretty matched. We had great conversations and were good company for one another. It made the 155 km go quicker then we thought possible. WE came upon a cafe, about 30 k out of our destination, and had something to eat there with Jeff, and Mark. While in the cafe, we managed to talk to all the patrons, the servers, and then at the very end the owner, who said if we hadn't paid he would for us...(we already had)... we handed out cards to all of them, and ran out, and one cute old lady donated to us 20 bucks for the sea to sea fund.
If you can see the speck behind this truck, that is Zinger, trying to draft, well actually drafting, i didn't have the get go to get behind the truck...so i had to catch up with him on my own power not that of truck drafting....
When we got to camp, we headed to the local pool which allowed us to come and swim and shower there. It was amazing to just have an afternoon of sorts to relax and just enjoy some of the day. Returning back to the campsite, meant returning to the life of seatosea....tents and organizing bike gear for the next day.

This is me and Zinger, at the end of the day... thanks for the great ride!!

COLORADO-NEBRASKA-KANSAS-NEBRASKA

2008-07-31T20:17:00.000-04:00

Wray to McCook - Day 31--- WEDNESDAY JULY 30 Much of the same things we see as we head from Colorado to Nebraska, fields, rolling hills, no mountains (BOO) and more fields. Today is Wednesday, hump day, and well...it also is significant for it is the halfway marker in days for this tour. The following sign is the entrance to Nebraska, what is with all the bullet holes? Is Nebraska really part of the good life, or are shot gun holes significant for having a good life.

Today, Theresa, Annette, Jeff, Stretch (MARK -- he's 6'7") and I took the mini-est detour, and probably the only side trip I will do on this tour for it was only 3 km out of the way. We went to Kansas, stayed a few minutes and then turned around. I wanted to add another state to the trip...although as we turned off the highway...we went into a headwind and uphill, Jeff and someone else complained blatantly...but i kept them interested and told them it's one of those things we can do, and it wouldn't take us very long.
This is Kansas, very much like Nebraska...aha, since we are only a few feet in.

DISGUSTING FACTOR: GRASSHOPPERS... they are everywhere on the road, trying to hitch a ride on our bikes, on our bodies...we dodge them as they are flying at us, and fling them when they get caught in our spokes. Sometimes then go from one bike to the next, or dodge one biker and hit the next. I had some upclose encounters (in the face) of flying grasshoppers and thats enough for me.

It was another hot day in paradise...when we arrived a Walter's sag stop, we were bushed and we had many miles to go...many.

HEAT RASH: basically every day i am getting heat rash on my legs, and it disappears over night yet to return again the next day...cause, well, we are hot...

FORT MORGAN TO WRAY - Day 30

2008-07-29T22:21:00.000-04:00

Today, the view was very much monotonous. Farmland, fields, cows...I guess we really are saying goodbye to those beloved rockies...bye mountain passes, hello flat land ....

Fort Morgan to Wray – Day 30

Today, I rode with Jeff, Jenna, Jonathan (ZINGER) and Annette. We made a very good team and really looked out for each other. Pastor Len continues to emphasize to us that ‘we are all in this together’ (which also reminds me of that high school musical song). We also continue to remember why we pedal. We pedal for those less fortunate, for those without food, with out shelter, those with needs far greater than we will ever know. We pedal to raise awareness, and inform others of the situations people are in. The cycle of poverty for some families and communities is one that needs to be addressed, locally, and around the world.

Today we rode through some small towns off HWY 34. When we rode through the first 10k some guys were standing on the side of the road, and shouted out to us and asked what we were cycling for…we did a u-turn and informed them of what the tour was all about, where we were going and why each of us were. They in turn informed us we were CRAZY… unfortunately I disagree here. Cycling across the continent is totally doable, with or with out help of support wagons and an assortment of others to help. The choices we make in life lead us on paths that help others in turn. We are not just crazy people riding across the continent, we are the ‘word’ to others, proverbial cyclists to some, and people are becoming aware of our comings and going.

When we stopped in a little town of YUMA, we again, overtook a café, and DOROTHY COOK was an avid women who called the local paper and wouldn’t let us leave until she got photos, and the photographer from the YUMA PIONEER had photos of us. It was so funny, and yet lovely at the same time. That this woman was so interested in our plight and our goings on, that she just had to have us in her local paper.

Onwards, Walter’s oasis was again a nice place to stop, out of the wind, and off the hot road we took a break.
Reuben joined us for the last 20k and made it for a beautiful ride in. Jenna and I sang the rest of the way in, to keep our minds busy and off the atrocious wind that was blowing at us.

This is from Sundays service, all our bikes went into the middle after they were ridden around the track.

Denver to Fort Morgan, Colorado - Day 29

2008-07-29T22:05:00.000-04:00

JUST ANOTHER DAY CALLED MONDAY
A century ride, and then some… 165 k ....
Jenna, Brent, Annette, and I rode the day together. And the only way that we managed to ride with Brent was because of our 20 km detour the wrong way on a cycling path. The only reason we discovered this mistake was due to the fact that the bike path ended abruptly to a road that was not part of our map, nor was it located at the right mileage. Needless to say, we turned around and headed back to where we came from and got on the right bike path following the river into Denver and beyond. Tonight we are staying in Fort Morgan. Wouldn’t you know though, that all day we were faced with a head wind, or cross wind. Who ever told me that the winds predominantly blow from west to east and that is why the tour is going from west to east must not have been a cyclist. For where there are cyclists there is wind that generally against them. I believe it just makes us stronger, and look at it as training for even longer days.
One stop along the way we talked to a trucker, and he was much impressed with the adventures we were having and the willingness of us to serve.

I really appreciate the support and the emails I have been receiving, so thanks to those of you who have taken a moment to do that.
As well, I believe that my blog is open to anyone who wants to comment. I changed the settings, and if you would like to comment on the blog, or anything else, maybe points of interest, things I should do, places I should go, people I need to talk to … drop me a line, I am open to all comments and thoughts from those who read this! Again thanks!

RALPH and his flat...oh Ralph, are you not glad we rescued you?

This is how you keep your tent from flying away...aha Jenna- you have Annette working hard for you. Okay, it was terribly windy until after supper, and then of course not again until you cycle next day!

SUNDAY in DENVER - Day 28

2008-07-27T19:55:00.000-04:00

DENVER

Well, after such a fun evening last night, what else could compare.
Our service today was at a local stadium, which we rode our bikes to (of course)...and then around the track of the stadium prior to the service for all to see who is a cyclist.

The service was a very nice service, but quite sweltering hot in the stands with the sun beating down on us the entire time.

After the sevice we were bussed down to downtown Denver, and spent a couple of hours on the streets wandering. We took the local transit home, and hit up a 7-11 for a slurpee, the temp is in the high 30's almost 40's. Then we walked over to the local bike shop for cleats for someones shoes. And now, we are in the school, with air conditioning, and lovely high speed internet.

A FEW THINGS TO REMEMBER:

Tyler: broke his collarbone coming out of a paceline...accordian/braking/ paceling.... and now is on his way home. Pray for peace of mind for such a diligent, and good cyclist who now cannot complete the tour.

Arnie: Last weekend Arnie tore his achilles tendon, he went home, and on Friday just past had surgery to mend it. Pray that he can regain his mobility and keep his great character in happy spirits. He has a huge heart and is such a kind soul.

KNEES: knees are becoming a common hurt for cyclists. Many need to be careful with cycling and how hard they push themselves.

SWEEP DAY - SATURDAY July 26, day 27

2008-07-27T18:27:00.000-04:00

SNOW MOUNTAIN RANCH - DENVER COLORADO

Accordingly, the following photo has Johnny and the 'sweep' feather duster...for we are sweep team today. Johnny, Jeff, Doug, Kaitlyn, Marty, Theo and I. Today we finish highway 40, finally. It has been a long week, on and off this highway, what with debris and rumble strips, hay, glass and other sorts of TIRE dangers. This morning we were up basically with or before the sun, I can't truly remember, it had become a blur, and headed to set up for breakfast. After serving breakfast we cleaned up, checked the grounds for lost and found items, then took down our tents. We loaded up the gear truck with every ones bags, some are definitely HEAVIER than others....its a wonder no one has gotten hurt hefting these huge suckers around. I now know how the bottom of my hockey bag is getting burn holes...people are sliding them down the gear truck ramp...I guess this brand new hockey bag is only going to last 9 weeks, if that!

After loading and all other sorts of small things that just happen along the way, we headed to the next town to get something to drink (and for the guys, something to eat). We stopped at this little SHARK cafe, we stop because we don't want to 'catch up' with others and make them feel rushed. We ended up staying there til almost 11....by this time my heart was hammering and ready to get a move on this mountain pass we had to climb....the last mountain pass of the rockies...this would be our 7th or 8th.... of the tour so far. (we--johnny handed out cards at breakfast to all the patrons, and along the way we managed to hand out many more en route at random stops, and to people who we would just go up and talk to ---in spandex with bikes--it is somewhat amusing)

this is one of the turns when i looked back and swung my camera back to get a snapshot of what we were climbing, it was a long gradual climb and we reached the top nearly at the 40k marker from leaving the Snow MT ranch.

This climb wasn't as bad as the lasts ones we have done, but still it was hard in my books. I don't have a granny gear technically, since I have a 'compact.' Although I fare very well going up the hills but much better going down, oh so much better going down!!! We reached the top just after noon, and some people were ahead of us, we saw them leaving Corey as we pulled in. We ate lunch at almost 11000 feet. I can definitely tell the air is thinner, when I stop pedalling or moving, I start to cough up a lung (or so it feels) makes me a little light headed, and once I saw a few stars a few mountains ago. Aha, oh well, keep pedalling, need to get to the next destination.

The sweep team in all its glory...
Doug, me, Johnny, Kaitlyn, Theo, Marty and Jeff.

The descent down the hill was glorious, well deserved after long climbing time...at some points we were going faster then the vehicles (carefully of course)but faster!

There were many small towns on this ride to Denver, and we really took our time in making sure that we didn't push anyone to getting into town...

