Leave early, ride hard, get in…Yep—that summed up the day! We prayed that we’d be blessed with a tail wind—we had a head wind all day. We were blessed but in other ways. Cloud coverage and cool temps helped us rather than hindered today.

Andy & Louis were on sweep, so we added Mike Vander Horst—another Canadian—where are the Americans first thing in the morning besides Jerry K. (WA) & myself? Today Jerry & I pulled the whole group closer to the Canadian boarder. :-} Actually, we all took turns leading the line—I couldn’t fall back on the “weaker sex” excuse to get out of my turn and I won’t stoop to whining. We would take the lead for 3 miles, drop to the back & rotate up to the lead. We averaged 17 mph for the day—not bad with the winds and 95 miles. I think there may be a few people who will be ‘winded’ today.

Grand Rapids was a homecoming for many of the riders—but now we’re heading to Canada for a homecoming for many of the other riders.

A few things they’ve told me about Canada

· –they might have flush toilets at some places

· –the first place we’re stopping is at Timmy’s

· –we might be able to blog if we can get internet

· –Dini Meyerink’s husband used to have a polar bear farm

· –they’re not all lumberjacks

· –we’ll have to change our bikes in for dog sleds

· –you can get mukluks with SPD’s

· –pretty cool, eh?

Someone asked Art Mulder if he was part of a race. We do draw attention as a group and that gives us an opportunity to talk about poverty & the ride.

I don’t really remember too much about the towns today because we didn’t stop but for a quick coffee at a gas station, with a flush. Durand, what I do remember of it, was a pretty community with quaint homes.

When we arrived to Richmond we found a bike shop & I took the opportunity to have my bike tuned up. I’m going to need a new bottom bracket soon—I just need 10 more good biking days out of it first.

Tonight is supposed to get down to 49*–see we’re getting closer to Canada…

After enjoying a very comfortable evening with Aunt Frieda and a great sleep, I still woke at 5:00 but just lay like a lump on the bed until 6:30. No tent zippers calling, no sweep duty this weekend—a rest-filled morning.

We worshipped at Alger Park CRC where Aunt Frieda is a member. She told me that they have an intern pastor but didn’t give a name—it was Stephen De Wit from Sioux Center. (Tell Ver & June they have a cute little grandchild over here!) Stephen had a fitting sermon on community. Our community will change today as we add 60 new riders for the last stage of the ride. Please continue to pray for all the riders and for the adjustments we will all be making. May we be grace filled in welcoming them as we are all bonded by the mission we’re on—and safety for all.

Our Celebration Service was at 5/3 Ball Park (—why isn’t it 1 & 2/3?) I’ll have to get the story on that one. Our speaker was Shane Claiborne from inner city Pilly, PA. He’s the author of The Simple Way. He delivered a message that was what this ride is all about—poverty and our response to it. He told about his personal experience with Mother Teresa and living in community to help others. Well received.

During the service a story was mentioned about a group that took an offering early in the service & then later again in the same service. When a guest asked about it he was told that the first one is for their tithe & the second one was for how they were blessed & thankful for their blessings. What a way to explain helping others.

Before the service I met with Kelly Ram, a former classmate from Dordt. I was a non-traditional student, old fart, compared to the other students. Her heart bleeds on the job as she works with kids/families that need extra assistance in life. Kelly is the Director of Girls Ministries for Juvenile Justice and Director of Teen Parents. After the service I was able to visit with Sandi and John Vander Stelt, former members of my church back home. They decided to retire closer to their children/grandchildren in GR after many years of teaching at Dordt.

I met a few blog readers today—thanks for getting my attention—it helps to know people are interested and along for the ride this way.

I enjoyed dinner with my Aunt & cousin Lyle & Sue Bierma. It’s great to reconnect after 5 yrs. Also, Happy Birthday to my Aunt Kirkie back home.

Peloton was at the Woodlawn Ministry Center where Josh Krabbe said he’s going to try & ride tomorrow—he took a tumble over the handle bars & hurt his shoulder. He was icing it tonight at the meeting—keep him in your prayers. I think John Vanderveen tells the story on his blog.

I didn’t get to spend enough time with Cynthia this weekend—I missed her as she left this afternoon. I’ll see her in a bit as we enter Canada this week. Please pray for her continued healing—but I know she had a great day of riding yesterday! Praise God!

