Day 40: Chesteron, ID to South Haven, MI

WE ARE IN MICHIGAN! LAST STATE UNTIL CANADA!!!!

Actual kms: 138 kms

Overkill: 5 or so. There was a short detour and I headed into South Haven right after my shower so I could catch up on blogging and hopefully get some work done.

Quote: "Michigan! Michigan! I like to ride my bicycle, I like to ride to Michigan!" -Me singing to the "I Like to Ride My Bicycle" song by Queen...with varied lyrics of course. I was really excited to get to Michigan today. As you can tell.

Road Things: Dead fox, racoon and a live great blue heron.

Money Spent: $2 Taco Bell potatoes/soft taco, $7 Frappalatte and Chocolate Eclairs. How long has it been since you ate an éclair? I forgot that they were that delicious.

Most Interesting Person Pick: Jim. His name is easy to remember because it is my Dad's name. He is from N.Y and I think is one of the only people who did the Denver to G.R leg. He is heading back home because he has to work but he's a great cyclist with a beautiful black Cannondale bike. He looks like a dutch immigrant straight from the boat, but he's actually a long time New Yorker. Great accent. He always says hi and is encouraging on the road.

Favourite Part of the Day: Getting into Michigan. It made me realize that the weekend and having Bob on the ride is almost here. I really think the last two weeks with Bob are going to be the most enjoyable and memorable. I loved having him at the same college as me because you get to reflect on that experience for the rest of your lives. Same for Sea to Sea hopefully.

Worst Part of the Day: Today, getting up. Especially with not talking to Tim last night and having a "longer" day today with headwind. Tomorrow and Saturday are short so that is exciting.

Today I started off with not wanting to get out of bed. Then I thought to myself "It's less than a week until you get to see Tim and only a few days until you are in Grand Rapids and get to see Kelly and Jesi and Bob." And that convinced me to get up even though I couldn't find my clock to see what time it was. Later I found out it was before 6 am and I thought to myself "Next time, don't try to convince yourself." :)

I started off the ride with Josh (the "new" guy), Nathan B and Jim from N.Y. I asked them if I could be in their groups as they were leaving and I was heading to the washroom. I told them that I would catch up but Jim said he would be embarrassed if I did, so they would wait. :)

We set a good pace and were racing along some bigger/busier roads. We had a wind, so we took turns pulling in a pace line. They wanted to stop at the first SAG, so I left them and kept going until Michigan, where I took this picture...and one of Indiana (since I didn't have an official one).

We drove by many amazing homes along Lake MI today. I thought that you would really like that drive Mom. I could just imagine hearing you say "Oh Jim, look at that!"

Then after biking by myself for about 20 k, Reuben, Nathan, Jim, Josh, Josh Crabbe, and Pieter caught me and kinda scared me just as I was turning at a stop sign. Nathan invited me to join them and as I did, I realized that these guys were going full tilt. We were doing 35-45 kms up and down these windy, wooded roads and it was a lot of fun. I had to push myself to keep up in the pace line, but it was a beautiful 10 k. Plus, keeping up with the boys is pretty much expected of me now. Alas.

Lake Michigan.

We stopped at Julie's SAG and Eritia showed up so I decided to bike with her. We did the next 80 kms at a decent pace (averaging around 30 k) and were pretty quite as we went up and down the black topped empty road. It was pretty windy (welcome to Lake Michigan I guess) and so we pulled for each other the rest of the way. We got into camp just before the gear truck around 1 pm, but with the time change today that was 2 pm. The middle school we are staying at is nice but the showers were not great you had to press this button constantly to shower and it was really stiff. :( Probably should have taken a swim in the lake. I set up the tent and took off to find wireless and here I am.

Here are two pictures from Brian last Saturday in Madison. This is when we all drove into the church in one big peleton (group of bikers). There is Bill (who is excited to meet you and your bikes Mom and Dad) on the motorcycle. Can you spot me? Look for a red helmet.

Day 39: Palos Heights, IL to Chesterton, ID

Actual Kms: 98 kms

Overkill: Really 3 or so driving to the beach to call people. The map was a little off because of the bike path again. So this week is a “short week” technically but everyone seems to be putting on extra kms.

Quote: "What! THIS is our sign to Indiana?" -Me after seeing that once again, there was no state sign. Rethinking my words now, it was nice of the Sea to Sea people (namely Art and Coby who mark the roads) to put a sign to Indiana.

Road Things: Lots of ducks, small birds, chipmunks and squirrels again.