Around 5:30 we got to this little town, just past the RED ROCKS of Colorado and had a milkshake and the best pink lemonade I have had ever! Johnny called camp and we found out that there were still 4 people on the road ahead of us, and so we stuck it out there for another half an hour.

At this time, a group that had climbed Mt. Evans, (14,000ft) had pulled (they were on there own since they decided to do a detour off the given route) and they filled us in on their lovely experiences of even less O2 up there, and the chilliness of mountain air. (about 8 degrees Celsius) There adventures went well...

Our sweep team arrived in around 7:15, signed in and started to set up camp (we had missed supper, and two people had been picked up by SAG by then). In all I really do like sweep days, although they make for some very long days.

Denver Christian High School has been a very receptive school. They have provided us with haircuts, with ice cream socials, little mini welcome packages, postcards and all sorts of things.

I was so glad to finally be in and ecstatic that Steph and Hilena had put up my tent. One less thing for me to do. A good shower after getting set up felt GLORIOUS!

In the evening, a whole crew of us went out for some beverages and group fun. By midnight a few of us were getting hungry, and we tried the local safeway to appease us, (no luck) then to a pizza parlour, but they would only deliver after midnight....(again no luck) Steph, Julie and I went to a 24 Burger King, which was drive through only, we tried jumping on the sensors but it didn't recept us as a vehicle...so we had to go up and knock on the window.

Kaitlyn AND I

The boys... Matt, Brian and Jeff.

Julie, deciding what to eat for a late night snack!

FRIDAY July 25 - Kremmling toto YMCA at the Rockies, Snow Mountain Ranch

2008-07-27T09:56:00.000-04:00

Today was a lovely short ride, just under 60 k to the next town.

As lovely and short as it was, it took us to after 3 to get to our next destination.

Jenna, Annette, Kaitlyn, Stefanie, Jody, Lawrence, Theo, Marty... and I got ready for the day and then headed back into Kremmling to go for breakfast. We had so much fun just relaxing and knowing that we didn't have to pedal extremely hard to get to where we were going.

WE left breakfast around 9:30 and continued on our way.

TODAY'S CHALLENGE : today we were challenged to ride the ride in one gear only. To pick a gear we thought we could ride in for it was being assimilated to how people are stuck in the cycle of poverty and thusly, if we were in one gear we would be challenged by the fact that we were unable to get out of it. I declined this challenge, for a many reasons.

The ride to Hot Sulfur Springs went suprisingly quick and by the time we got there, there was a crew who had stopped there for breakfast and we joined in for some conversation. We were about to head out when Katrina's tire blew, just while we were standing there....and once it was fixed, it blew again. This changing of tire tubes is what takes time. Just a block down the road was this wonderful little candy shop, which we needed to stop at for a chocolate fix and 'sweets' need, it also was filled with trinkets and do-dads....when leaving Steph noticed she had a flat, so we pulled off to the side of the road, and that is when I took the following picture. This wagon was just at the side by a motel.

On our way again, after 3 tubes...we headed on to Granby. In Granby, because we can, we stopped at Java Cafe, and had a little break with a bunch of other sea to sea-ers. Tour de France was on, so many were just enjoying some of the clips and shots of what was going on.

While in the coffee shop we handed out some cards, and put them in the clear napkin holders which had 'advertising space' - so i just stuck some of the sea to sea cards...

ONWARDS to Snow Mountain Ranch, little did we know that the climb was going to increase....we had had it pretty easy all morning.

the last climb of the day was a doozie, down to my last gear to get to the right turn into the camp...along the way we have seen many many dead pine trees due to a beetle that has been killing them (eating them until they die). This cycle usually happens every 500 years.

In camp, we set up on the most uneven ground, filled with pinecones, debris of all sorts from the woods and stumps from the dead trees they have cut down. Snow Mountain Ranch is a beautiful place, and has a lot of acreage. After getting in we went swimming in the pool and were at the same time multi-tasking by doing laundry in a building one over from the pool. Swim, laundry, swim, dryer, swim...fold...then supper. Friday night, sweep team 'f' was on duty...that means me.

Serving supper was fun, this purell deal is getting quite funny.

The evening peleton was dedicated to those who were leaving the group, as well as communion. It was a very nice service and there was a lot of nice comments made about the group members who have been with us thus far.

CRAIG TO KREMMLING - THURSDAY JULY 24

2008-07-27T09:39:00.001-04:00

Getting into a paceline....

Last nights sleep was a workout in itself. All of us had tented on a hill, the entire school was built at the top of a steep hill. At times I hung on to my hockey back so I wouldn't continue to slide off my air mattress.

Craig Colorado to Kremmling

CLIMB: up Rabbit’s Ears Pass- over 4000 feet of climbing today…and more to come by weeks end.
Perceived Exertion: A LOT…let’s see, I drank over 6 bottles of water…nearing on the edge of 8…and didn’t use ‘facilities’ until in camp at the end of the day.
HAPPY FACTOR : great…

Today’s ride was a long ride. Almost 7 hours on my bike makes for a tired me. The wind was against us when we started our ride in and we formed a pace line as per usual. The police were also on our case for they were not told by their “higher up” officials that we would be on the highway. They were out, and were willing to give tickets to those who crossed over the white lines. Quite hard not to, with a huge rumble strip…and a lot of debris to the right of it, including hay, glass, rubble, gravel, and many other items of debris, making it sketchy to ride to the right of the rumble strip at times, thereby leaving you about 6 inches between the rumble and the white line. We made do, and no one on tour received a ticket. There were many times though, that the rode had given way and there was no white line, as well, no shoulder to ride on, causing some angry motorists (mostly truckers) and they would blare there horns at us, but we would have no where to go, for there was no shoulder, just a gravel side, and moreover some drop-offs.
The first leg of the ride went well, although the pace line was accordion like at times….speed up, slow down, coast, brake, speed up…and it is not a conducive cycling way. We stopped in a little town of Hayden and had a snack and then continued out into the wind along the highway. The fist SAG was Corey, and he really does enjoy when we come by. I call him crazy and he calls me lucky…or vice versa. Good camaraderie here amongst the people.
Jeff, Jonathan, Annette, Kaitlyn and I stopped in Steamboat Springs, to eat our lunch and think about the rest of the day. See we were just on the edge of starting our climb to the summit of Rabbit’s Ears Pass. The climb was not too long, but it did require much perseverance, I managed to continue at a lovely high rate of 8-11km/hr and sometimes faster. In all it took and hour and a half (at that rate) to reach the summit. This is how riding can get long…you can’t go any faster…cause your legs just can’t pump any more.

We reached the summit, had a drink break, and then continued to find these ‘rabbit ears’ that were an outcropping of rocks over yonder on the top of another mountain. Took a moment there to take a photo and continue on our way. We came to the real summit a couple of km later, and took a photo at the sign that says the footage and the continental divide line. We are now in the run off water towards the Atlantic….no longer the Pacific.

By the time we got to Walter’s I was just about done. We still had another 25 k to go of rolling hills.

I really enjoyed the last 10k for they were good rolling hills, whereby I booted down the hill and coasted up the next. Annette and I got to town and headed straight into towards the school and set up our tents as well as Theresa’s.

DINOSAUR to CRAIG Colorado

2008-07-24T00:22:00.000-04:00

Time in the saddle: nearly 6 hours
TOP speed: 81.5 - yes yes yes!!!
KM: 148
HARDNESS FACTOR: today was a enduring day....it had many climbs but many declines as well, on one of these down hills i sling shotted around another biker and pumped down a hill to settle into a nice tuck and before i knew it i was literally flying down the highway, so nice for once to go as fast as a vehicle, versus a slug up the hill. Alternatively though, bugs, butterflies, bees and other insects have passed me by while I cycle on up these so called mountains that are in the way to getting to Denver.....today after riding so lovingly down a hill to come upon another, i yelled out, WHO PUT THIS HILL IN THE WAY?!

This morning we started out a little after 7:30, Marty, Annette, Jenna, Kaitlyn and I. We had a good pace-line going and were getting into the groove of the ride. Soon we came upon Denise and Heidi, and they joined our ‘train’ up and down the beginning of the rolling hills. Today was much better than yesterday…much better. We stopped at the first sag, and were greeted by rain showers just after we stopped.

This is what happens when you lay your bike down when you stop at a sag wagon and it begins to rain....rightly so, for i have no kickstand...they are uncool! It left a lovely imprint in the gravel and called for a photo op....

COLORADO in its beauty and majesty.

Part of the group I rode with today...Jenna, Kaitlyn, Marty, Jonathan, Annette, Denise and Heidi. What fun we had....

We continued on, the a small town where we had lunch at a park. We spent over an hour chatting at the picnic tables and changing a flat Kaitlyn got...it was the weirdest flat ever. We were done lunch, and she had headed to the gas station to get gatorade...when suddenly we heard a woooshhhh noise... and we looked over at her bike and you could see her tire losing air.
Lawrence changed it nearly before she came back....we were trying to see if we could get it done before she got back and see if she noticed...

For most of the morning I could only ride in my small front ring...don't know what was going on...but Lawrence saved me there, he just twirled a few of these things on my bike and presto...big ring back in order. THANKS Lawrence!

The rest of the ride in...the last 50 some k, I rode with Jenna, Denise, and Heidi...we doubled up and chatted through the hills and made it into town safely. I got one flat, my rear tire is a little on the thin side, and a rock managed to lodge right through the rubber.
CHANGE OF TUBE TIME: 7 minutes... thanks ZINGER for pumping the last 30 psi in...aha.
So Hilena, you gotta work on the tire changing time... your 5 times slower...

When we got to town, we all exclaimed at the fact that there were stop lights... i know i know, stop lights, but the last few stops have been some small towns...
WE went to walmart for gatorade, a local jewelry shop for kicks...and a bike shop for Jenna needed a part (bike ring on front cog) ...This bike shop was the size of a double garage and packed to the nines...tiptoe room only...he had her part and saved her day, now she can go fast like me!

Tonight, I changed my tires....they have a lovely blue stripe in them and match my bike...apparently the boys think they are every so lovely...and wish they had tires like mine..

