What a beautiful morning! Fresh, and we were cycling through beautiful farm countryside. Fat cattle and lovely horses, green lush corn, soy and ginseng as far as the eye can see. land is gently rolling, with most hills less than 4%. Flew off with George that overtook me from behind. He likes to go fast and I prepared myself for a brisk ride. My muscles felt stiff and my knee a bit sore of the tandem chasing of yesterday, so it took some effort to get going so quick. fortunately George said he wants to take it easier today as he rode yesterday's 100km in around 3 and a half hours! Later we joined the Lutke's and kept aropund 30kph.
At Plattville we came upon a diner. Or rather, we descended on it like a swarm of birds. The dear folks did not know what hit them. Many of us ate their breakfast special for lunch, or pie or fries. I kept it at coffee, Ginger Ale and a few fries.It was very upbeat, happy and noisy in there. Chatting with old timer Maggie and Claire's group, I missed my crew leaving, so I set out alone till Steve came by again, and pulled me into camp for the second day in a row! I was grateful, since my knee bothers me. I can't afford to injure it, since I have the 1225km in 4 days Granite Anvil endurance ride coming up in the last week of the tour, with 33,000 feet of climbing - I will end on the same day that the tour finishes in NY.
At the high school we had hot water in the showers....unusual treat! Mechanic from Ziggy's bike shop fixed Katie Ryzebol's rim tape that caused her to have 16 flats so far on the tour! Must be the most for any single cyclist.
At peloton, we had skits performed by the small groups that had to include bike sounds - it was hilarious, and George was dressed as the Fast Drafting Queen, wearing a tutu and doing ballet moves around his bike, while the rest sang funny words on the tune of "Dancing Oueen".
Friday, August 9, 2013
Sarnia to London, Aug 8
We really had a fabulous welcome in Sarnia. They pulled out all the stops! Unforgettable for sure! We even got haircuts if we wanted. The dinner was first class, and what remained we ate the next evening.
I slept very well on my inflatable mattress in the school's staff room, with two others. The rest strewn around in the gym and hallways. 150 bikes lined the long corridor. The storm that made us feel so uncomfortable blew over without trouble.
I overslept a bit, since we could not hear the gear truck doors slam open, sleeping inside. after my standard breakfast of a big bowl of oats with raisins and a cup of milk and some protein like a boiled egg, I hit the road all by myself. I knew that the faster late sleepers will overtake me and then I can find s group to ride with. I like this system, since I get to chat to more different people than when I would ride with the same ones every day. I am a free spirit and prefer to do my own thing, but team up with others when there is a strong wind or a pace line. Rode with Stan Baker a bit till we found his mother on the side of the road, cheering us on with cookies and a Canadian flag. Shortly after I came upon the happy group of Janet Ryzebol, doing double pace line and laughing and chirping like happy bird> I took some in motion pics of them and chatted a bit. The road was mostly level, and the sun was coming out behind the clouds. Janet's husband Brant is volunteering with us for a week and very helpful to do any job from marking the road to packing the trailer with our heavy tent bags, alongside John, our truck driver. These folks are all very friendly and helpful, and we appreciate all the hard wwork of the volunteers immensely. The SAG drivers stand for hours in the blazing sun till the last cyclist went by, encouraging and feeding us with fresh cut fruit.
The farms are neatand beautiful, with the odd neglected one here and there. The crops are maturing rapidly, and the corn looks very lush and promising this year after all the rain.
Next group was the Lutkes and Jerry. Nicest folks to ride with, so easygoing and kind. We had to negotiate a long road construction again, and I went the wrong way around a truck pulling a pavement grater and caused the driver to almost get a heart attack. I must say, I whipped that bike around real quickly to get out of the way of the flying gravel! Then the 2 tandems flew by and I couldn't resist to jump on their tails for a very fast draft. The Bonner brothers and their spouses propel those tandems 40 to 45kmh on the flat. Sitting on their tail it is a great draft provider, but extreme focus is required as the danger to bump tires is huge. I had to push my monster gear to keep up, and stay well inside their slipstream not to be blown back by the wind. Great fun for half an hour or so till they stopped. Rode with the Lutkes again till the last SAG. Gayle waited for us at the London sign with streamers for each bike. It was such a blast to see her again! Many memories flooded the mind, of good and hardships of the previous tour. Old timer Ralph was there too and rode with me and Steve Dykstra the last 15km, Steve pulled us into camp along all the beautiful bike paths in London running along the Thames river. Steve is extremely fit and strong, and climb the hills with a very high cadence, better than a mountain goat!. He doesn't slow down either! I can't climb like that - I wish I could! Looks like there may be some good climbs back home in Abbotsford where he gets to practice his climbing skills.
