The scenery is definitely getting greener with field after field of irrigated corn. These irrigation systems are huge. We had quite a few long hills to climb today, but overall lost about 1,000 feet of altitude. In Minden, we are at about 2,200 feet. It was a long, hot 96 miles today, as I had to help cleanup breakfast and could not get going as early as normal. I got to camp about 4:00 and was again wiped out.
Tonight after dinner, we celebrated the halfway point of the trip with ice cream and strawberry sundies. We crossed the calendar halfway point yesterday and will cross the distance halfway point tomorrow about 18 miles into our ride.
Julie and I had a big surprise on the road today. Some friends of ours that were our “family” while on an Israel trip some years ago, were returning to Michigan from an Arizona vacation. They knew the sea to sea tour was taking todays route and just happened to stop at Julie’s SAG stop to ask questions, and I happened to be at the stop at the same time! It was great talking to Cal and Dorene Compagner. Cal is a pastor in the GR MI area.
I’m tired again and will sign off now.
Love to all, P & J.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Wray, CO to Mc Cook, NE
We are slowing descending from the high plains, but it is hardly detectable in riding. We had a 93 mile ride and it was extremely hot. When I arrived in Mc Cook, a bank thermometer displayed 104 and then 105 and then back to 104 again. That may have been a little off, but it was hot. When I arrived on the edge of town, I headed straight to a Macs for a value meal and lots of Diet Pepsi, ON ICE! Water in your bottle on the bike gets pretty hot and non-refreshing on hot days. When I got on my bike to leave for camp, I had a flat and was so bushed, I did not have the energy to change it there and walked the bike several blocks to our camp for the night and changed it after recouping a bit. That is my second flat on the trip.
We crossed into our sixth state today and entered our third time zone. We are now in Nebraska and the Central time zone.
The landscape was still pretty dry around here, but there was some scattered irrigated crops. It is slowly getting greener. I had one area where the grasshoppers were really thick on the shoulder of the road. The day before, we had quite a few kangaroo rats that were road kill on the shoulder.
This week is turning out to be quite mentally challenging, after accomplishing the mountains and now very open and sometimes boring landscape for miles. I have to get my head back into it. Because of the heat and distance, this was one of the toughest days on me physically also, as we also had a partial head wind.
My blog is short today, as I am really beat.
Love to all, P & J.
We crossed into our sixth state today and entered our third time zone. We are now in Nebraska and the Central time zone.
The landscape was still pretty dry around here, but there was some scattered irrigated crops. It is slowly getting greener. I had one area where the grasshoppers were really thick on the shoulder of the road. The day before, we had quite a few kangaroo rats that were road kill on the shoulder.
This week is turning out to be quite mentally challenging, after accomplishing the mountains and now very open and sometimes boring landscape for miles. I have to get my head back into it. Because of the heat and distance, this was one of the toughest days on me physically also, as we also had a partial head wind.
My blog is short today, as I am really beat.
Love to all, P & J.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Fort Morgan, CO to Wray, CO
We are in the high plains area at an altitude in the range of 4,000 to 4,500 feet. The landscape varies from desert to range land to beautiful irrigated crops. It is so open out here that you can see forever and there was hardly a tree in the first half of the ride. There have been a few oil wells sprinkled into the landscape also. We passed several cattle feedlots of unbelieveable size and odor. I and Case had one experience today that I hope is not repeated. We had a cattle livestock truck approach us in the oncoming passing lane and as it whoosed by, I felt a mist of what I thought was water. It was liquid, but not water, and the bad part was that the end of the day showers were still many miles down the road.
Today was close to 90 miles again and the temp reached 89. The winds were not a problem until the last 30 miles or so. It was then a headwind that made the last portion seem long. The state highway was great today, smooth with a wide shoulder. I arrived in camp at about 2:00 and did a mid-morning stop at Mom’s Café for a cinnamon roll with Case Van Maastrich (sp?) from the Midland MI area. He and I have been riding together off and on the past days.