Day 23, Duchesne to Dinosaur, Colorado

2008-07-22T22:20:00.000-04:00

Alex, my'luv of the trip, such a funny story... will enlighten later.

TUESDAY
JENNA DAY
Last night, Jenna and I had decided to ride together for we didn’t want to burn out, nor did we want to race, because we definitely have a long week ahead of us, what with large elevation climbs --- and this is how the day started, Jenna and I started out our day together and booted the first 32k in under an hour. It was amazing (partially due to the fact that it had a slight down hill. This was where Corey was stationed. From there we proceeded to climb the first two hills, and then were joined by Alex, Jeff and Jonathan. We rode up and down hills, (mostly up)…which slowed us down much more than we wanted, or I wanted…one of these days I just want to fly up the hills.
The day started at 7:30, and ended around 4…
The last 20k were the work...they were hard, they took our time and sapped our energy. Jeff and Alex had gone ahead, and Zinger managed to fall back with us...climbing these hills are quite the ordeal, and then into a headwind was just added mix of pleasure and fun ( NO).

During the whole ride, we were a tight group, managing to help each other out, and stop when necessary. One stop was made at the seven eleven and I had the chance to talk to two people about the cause. I generally am able to give out a card a day, and have piqued a good many of others in just mini chats. We ate our lunch outside the 7 11, and one of the workers came out to talk to us, she then offered us free ice and drinks (water) from the fountains in the store....our lucky day. I put ice in my jersey pockets and in the cracks of my helmet to keep cool. A few others did the same. From the stop we headed on to Walter who was parke at about the 100k mark. Which was just before we started climbing the rest of the way to our destination. Climbing: sounds funny, but thats the lingo...we climb hills with our bikes... and make it work for us to the best of our abilities.

The rest of the day is history. Jenna and I sang the last 5 k into camp for we just needed to take our minds off of the head wind, the uphill climb, and the fact that we were nearing 6 hours in our seat...yah, the bottom gets tired by the end of the day...as well as the mind, the feet, the legs, and even my pumping heart...how much can the body take...how much of a machine are we becoming...

I now talk about inserting food, for energy, not eating for pleasure...what you put in, must be good fuel for the ride...and agreeable! Some people are finding out the hard way when introducing new foods at certain times of the day...mcdonalds is a no-no. haha!

MONDAY day 22, SALT LAKE TO DUCHESNE

2008-07-22T19:42:00.000-04:00

THis picture is from Sunday night when we had large gusts of winds coming up over the water, and some scattered showers. Thunder was heard in the distance, but it stayed away.

The covers in Park City.

Today, we left camp around 7:30…and we soon named ourselves the J- team.
The route today was rather long, quite the challenge due to all the climbing, but beautiful for the visual. We had lovely cloud cover which made riding your bike on a challenging day that much nicer for we didn’t have to also think about how hot we were.
THE J-team started with Jessica, Jeff, Joshua, Jenna, Julia (me) and Hilena, who was soon named Jilena just so that she was not ‘one of these things does not belong here.’
The night prior to the ride we receive a map with our directions and as well the elevations thereby enabling us to know how much climbing there is and what is in store for us that day. Unfortunately for this Monday there was no such map, leaving us a little in the wary for what was in store. We were told it was another ‘pass’ through the mountains, and that most definitely means climbing.

This is what we saw, when we took a look back as per what where we came from...or WHAT WE CLIMBED...yes a little tuckered when at the summit...but ready to pedal on.

The ride started out on the highway with an amazing downhill…blowing by above 60k an hour…which is chilly at 7 am…with a turn off the highway we started a 6-8% climb for about 800 ft. From the top of the climb we could see out over Jordanelle state park and see where we had camped just an hour earlier. On with the ride, Hilena had a flat at 8:50, where Jenna and I stopped to keep her company….it took her until 9:26 to complete the task…meanwhile Jenna and I had already perused the area, and tried to coerce some ‘snobby horses’ to come eat the delicious grass we had picked. They had no need or interest in us. We went back to help Hilena, but she was intent on completing it herself. By now, our group had come to a trio….but later we caught up with Josh, who stayed with us for the rest of the day. Continuing on with this leg of the trip, we started out at a good pace, but were soon feeling the effects of horrible optical illusions. WE were slowing down incredibly but couldn’t understand why. Our rear tires felt flat, my legs felt like jell-o, and my bottom like lead. We were climbing…we reached Walter Vink’s oasis at the 50k mark and we still had 12k to climb. This climb was no easy deal, we were doing 8-10% easily, IN GRANNY GEAR…at least I was, and reach the summit of a daunting 9485 ft…what a climb for the morning…..but next came the descent…and lovely as it was I only reached 74k an hour, due to curves in the road…and possibly fear of crashing if going any faster.
We reached a town of Hanna, whereupon we decided to stop for snacks and coffee, and for some PIE. With in minutes this small little café was overloaded with us sea to sea-ers…and Joan was serving water and pie like she worked there all her life (she is one of the cyclists). Certain pie flavours were sold out within the hour, and those further behind in the ride were going to be out of luck.

Shawn and Brent, zooming by, as i was on the otherside of the road trying to coerce some horses to me....while waiting for Hilena to change her tire...

Leaving the café we still had no idea of what was in store for us, besides what the trucker I had been talking too had said. He was right, another 8% climb…and then rolling hills all the way to Corey who was 30k from the end point. At Corey’s Jenna noticed a flat tire…and we ended up changing that there, and it took her only 15 minutes…yeah Jenna…(with the help of some nice boys). We turned from Corey’s stop to head into a head wind…what a day… that last bit, with climbing was nuts on our minds and as well as our bodies. Needless to say we made it into camp, with delays, and stops at the SAG’s, by 5pm…..long day.
Setting up tents we had a race, because how else do you keep the spirit of fun with tents going…and then changed into bathing suits…for we were going SWIMMING at the local pool that had it open for us. Supper, shower, peleton…small groups…try to email…and then bed is how it went….

sunday/monday

2008-07-21T23:20:00.000-04:00

Sunday was a lovely day at Jordanelle State park.
I cleaned my bike...got stuff ready for the week to Denver...
and then went into town via one of the Sea to sea shuttle vans.
A whole crew of us, went up and down Park City, which was a lovely place
to visit and see (after we had biked through it on Saturday, I am glad we had
the chance to come back and walk through some of it).

When back at in the late afternoon, we had a dinner put on by the CRC of the local area, very large scale potluck. Afterwards we had our....

I am too tired, I am going to bed, i will complete my thoughts later, and finish what i meant to...
goodnight!

WILLARD TO JORDANELLE -Salt lake city, DAY 20 - A CENTURY RIDE 160 *

2008-07-20T10:33:00.000-04:00

Sunset on Friday night, it was beautiful to see.

Saturday July 19th 2008, Day 20
Well, the day has arrived that we arose with the MOON, yes the moon was still over the lake when I awoke. Still over the lake when I was eating breakfast, and still over the lake when I put my foot into my shoe into my clips on my bike.

Now let me tell you, 4:55 is quite early in the morning and the sun was most definitely not up over the mountains just yet…I really tried to sleep until 5:30…but it just wasn’t happening….see many people were anxious and worried about today’s ride. And with no undo forethought, for the ride was 160 km, the first hundred into Salt Lake City, and then the next 60 km of on and of climbing into the camp ground we are staying at for two nights, up to the elevations of 7000 feet. We gained 2522 feet today.

The first hill, 5-6% incline for about 10-15 km, the second, a little bit worse and a little bit longer….then when rounding the corner on the last stretch into the park, another HILL that was monstrous, for by then your quads are burning, your legs are nearly jell-o, and your brain is telling you to stop…GET THIS, my shoes left cleat was broken since the 60 km mark, thereby leaving me with only one foot that clipped it…making it just a little more challenging for the already challenged….kidding….it was just harder to ride, for I couldn’t use my left leg to pull up on the pedal, my right leg compensated, and now I fear, I will have a bigger right thigh then my left. I will be purchasing new clip cleats for Mondays ride!! When we passed by the cycling shop we saw in one of the towns we were going by, it was closed of course…so we just kept pedaling.

Today, we started out with Steph, Sarah and I. WE ride comparably well together, and since Steph’s knee generally holds her back, it was good that I was gimpy with one clipped shoe and one not…made for an interesting team! Sarah went ahead on the hills, and made it to camp before us…although I did enjoy riding with her the first 100 k of the day….its so weird how you can go from one day, 56k last week… to over 156 the following week. The body is an amazing machine, and the extent that you can push it or make it do. A CENTURY… my first CENTURY ride… 160 km and it was quite the ride with hills and

SALT LAKE CITY....and the olympic games park.

This is where we are camping, i took this shot from the one side of the mountain where our gear trucks and kitchen trucks are parked. Via the shortcuts and thistle laden paths you can get there in about 805 steps...i counted...if you go around the long way its averaging 1200 steps....better to take the shortcut although it leaves you quite dusty and short of breath for the grade of the one climb is near 25%...good thing we don' t have to bike that one.

You can almost make out the tents on the other side.... quite a ways a way, although it makes for interesting camping conditions....

Friday SNOWVILLE - WILLARD 108 km

2008-07-20T10:07:00.000-04:00

Friday July 18th 2008 - DAY 19

Upon leaving friday morning, it looked like some cyclists were chasing
down the portapotty SAG- as well this is the town of Snowville
and its entirity- a four way stop.

We started our day off with, Len, Julie, Katrina, and Steph….we stopped 20m down the road because his rear tire was making noise. It came down to a rock lodged in his rear brake rubbing on his tire. I came to his rescue, and helped him out. Then we were on our way to hwy 1-84. The ride on the highway was absolutely lovely, for there was a newly paved lane that they still had pylons up so that drivers could not ride on it. This was absolutely glorious for us. We continued on this busy highway for about 20 miles, which most was climbing….not hard hills but climbing none the less. Upon departing the highway, we came upon “Walter’s Oasis” for this is the place were you stop, eat a snack and get a drink. Lately Walter has been able to give us treats as well, watermelon is my favourite right now. We were on our way to leave from Walter’s, when Len said we should go with out him, for he was feeling not as speedy as we were going and pulling him. Us 4, went on our way, and for the most part, since the roads were empty, were able to double, sometimes, triple or quadruple up in our lane. This way we can chat as well as ride, passing the kilometres more quickly then in a pace line. A headwind was there but we continued our doubles for sometime until we reached the ATK local missile factory, out side of the building where they build missiles, they have a display, of rockets and other ‘metal’ things, which we stopped to look at, and wander through. For really, we were in the middle of a desert, and then this huge rocket appears in front of you, and many buildings as well, makes for an interesting discover and mini pause to our cycling of the day.