I had to replace my front tube as the valve broke and could not be inflated again. I saw that the valve was very corroded, and that the tube was still the original Bontrager one that the bike came with 4 years ago!!
After several thousand kms it was still in tact except for the valve!
Gayle and I went for an icecream at the best icecream store in town, over 50 years in business and going strong. Fabulous icecream with some kind of Milo powder over it Yum...! And we shared memories challenges of the past 5 years......very meaningful for me. Gayle is a wonderful friend, with much wisdom and life experience.
At the school we were sleeping like sardines in a can in the foyer area, which is not big enough for all of us. The part where I slept had a bright fluressent light, but we could not find where to switch it off, so it shone all night in our faces. Only way to sleep was to blindfold oneself.
I slept very well on my inflatable mattress in the school's staff room, with two others. The rest strewn around in the gym and hallways. 150 bikes lined the long corridor. The storm that made us feel so uncomfortable blew over without trouble.
I overslept a bit, since we could not hear the gear truck doors slam open, sleeping inside. after my standard breakfast of a big bowl of oats with raisins and a cup of milk and some protein like a boiled egg, I hit the road all by myself. I knew that the faster late sleepers will overtake me and then I can find s group to ride with. I like this system, since I get to chat to more different people than when I would ride with the same ones every day. I am a free spirit and prefer to do my own thing, but team up with others when there is a strong wind or a pace line. Rode with Stan Baker a bit till we found his mother on the side of the road, cheering us on with cookies and a Canadian flag. Shortly after I came upon the happy group of Janet Ryzebol, doing double pace line and laughing and chirping like happy bird> I took some in motion pics of them and chatted a bit. The road was mostly level, and the sun was coming out behind the clouds. Janet's husband Brant is volunteering with us for a week and very helpful to do any job from marking the road to packing the trailer with our heavy tent bags, alongside John, our truck driver. These folks are all very friendly and helpful, and we appreciate all the hard wwork of the volunteers immensely. The SAG drivers stand for hours in the blazing sun till the last cyclist went by, encouraging and feeding us with fresh cut fruit.
The farms are neatand beautiful, with the odd neglected one here and there. The crops are maturing rapidly, and the corn looks very lush and promising this year after all the rain.
Next group was the Lutkes and Jerry. Nicest folks to ride with, so easygoing and kind. We had to negotiate a long road construction again, and I went the wrong way around a truck pulling a pavement grater and caused the driver to almost get a heart attack. I must say, I whipped that bike around real quickly to get out of the way of the flying gravel! Then the 2 tandems flew by and I couldn't resist to jump on their tails for a very fast draft. The Bonner brothers and their spouses propel those tandems 40 to 45kmh on the flat. Sitting on their tail it is a great draft provider, but extreme focus is required as the danger to bump tires is huge. I had to push my monster gear to keep up, and stay well inside their slipstream not to be blown back by the wind. Great fun for half an hour or so till they stopped. Rode with the Lutkes again till the last SAG. Gayle waited for us at the London sign with streamers for each bike. It was such a blast to see her again! Many memories flooded the mind, of good and hardships of the previous tour. Old timer Ralph was there too and rode with me and Steve Dykstra the last 15km, Steve pulled us into camp along all the beautiful bike paths in London running along the Thames river. Steve is extremely fit and strong, and climb the hills with a very high cadence, better than a mountain goat!. He doesn't slow down either! I can't climb like that - I wish I could! Looks like there may be some good climbs back home in Abbotsford where he gets to practice his climbing skills.
I had to replace my front tube as the valve broke and could not be inflated again. I saw that the valve was very corroded, and that the tube was still the original Bontrager one that the bike came with 4 years ago!!
After several thousand kms it was still in tact except for the valve!
Gayle and I went for an icecream at the best icecream store in town, over 50 years in business and going strong. Fabulous icecream with some kind of Milo powder over it Yum...! And we shared memories challenges of the past 5 years......very meaningful for me. Gayle is a wonderful friend, with much wisdom and life experience.
At the school we were sleeping like sardines in a can in the foyer area, which is not big enough for all of us. The part where I slept had a bright fluressent light, but we could not find where to switch it off, so it shone all night in our faces. Only way to sleep was to blindfold oneself.
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Imlay City to Sarnia, August 7th
Did sleep really good in the "jumping room" gym in the high school, called like that because kids practise gymnastic tumbling in there and it has padded walls. Chatted with Kobie long on ythe phone and he is enjoying the leadership conference in Chicago. Rained a lot there too.