Julie arrived early in camp and we rode over to the Wray’s Aquatic Center for a welcome swim and water slide. What a welcome time. The pool will be open tonight for our group again and we are having a pool party!
Tomorrow, I am back on sweep team when I arrive in camp and will need to help set up for supper. The high temp for tomorrow is forecasted to be 104, so I plan to get up extra early to beat some of the heat.
Love to all, P & J.
Today was close to 90 miles again and the temp reached 89. The winds were not a problem until the last 30 miles or so. It was then a headwind that made the last portion seem long. The state highway was great today, smooth with a wide shoulder. I arrived in camp at about 2:00 and did a mid-morning stop at Mom’s Café for a cinnamon roll with Case Van Maastrich (sp?) from the Midland MI area. He and I have been riding together off and on the past days.
Julie arrived early in camp and we rode over to the Wray’s Aquatic Center for a welcome swim and water slide. What a welcome time. The pool will be open tonight for our group again and we are having a pool party!
Tomorrow, I am back on sweep team when I arrive in camp and will need to help set up for supper. The high temp for tomorrow is forecasted to be 104, so I plan to get up extra early to beat some of the heat.
Love to all, P & J.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Denver, CO to Fort Morgan, CO
The mile high city is behind us. The Denver area churches were fantastic in the welcome they gave us and the encouragement and food provided. Sunday the area churches combined for a worship service at an area high school stadium. It was a time of worship and praise together and communion was also served. At these weekend celebration services, the CRC agencies and area organizations focused on helping the poor and oppressed have a ministry fair with booths and staff of hand. A the beginning of the service, all the Sea to Sea cyclists and staff did a partial lap around the stadium track to the music of our theme song, “Do Something Beautiful”.
The area churches provided noon lunch for us and evening dinner on Sunday. We were certainly welcomed and treated well here. Thank you, Denver.
This morning, Julie needed to get our pickup in for an oil change and lube. She was to be led by an area volunteer to the oil change place. It turned out that person was Roland Buteyn, our high school principal from back in Waupun, Wisconsin. They were able to chat while the oil change was completed. He is retired and has lived in the Denver area near his children for a number of years. Small world isn’t it?!
Today we had to get ourselves through and/or around the metro Denver area. This was a concern with the traffic and rush hour. It turns out that we could get on the South Platte River bike path and follow the riverside all the way through and out of the city. That was great. We biked right past the Denver Broncos football stadium.
Once out of the city, we were in rolling hills of sage and desert conditions again. We needed to use I-76 a couple times today when there was no frontage road. The frontage roads were so bumpy, that at one point, I picked up my bike and walked a couple hundred feet to I-76 and continued on that nice smooth shoulder. It was then that I noticed the ground was scattered with cactus. I had not seen that from the road.
It reached 100 or more degrees this afternoon and I was glad to be in our Fort Morgan high school camp by 2;00 p.m. after our 90 mile ride. We had a couple thunder showers just skirt by us, but the wind this afternoon was very gusty and threatened to blow our tents away. I had to add some extra ropes to hold mine down. We had another rainbow today, it is at least the 4th one we have experienced, a reminder of God’s promise to Noah many years ago.
Love to all, P &J.
The area churches provided noon lunch for us and evening dinner on Sunday. We were certainly welcomed and treated well here. Thank you, Denver.
This morning, Julie needed to get our pickup in for an oil change and lube. She was to be led by an area volunteer to the oil change place. It turned out that person was Roland Buteyn, our high school principal from back in Waupun, Wisconsin. They were able to chat while the oil change was completed. He is retired and has lived in the Denver area near his children for a number of years. Small world isn’t it?!
Today we had to get ourselves through and/or around the metro Denver area. This was a concern with the traffic and rush hour. It turns out that we could get on the South Platte River bike path and follow the riverside all the way through and out of the city. That was great. We biked right past the Denver Broncos football stadium.