Once done at the display, we continued on our way, Joshua joined us, for he no longer wanted to ride with Reuben and Nick (these guys are probably the top 3 cyclists on the tour). Joshua joined our pace line all way until we were 10 k from our campsite. This is when we stopped for icecream. Icecream and cycling right afterwards doesn’t mix or sit so well, so for future reference for me, I will now have ice cream after the ride…whereby not having to have it jump around in my stomach so much. Upon reaching our campground, we had a lovely lake to swim in, and a backdrop of mountains…it made for a glorious front yard and a wonderful backyard. It is sometimes surreal to just bike from town to town, or city to city. There are times when I feel like I am cycling in Ottawa, going down a road I know, passing over bumps and cracks that I have ridden over before.
Then reality hits, we are cycling across the continent. The scope of that idea is still vague, mostly I am taking it one day at a time....

Joshua, Nick and Reuben riding the rocket.
Joshua apparently had 'rocket grunge' on his legs
from climbing onto this 'missile'?

this photo depicts what we rode through on friday, and then up popped the missile place...and then nothing but desert and sage brush again.

THIS Is the front yard (or back-take your preference), of our Willard Bay State Park campspot on friday.

BACKYARD - look at the amazing backdrop we have for our backyard.

DAY 18 - Burley to Snowville

2008-07-17T23:49:00.000-04:00

Thursday July 17th 2008.

Snowville- very ironic name for the town that has been the (almost) hottest -112- yet this tour. (huntington - 116)

(IF you have facebook, it is easier for me to upload photos there...check them...or wait until i can upload them on blogger)

WE started out today with quite the large group and turned it into a 12 man peleton, rotating every so often for the roads were open and empty. Although, I still find that these roads are still very rough, and that they are not fully paved as per usual. It is like the pavement is made of mixed granular pea sized rocks and then coated together, leaving a very porous surface to ride on. Our group downsized 2 times over the course of the day.

The first part of the ride was climbing, we had two hills. The first hill was about 5 km long with a 5% grade. The second hill was a little bit longer and a little bit worse, (just like the song goes).

About 10 km from the 100 km mark, and still on an incline up, a head wind started and didn’t stop until now, about 9:30pm. Walter’s RV was parked at the top of the hill, and it was definitely oasis like in form. I pulled my group up the last 10km and was definitely looking for a break. Walter’s is the best place for we can sit, in the shade, for trees this past week, are FEW and FAR BETWEEN, it is definitely desert like, and now the sage brush is getting even smaller, so when you stop on the side of the road to relieve yourself, you really have to position yourself accordingly (wehee!!).

The border to entering UTAH was about 100m and we took a moment for a photo op.
Then we headed downhill into the wind…not as successful as thought of prior to leaving Walter’s. The last 40 km of the ride was mostly downhill, and definitely work, for the headwind was strong. Not to mention the temp on someone’s bike computer was reading 112 degrees F. See it is warm already, but then with the heat off the pavement, the dry heat off the pavement, really does make you feel like you are in a desert. I do not mind the heat as of yet, for when cycling; there is a breeze (which of course you are creating), it is when you stop, that I notice the warmth of the outdoors.

Hilena, Laura and I rode the rest of the way in together, keeping ourselves amused by telling each other stories and keeping our mind off of pedalling.

Once in camp, we signed in and ambled over to the water table...SO THIRSTY, we had been nursing our last water bottle (filled with bath water temperature liquids).

In all it was glorious, absolutely glorious to come camp and just be here. Then we were blessed with a wonderful shower set up. A rubber hose, under a tarp which was hanging over a dining tent. Quite the interesting set up. Picture will follow!

DAY 17 - GOODING to BURLEY

2008-07-17T00:07:00.000-04:00

Wednesday July 16th 2008.

Today was SWEEP day, oh glorious SWEEP day. It started out at 5:50 this morning with getting stuff out for breakfast. Now mind you, breakfast starts at 6:30, but some eager beavers out there were ready in line for breakfast (with their tents down, things all their belongings packed up), we started serving breakfast, and continued until everyone had managed to get out of bed, eat breakfast and make their lunches. When everyone is done all of their packing up, they toss their gear/hockey bags by the gear truck. We loaded that up with 141 massive hockey bags and prepared ourselves for the road. Our sweep team broke off into two teams…the first group set out right away, and my group (see picture in the dinner) Marty, John, Johnny, Kaitlyn, Jeff, Theo and I went to have coffee and tea before we set upon riding the white lines. Our ride today had many stops along the way.
The first stop was a dairy farm, not just any dairy farm, but one big large dairy farm. They milk over 1700 cows, 3 times a day. Workers work around the clock; this is a major business venue, not just love for the cow and land. We were given a tour of the parlour, and even were allowed to go under and into the 50 rotary (merry-go-round) milker which runs 22 hours of the day and each cow gives 10 gallons of milk per day.
The cows are on this rotary milker for approximately 10 minutes before the milker machine falls off and they are slapped by a rubber hanging ‘mud flap’ to awaken then from their stupor and then they are released. This farm was quite the farm to visit.
The next stop was at this bridge that was over 11 seconds of spit falling…or over 700 feet high. This ride was actually more enjoyable than yesterdays for there was more to see than just sage brush. A CRC had offered to put on lunch for us and that was glorious when we arrived there. Cold water, watermelon and subs…and then they pulled out fresh raspberries which were a treat. When we were leaving they were dumping the tub of ice out and I put some in the cracks of my helmet to help cool down, others just splashed the water on themselves. Continuing on our trek of 142 km, we headed towards Shoshone Falls, where the Snake River falls in thunder 210 feet over a rocky ledge higher than Niagara Falls. The Shoshone Falls were discovered around 1840’s and are known in Idaho as the “Niagara of the west” although not surrounded by commercial development. The descent down to the falls was a 5-6% grade down, which meant a lovely ascent after wandering around by the falls for a few moments. We were able to talk to many of the people down there and hand out sea to sea cards. Many people are very curious as per who we are, and why they see so many cyclists going by, and not only that, but cyclists wearing safety vests that are all the same.
Kaitlyn and I headed up the hill first, for we feared we would have to take a couple of breaks, despite the incline on the way up, we only stopped once at the entrance part where you pay to go in, and then again, 2 km down the road to wait for the rest of our group….we both agreed that we would do that climb 5 times over than doing Steven’s pass again!
Continuing on our way we followed our route and were cruising until we reached Walter’s motor home. Walter is driving his motor home the whole trip along with us and he is a support vehicle. We generally have a seat on his lovely lawn chairs, chat with him about the ride, the things we do, get water that he ‘oh so willingly’ provides, and then we carry on our way…sometimes Walter has special treats for us, (liquorice, or dropjes) which make the stop that much better. THANKS WALTER—you’re fantastic! We managed to get to Walter without encountering anyone to sweep, but met up with people at this last SAG wagon. So we hung out there for about a half hour to give the others a head start. In all, we left camp in the morning around 8:30, and arrived at 6:45 pm. It was a long day, but a very fun day. We made the most of it as a ‘sweep team’ our average speed was 28.5, and most of the day was slight climbing/ on an incline.

the third tuesday - mountain home to gooding

2008-07-15T23:51:00.000-04:00

Tuesday July 15th 2008.

Unbelievably, it is already the third Tuesday of riding, the third Tuesday of being a community together. So, thinking on those terms we have set up and taken down maybe 15 days now and really are getting used to each other and how we work together as a team. Today on the ride in, the roads were not well traversed by motor vehicles…possibly because the road was known as OLD OREGON TRAIL…the roads here are quite porous, and lumpy, somewhat making it for a non smooth pedal than nice lovely smooth pavement, but that really doesn’t slow us down…it’s the wind that will be the damper on many peoples pedals and grind them to a faltering cadence. So, upon this old Oregon trail, we managed to pass next to nothing, the fields are desert like and filled with sage weeds. Many a dead rabbits were seen on this leg of the trip. Much of what we saw was barren and dry looking, much like the hot dry air…no wonder the amount of sprinklers and irrigation systems in this area that the farmers have in their fields…Jeff, Katrina, Steph and I rode together for the first half of the ride…and then Jeff and I took off after that…we managed to get some photos when entering the town of ‘Bliss’ and as well by these tacky dinosaurs the town had.
The first dinosaur I tried to get on, was quite large, and I had grabbed a log and a crate to try to climb up on the dinosaurs back…Jeff was helping me out too, but to no avail, I did not manage to get up on the dinosaurs back…..when taking off from this place we noticed that there was another dinosaur across the road…smaller in size…we both managed to get up on its back and have a hoot trying to do this as well, we snagged a cyclist (JIM – 73 years young) who was cruising by to get a snapshot of us fooling around on this dinosaur…he in turn also wanted a shot taken with this cool green reptile.
In all we made it into camp a little after 1, and that’s pretty good for a 100km ride.

I was on sweep team duty today, so we started to set up for supper, and make 5 gallon jugs of juice and other beverages for the masses. Sweep team also serves supper, and the next day’s breakfast as well as the riders. Ultimately it means the next days ride is a slower ride and you just take your time getting into camp…
This evening we had peleton, and small groups like most nights, and what is happening at peleton meetings is we are learning more about the organizations that are being supported by this tour and where and what they do for those impoverished. Check out the seatosea website if you need to know more.