When we got outside there was athreatening purple bank of clouds moving in, quite angry looking with rumblings. there was thunder during the night too, I heard it around midnight. Ate my oats and raisins very quickly and gulped down a cup of milk and jumped on the bike. It was dark outside because of the rain clouds. everyone felt nervous, especially so when an officer came to the school to warn us of the impending thunderstorm. We thanked him and rode on, praying for the best. On the main road 4 of us missed a turn because of the poor visibility.Doug and Joy Lutke and Jerry Pols. Kept on straight and just as the first fury of the rain started we saw....can you believe?...a Tim Hortons! In America..... We hightailed in there as quick as lightning just as the strong wind started in earnest. Waited the storm out for an hour enjoying great coffee & a donut - and chatting with locals, explaining the C2C initiative. Heard interesting stories ...to follow...:-)
It kept raining for a long time after we left and we all ended up with skunk tails on our backsides, sand in our hair and in our mouths because of the tire spray. Our bikes ended up looking even worse than yesterday, and required intense cleaning for the third day in a row. So much grit on the drivetrain that my derailler made horrible sounds and didn't want to work properly. Also encountered long stretches of road works, where the pavement was grated up and rough surface to ride on. Had to wait long for our turn as double direction traffic had to use one single lane.
Rode with this group all day. Took turns to pull at 30kmh. Nice people to ride with! The sun came out and shone quite warmly. Got a sunburn as I rushed away in the morning without putting on sunscreen. Battled a strongish headwind the last 20 km or so. At Marine City we waited for the ferry in a restaurant, enjoying Pepsi and fries (shared between us all). The water of Lake St Clair was turqoise blue, fabulous looking, similar to the mediteranian sea. It made for a real nice picture.
The border control went smoothly, and we were greeted enthusiastically by dozens of C2C supporters on the Canadian side. Flags and welcome banners greeted us warmly, with Timmies coffee, cookies and watermelon. It felt soooo awesome to be in Canada agian!!!!
The ride back up to Sarnia on the other side of Lake St Clair and the river was wonderful, because of the scenery as well as the strong tailwind< It was a happy ride, enjoyed by us all, after the scary start to the day. At Sarnia Christian School we encountered a feast! The gym was decorated festively with long strands of white net from the centre out to the corners, with enormous red ballons bunched in the centre of the ceiling and the corners. Tables were ready draped in red and white, with an absolutely gorgeous centre piece on a table - a bike decorated with red and white flowers, such that none of the bike's frame was visible.The lady behind the artwork is Doris, originally from Columbia. The volunteers hosting us put on a feast for us. First we got delicious cupcakes, that spelled out "Welcome to Canada" The dinner was a real feast with many salads, steaks, potatoes, beans and corn. Deserts to our heart's desire!! The effort put in to feed 150 cyclists and our volunteers// staff is so greatly appreciated by us all. Our hearts swelled with gratitude and pride in our generous Canadian supporters and how they welcomed us!! Sarnia is the home town of Cristeena Nienhuis, and dozens of family and friends went all out to give us the best! They made a lovely banner, to welcome us. Photo to be insertewd as soon as I get the technical problems sorted out. I even got a free haircut, like many others starting to look a bit shabby. :-)
On display were mats crotched from milk bags, and sent to poor countries for people to sleep on. Very nice thick and useful mats, made of materals we discard every day. Carry bags are also made out of bread bags, cut up in strips and weaved or loosely crotched. Most get sent to Haiti and Africa in big containers.
Sleeping inside again tonight as more huge clouds are threatening. I don't like the greenish look of them.....I will just pray and trust in the Lord to protect us all, like he does every day. Another cyclist had a bad fall today, hitting his head, but he is checked up and ok.
When we got outside there was athreatening purple bank of clouds moving in, quite angry looking with rumblings. there was thunder during the night too, I heard it around midnight. Ate my oats and raisins very quickly and gulped down a cup of milk and jumped on the bike. It was dark outside because of the rain clouds. everyone felt nervous, especially so when an officer came to the school to warn us of the impending thunderstorm. We thanked him and rode on, praying for the best. On the main road 4 of us missed a turn because of the poor visibility.Doug and Joy Lutke and Jerry Pols. Kept on straight and just as the first fury of the rain started we saw....can you believe?...a Tim Hortons! In America..... We hightailed in there as quick as lightning just as the strong wind started in earnest. Waited the storm out for an hour enjoying great coffee & a donut - and chatting with locals, explaining the C2C initiative. Heard interesting stories ...to follow...:-)
It kept raining for a long time after we left and we all ended up with skunk tails on our backsides, sand in our hair and in our mouths because of the tire spray. Our bikes ended up looking even worse than yesterday, and required intense cleaning for the third day in a row. So much grit on the drivetrain that my derailler made horrible sounds and didn't want to work properly. Also encountered long stretches of road works, where the pavement was grated up and rough surface to ride on. Had to wait long for our turn as double direction traffic had to use one single lane.