Once out of the city, we were in rolling hills of sage and desert conditions again. We needed to use I-76 a couple times today when there was no frontage road. The frontage roads were so bumpy, that at one point, I picked up my bike and walked a couple hundred feet to I-76 and continued on that nice smooth shoulder. It was then that I noticed the ground was scattered with cactus. I had not seen that from the road.
It reached 100 or more degrees this afternoon and I was glad to be in our Fort Morgan high school camp by 2;00 p.m. after our 90 mile ride. We had a couple thunder showers just skirt by us, but the wind this afternoon was very gusty and threatened to blow our tents away. I had to add some extra ropes to hold mine down. We had another rainbow today, it is at least the 4th one we have experienced, a reminder of God’s promise to Noah many years ago.
Love to all, P &J.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Snow Mountain Ranch, CO to Denver, CO
The Rockies are behind us!! What a day and what a week. We did close to 90 miles today and had the long, tough climb up Berthoud Pass at over 11,000 feet. Before starting the ascent to the pass, we passed through the ski town of Winter Park. Just before getting to Winter Park, I saw Julie parked on the other side of the road. She had one of our cyclists sitting in the front seat. He had been involved in a tangle up with another cycle and had flipped and broken his collarbone in two places and his helmet was cracked. He is from my small group on the tour and from Grand Rapids. He was very disappointed that he could not continue on the tour and will be catching a ride home today with someone driving toward Michigan. I stopped and had a prayer with him in the pickup and tried to console him. That is the second person that I have come across shortly after a tour ending injury and the disappointment of ending the ride shows as tears in their eyes, and that is not from the injury pain.
The Berthoud Pass climb was in the beginning of the day and after it was conquered, you find yourself mentally letting down after a major obstacle like that is accomplished and you still have about 63 miles to go. We had driven through Berthoud Pass years ago and had forgotten how long it is. The scenery was beautiful. It has several switchbacks and you could see traffic way above you and had to get to that point. On the other side of the pass, it was a great long downhill ride at 40+ mph.
We still had several smaller, tough climbs before the final descent into the Denver metro area. We are camped at Denver Christian High School’s athletic field. The Denver area churches had a great welcome for us this afternoon. They had several folks cheering us on when we arrived and actually had a couple cheerleaders giving us a welcome. They had a live DJ in the parking lot playing music and making announcements and had a whole bunch of homemade cookies, pop, and water and welcome packets for us. It was great. Tomorrow, we bike to a different school park for worship with them. They are hosting us for lunch and dinner. Wow!
This weekend, we lose about 15 people from the tour today and gain another 15 or so. Russ Johnson from Holland is one of the new riders. I had ridden in training with him a couple times out of Providence Church in Holland with a group of guys. Dave Geerlings from Holland joined the tour in the Salt Lake City area.
This week, we pass the midpoint of the tour duration. Time is really flying and I have trouble keeping track of what day it is. When we arrived here in Denver, we were blessed with some mail from friends from back home. What a treat and what support. We thank God for those encouraging notes.
Love to all, P & J.
The Berthoud Pass climb was in the beginning of the day and after it was conquered, you find yourself mentally letting down after a major obstacle like that is accomplished and you still have about 63 miles to go. We had driven through Berthoud Pass years ago and had forgotten how long it is. The scenery was beautiful. It has several switchbacks and you could see traffic way above you and had to get to that point. On the other side of the pass, it was a great long downhill ride at 40+ mph.
We still had several smaller, tough climbs before the final descent into the Denver metro area. We are camped at Denver Christian High School’s athletic field. The Denver area churches had a great welcome for us this afternoon. They had several folks cheering us on when we arrived and actually had a couple cheerleaders giving us a welcome. They had a live DJ in the parking lot playing music and making announcements and had a whole bunch of homemade cookies, pop, and water and welcome packets for us. It was great. Tomorrow, we bike to a different school park for worship with them. They are hosting us for lunch and dinner. Wow!