Monday July 14th 2008

2008-07-15T17:54:00.000-04:00

me -at the freezing river we swam in on sunday

Monday Monday da-da-da-da-da-da
What a day, there was a call for 4% chance of rain, and the cloud we saw in the sky was the size of an air balloon. Typical of the past week, the skies have been blue, blue, endless blue with no hints of cloud, so when we saw a cloud today, Steph took a picture right away. The ride from Boise to Mountain Home was very plain. There was not that much to see along the highways and byways, which led us to making up fun for ourselves and keeping ourselves entertained with our own imaginations of sort. Dear Jeffrey used up all our inner tubes on his rear tire, which seemed to want to be more flat then it wanted to be inflated.

Steph, Katrina and Jeff, we are helping the

poor fella out and changing his tire.....

hmmm what number is this one Jeff...

TEN?!

We managed to pull off the 1-84 to a truck weighing station and change his tire, not 1, nor 2, but 3 inner tubes later was his rear tire happy. We stopped along the way to help Hank with his first flat of the tour, and then 4 km from the school where we were staying Jeff’s front tire decided to take a leak! While we helped/waited for him to change it, I took the opportunity to run across the road and stand in the way of some farmers sprinklers he had in his field. Here, in Idaho, it doesn’t rain all that often, so most of the fields have major irrigation systems set in place whereby, being able to manage watering their crops and keeping everything fertile and growing. This sprinkler was a little off, and was spraying out into the ditch, thus we didn’t damage any crops nor have to hop any fences. It was a glorious relief to the 100 degrees we were experiencing.

This is Tony, and this is what we do at the end of the day...run in the sprinklers because

we are so hot, and it doesn't matter anyways for we are on our way to setting up our tents and taking a shower....

Tony and i play tag on the bikes, for i pass him, and then he passes me....the other day he tagged me just as i was pulling into the school parking lot, and he jumped off his bike and then said i couldn't tag him- the rules we are still figureing out...we need to be on our bikes at least!

BOISE weekend

2008-07-14T19:17:00.001-04:00

The weekend went unbelievably fast. Due to the fact that when you arrive into camp on Saturday afternoon, set up your tents and bed, and clean up yourself, Saturday is almost complete. Saturday evening we went out to a local place to say our good byes to Joel, who is leaving the tour after two weeks of enjoying cycling with all of us. He is going back to school to do his PhD. Sunday presented itself with sun, the bright burning ball of flame, with no clouds in site. After breakfast we biked to have church in the park (about 5km away). After church in the park I went over to the local bike shop (yes - Op zondag) and had my bike tuned up, it was making a funny noise, and no i can't repeat or put sound to that noise on this blog. Then back to the school we were staying at. Upon return, Steph and I were asked to go 'looking' for a place to swim. We ended up biking another 5k or so to get to the river entrance where there were loads of people pumping up flotation devices so that they could float down this fast moving river. WE looked into renting a rubber dingy, or something to hold us up...and the ride was to take over two hours with a shuttle back to the start. We didn't have enough time for that so instead, we threw our bodies into the current and floated down to where we could crawl out, I only managed to do this two times with Laura and Anne, Stephanie managed one time. This water is glacier water. It is absolutely, positively FREEZING, you get insta-goosebumps when you go in. My toes ached so much when I was just trying to walk into this water. Despite the freezing temperatures of the water, we definitely needed it to cool down, and it did feel lovely after the fact. The rest of the day continued as normal, back to camp for supper, then i ran with Alex and Hilena, went to peleton, then small groups. This leads to getting ready for the next day and bed...and or phonecalls if you need to make them :) Mom and Dad...i will try to get a phone card sometime along this trip, for now emails is where it's at.
All is well here for the seatosea people. No major mishaps or presentable problems....although Kaitlyn has to get a new frame (at least it is under warranty), she broke part of her carbon frame.

saturday - ontario to boise

2008-07-12T21:16:00.000-04:00

108 km, across the border into idaho

WELCOME TO IDAHO

Today I rode with Aaron, Ryan, Hilena and Stef. More people started the day with goat's heads flats, so we decided we would carry our bikes out to the front of the school, across the huge parking lot. There is always lots of debris, broken glass, and blown weeds in the parking lots of schools, so we always need to be on the lookout so as to not pop our inner tubes.

WE left shortly after 8 this morning and went through the fields of growing vegetables, corn, onions, lettuce... and all other sorts of produce (the onion fields leave a prominent smell in your nose as you pass by, sometimes though you can't pass fast enough). the ride required some attention to road signs and making sure you can follow instructions for there were some people who did take 'alternate routes' / got lost....

WE crossed the border into idaho, and kept on cruising through the farmlands and cow fields.

SATURDAY, i am sooo excited today is saturday, which means tomorrow we have the day off!
This week, has again flown by, and my brain is somewhat done for the day. I really just need a break from the saddle, for the weeks are about to get longer...next week is longer everyday and a lot more climbing since we are heading into the rockies....oh the glorious rockies...

TODAY - FRIDAY the 11th

2008-07-11T22:34:00.000-04:00

BEAUTY EVEN IN A THISTLE

Friday, July 11, 2008
Huntington to ONTARIO…of all places - 55km
THE WIND WAS AT OUR BACKS!!! WOOT WOOT

This morning was quite organizationally challenged, since at midnight last night we decided to cart our stuff into the Huntington School, and abandon our tents. Things were shortly reorganized and we had many conversations about our sleep last night (or lack there of), the wind had swept down many a tents, and created some havoc on some peoples sleeping arrangements.

A quick break along the highway...

When we were about to head out, Jenna had a flat and we waited for her to fix that.
Many flats this week are due to a thing called ‘goats head’ (see picture)
They are sharp hard little things that can puncture through your tire and put a whole in your inner tube, thusly causing a flat (sometimes a slow leak). It is a nasty weed that we are not fond of right now.

the terrible dreaded goats head

don't they look disgusting!!

they hurt too when going in your foot, must wear flipflops at all times...note to self, had three in my foot this morning :)

Jeff, Hilena, Ryan and I rode together from Huntington to Ontario. It only took a little less than two hours of cycling, we were booking it! We just zoomed here, and now my top speed is 73km an hour, I don’t think I will attempt much faster than that, for my front wheel slightly starts to wobble.

When coming down the hill we entered a new time zone...imagine that, jumping ahead an hour

by crossing this imaginary line

We had a lovely tail wind which aided us in getting here (ontario) quickly. Hilena and I set up our tents right away, and then went for a little jog around the area. WE returned back to our campsite to get ready (shower) before supper. The internet is not working again for seatosea, so a few of us are at an internet cafe shop, and are finally uploading some photos and a few videos, this time around i am putting them chronologically backwards for those of you who need it that way!!

Well, this is a picture of me...with some of Oregon in the background...

not loving the helmet head, but really getting used to it, and

spandex...well spandex deserves a whole blog on its own....

There are many stories and highlights to every day, and sometimes one day seems like two. The time is absolutely flying by, and it is slightly unbelievable that tomorrow is the two week marker for being away. So much has been covered and there is so much to go. Many of us are becoming more comfortable with each other, and I am trying to bridge that generational gap...i try to eat supper with different people and strike up conversations with those who are sitting on their own....i have taking a particular liking to Arnie, who calls himself a FOG,(fat old grampa). He is 70 years old and immensely enjoying this tour, the cause and the people. Although, thoroughly missing his wife. There are many troopers on this tour, young and old, and with each of them I give my utmost respect as well as am impressed by their drive and ability. Wouldn't it be nice to know that when you are 70 you too could cross the continent on a bike...have the ability, the stamina, the strenght and God's grace through it all?

These people are amazing.

Pastor Len, coming across the street in Huntington

-the MAIN street

the main street of huntington, where we got some cold beverages...oh pepsi i missed you!

Waiting for the gear truck to get to the high school, keeping cool in the shade on main street of huntington (in picture, Heidi, Stephani, Kaitlyn, Denise....and Hilenas legs!)

another mini video

2008-07-11T22:27:00.000-04:00

going down a hill on thursday

2008-07-11T22:22:00.000-04:00

this is a little video of going down a hill on thursday...

its a little windy, and you can see doug pass me on the right side...

i am trying to perfect taking videos while cycling...maybe not a super good idea, but at least the roads are empty.

I have though, learned to bike with no hands and pretend i am a bird flying!!

THURSDAY JULY 10

2008-07-11T22:07:00.000-04:00

Thursday July 10, 2008
Baker City to Huntington
Today we (Annette, Justin, Jeff, Hilena, and I) biked through portions of the Snake river, and well I saw at least 5 dead snakes along the ride, and 1 live one, although I think they have nothing to do with the river itself, I might need to research why the river has that name. Through this whole ride Gods glory was shown through the splendid scenery and lovely rolling hills and wild flowers and weeds make it quite the picture to be seen. It has a very desert like look to it, and makes you wonder what the wildlife is and what the livelihood of the people is who live here what with it being a small town- population of 300.

There is no commercialization here; there are no box stores, car dealerships or grocery stores. It makes you think of what life used to be like and how back home everything is instantaneous and the social norm is fast paced everything; work, play and food! This town is quite impoverished; most of the people that live here are on welfare, or disability, the rest of the people work at the cement plant up the road.

Our ride into town was mostly all down hill which made for quite the fast ride into this town; we arrived before the gear truck, so we stayed in the shade of the park trees on Main Street. WE supported the local café here, and I had a lovely cola drink, (sorry Coach Duane- I have strayed also with peanut butter sandwiches…but I am definitely not packing a sweet potato to eat…a sandwich is much easier to carry along on the bike).

Our camaraderie as a group grows as we continue to develop relationships. For the most part you are able to have a conversation while biking with your group of people, generally just 1 other person at a time, and at rest stops more.

(Picture to right is of a the oregon state which makes up a bike rack)

Thursday night presented itself with quite the event of wind in huge gusts, which took a few tents into kite action across the lovely football field within which we were parking our tents/kites. My tent came down two times while I was trying to get it up, so I thusly picked up all my gear and went into this alcove of grass by the high school entrance. It stayed up all night, although at 12am, Steph’s tent was having some serious issues with staying upright, so we proceeded to put our beds in the school hallway and we wrapped up her tent into a huge ball and hucked it into my tent, with hopes that the weight of all that stuff inside my tent would allow for it to stay on the ground and not take flight.