Money Spent: $20 on phone card…I think. I’m still not sure because my phone card didn’t work after I called Mom and Dad and the service guys hung up on me three times as I was trying to figure it out.

Most Interesting Person Pick: Brian. "What a friend I have in Brian, all my moods and griefs to bear (singing)"...but seriously, Brian is a great guy. When I'm tired and I go slower than I should, he just bikes with me patiently. When I'm moody because I'd rather be biking with my boyfriend, he just shuts up and gives me space. Brian is an all around good guy.

Favourite Part of the Day: Breakfast at Janessa’s house. We had bacon, eggs, English muffins, and freshly pressed coffee. Also, we got to just sit there and chill….fold some laundry, talk to Greg, before we had to get on our bikes.





Worst Part of the Day: Not being able to call Tim and driving back to the campsite in the pitch dark.

Breakfast with the Ferrell's. Janessa had to leave before the picture.

Today Brian and I got to camp around 8:30 after a long drive through rush hour Chicago traffic with Greg. We decided to visit the Ghetto with an alternate group. We wanted to visit Roseland Christian Ministries which houses women/children and feeds about 250 people each day in the south side of Chicago. Since we were heading into the ghetto, we were told to travel in a group. The picture above is my group. Today was a lot of starting, stopping and shouting, "Slowing" or "Stopping" or "Car back" or "Green, go, go!"

We stood in a circle, and did some introductions and prayed for the ministry. Then a lot of rich, white bikers left the ghetto feeling a little bit uncomfortable that not one of our riders is a shade darker than "cream".

Our sign into Indiana. I think the Sea to Sea people felt badly about having no Illinois sign.

Stuffing my face with Pieter, minister of First CRC in London. He's doing really well (he just started in Madison) and complimented me on my pace today.

This picture is finally getting to the park. We left at 9, had a long lunch in the middle so it was later rather than sooner getting there. I think it was around 2 or 3. I had a shower, set up camp after unloading the gear truck and had some delicious treats from some CRC ladies who set up over 45 plates of goodies and lemonade. Mmm. The beach at the state park was beautiful so a lot of people went swimming but I was good and did some planning for school and encouragment note writing. I just need some postcards so I can finish sending those.

Day 38: Woodstock IL to Palos Heights, IL

Actual Kms: 155 kms

Overkill Kms: 25 kms. Brian and I got lost (as most people did) on the 60 km Fox Run Bike path today. It wasn’t exactly the most pleasant experience, but it was early in the day so it wasn’t horrible.

Road Things: A bunny that ran right in front of Brian. Lots of small birds and squirrels, a toad, ducks, Canadian Geese and a crane along the water.

Money Spent: Notta. :)

Quote: “I heard that there is a certain CRC in Chicago that hasn’t promoted the amazing Sea to Sea tour Pastor Fred….” –Me to Fred. He sheepishly agreed that he forgot.

Most Interesting Person Pick: Janessa Vankampen. Her face was like a ray of sunshine after the difficult day. She also waited for us because we got in late (close to 5!).

Favourite Part of the Day: Eating Tostitos and cheese dip in the car as Janessa took us to her Uncle Fred’s while we had dinner. It was good catch up time and then we got to eat a delicious meal.

Worst Part of the Day: In the middle of the day, about 15 kms left on the bike path, we didn’t know where we were and there was no markings because the SAGs couldn’t get on the path. It was frustrating because often we were like “Where do we go now?”

Today I rode with Brian for the entire day. We were on a bike path for 60 kms and we got lost. By the end of the path, we were both frustrated and ready to hit a road with road signs and those lovely orange arrows that Art and Coby mark out for us.
The tricky but beautiful bike path.

We stopped at this amazing library so that we could check my email and see if Janessa was picking us up. When one of the librarian's heard what we were doing, she called down the public relations library lady and she interviewed us and took this picture.

We did get to stop for lunch at a local CRC that provided lunch for us and that was wonderful! Here is me stopping to stuff my face. Mmmm.
This picture is for Kelly O'Brien. :) Up for a road trip?

Waiting for the train.

When we finally got to Trinity Christian College, Janessa and Renita and a couple from Frederiction (along with a painted van) were waiting there for us. That was an awesome sight. We drove to Janessa's (a good friend from PEI) uncle's house and we ate and ate. Then we showered, did some laundry, had a beer and enjoyed some very humiliating games of ping pong with Greg. I like playing people I can beat better....like Brian and Matt and Peter (well almost). :) I slept like a baby in the guest room. It was nice to have clean sheets.