This weekend, we lose about 15 people from the tour today and gain another 15 or so. Russ Johnson from Holland is one of the new riders. I had ridden in training with him a couple times out of Providence Church in Holland with a group of guys. Dave Geerlings from Holland joined the tour in the Salt Lake City area.
This week, we pass the midpoint of the tour duration. Time is really flying and I have trouble keeping track of what day it is. When we arrived here in Denver, we were blessed with some mail from friends from back home. What a treat and what support. We thank God for those encouraging notes.
Love to all, P & J.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Kremmling, CO to Snow Mountain Ranch, CO
Today was one of our shortest mile days, but was very welcome after yesterday’s grueling day. It was a gentle climb to the town of Granby. Julie had the day off from SAG duties today and I met her for breakfast in Granby. Fred Meyering from British Columbia joined us. This is the first time I have had the time to stop for a full breakfast along the way.
From Granby, it was only about 6 miles from there to YMCA Camp of the Rockies, Snow Mountain Ranch. It was a 2-3 mile climb for the last miles. We are camped on the hillside of an area that has been cleared out of Logpole Pine. Julie and I were here in 1977 for a Calvinist Counselors National Convention and stayed here. The surrounding forests in the mountainsides are now mostly brown and dead Logpole Pine, as the Mountain Pine Beetle has left behind a devastating path of dead pines. It certainly has impacted the beauty of this area. The dead logpole pine can be harvested within 6-7 years for lumber after it dies for lumber. The camp had cleared a large buffer around it for harvesting the dead ones and to provide forest fire protection. The fire danger is extreme here, and I cannot imagine how fast this area of forest would burn because of all the dead trees.
The short day today was welcome by all. Julie and I went for a swim at the camp indoor pool and just hung out to recoup. I am also catching up on my blog posts and other internet traffic. The internet satellite is not picking up a good signal today, so I will go to the lodge and see if they have a wireless service.
We are looking at crossing Berthoud Pass tomorrow. That will be the highest altitude of our trip at 11,000+ feet. I’ll get a photo for you all. From there it is downhill to Denver for the weekend. We will be losing about 25 cyclists in Denver and gaining about the same as some are doing certain sections and not the whole trip. We are have a communion service tonight and will say goodbye to the departing cyclists.
Love to all, P & J.
From Granby, it was only about 6 miles from there to YMCA Camp of the Rockies, Snow Mountain Ranch. It was a 2-3 mile climb for the last miles. We are camped on the hillside of an area that has been cleared out of Logpole Pine. Julie and I were here in 1977 for a Calvinist Counselors National Convention and stayed here. The surrounding forests in the mountainsides are now mostly brown and dead Logpole Pine, as the Mountain Pine Beetle has left behind a devastating path of dead pines. It certainly has impacted the beauty of this area. The dead logpole pine can be harvested within 6-7 years for lumber after it dies for lumber. The camp had cleared a large buffer around it for harvesting the dead ones and to provide forest fire protection. The fire danger is extreme here, and I cannot imagine how fast this area of forest would burn because of all the dead trees.
The short day today was welcome by all. Julie and I went for a swim at the camp indoor pool and just hung out to recoup. I am also catching up on my blog posts and other internet traffic. The internet satellite is not picking up a good signal today, so I will go to the lodge and see if they have a wireless service.
We are looking at crossing Berthoud Pass tomorrow. That will be the highest altitude of our trip at 11,000+ feet. I’ll get a photo for you all. From there it is downhill to Denver for the weekend. We will be losing about 25 cyclists in Denver and gaining about the same as some are doing certain sections and not the whole trip. We are have a communion service tonight and will say goodbye to the departing cyclists.
Love to all, P & J.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Craig, CO to Kremmling, CO
Our ride started with a pesky headwind today. In these higher elevation areas, it is not uncommon for a wind to come down from the mountains into the valleys below during the morning hours. The valley we are in suddenly changed into a more lush area, with grass and marshy areas and the hills on both sides took on a greener shade than we have seen for a while.