The wind was blowing at such a brisk pace, that the flapping of fly’s on tents was a bothersome noise to many people’s ears. Many people ended up abandoning their tents and dragging their paraphernalia into the school gym to have a little more sleep then the outdoors was willing to give us.

This is a picture of the line up for supper, and under the white tents are where the sweep team has the food set up and serves us.....before we do anything food related (well not just food related, washing dishes too) we purell our hands...i am sooo purelled out!

wednesday july 9

2008-07-11T21:59:00.000-04:00

Wednesday July 9 2008.
La Grande to Baker City
We all are learning to live better as a community of cyclists, yet there are still some wrinkles being ironed out, as goes with everything. It is almost incomprehensible the amount of blacktop we have covered, the yellow dotted lines we have passed, the peddle strokes we have made, the food we have consumed, the amount of water we intake. Many things go into making this tour work and make it cohesive. It is also very dependent on us as cyclists, to do the job we are required to do and that is to hand out these business card sized information holding cards, it is to make people aware as are cruising through their city, or stopping at their coffee shop that we have a purpose to what we are doing. That we have a driven force behind the reason we are going across the continent. Many ripples are being made in this pond of life and soon we will see the reaction or product of what we are doing…and it basically comes down to raising awareness for poverty. Making sure people know what is going on in their own hometown as well as broader than that.
So the ride went quite well, and we were in Baker City quite early, giving us (Joshua, Doug, Jeff, Steph and I) time to go to town for ice-cream which lead to staying in the ice-cream store for approximately two hours, it was loverly air-conditioned. Then we headed out and down the street and saw more people from our tour in another little café/pub/eatery and we joined them their until we needed to head back to the high school we were staying at for supper.

“In areas like this, water runoff is a serious problem. Recent years have seen disruptions in the water cycle. Pray for opportunities to learn about the connection between our actions and their effect on the environment.” Shifting Gears – Sea to Sea

tuesday

2008-07-09T22:29:00.000-04:00

Tuesday July 8, 2008
So today I decided to take it easy and I rode with Pastor Len and Steph.
Len is a good biker and likes to take his time on the hills as well as take periodical breaks so as to not wear himself out. Along the way we had enough breath to discuss a great many of things and also have some of his knowledge passed on to us. We also shared with him our singing capabilities, positive spirits, and fresh outlook on life. Apparently while I was singing a song and going up hill, Len says to me ‘you teach right?’ whereupon I reply ‘yes,’ then he says, ‘Music’ and I answered no, and he said, “GOOD” quite emphatically. So what I took from this is that I can’t sing while biking and going up a hill, not necessarily that I can’t sing.
Today’s ride was somewhat hard, somewhat easy. We got off to a early start at seven fifteen, and headed out through the town….too many one way, wrong way streets and we were looking for help in the right direction. There was a big group of us stopped at a corner when a gentleman pulled up and asked us where we were going and what we are doing…so we shared with him, and then he led us, with his four ways, to the road that we needed to get to, since the directions were not correct. We went up this hill that seemed to go on forever and had a significant amount of switchbacks, which made for a pretty view back if you took the time to look. Then we continued on our way through devils canyon which had a spectacular view and beautiful scenery. Here at last we reach somewhat of the summit.
Today we also rode on the interstate, quite the busy road, I-84, I believe. Many truckers and fast moving cars, the only assimilation I can make here would be the 417, but with quite a few more truckers.
When we got into La Grande, I took a quick run, maybe 5km, cause the coach asked me to run 3 times a week, and then I took my bike into town to the bike shop, whereupon I got a new rear pack off my seat post, and my gears tuned up, for they were not shifting as nicely as I would have liked them to. It was quite the quick afternoon for after I was done that it was supper time, and then I took a quick shower before we had our en masse group meeting--Peleton tonight was quite jovial and serious at the same time. We now get our weather update as well as all other announcements at this time.
quote of the day...tony : you know you're going slow up a hill when a measly little butterfly passes you by.

Friday-Saturday-Sunday-Monday.....

2008-07-08T01:14:00.000-04:00

Friday July 4th 2008
Happy Birthday Melanie…. I hope you had a great weekend at home……and what do you think about that thing I got you?
So, on Friday we left Yakima, and headed to Sunnyside Washington. The ride was through lovely countryside, many vineyards, orchards and hops fields were passed, as well as a good many of fields filled with cows, which means your nostrils fill with the smell of those four legged beasts, interestingly so, for many kilometres that smell permeates into you and then you become habituated to the smell and you realize you no longer smell the smell. The morning started with a thundershower causing our stuff to be wet before we packed it up, but those are the breaks and that’s what happens when you camp for 9 weeks straight. The weather after the rain had subsided was fair and lovely. Most days this week we have reached the high 90’s and low 100’s which makes it warm to bike in, although the humidity is not here so that I am thankful for.
When we arrived to the school we set up tents and got our gear in order, and because of the rain our bikes were quite filthy so they deserved a cleaning before we cleaned ourselves…the spray from the bikes in front of you can get you pretty good, we had a good bit of road dirt on us. WE have entered the area where there are these things called ‘goat’s heads’- they are a type of thorn or nuisance weed, that releases these pods that are hard and have two sharp needle like prongs sticking out of them, they are about the size of ‘nerds’ (the candy) and they cause a good many of flats, for they puncture right through your tire into your tube….this caused a lot of flats, upwards of the high teens, and Saturday there were 30 flats.
After getting a spic and span clean, we went out for ice-cream- Len (Pastor), Jonathan, Joshua, Lawrence, Stephanie and I all went into town (on our bikes, for this is our only mode of transportation) and had the best ice cream I have had in a long time. Maybe it is because we don’t really have access to it, or possibly just that we were quite hungry.
For supper, the local church put on a Mexican meal for us. It was a nice way to end the day and be somewhere else other than on the grounds we tent at (and yes we biked there too, about 1-2 km).
After supper we had a group meeting, and then we headed to the fireworks, for it is Independence Day. The fire works were good, and it was just a really good evening with every one going out with everyone, seems that we are becoming more community like.
I almost have everyone’s name down; it is quite hard for some people blend with others.
Another church, on our way to the fire works also provided us with root beer floats. That was a very nice gesture on there part. While we were all drinking root beer floats, I somehow got in the middle of a circle of people and they all closed in on me and started pushing my shoulders so I would go round and round….this made me feel like I was being bullied…. When all the fun activities had finished we were required to put our bikes in the gym of the school we were staying at, just to keep them safe, for we were right of the road.
Sometimes, I take my bike into my tent with me, so that I don’t have to lock it to a tree or a post at night.

Saturday - Ride in from Sunnyside to Kennewick
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! A postcard is in the mail, we will see when you get it.
Today was a good ride, there were a lot of rolling hills and it didn’t take that long to go through the country side to get to the next destination. A park in Kennewick right by the water. The weather was high 90’s again, but we took it easy with a lot of stops along the way and interestingly joined groups of riders and left others behind as they stopped. The core group I rode with today was Joshua, Kyle, Stephanie and Jenna. We kept a good pace and enjoyed each others company, at times singing and just joking our way to the next stop. When we got to a little town along the way we decided to stop for a drink, I had the best cup of iced cappuccino chain in ever such a long time. It was so delightfully good. WE also ate cherries that are grown in the local area. Agatha and Julie rode with us for a while, and just to let you know Agatha is 77 and a machine!! This lady can outride a good many of the people on this tour, young and old. She is very fit, and does speed skating in the winter. She is amazing!
That afternoon at the Kennewick Park, we had access to the Columbia River, which was right by where we were camping. So far all the waters we swim in are chilly, and this was no exception, you get Goosebumps on your way in, and you just stay in to bring your core temperature down. After that we went to the showers that they provided for us at the health club that they shuttled us to and from….it was such a glorious shower that Steph and I stayed there extra long, and got extra clean, it was just nice to get really clean instead of always in these communal high school shower rooms that we have everyday.
Saturday night I was on sweep, which requires you to come early to set up for supper, serve supper and clean up from supper….our sweep team has about 10-12 people on it. It really helps with the running of this camp like situation that we are all in , it also helps you get to know everyone better and mixes up the combinations of people.
Saturday night we went out for some beverages and the place we went to also had karaoke. Many people participated and we all had such a good evening out. The funny thing is, generally towns are a little away from where we camp (5km or so) and we need to bike. This time we walked there and back and were home (tent home) by 1 something.

Sunday July, 6th 2008
Today we had our second celebration rally. This morning I had sweep team again, and served breakfast to all the hungry cyclist. Our day of rest, our day off…its been well deserved. In the morning we had church in the park, and it was great to see many of the locals come out and support the tour and how open everyone was to us. Lunch was put on by the local church and then they had activities for us to do in the afternoon. Some people went tubing, wakeboarding, waterskiing or floating down the river on pool noodles. I had originally signed up for floating down the river and then found out it was just the one out side the campsite we were staying at, and that is frigid cold water. So I opted out and stuck around the campsite, took a nap, wrote in my journal, wrote some postcards and just tidied up my laundry baskets that are on the gear truck. It is amazing all that goes on in the two laundry baskets and the rearranging of the items that happens all the time. Supper came and went, and then we had another peleton meeting, these are somewhat becoming even more funny, as we are continuing with trying to make statistics for the days ride, as well this is when we get the next day’s ride sheet, which has on it where we are to turn, the distance we ride on each road and the elevation of the land. The elevations are somewhat helpful, but sometimes they just make you worry about things you don’t need to until you get there. In all Sunday was a restful day and I am thankful that we had the day off from riding.