Day 37: Madison, WI to Woodstock, IL

Actual Kms: 141 kms

Overkill: 8 or so, meandering and going to the bike store in Woodstock and the city square (which is very nice).

Money Spent: $130 yesterday on school supplies at the Learning Store, which a resident of
Madison (Merle) graciously took me to. I am excited to have nametags and new posters! $12 eyebrows waxed (yes, I know, expensive but sometimes, you have to feel somewhat beautiful).

Roadthings: Racoon (dead). Lots of corn and soybeans. Oh, two live hawks.

Quote: "What we're in Illinois..oh man! We missed the sign!" -Me after realizing we were in Illinois and we didn't take a "Welcome to Illinois" picture. I think they forgot to put a sign.

Favourite Person Pick: Ann. Levina, you know her from the 2005 tour. She rode with Matt and I for the last 30 kms and she kept up a very good pace. She is 55 and a very strong biker with a good sense of humour. We talked a lot about the Canadian tour and how it compares to this one. Apparently they saw greater diversity (wildlife, nature) on the Canadian tour but we have less rain on this tour! Also, the first tour had less mountians (climbs) but probably more camaraderie in the group.

Favourite Part of the Day: Eating at the Devenian CRC at 80 kms into the ride. The food and generousity was amazing.

Worst Part of the Day: Last night I scratched a bug bite right on the top of my foot and since I don't wear socks when riding (don't worry, I wash my shoes out at least every ten days...which reminds me...), my scratch got a little sore while riding.

Today was an excellent riding day. Matt and I rode the first 80 kms and it time flew! Maybe it is because we realized that there are only 17 more riding days, or maybe it was the subject matter of our conversation. Not sure, but it flew. We were trying to be in early because we had "Sweep" duties of setting up tables and the canopys that cover the food. We stopped breifly in Wisconsin at a cheese and wine tasting place. It was a little early for the wine but the Salami Cheddar and the Chocolate Fudge Cheese were great.

But we did stop at Devenian CRC for some excellent stewed beef and sloppy joe sandwiches. There was tons of pasta salads, jello salads and brownies and ice cream for desert. Let's just say that if you love food, that is a major reason you should go on any foreseeable upcoming Sea to Sea's.

We left there around 11:30 and rode up the beautiful country roads in 75 degree (22ish?) weather. We rode with Ann for a while and went to the bike store when we got into Woodstock (around 1:30). Didn't find the detours stem bag that I was looking for, so Matt and I headed to downtown where he got something for his fiance and I got my eyebrows waxed. There were lots of Sea to Seaer's having a drink or enjoying the beautiful downtown square.

I headed back to camp after finding a St.Bernard in a bookstore (no spending though...thank you, thank you) and had a shower, set up the tent and helped with Sweep duties. Now I've headed to the library (which may be the most beautiful library I've ever seen and contributes to the desire I have to want to be a librarian). I'm planning on heading to the local Starbucks to have a little coffee and do some school work and maybe read. Ahh, the perks of being in early. :)

Unfortunately, the library won't let me upload the four pictures I took today, so I will do that later. Signing off.

Day 36: Fennimore, WI to Madison, WI

Actual Kms: 116

Overkill: 2 or so going to the church and back to the park so we could travel as a massive group.

Road Things: Dead racoon and small birds.

Money Spent: $0 so far. It's a miracle.

Interesting Person Pick: Julie. She is a 29 year old gal who has done a bit of everything. Wilderness Guide, teacher in Prague and she's going to Japan soon. She has a nice Trek bike, very similar to mine and wasn't supposed to stay on the tour but decided in Denver that she just couldn't leave. We had some good conversation on the bike today and she is really easy going.

Favourite Part of the Day: Having Jess Fox pay for my amazing Raspberry bar and coffee. Mostly that was my favourite part because I knew that my "money spent" column would be $0.

Worst Part of the Day: Realizing I received 12 letters/packages from people and 0 from Tim. This makes you look bad Tim. :)

This is the bike path we (Jess, Julie and I) rode on today. I think it was the first time I have ridden the whole day with girls and it was kind of relaxing. We went at a 25 km/h pace or slower and it was nice.

This was on the wall at the little Norweigen bakery we went to. I had the best raspberry bar (actually 2) and enjoyed some good conversation. Pres. Kennedy had visited this place in 1960.

A very excited Sarah opening her mail when she got to the church. I recieved two packages and ten letters. This one is from my parents.

