Last night the guys said we’d sleep in because it was a short day & our lunch stop was at mile 20—so I did sleep, until 6:30. When I got up John had finished breakfast, Louis and Jake were putting their safety vests on, and Andy was putting air in his tires. They were all ready to leave & I told them to just go with out me. But nooooo… I put my clothes on & the guys took down my tent—pressure! I went to grab my daily morning bagel & flipped the seeded side on the pavement c ream cheese side down…forget the 5 second rule on that one. I’m not eating that one. When I walked back to them Pete was helping slid my camel-bak on, Andy held my gloves, Louis had my sunglasses & John my bike—thank goodness I’m not a high-maintenance woman. My hairs getting longer and I’m getting the style that many of the others here have been sporting. I think I’ll just keep it growing even though it’s taking longer to dry—but now I go from bed head to helmet hair.

It was cool this morning as we rode out of camp. We saw the lake and the sun reflecting on it, wild turkeys, a cucumber field, and orchards of blueberries and peaches. The road was deceiving at times—we thought there were holes in the road but it was only shade.

Half way through our biking day we had a lunch stop that started at 10:00. When you leave early like we do…well, we had to find a place for coffee long before 10:00. Claire Elgersma took us through Saugatuck—a pretty artsy community along the water—where we could visit with a few people and have a good Chai Tea too.

Our lunch stop took me to the first CRC in North America. Graafschaap CRC hosted us in fine fashion. If you’ve never stopped for a visit here—please do. They have a great church history display in their lower level—I’d like to come back without the spandex.

Cheers from many woman & kids as we entered the CRC Conference Grounds ended the riding portion of the day. The cheers are great but I hope the people cheering understand we can’t do it without them. We need their prayers and finances to do this. We need them to be the hands of Christ when work projects beckon. And we need them to offer open hands to help the poor in their own communities and others. The cheers at times make me uncomfortable…and it’s hard to explain why, so bear with me. I think I’m just biking, and I know with a purpose—but aren’t the ones we should be cheering for those who daily work in poverty fighting situations/places? Like our missionary teams? I know it takes all of us to fight poverty and I know that I’m part of something big here…but more will always need to be done…by us all.

I had a conversation with Rachele Krull when we were in Salt Lake that is still going through my head. She deals with different family situations and at times they have craft projects with noodles—she has to be mindful of using food for crafts when she’s dealing with people caught in the cycle of poverty… I heard a statistic on this ride that my garbage disposal eats better than a person in poverty…scary huh?

Once here we headed right to the beach—well, I stood on the landing, soaked up the warmth of the sun, admired the water & avoided the sand. Then we kick into a different routine of set up tent, find showers & blog.

Coby de Blaeij, Ad’s wife, works here at the CRC Conference Grounds. She made 30 pies for today & the wonderful crème puff that Denise Neutel Witvoet enjoyed soooo much that she licked her plate! Besides Denise…let’s say that many enjoyed her Coby’s baked goods to the fullest.

This afternoon Cynthia was in camp. She took Ralph, Janessa, and Andrew with her. The plan is that she will ride tomorrow with Andrew. We volunteered to go too, but she’ll have to weigh the pros & cons. So we’ll have to see how it plays out. She needs physical space to ride, which I understand, at her pace. We don’t want to add pressure but we could be extra eyes. She doesn’t want to hold us up, we don’t want to leave her behind. She’ll have to make the call & we’ll respect it.

Home Missions served us a steak dinner tonight which beefed us up—we can eat and we thank you! While in the dinner line I was greeted by Steve & Judy De Ridder welcoming me to MI. Since Dave DR, his brother, stopped in Denver I got the greetings instead.

We’re seeing lots of extras in camp as we get closer to GR…people riding for a day or two, others wanting to check out our gear/kitchen trucks, and family members of the riders. We all know that the closer we get to Grand Rapids the ride will change for us. We’re losing 10 riders and adding 60 new riders. Please pray that they make the adjustment to the ride & that we are a welcoming community for them. The dynamics will change…you know how well CR’s like change…:-)

Bill VanTol, Dordt alum & former World Missions Director, introduced himself to me tonight. I have met so many people that have spent years of their lives working in missions and each story is unique. Earlier I was talking about Dutch Bingo with Ed Speis (don’t know how to spell it Ed) & how I like to play it. I should say I like talking with people & making connections—Bingo in general! I think God puts people in my life at different times for different reasons. Years later I may make a connection between people or places—that’s the bingo part of life…making connections.