Rode with this group all day. Took turns to pull at 30kmh. Nice people to ride with! The sun came out and shone quite warmly. Got a sunburn as I rushed away in the morning without putting on sunscreen. Battled a strongish headwind the last 20 km or so. At Marine City we waited for the ferry in a restaurant, enjoying Pepsi and fries (shared between us all). The water of Lake St Clair was turqoise blue, fabulous looking, similar to the mediteranian sea. It made for a real nice picture.
The border control went smoothly, and we were greeted enthusiastically by dozens of C2C supporters on the Canadian side. Flags and welcome banners greeted us warmly, with Timmies coffee, cookies and watermelon. It felt soooo awesome to be in Canada agian!!!!
The ride back up to Sarnia on the other side of Lake St Clair and the river was wonderful, because of the scenery as well as the strong tailwind< It was a happy ride, enjoyed by us all, after the scary start to the day. At Sarnia Christian School we encountered a feast! The gym was decorated festively with long strands of white net from the centre out to the corners, with enormous red ballons bunched in the centre of the ceiling and the corners. Tables were ready draped in red and white, with an absolutely gorgeous centre piece on a table - a bike decorated with red and white flowers, such that none of the bike's frame was visible.The lady behind the artwork is Doris, originally from Columbia. The volunteers hosting us put on a feast for us. First we got delicious cupcakes, that spelled out "Welcome to Canada" The dinner was a real feast with many salads, steaks, potatoes, beans and corn. Deserts to our heart's desire!! The effort put in to feed 150 cyclists and our volunteers// staff is so greatly appreciated by us all. Our hearts swelled with gratitude and pride in our generous Canadian supporters and how they welcomed us!! Sarnia is the home town of Cristeena Nienhuis, and dozens of family and friends went all out to give us the best! They made a lovely banner, to welcome us. Photo to be insertewd as soon as I get the technical problems sorted out. I even got a free haircut, like many others starting to look a bit shabby. :-)
On display were mats crotched from milk bags, and sent to poor countries for people to sleep on. Very nice thick and useful mats, made of materals we discard every day. Carry bags are also made out of bread bags, cut up in strips and weaved or loosely crotched. Most get sent to Haiti and Africa in big containers.
Sleeping inside again tonight as more huge clouds are threatening. I don't like the greenish look of them.....I will just pray and trust in the Lord to protect us all, like he does every day. Another cyclist had a bad fall today, hitting his head, but he is checked up and ok.
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
leepy Hollow SP to Imlay City - August 6th
Got a good start this morning. Up at 6 and broke down the tent quickly as rain was forecast and I dislike folding up a wet tent. I miss Kobie a lot - he went back to Chicago for a leadership seminar. Got out of camp at 7:30 after a good bowl of oats and raisins. Good energy in there - just ask any racehorse!
After a few kms Albert joined me and soon George Vanderkeur. Now there is a racing team for you!
After some chatting they picked up the pace and kept it at 30 to 36km/hr - up the hills they dont go much slower. I managed to hang on and rode with them all day. They are extremely fit and fast after six weeks of cycling. and after only nine days I had my work cut out to keep up! We were early at camp, even after spending 45 minutes at MacDonalds to use their Wi Fi, we were amonhg the first two dozen home. George and Albert are machines on a bike - wow
Stopped at MickeyDs for a bite and a coffee, and it started raining - which it did for half the entire route today. That made it double as hard to keep up since the spray kick up of two bikes in front had me eat a lot of good American sand today. My eyes hurt tonight as the continuous spray of dirty water runs into the eyes despite the glasses that one can't see thru anyway because of road dirt and fogginess. The 3 of us had a close call when a car turned in front of us and stopped almost blocking our way. Travelling at 30 or more kph we had only split seconds to react. Albert got through, and George made it barely not to land on the car's hood - and my only option was to take the scenic route off road over the grass onto the sidewalk. I guess in the rain the driver did not see us or misjudged our speed. We thank the Lord for protecting us today from certain injuries!
We are sleeping inside a school in Imlay City today. The gym and hallways are lined with sleeping bodies and the hallways lined with bicycles. Our group now has grown to more than 150, but the 9 guys of Immanuel CRC are leaving us tomorrow after dipping their tires in Lake Huron, to complete their Lake to Lake trip with us. We enjoyed having them around, and hope the trip was a good experience for them. We certainly had plenty of rain in the week they joined us! More rain forecasted for tomorrow as well, when we cross into Canada via the ferry. We are all super excited to do that and look forward to the warm welcome and the traditional and much loved Tim Hortons coffee with red and white cupcakes! (To match our maple leaf flag) We enjoyed a wonderful chicken barbeque tonight and locals treated us to ice cream....yum!!!