Monday July 7, 2008-07-07
Today we rode in 38 degree dry weather. It was a warm day and we went through a lot of liquid to satisfy our bodies need to quench our thirst. The first 30km of the ride was right into headwinds so we rotated quite frequently through who was pulling. I rode with Kaitlyn, Jenna and Stephanie today. We went along the water for at least half of the way which helped in keeping us cool because the wind was coming over the water, as soon as we turned to head towards Pendleton, we started into the heat wave. The ride was windy with many hills up and down. It was nice riding through the wheat, dill and ploughed fields. Kaitlyn and I saw dirt devils and I took a mini video of that (I will upload photos and the video at a local library as it takes a long time to do it via sea to sea satellite. For the last 25 km, Kaitlyn and I rode together and kind of bogeyed up and down the hills, peddling as fast as we could on the down hill, and coasting or riding as far as we could up the next. The school we are staying at tonight is bright yellow and we could see it from miles away, since it is up on a hill. We arrived mid afternoon and set up our tents right away so as to not to just crash just where we were.
Today, 3 boys, Reuben, Joshua, and Nick rode back to the town we came from (Sunnyside) and then all the way to where we are staying today. Over 281 km they rode, into headwinds and in this heat, they went because one of them had forgotten some of their stuff and medications in the last stop which was to be delivered via UPS to the next stop which never made it on time…so they went back as a group and were accountable to Bill back at camp every hour. They managed to hydrate themselves with almost 60 bottles of water and made sure they ate enough…they are my heroes!!

OHHH as an aside, I fell today, again. When I was wiping off my tires cause we went through a lot of glass today, so I wiped off my front tire no problem then I reached under my seat to wipe off my rear tire, and then my hand got sucked down by my tire and my hand acted as a brake. I put a wicked skid mark on the road, and then fell over with my bike still clipped to my peddles and my hands still on the handle bars…flipped over like a turtle is what it really looked like.
That’s all for my aside!
Thank you all for your prayers and support, I hope you are enjoying all that you read and again I will put up photos later when the internet is working better or I head to a library for faster uploading.

DAY 4- to yakima we go

2008-07-04T00:33:00.000-04:00

Let’s begin with our evening of the night of July 2
A few of us decided to put our tents along the side of the school. Sort of out of the wind and away from the generators that make noise. It wasn’t until we were going to bed that we realized that there was a radio going inside the school at a volume that you cannot go to sleep with. WE decided to move the tent because of that obnoxious radio going all night inside the school where we parked our tent
We moved the tent across a field to the track, which we (Renata and I) thought would be a good idea, see Renata’s tent died yesterday, and it was no longer function able, so she asked if she could bunk up with me. I thought no problem, but boy was last night ever long…the longest 4 hours I ever slept and the longest hours we did not. See, we figured if we moved our tent away from the school towards the baseball diamonds which have this lovely track around it we would be in the clear from being attacked by the sprinklers. Yesterday before supper, many tents were soaked because the sprinkler system came up during the day (which was supposed to be off)---many a people moved their tents and had long enough for them to dry. So last night, around 230am, the sprinklers on the field popped up, and you betcha, right into my tent, for we had the door open to screen door mode, 2 people in one tent creates ‘still, warm’ air, I thought better to have some ventilation. 230 I awake to sprinkler coming in the screen door and pouring down to my back and sleeping bag, what a cooling crazy awakening sensation! So I shook Renata awake, telling her we had to move the tent over…. She agrees, quite stunningly, for she was still in sleep mode…we move it over to have another sprinkler come up and at us….and we move the tent for a third time!! Then the wind started to pick up, and lightning started to really light up the tent, because we had moved the tent three times and just shuffled stuff around…we had issues with keeping the tent standing, for some of the tent poles kept bending in due to the wind and lack of spokes to hold the tent down.
WE ended up shuffling everything into my hockey bag, and headed in for a sleep inside the school. What a night, we fell asleep around 3:30 until 5 30… it felt a little weird waking up and getting ready on little sleep but once we started getting everything together and putting on cycling clothes you know you gotta keep on going. The ride today was absolutely beautiful. It was such a different view than from the lush green of the last few days. Imagine going from mountains with lots of trees and snow capped mountains to dry canyon areas, with rock side walls. The hills of today’s climb were most definitely more doable then the last two days, and we all arrived in good time. It was a very nice 68k ride with a lot of sun. Hilena, Stefanie and I rode together again, and we started practicing riding with no hands.

Stefanie needed to relieve herself along the way, and well, there is no place like the wild wilderness and brambles of the Yakima canyon.

The countryside is very beautiful and again, a stark contrast from where we just were.

onwards to the next ocean in HOW MANY DAYS?

2008-07-02T21:56:00.000-04:00

The leaving of the campsite was postponed, slowed by many things, people filling water bottles, checking the air in their tires, making sure they had sunscreen on (see picture of my newly acquired tan)...and so on and so forth, making sure they have their lunch in their bags. i have newly acquired a pack that hangs over my handle bars, quite small of sorts, but it fits the pre-squished sandwiches that pack in ever so nicely with a slightly browning banana,---Josh says not slight, it comes out like liquid gel gu pack--- (for the potassium of course) not the shake i would so love it in. (this first picture is of after we ascended our second hill, quite the beautiful country side)

as we were leaving camp we looked at our directions (stefanie, hilena, laura, johnny, jessica...and a few others) and figured out when the climb would start for the next hill, as you may recall, yesterday we climbed 4000 feet in 20 miles, today we climbed a little more than that in more mileage, but nearer to the top it was a 7-9 percent grade. (we stopped up here for a photo op of the signage as well as getting some liquid in the form of H20)....
It was a great ride up the hill for we had Larry leading us up at a good pace and we took a few stops to just recoop and get the jello out of our legs. Yes jello, cause your working so hard sometimes your legs begin to feel like jello, but that only last a little while and you need to stop for a quick break to bring them back to normal to finish the ride up.
The descent was decent....there was a large headwind facing us but we took that all in stride, i mean cycle.

Onwards to the peeing habits of my cohorts and cyclists in crime....we have a record setting today of 7 times in the bush, on the porta potty trailer (which is quite stinky by the way--what a way to go, a pooper on wheels)....in the weeds, and along a rocky bank by a lovely steam. This award goes to the one and only Hilena, following is a porta potty shot!

The amount of animals (dead) that we have seen (and i have ridden over is quite large). Just wondering if anyone would be interested in viewing photos of this nature. It would most definitely not be for the faint hearted or weak stomached. comment what you think.

If you would also like to hear about something special send me a comment or if you have any questions as per what goes on here at camp or with all this lovely diversity of people.

this is my newest tan, i figure by the end of this i will have a great many of paths you can follow on my back... maybe i can end up spelling something...and yes sunscreen was on, and so was a oh so sexy safety vest that we all get to wear...you will see them in the other photos all summer long...since they glow irredescently as well shine in all sorts of light...its good that we can be noticed by it...for over 90 transports passed us today at great speeds.
At our group meeting tonight we decided that we would create a count of sorts for the day, but need to be original. Any suggestions?

Here Josh is trying out Julie's chair...i don't think he fits all that well, but it was worth the candid shot and try....his legs i think are the culprit of his inability to actually fit snugly in this ground seater of a chair.

Cheers all, its now time to gather some of my gear for tomorrow's ride...of a lovely 60 some k!! woot woot, fill the water bottles and crawl in for a sleep, its 12:50 in ottawa... and 9 50 in washington...WHAT A DAY!!!

Sultan to Leavenworth

2008-07-01T20:17:00.001-04:00

This morning was another early day. It all started with the clanging of poles from all the tents being taken down at 5 30 this morning. It was all good and well because today was a long ride day of sorts (127km). Hilena, Laura, Jess and Len and I started off together, and then we were joined by Johnny and bryan, which allowed for us to have good group....we lost Len, he tagged off to go with a 'slower' group and we continued on. Every one has their own speed and they need to find what they are comfortable with. We are learning to go slow, enjoy what we see and take in, for when is the next time you can possibly do something like this, or see the places you are now. The start of the ride went well, will little mishaps but the road narrowed and we began to use the white line and start lining up and taking turns leading. It was all good and well until a semi was oncoming and a car was coming from behind, when Johnny decided he would cut in in front of me...unfortunately he cuts in as he is saying the words, which means he cuts into the front tire of the person behind him---being me...so as you all can see, the start is very good...2 flats, 1 broken chain and now a tumble because Johnny "hooked" me in the first 25 km of todays ride. Her is a picture of "Johnny the hooker" and I...

What a funny time, I kinda struck the ground with a bounce of sort, just after the car had passed , thankfully, and then got up with a little shake and a yell "i am okay, yup okay, i'm good, let's go" onto the bike i hopped and away we went...next i notice that my back rack on my bike was jiggling good.... well with the fall it had dislodged a nut and my whole pack came undone. NOT GOOD. Lucky me, i bought the bag at MEC that turns into a backpack, not a very comfortable one, but a back pack nonetheless...A stop along the way was where 'harry and the hendersons' was filmed. A few shots of this are neat. Here Hilena jumped in to get her photo taken and took the second toe of Big foot off, she tried to take it with her as memorabelia, but it was slightly still attached.....

There was also a very beautiful cold waterfall along the ride towards steven's pass called 'deception falls'. It was a very nice stop where we took a break for a few minutes, to rest our butts and legs. The water was so cold, and running so swiftly, the spray off of it was a nice refresher for such a warm day.

The hill we climbed today, was quite the long continuous arduous hill....my goodness every corner we turned i thought we would have reached the top, but nope it was not reached until past the 70k mark....but let me tell you, the 14km ride down with out pedalling and reaching a speed of 70 km an hour is quite enjoyable...Also the ride along the river downhill for quite some time was absolutel magnificent and beautiful.

This last picture is of the other side of steven's pass. After we had come most of the way down from 4000 some feet. What a ride down...and what a view back.