Our route took us through Steamboat Springs today, a big time ski area. There were several ski slopes we could see cut out of the mountainside. Steamboat Springs was at the 40+ miles mark on the ride and at about 45 miles, our challenge for the day began. It was a 2,500 foot climb to get up and over not one, but two passes in that mountain range. The passes are called the Rabbit Ears Pass. This climb ranks up there with the toughest we have faced. It was a steady steep grade all the way up, without any level or lesser grade. Also, the altitude caused my leg muscles to cry out for more oxygen. I took my own pace and stopped several times to get my breath back. When I reached the first summit, Julie was at that spot with a SAG stop. Then it was a short break of down hill fun to the beginning of another shorter climb to the second summit. After that, we crossed the continental divide and I had someone take my photo there.
It was then a long, fast downhill ride that all cyclists love. We left the high mountain forest to another very dry area and it was suddenly very hot again. It is amazing how much the mountain areas differ from one side to another, with the one side catching most of the moisture.
Today was all on US-40 again, and once we left the mountain passes, there was less then a foot of shoulder and the traffic is nuts. It was fairly heavy, and the drivers in this area seem much less favorable to cyclists. They do not move over much, even when there is no oncoming traffic. Some wave at you to get over and there is absolutely no place to go. Others give you a verbal greeting. There is no way to look at the passing landscape in these conditions, as my nose is buried on my handlebars, staring at the white line and the one foot to the right of it.
With the hard climb and the long distance of 96 miles, it was a very tiring and long day. I arrived in Kremmling at about 5:30, having started out at a little after 7:00 a.m. Don Brunsting and I finished the last several miles together and said to each other that we used it all up today. As soon as we hit Kremmling, we were looking for a place to get a couple gallons of Pepsi, but did not have any energy to look around and stopped at a local watering hole for some of the local refreshment made with the local mountain water by another guy named Peter somebody.
The night was quite cool, probably down into the 40s and this challenged our light sleeping bag. We had a brief shower just after we set up camp at the West Grand High School soccer field that was the greenest and thickest we have had the whole trip and better than most W. Michigan fields. The Big Boy Eastern Rockies are now in sight in the distance. Wow, we're going over those!?
Love to all, P & J
Our route took us through Steamboat Springs today, a big time ski area. There were several ski slopes we could see cut out of the mountainside. Steamboat Springs was at the 40+ miles mark on the ride and at about 45 miles, our challenge for the day began. It was a 2,500 foot climb to get up and over not one, but two passes in that mountain range. The passes are called the Rabbit Ears Pass. This climb ranks up there with the toughest we have faced. It was a steady steep grade all the way up, without any level or lesser grade. Also, the altitude caused my leg muscles to cry out for more oxygen. I took my own pace and stopped several times to get my breath back. When I reached the first summit, Julie was at that spot with a SAG stop. Then it was a short break of down hill fun to the beginning of another shorter climb to the second summit. After that, we crossed the continental divide and I had someone take my photo there.
It was then a long, fast downhill ride that all cyclists love. We left the high mountain forest to another very dry area and it was suddenly very hot again. It is amazing how much the mountain areas differ from one side to another, with the one side catching most of the moisture.
Today was all on US-40 again, and once we left the mountain passes, there was less then a foot of shoulder and the traffic is nuts. It was fairly heavy, and the drivers in this area seem much less favorable to cyclists. They do not move over much, even when there is no oncoming traffic. Some wave at you to get over and there is absolutely no place to go. Others give you a verbal greeting. There is no way to look at the passing landscape in these conditions, as my nose is buried on my handlebars, staring at the white line and the one foot to the right of it.