Finding my very old Powerpuff Girls lunchbox in the package...hopefully there is something inside?

Oh yeah! Red P.E.I hat and empty Tim Hortans cups....

And $20 of Tim Hortons money...score!

Here is the entire group riding together to the church.

Here are some pictures that Tyler took of us on the day we did Bertha's pass. They are pretty cool.

This is when I got to the top.

Day 35: New Hampton, IA to Fennimore, WI

Actual Kms: 168 kms YAH TO THREE CENTURIES IN A ROW! (And hopefully no more).

Overkill: 3 or so to the Post Office, pool for showers and this restaurant that I’m sitting in now.

Road Things: A young deer split open (yuck), small yellow birds and a lot of butterflies again.

Money Spent: Ahh. This is like confession for me. $8 Omelet, toast and coffee at 11, $4 Frappacinno in Praire du Chien (They pronounce it Praire de Sheen…not the French way), $2 ice cream when in camp, and I’m going to buy supper because I need to catch up on blogging, which is a pretty bad excuse but I don’t care (and also I don’t want to have to drive back to town to call Tim), so $10. The good news is I didn’t buy a really cute $50 jersey with flowers on it at a bike store in Praire du Chien.

Most Interesting Person: Eric Stewhower. He is a third year Calvin College student who just changed his major from Engineering to Recreation/Youth Ministry; which is a pretty brave thing to do. He is very outgoing (think Bob), very innocent in a good way (don’t think Bob), and good looking in a young sort of way. When I asked him about finding a girl on this trip, he replied, “I just go with the flow”. J He’s a great rider and we rode for about 80 kms this morning, talking and pulling each other…mostly him pulling me.

Favourite Part of the Day: Breakfast (I absolutely can’t say no to omelet’s) with Eric in some little town (that’s right, I can’t remember and it’s today!). We had a good time and I found a card for Tim and sent it in the mail. Worst Part of the Day: The last 30 kms after Julie’s SAG were difficult because I was mostly by myself and I just wanted to be done. It was the first time that I thought for a brief second “I don’t want to do this right now”. It’s pretty amazing that that is the first time I’ve really thought that. About one minute later I remembered that I get to do this. It’s all a mindset. Also, after three centuries, my knees are starting to hurt.

Today I was going to ride with a larger group, namely Julia, Eric, Jon, Annette, Matt Z, Jenna and some others. We were supposed to leave at 7, but it ended up being 7:30 and the first road of 35 kms was horrible. It was actually a little dangerous to be riding in such a large group because you couldn’t see the six inch deep holes fast enough. So Eric and I broke away and started pacing up and down the hills (yes, we have hills again) at about 30 kms/h.

Eric S and I at breakfast.

My nifty handlebars and a letter on it's way to being delivered. Can you guess for who?

We had some good conversation about college, Grand Rapids, the tour and other stuff and then, we hit a highway with a very narrow shoulder. There were rumble strips to the left of us, a foot and a half of pavement and gravel to the right. Some truck driver slowed down and said someone had fallen up ahead, so we rode ahead and found Don who was dazed and had a some small cuts and bruises. We called Betsy and she helped him. When we kept going, I was a little anxious about the road, so I went a little fast and lost Eric.

After about 20 kms, we went over the great Mississippi River and then we were in Wisconsin. It was a town called Praire du Chien and I found out where the bike shop was and Peter K and Lawrence and I went. I didn’t buy anything on account of buying too much yesterday. But I did find out that Madison has a number of good bike shops where I might be able to find the carrying case I want. Also, I think I want to find a teachers store so that I can start making desk/locker name tags.

Welcome to Wisconsin.

We sat at a coffee shop for a little while and then hit the road. Right out of the town, we found this…the largest hand carved Sturgen with a saddle on it, so I had to take a picture. I rode by myself for a while, through the beautiful countryside. You could see farmland for miles and I passed a house that looked just like Randall and Elizabeth Nieuhof’s.

I rode with Lawrence and Peter K for a while, drafting at 40 km/h and it was the first time that I struggled to keep up, but we were going fast and I wasn’t going to be the one to say that it was too fast. Later when we were having ice cream, Lawrence said he was impressed that a girl could pace with them. J I’m not going to tell him that it tuckered me out.
I thought this sign was funny. We see a lot of interesting signs along the way.

