Back to Reality.

It has been more than a week now since we dipped our front tires in to the Atlantic Ocean, completing our bike ride across the country. It has been a whirlwind of a summer, but one that we will for sure never forget and one that has definitely changed our lives. The experiences shared, the relationships built and the memories created will hopefully stay with us forever. I am just going to throw a few post-tour thoughts out there to wrap up this blog and I will probably never write a blog again.
It is amazing to think that 10 weeks ago we dipped our back tires in to the Pacific Ocean in Seattle, beginning the tour and having very little perception of what we were getting ourselves in to. While we surpassed the amount of training we did prior to the tour in the first week of the tour, it took another week after that to convince ourselves we could actually do this and to settle in to the biking lifestyle. This is a lifestyle that no one would completely understand unless they have been a part of something so frigging amazing! As the tour was coming to an end, we may have thought that we were ready to be done and were perhaps sick of the lifestyle, but boy were we mistaken. ha.. reality blows.. just kidding. There were days we dreaded getting on our bikes, but honestly, what could be better than waking up and only having the goal of riding your bike to the next check point by the end of the day? That's right, not much.
So, the aftermath of the tour is this. It is an abrupt transition back in to reality and the past few months feel pretty surreal. For some, it is back to school or work and for others (like me) it is stepping in to a perhaps daunting unknown future; or as like to call it, a world of possibilities. Figuring out life is not one of my most favourite things to do, however, if there is one thing I have learned over the course of the summer, it is to trust God in everything. He is the one that holds the future, we just have to let him lead us there even if it is not always what we have in mind. So, that is what I am doing and hoping He shows me soon : )
While the bike tour can be seen as a huge personal accomplisment for each one of us, even more we hope and pray that the money and awareness raised will help make a dent in the cycle of poverty because this is the real reason we were riding. The scope of poverty is something that we were challenged to keep in the forefront of our tour and what we've learned, I hope we will take in to our every day lives. Poverty is way too huge of a problem, but it is only through every small effort that we can hopefully one day make poverty history. Until then, we are called to serve those less fortunate than ourselves and we need to make it a priority to do so. Counting the many blessings in my life and having faith that justice will one day be a reality here on earth!
Thank you for being a fan of Denise and I this summer! Thank you to the entire tour staff for making such an amazing, amazing experience happen! What a wonder to be a part of. So many thank yous for all the prayers and support from our home churches and all our friends and family! They were so much appreciated along the way and were for sure felt!
And that's a wrap, it has been a pleasure!

There's no place like home.

Well, we gotta say it, Ontario did not disappoint. We had been anxiously waiting for this week for such a long time and it always seemed so far away.. as we climbed the Rockies and powered through deserts and rolling hills. We are finally here and home never tasted so good! Our entrance in to Canada was a true warming Canadian welcome. A large spread of Tim Hortons delicacies awaited us upon crossing over on the ferry in to Sombre, as well as a mass of pleasant smiling faces. It was far more than we could have asked for and the party has not stopped since. This entire week we have been treated like celebrities. Every town we hit has been more than accomodating and the streets were lined with excited cheerers!
We hit good old London on Thursday where camp was set up at the Christian High directly across the road from our home. So, Denise and I got to stay in our own beds that night which was ever so glorious! We did not want to leave the next morning. The tour just about ended for us right then and there.. however, we were brought back in to our little biking bubble once again and decided our ride was not complete yet. We continued our journey through Ingersoll, Woodstock and Hamilton where we were met by throngs of familiar faces and an abundance of hugs and food! We were interviewed for the radio and the Sentinel Review, made a number of more stops along the way at various church locations and finally made it in to the old stomping grounds, Redeemer University, in the later afternoon. It was a rather long, whirlwind of a day, but all the work that was put in by our home church, Maranatha CRC, as well as all the many other churches was so exciting and so much appreciated! We thank you so muchly for all the support!
We have now made it to Beacon in St. Catharines for the weekend and will be preparing for the celebration service this afternoon. We got to go down and see the falls last night, which was.. pretty well the same as the last number of times we've seen them and they are still flowing quite nicely. We are pretty exhausted this weekend from all the excitement of the week and have been catching up on sleep for most of it. We are hoping for a pretty good show for the service in a bit and then we will be heading back out of this beautiful country bright and early tomorrow morning. One more week to go and I think it is safe to say that we are quite ready for our arrival at the coast in New Jersey. It has been such an amazing experience to be a part of this summer and yet it is definitely time to get back to reality.