Seattle to Sultan - 90 some km

2008-07-01T20:17:00.000-04:00

Today has been a lovely riding day. We were all up pretty early (5:30-6ish)to get our stuff down to the gear truck and ready for the 8 mile ride from the university, down to Golden Garden Beach, for the tire dipping. Quite a sensational moment when all the riders dipped their tires in the ocean to start the SEA to SEA journey. Today we rode with our safety training groups and leaved in two minute intervals from the golden gate beach. My group also had in it the tandem bikers and a trike recumbent bike. WE fared quite well as a group of twelve, we had one flat tire – Lawrence L and one busted chain just as we were almost done going up the long hill. (The busted chain was mine) Which made for an interesting moment…but gloriously Bud, a sea to sea helper was deciding to ride the roads with his vehicle and watch for those who needed aide…well I surely did…since I didn’t have the master link…all this new stuff I am learning… rim tape , masterlink…what’s next?
So I was brought to a bike shop we had just passed approximately 10 km back, the bike was fixed and in my hands in no time…happy me… and on the road I was. Bud brought me up the road and dropped me off a little past where I stopped to a different group, but somehow I managed to catch up with my original group for they had stopped on the side of a road to eat some snacks and fuel up. The rest of the ride in was pretty smooth sailing… what with a break or two..
Then we got into camp for the first time…set up the tent and get your bed ready was interesting…there were a bunch of people who found a place to go swimming about 2 km up the road, and just after I had a glorious shower, I headed out to go swimming with some of the crew… it was FRIGID, like just melted ice/snow coming down from the mountain…what we did was we hopped in up the river and let our selves come down with the crazy current…I could only do this once before my body was severely frozen, or so it felt…that was a great cool down for a very warm day. The evening was quite quiet and regular, supper and then a peleton meeting and then a meeting with small groups…. After all that you start to get ready for the next days ride, get out your gear and have your stuff ready for the morning. I missed playing poker/euchre with a group because I was wandering around, chatting with people and making sure all was well. WHAT A DAY, I am going to post this as is and at photos later.
LOVE you all!!

PACKING UP and ZIP LINING

2008-06-30T01:48:00.000-04:00

Here are some photos of packing up my bike thursday night with Kevin, and the on friday i went ziplining to get some anxiety out, (some people thought it was so i could get an injury and not take this trip-that was not the idea!)

Check these out...My bike fits in a box!! and then i stuffed it with cycling stuff, and clothes for extra protection for the bike of course!

Here i am with Jeremy up in the trees ... ziplining and EWOK-ing through the forest what quite an afternoon, especially when a big thunderstorm came through and has us soaked to the skin.

This is a picture of my cake, that they suprised me with friday night ... thanks everyone for everything,

And below is a picture of seattle from my window in the dorm...you can see the harbour where we are going to start, tomorrow morning, and how far down we have to walk to the trucks....

good night, its right now 11 seattle and 2 ottawa...gotta get to bed!

SEATTLE, the weekend... (for real, dot dot dot)

2008-06-30T01:01:00.000-04:00

wella wella,

the weekend started 3 am sharp on saturday morning...had to be at the airport by 4 to checkin and all that jazz. Saying good byes was an interesting ordeal, and I definitely had moments where i thought that this was going to be a crazy endeavor...

Many things have happened in the last two days, and i will try to sum them up as best as i can. So, Saturday, unfortunately the plane i hopped on at 5 something in the morning was not up to par in working conditions, actually the air (conditioning) was not working....that took them an hour to fix...then the fog was too much for us to take off, so by the time we took off, we had been sitting on the plane for nearly two hours...this plane took me to Detroit, whereupon i booted it from the one terminal to the other, upon reaching the gate for my next plane I was too late to board, slightly too late, there was no plane. AHA! I waited in detroit for 3 hours for a different flight all the while contemplating where my bike was, and whether it would make it to Seattle like i was trying to...

Arrival in Seattle (3:30 their time) was uneventful, my bags made it, and oversized luggage bike came through quite nicely...good packing is key...i stuffed all my clothes in my bike box around my bike so as to pad it a little more. I managed to get my bike together by the end of the day and ready for whatever we had to do sunday. In bed by 1am, which actually is 4 am ottawa time... WOHOO up more than 24 hours... so tired though. And the brain, the brain was starting to get slow and think erratically, hopefully we don't encounter many more days like that. (at least on the way home we enter time changes and gain back the time).

Saturday and Sunday were spent in Washington University, quite a nice campus. We have had orientation, training and bike courses.

Today at bike training, i was just standing with our group...and we heard a really loud pop and then hiss....i turn to look back from where the noise was...and what do you know...i had an instantaneous flat....so i carried my bike back to the residence we are staying at, put in a new tube and pump it up...good old 115psi, (my bike is in the 'common room' just outside of the room i was sleeping in)...so once that was fixed up, i went to my room to gather some of my gear and get ready, and i hear this loud pop and hisss... YUP another FLAT! It took some figuring out, but what had happened is the rim tape had given way to one of the spokes, and when you pump up your tire, the tire enters the hole and is soon popped by the spoke. WELL I KNEW THAT!!! actually it took some asking around, and then i had to find rim tape.... This is all occuring sunday afternoon...up to supper time, after supper time we had our first rally ... and then we had to load up the TRUCKS. I headed down (literally) to where the trucks were with a laundry basket of my gear, and my tire to fix.

Got the tire fixed (no levers for these fingers) and then helped load up the truck with everyones gear bags (filled with tents, sleeping bags, chairs and other paraphenalia).

Okay, so i can't rotate this picture, but it is of all the gear laid out in the parking lot by the trucks which were being loaded for the first time. Very interesting that canadians all have 'hockey bags' and americans have duffle bags of sorts.

Tomorrow morning we start at the BEACH, the pacific ocean, this is the furthest west i have ever been. Tire dipping is first and then we will be leaving in groups. TO SULTAN we are heading, 81km. Should be interesting. Apparently monday is supposed to be a good ride, and TUESDAY/ WEDNESDAY the killers, long long rocky inclines... WE will see what i have to say about that come wednesday...

I really am just excited to get on my bike and peddle, lets get the show on the road and start!!

is it truly happening

2008-06-25T20:49:00.000-04:00

Reality is slowing sinking in, as well as the surrealness of it all....many are wishing me safe travels and happy pedalling, i sure hope its safe and happy!

Today I finished cleaning up my classroom and getting prepared for september, it is slightly unnerving that this will be the last day in school before i come back and start teaching again on september 2nd. Everything is ready, just waiting for the wax to dry on the floors LITERALLY...i guess i won't have my desks down out of the loft and set up...I guess sept 2nd is going to be an early morning...

This week I have already put in approximately 260 kms; monday i biked to merrickville, well just shy of it since we (marg and i) rode straight into a thunderstorm. Quite lovely having to stop multiple times along the road to hide under peoples eaves or once by this horsefarm...interestingly enough we made it to the outskirts of merrickville and decided to head back the way we came since we no longer wanted to continue going into the rain. I was game with that idea, but once we neared where we started BLUE SKY BABY all blue sky. I guess we should have headed the otherway.

Tuesday I went into ottawa to visit Coach Duane for the last time until september (then we have big plans...big plans...) anyways had a little chat with him, and of course he gave me more cycling to do...which i am almost done before i head out to seattle....

and today, i just did a little tour into kanata/bridlewood...and around the area...only 60 some k, but the wind, i tell you, the wind is something else, hopefully by the end of this summer the wind and i can be friends... or may it always be at my back...

here ends this little update...as i am about to pack up from CCA....and thusly no more internet access until tour time...

Seattle here i come......June 28, and tire dipping and first ride on monday....

wow!

I want to send out a huge THANKS to all those who supported ending the cycle of poverty, a big thanks goes to Mr. K Atkinson for building the most beautiful bike on earth ... and Duane for holding me accountable...of sorts ...because i can, no?

Okay, i gotta get out of this school, a mouse just ran by me...right into my classroom....going to setup a few traps...Cheers to who finds them with something tomorrow.

school's out for the SUMMER or rather SEa tO SeA

2008-06-19T09:20:00.000-04:00

today, the last day of school and i am in the school library typing a little note to say the weather has been miserable....rain, rain, and WAIT more rain. oh what glorious bliss...so from biking perth to kingston and back the next day...to setting my bike back on the trainer in the living room has been funny...well for me...for i watch the rain out the windows...and think poor suckers who have to bike in that, unfortunately that will soon be me, the bridge will come and i will pass it when needed.
another year of school has been taught and i will miss my students of this year, they have been an absolute blast and blessing. now a new door is opening .... cycle the continent...still sounds daunting... VERY daunting...
well this is all the time i have for now, i believe i might have more time for myself on this tour than in normal life. we will see. haha

spring

2008-04-24T14:35:00.000-04:00

so spring is FINALLY here, what with all this warm weather, makes for wonderful biking outdoors...and sometimes still inside (the fairweather girl in me)
--i don't know how to blog very well, and still haven't learned how to upload pictures, just finally now can find this site...ahaa on me.

cycling

2008-04-17T13:21:00.000-04:00

cycling takes a lot of my time, A LOT of my time, and i have yet to not like it...
who knows where this is going to go and how long i will continue...but a great many things
can be see from the bike and a lot more can be relished.

2008-03-09T21:14:00.000-04:00

Wohoo, can't believe we are now 105 days away until the beginning of our TOUR.I am greatly excited to embark on this fantastic journey with so many others who are alongfor the 'ride' .Okay, i better begin at the beginning, nope not Genesis...but rather the chapter of Julia...Me; My name is Julia Wissink...(writing that makes me feel like i am in a support group....of sorts), I am a Teacher (which i love and have a great time everyday...oh the jokes and humour of kids kills me!). I live in Ottawa, the big ol'capital city...(of CANADA) I signed up for sea to sea because when it came around in '05, i was a student in debt, and paying off a car...among other bills. One thing led to another and I never ended up filling out the sign up form (WHICH I STILL HAVE). When i heard about seatosea for '08, i plunged right in and signed up right away....and here i am, setting up a blog, on my march break in florida (cause now i have the time) for my fellowcyclists whom i know are going to become a great part of new chapters in my life and any other person who is intrigued or interested in the going ons of the coming months!..... I am so eager to get out there and see all of you...yet the almost 400cm of snow that Ottawa has received up to date is a little discouraging and daunting..I went for a walk around my families property and the snow was (let me emphasize) WAS thigh deep...okay, for me at 5'5" that IS DEEP...Since i didn't purchase SNOW tires for my bike, i have kept my friendly two wheeler indoors where it will not be attacked by the salt and sand that is on our roads... I am hoping soon, that I can take it out for a ride...maybe when the weather is a little nicer... For now i will continue to crazily make my body work out at the gym and or in my room with my bike on a trainer.... my radio, or laptop with a movie seems to work well for me.
This is it for now... time to suntan :)