So we got into Fennimore at 4, headed to the pool, showered, got some ice cream and now I’m desperately trying to get the Public Library’s wifi, but it’s not very successful. I’m at a little place called “Our Little Restaurant & Bakery” and the place is full because it’s fish fry night. I got a mushroom and swiss burger and the bun is the softest thing ever. I love small town diners.

The view from the road. Today's ride was beautiful.

Day 34: Algona, IA to New Hampton, IA

These are some pictures from last night. After blogging, I went to a pub, ordered a beer and met some 50 something guys who wanted to know why I was wearing a helmet (sometimes I just forget to take it off). J They bought me a beer and invited me to join them but I choose to have supper first and read. Then I joined them and when I tried to leave I said, “Well I’m off to go find some cheesecake”. They said that I wouldn’t be able to find any cheesecake in this town and proceeded to offer to drive me to a restaurant twenty minutes away to get some cheesecake. I politely said no, but then they said that they would bring me cheesecake at the Elementary school (where we were staying). I thought they would probably forget.

The cheesecake and people enjoying the cheesecake.

Someone sent us a box of lifesavers.

Wrong! Forty-five minutes later, Julie comes up to me and says “There are people in the parking lot looking for you”. Sure enough, there are the guys and they brought me an entire cheesecake, whip cream, chocolate sauce, plates and forks! They said “Thanks again for doing this Sarah” as they left. So we had cheesecake.

Playing Euchre. Art and I won.

Actual Kms: 188 kms

Overkill: 0

Road Things: Honestly can’t remember.

Money Spent: $8 Amazing Beef Philly Sandwich and coffee, $125 batteries, bike lube (the wax kind), two red and black road tires ($60), new chain ($40), and inner tube, $4 ice cream/smoothie.

Interesting Person Pick: Denny O’Flattery…a 66 year old bike mechanic who is short, hard of hearing and a very generous person. He spent 3 hours with me, teaching me about my bike, talking about his biking days, and cleaning my bike with me and didn’t charge me a cent.

Favourite Part of the Day: Cleaning my bike with Denny…see below.

Worst Part of the Day: The middle kms, from 80 to 120 when we were going slow because of Brian’s knees. I wanted to go faster, but I also wanted to wait for Brian. It was just boring…a 40 km road of not a whole lot.

Today I woke up and Brian and I decided to leave around 7…which means 7:30. We booked it, pulling each other for about 80 kms. We did that in about 2.5 hours and it was great. Then we reached Julie’s SAG and Brian said that his knees were starting to hurt, so we decided to take it slow.

There were lots of air turbines in Iowa and Wisconsin.

We both hit the music and rolled onwards at about 23-25 km/h. Then we got to a little town and found the only restaurant open…Zak’s. I had a great sandwich and mashed potatoes, Brian had a burger and iced his knees.

Len, our chaplain in Bill, our motorcycle guy's helmet.

Then we headed out and after about 40 more kms we reached Charles City. We decided to look for the bike shop that the waitress had told us about. It was in a Radio Shack basement and we almost didn’t find it. The bike guy wasn’t there, but I saw some beautiful red and black striped tires that looked decent and matched my bike. I asked the lady at the counter and she said that “Denny” would be back in 10 minutes, so we waited and sure enough, a short Irishman returned and asked how he could help.

Denny helped a lot. First, we decided to put the new tires on my bike. Then we measured my chain and Denny showed me that it was quite stretched, so we put a new one on. We took off the cassette, sprockets and cleaned them furiously. We cleaned the clip on pedals with air pressure and I wiped the entire bike down. Denny was quite excited that I was cleaning my bike because he gets so many bikes into the shop that are so dirty. We spent three hours talking about his racing days, what kind of rides he does now, his bike, our trip and how he is helping some people ein the area with bikes of their own. One gentleman came in to get his inner tube replaced and because Denny was working on my bike, I did that for him. The whole experience was great. When he brought me to the cash register to pay, he said, “And it’s nothing for the labour, thanks for a wonderful afternoon.”

Denny and the other guy (the one whose inner tube I fixed).

So after the cheesecake incident and the bike mechanic blessing, I have to either admit to strangers generousity or my ability to get anything I want from older men. Maybe a little bit of both?

My clean bike. Notice the handle bar tape.

After that, I still had a 30 km bike ride into camp so I booked it and hoped to catch up with the Sweep team. I saw Josh and Gayle in the distance about 10 kms from camp and talked and joked with them until we got into camp at 6:30. Then I got to brag to the entire camp over my very clean, beautiful bike. After eating, showering, setting up the tent and phoning Tim, I went to bed.