it was a hit and run.. kindof

So, sometimes I trick myself in to thinking that if we just leave the blog for another day or two it will be less work to get it out there again.. too bad that is not the case. Alot has happened this week and it is going to be tough to get it all in this blog, so I will just give you all a run down on perhaps the biggest event of the week. It was a typical Tuesday. Denise and I awoke in our trusty tent, feeling quite at home in Woodstock, Illinois. We got ourselves together, meaning a quick peanut butter cinnamon-raisin bagel for me and a blueberry one for Denise, we threw on our shammies along with some butt butter and took off on the road probably by 7:45 am. We were prepared for a relatively easy day of 100ish kms. Well, as it turned out, the bike trail we were taking for most of the day led us, as well as quite a few others, completely astray.. and we ended up in Wheaton.. way off the path we were supposed to be on.. I hate Wheaton. Fortunately we love biking so much, the extra 20 k was just a scenic detour for us.. pfff. Well, we met a very friendly man along our detour who corrected us and sent us back to the Fox River Trail where we should have been on. And upon finding it back and thinking we may have fallen completely behind sweep and perhaps even the sags, we were ever so relieved to meet up with Peter Rabbit, Kevin and Jody just lounging out by the river. So we continued the ride with them for the day. Lost Kevin along the way.. as per usual. However, riding along 75th street, closing in on Trinity College which was our destination for the night, we got to see (perhaps a little too close) the extent of come pretty insane-o Illinois drivers! As we were approaching a green light at an intersection, a woman came up from behind us and nearly drove me off the road by making a right hand turn directly infront of me. When she at the last second noticed the bikers on her right, she slammed on the breaks causing Denise to collide straight in to the back of the vehicle. Then the driver proceeded to drive away. It happened really fast, but not fast enough that we didn't get her license plate. Anyways, the cops took care of the situation and everyone came out with minimal injury. Denise got a replacement bike for the rest of the ride and we ended up getting in to Trinity as dinner was just winding down. What should not have been a ridiculously long day turned in to one of our longest yet - though not completely unenjoyable. We were blessed with a delightful billet for the night and were able to catch up on a bit of the Olympics.. good show Canada.. as well, we got to sit on a couch!
Our last two days have been thoroughly enjoyable to ride. Wednesday we got off to a really late start, having to hit a bike shop to look in to the damages on Denise's bike, but we were riding with a really super group of people which made the day entertaining. We had a few delicious church stops along the way which is always the highlight of our days. They fed us to the nines and we lolly gagged our way in to the Indiana Dunes where we were camping for the night. We took a dip in Lake Michigan and were also greeted by a massive spread of only the most delicious brownies and baked treats we have had in our entire life. I am quite sure we polished off the entire tray. Thank you all you wonderful churches who spoil us insanely!
Today's ride was scenic and .. for lack of a better word.. nice. We followed the lake for most of the day and arrived at camp early on in the afternoon, even after having lost an hour today. We have made it to Michigan! And it is feeling more and more like home is right around the corner. We are quite excited! That is all for now.
ps. Happy Birthday Lawrence : ) you are a star.

A taste of reality

Well, coming off a triple-long day marathon, we were much in need of Saturday's ride. We were blessed with Eric Stehouwer as our riding buddy for the day. We started out on a retarded bike path made of sand and mould.. that Eric happened to like.. but I hope people of Wisconsin do not actually pay to use that path. We were hit by a few rolly polly hills, but all in all it was a beautiful ride in to Madison. We got to the park where all the bikers were meeting at to ride in to the church there together and who should meet us there, but some of the fam! It was such a surprise to see mom and Emily and Aunt Grace and Anita there in the park right around the same time we got there. This means we got to hotel it for the night! We always forget just how wonderful bed really is. We enjoyed Saturday night and most of Sunday with them. We even hit up a mall on Sunday, however, despite my convulsing desire to be in a mall for the past month.. none of us were much in a shoppy mood and saddly we walked out of there with not much. I am not sure this is a positive effect of the bike tour.. confusing is what it is. So we were spoiled all weekend and were almost ready to just stay in that world with them. But then we realized we still had a few weeks to go here.. so it was back to the grind today.
Today's ride was perhaps our most delightful ride of the tour to date. The entire ride was beautifully painted through the backroads of Wisconsin; the weather was absolutely perfect for biking and I think we can honestly say we thoroughly enjoyed biking today, which is not something I can say every day of the tour. A church prepared a nice lunch for us and we cruised right in to Illinois with smiley faces! We are really feeling the home stretch now and can not wait for the next two weeks as we enter the homeland and then finish up the tour! It is amazing!