It was a quick walk back to Aunt Frieda, blogged a few lines & gather/organize my stuff for tomorrow.

Do we ever wonder why it’s others in poverty & not us, not me? I wonder that. Why not me?

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.

Stories from yesterday of others:

Lynn Verros (Knoxville, IA) got taken down by a sunflower that wrapped around her handlebars & she took Alida Van Dyk (Canada) with her. Alida landed in the wildflowers & is alright but Lynn landed on her knee & had to go for X-rays today—she didn’t bike today & her knee is in pain but not broken.

Denise & Heidi Bentum had an adventure with a car—Heidi missed the car but Denise bumped the car—the car left the scene—everyone is alright.

Angela and the kids brought me back to Trinity and we avoided Chicago rush hour traffic. At 8:00 this morning Trinity had a send off for us and it was really neat. Rev Michael Kooy from Grace Community in Oak Lawn gave the message. He told us this ride is the church at street level. Please pray for God’s peace for this city and peace for all.

While w e were going to pray Walt & Jeri Vink held hands, they were sitting beside me & they did the same thing on Sunday at the service—that’s what I miss with Brian. Simple little contact that I take for granted.

This morning was a late start for our group but we were purposely taking an “alternate route.” We had the opportunity to stick to the original plan or go through the area of the city & see Roseland Christian Ministries. Last night Sarah Mollema & Deb De Jong told me that if I haven’t seen it I needed to see what this trip is all about. Around 50 of the cyclists took the different route which only added a few miles to the ride. We had to go in groups of 6—safety in numbers—but not too big of groups because then we would cause problems in traffic. Graffiti, boarded up doors & windows, and buildings that would be torn down anywhere else mark the once Dutch infested area. At one time 8 CRC’s made their homes here—now, the church is still present through the people that serve this area, but not with too many church buildings.

Because I took the alternate route I missed a water stop at Bethel CRC—sorry Deb. But, meeting Rev. Tony Van Zanten at Roseland and getting a tour of the Ministry Center was well worth the extra miles. Please add Roseland to your prayer list—the prayer list is getting longer but trust me when I say they all have their own needs and we know prayer works.

As we were making our way to connect with original route a man in a van yelled & asked if we were with Sea 2 Sea. Yep! He turned around & it was a Dykstra (I lost my paper with the names of people in the dark & am trying to go by memory—always a dangerous thing in the evening) from Sauk Village CRC. He told us he read about us last night in the Banner. He wanted to know why we were in South Chicago. At this point I had no idea where I was any way but explained about the alternate route. I think this is one of many times in my life where ignorance is bliss—when we told others where we had been on our bikes, Roseland, they told me they don’t even go there by car.

We crossed some tracks on a back country, but busy, road and on the center of the road our SAG people had painted a “Welcome to Indiana” sign. Another state—they seem to be going faster then the first 6 or 7 states did.

Lunch was provided at Second CRC of Highland, IN. Thanks for the warm welcome, feeding the group with food & encouragement. I know I’ve lost a few pounds on this ride, but if I don’t start watching my food intake I’ll be rolling down these roads in a whole different way. We’re going into shorter days so I need to make sure my spandex doesn’t need to expand any more than necessary.

When we arrived at Indiana Dunes State Park—beautiful location on Lake Michigan—Crown Pointe CRC was supplying us with enough goodies to send a diabetic into a coma. Cookies, bars, muffins…can you hear the spandex stretching? Thanks for the goodies & the welcome—both are very much appreciated. I also met a faithful blog follower, Nancy Eades, her sister is Melissa Klooster who started riding with us on Monday. Sheryl Taylor’s brother is the pastor there & he’s on vacation—she’s missing him by a day. I also missed Dawn Van Kuiken, a student worker for me, but she’s on a mission project in Queens, NY. I did get to meet Nathan & Kristen Cederstrom (both alums) and their 5 cute little kids—she just delivered twins & her they are to meet S2S—wow!

We’re all doing the slap dance now—otherwise known as ‘get the mosquito before it gets you.’ At peloton we were warned to put all our food into the gear truck or we’ll have little furry visitors during the night. I guess raccoons have to fight poverty in their own way—attack the unsuspecting campers.