After a few kms Albert joined me and soon George Vanderkeur. Now there is a racing team for you!
After some chatting they picked up the pace and kept it at 30 to 36km/hr - up the hills they dont go much slower. I managed to hang on and rode with them all day. They are extremely fit and fast after six weeks of cycling. and after only nine days I had my work cut out to keep up! We were early at camp, even after spending 45 minutes at MacDonalds to use their Wi Fi, we were amonhg the first two dozen home. George and Albert are machines on a bike - wow
Stopped at MickeyDs for a bite and a coffee, and it started raining - which it did for half the entire route today. That made it double as hard to keep up since the spray kick up of two bikes in front had me eat a lot of good American sand today. My eyes hurt tonight as the continuous spray of dirty water runs into the eyes despite the glasses that one can't see thru anyway because of road dirt and fogginess. The 3 of us had a close call when a car turned in front of us and stopped almost blocking our way. Travelling at 30 or more kph we had only split seconds to react. Albert got through, and George made it barely not to land on the car's hood - and my only option was to take the scenic route off road over the grass onto the sidewalk. I guess in the rain the driver did not see us or misjudged our speed. We thank the Lord for protecting us today from certain injuries!
We are sleeping inside a school in Imlay City today. The gym and hallways are lined with sleeping bodies and the hallways lined with bicycles. Our group now has grown to more than 150, but the 9 guys of Immanuel CRC are leaving us tomorrow after dipping their tires in Lake Huron, to complete their Lake to Lake trip with us. We enjoyed having them around, and hope the trip was a good experience for them. We certainly had plenty of rain in the week they joined us! More rain forecasted for tomorrow as well, when we cross into Canada via the ferry. We are all super excited to do that and look forward to the warm welcome and the traditional and much loved Tim Hortons coffee with red and white cupcakes! (To match our maple leaf flag) We enjoyed a wonderful chicken barbeque tonight and locals treated us to ice cream....yum!!!
Grand Rapids to Sleepy Hollow State Park, Aug 5th
Got up extra early so we can be ready with the bikes to be sent off with a prayer by a female chaplain of Calvin College, Mary Hulst.
Holland, MI to Grand Rapids, Saturday Aug 3 and Sunday 4th
Rode in lovely sunshine with Claire E. It was a real joy, so different from the
misery of the previous morning.
Weekend in dorm of Calvin College.
Celebration service,
To be continued.....:-)
Benton Harbor to Holland,MI Friday August 2nd
Left this morning in a hefty downpour! Not nice!!!
About 20 miles wet and cold to the skin. on top of the discomfort, I have a saddle sore that is just hurting big time today. The wet chamois does not help and aggravates the chafing. At the first SAG at a CRC church we had coffee and cookies and could dry
off and warm up a bit. (More to follow...catching up...) :-)
Lansing to Benton Harbor August 1st
Kobie and I slept in a corner of the gym of the Christian High School
– about 100 of us, the rest strewn about in hallways. I was quite tired after
the high speed pace line of yesterday and slept like a log, unaware of any
snoring. Had a glorious warm shower since I was in the first group in. We were treated to a great dinner and ice
cream social last night. New people joined, like Susan Deckinga on her
recumbent, wife of Mark that broke his leg on the first day. She will ride with
us for 3 days.
Today we rode on trails a lot. Fantastic to ride in a green
tunnel! I know that we were passing
through the city of Gary, one of the poorest and most run down cities in the
USA, but we were tunneling through on the rail trails where we were shielded
from seeing all the run down boarded up houses and buildings and broken
infrastructure that we saw on the 2008 tour in Gary.
Benton Harbour is quite pretty with all the boats on the
water. There is a very lovely beach with soft yellow sands, the dunes that line
the coast of Lake Michigan. Kobie was
asked to mark the roads with arrows on the turns and he spent all afternoon
doing that. He did a very good job. He also had to do a photo shoot on the
beach for the Mini Sea to Sea ( or Lake to Lake) – 9 riders from Immanuel CRC
in GR: 3 dads and their sons and 2 other boys, dipped their tires in Lake
Michigan and will stay with us to dip their tires in Lake Huron. The youths
were super excited to ride with us and we were happy to have them along. We spent
the night at Lighthouse ministries. (More to follow...catching up on blog) :-)
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