it's about time for a tailwind

Well, we just gotta say it, we love Iowa. Iowa is seriously an endless array of cornfields and not much else, but we can honestly say that the people here are noticeably warmer than those in Nebraska. The truckers even wait patiently behind us until it is safe to pass! We have also experienced a significant upgrade in road conditions which is making our bums much happier. Why anyone would want to live in Nebraska is a mystery to me.
So, we started the day off in a torrential downpour. Well that is a lie, but it was the most rain we have hit all trip. It made the day nice and cool, but it also made our feet unpleasantly wet. What was anticipated to be an unbelievably long day turned out to be actually a great day for many! We fought manya fewer hills today and we were also accompanied by our long lost friend, the tailwind. As noon rolled around, the rain cleared up, the sun peaked out from behind the clouds and the wind picked up at our backs. What a phenomenal combination! Once again we see God is truly looking out for us here. : )
Well, the only downside to the day is that Denise and I had to set up our tent for the first time in seven days. We were going to see how many consecutive days we could go with out putting it up. Sadly enough, this elementary school has no suitable room for us to set up bed. You see, whenever there is opportunity to stay inside a school, church or other form of building we take it, no questions asked. While some may call this lazy, in actuality it is genius. No energy wasted putting it up or taking it down. Just using our resources.

Day of Rest

Sprawled out with Kaitlyn, Theo and Denise watching our second movie for the day. We are having a sleep over in the church here in Fremont, Nebraska tonight. These people have been so great today haha.. you don't even know. They have so graciously openned their doors to us and we have been bumming around this place literally aaaall day today just napping and watching movies.. making as minimal movement as possible.. and these lovely women have been honestly baking up a storm the entire time! They have come out with new batches of brownies and cookies and a whole spread of food the entire day. It is really quite something. So, we have been fed ridiculously well today and are all prepped for a big week ahead. We have officially soaked up every relaxing moment we could of the weekend.. most of the camp was feeling the kilometres put on this week.
Anyways, we are so pumped for some more beautiful scenery as we enter Iowa tomorrow. Can't imagine it beating what we've already got to see in Nebraska. ooo boy, what a treat. Well, that's the blog for the day, I hear it's becoming more in demand and we appreciate all our fans. Thanks for the support! And we also want to thank the people here at this Lutheran church in Nebraska, they have been way more than amazing to us and it's been such a blessed treat! Good night from all of us! Can't wait to get in to the shammy again in the morning! Love yous muchly.

Headwinds suck. alot.

So Denise and I get off to a pretty early start this morning for our 150 km day. We get on our bikes and hit the road only to be met immediately by a devastating headwind. Exhausted, we barely make it to Corey's first sag stop 30 km in. It is quite a daunting task to mount a bike with a very sore bum and knowing that you have over 120 k to go yet.. in to the wind. We are moving enragingly slow along the rough shoulders of Nebraska, when who should go sailing by, but our dear saviours, the Stehouwers. They scooped us up in their draft and took us the entire rest of the way. From what looked like could have been the longest day of our lives, these are the guys you need to make any day brighter. We got in to York, Nebraska at around 3:30 this afternoon and got reeses pieces blizzards from McDonalds, obvi. We are staying in York College tonight where we have been hooked up to the internet all evening in air conditioning! It is the weekend and we are so looking forward to it. Just 153 km standing in the way. 

A few things we've encountered/learned this week:

If you lose your map, just head into the wind and you're sure to be going the right direction.

We no longer butter our bread, just our butts.

No need to go to Egypt, just come to Nebraska and you can literally get hit with the locust plague every day.

Showering is no longer effective as sweat begins to drip again the second you get out. 

Ice cream has never tasted so good.

The prairies are not flat.