Praise God from who all blessings flow!

Thanks—I got mail this weekend that I forgot to thank Carlene & Jill for—appreciate it. Also, I forgot to mention that Vonda W., from Wisconsin, lead us into the sanctuary on her bike during the Celebration Service—I thought it was great for her & the people of Wisconsin. She’s representing her state well on Sea to Sea.

What a great day to be on a bike. We had cool temps, great roads & wonderful scenery! We hardly had any hills today. Ed’s going to get HIGH MARKS for the route today!!!

I left with arm warmers & a wind vest but was able to shed them early in the morning once I warmed up. As we were leaving we say 3 chairs along the side of the road with “best wishes” signs from a Sea to Sea supporter out of Monona. We really appreciate the hospitality of this area!

We had beautiful rolling hills through well manicured farm area. Our first miles went by fast & we had to remind ourselves to slow down & enjoy the day—we only had 81 today.

At mile 25 we came to a McDonald’s & I knew we were stopping for a ‘senior’ coffee—the guys get theirs half price b/c of their age. Andy—I get such a kick out of him—hands the lady a $10 bill & a few coins & tells her to keep the change—he thought he gave her a $1.00—he didn’t see it was a $10 because, “American money is all one color.” Being the “Dutch Canadian” he is, (his words not mine) he asked for his change back.

We were on our way to Delavan but Jake, our fearless leader for a few miles, missed a turn—we ended up going down a wonderful road that went right to a lake. When we take alternate paths like this it becomes time for a photo. Again, it’s dangerous to follow Jake…We we not the only ones to take an alternate path–poor Walt (our SAG) was on a wrong road today-now I know why we missed him.

When we got to Delavan I called Kae VE & told her I was sitting in the basement of her home church—she didn’t answer but I saw she gave me a blog comment about going there. I met a woman who sends Mary Evink the bulletin yet and many other wonderful people. I did look for Enno Haan—the only people who I know live there—but on my way out I ran into Luke Taylor & his little one. Luke is married to Joy Lefever from Orange City—both are Dordt alums. He was on a bike & I thought he was going to ride a bit with us but he was taking their little one to day care—next time Luke!

Delavan church hosted us with great sandwiches, salads & desserts. I may not have to eat tonight but being the creature of habit that I am—I will.

Right as we were leaving Delavan we saw a man taking photos—it was Marv Vos & Ruth, his wife. I don’t know if he knew it was me at the time but it was fun to yell out his name & see his head go up. Shortly down the road we saw another Sea to Sea sign along the road with a group of people sitting out around it. We were at Inspiration Ministries & met Susan, Sarah, Chuck, Donna & Tim. They were handing out water so we also asked if we could take a picture with them. Tim told us about a nature path that is paved so being the adventurists that we are—we headed to it. Tim told us it loops around & isn’t long but boy did we have fun. I yelled that we were going left—if we all head in the same direction no one has a head on collision—Pete went to the other left… I took a sunflower in the chest & knew Louis was getting it after me. Louis told me to listen & sure enough we could tell when all the others met up with the sunflower. I took a sharp curve that Louis missed & he ended up in the cornfield—bike & all. I met up with Pete on a different turn—need less to say we had a wonderful time with lots of laughing at Inspiration Ministries.

Along the road today I wanted to stop at a field for a picture–I got vetoed. It was a tobacco field & since some of the guys had worked in them in younger years they need no photos for reminders. It was burly (Don’t know how to spell this one) tobacco & they were harvesting it by hand from the bottom up–you don’t do it all in one day but work your way up.

When we got to the state line we didn’t have major sign acknowledging our entrance into Illinois. There we are taking photos on a county road by a sign reading ‘State Line Rd.’ Beautiful ride today!

Jerry & I went into town & explored Woodstock a bit. They have a great old opera house & city square with cobblestone streets. I think I’ll come back here & explore a bit more some day.

The weather is still so nice & the wet tent dried out quickly. We enjoyed the brats that were sent along with the cooks for dinner this evening. I’ve given a few haircuts & before I know it—time for peloton & bed.

We’ve been having high mileage days for a dew weeks that it’s hard to get used to 80 mile days—I think I’ll adjust nicely.