With the hard climb and the long distance of 96 miles, it was a very tiring and long day. I arrived in Kremmling at about 5:30, having started out at a little after 7:00 a.m. Don Brunsting and I finished the last several miles together and said to each other that we used it all up today. As soon as we hit Kremmling, we were looking for a place to get a couple gallons of Pepsi, but did not have any energy to look around and stopped at a local watering hole for some of the local refreshment made with the local mountain water by another guy named Peter somebody.
The night was quite cool, probably down into the 40s and this challenged our light sleeping bag. We had a brief shower just after we set up camp at the West Grand High School soccer field that was the greenest and thickest we have had the whole trip and better than most W. Michigan fields. The Big Boy Eastern Rockies are now in sight in the distance. Wow, we're going over those!?
Love to all, P & J
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Dinosaur, CO to Craig, CO
Our ride on US-40 was much better today. The shoulder was wider, cleaner, and I don’t know what happened to the traffic, but the traffic was not heavy at all. It was 55 miles from Dinosaur to the next town and that was just a four corner called Maybell. There was hardly a house between the 2 towns. We did have just a bit of rain for the first hour or so this morning, but not much. That is only the second time we have had just a bit of rain in almost 4 weeks. Maybell did offer a patch of green grass and shade for a refreshing stop, and ice and Pepsi.
Going on from there, it was again nothing but high plateaus with no inhabitants but antelope and prairie dogs. We needed to cross many hills from plateau to plateau and climbed 4,300 feet today. We are still in high plateau mountain country and the town of Craig is at about 6,000 feet. We are camped at the county high school, high up a hill overlooking the town in the valley below. Across the valley on the next plateau, there is a huge crane that appears to be loading coal that is somehow shuttled to a large coal-fired electric plant.
Tomorrow we have 5,000 feet of climb to get to Kremmling. I believe we cross the continental divide tomorrow. Kremmling is at about 7,500 feet elevation and will probably be considerably cooler.
I am thankful that my strength is good and felt really well today. I completed the 88 miles today by 2:30 and treated myself to a Macs Value Meal and about 5 Diet Pepsi refills.
Your prayers hold us up. Julie did not get in from her SAG duties today until 7:00, as some riders had a long day.
We are looking forward to the weekend in Denver. The area churches are planning a great time for us.
Love to all, P & J.
Going on from there, it was again nothing but high plateaus with no inhabitants but antelope and prairie dogs. We needed to cross many hills from plateau to plateau and climbed 4,300 feet today. We are still in high plateau mountain country and the town of Craig is at about 6,000 feet. We are camped at the county high school, high up a hill overlooking the town in the valley below. Across the valley on the next plateau, there is a huge crane that appears to be loading coal that is somehow shuttled to a large coal-fired electric plant.
Tomorrow we have 5,000 feet of climb to get to Kremmling. I believe we cross the continental divide tomorrow. Kremmling is at about 7,500 feet elevation and will probably be considerably cooler.
I am thankful that my strength is good and felt really well today. I completed the 88 miles today by 2:30 and treated myself to a Macs Value Meal and about 5 Diet Pepsi refills.
Your prayers hold us up. Julie did not get in from her SAG duties today until 7:00, as some riders had a long day.
We are looking forward to the weekend in Denver. The area churches are planning a great time for us.
Love to all, P & J.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Duchesne, UT to Dinosaur, CO
Another state!!! We are just 3 miles into Colorado, our 5th state, for camp tonight at Dinosaur, CO town park. I now know why the dinosaurs died in this area. It is too hot and dry for any living organism to live here and survive for very long. But Sea To Sea bikers are a tough and determined lot and we made it for another day and will move on from here tomorrow. The day started out by riding out of Duchesne into an widening, irrigated river valley between two mesas. This slowly gave way to more rugged stony hills on the way to Vernal, UT. After Vernal, was the biggest challenge to us bikers. That section was a gradual upslope for 20+ miles and the sun was really hot. It had to be near 100 degrees. The elevation of Dinosaur is just under 6,000 feet.
The route today was mostly on US40, a very busy 2 lane road with a lot of semis. The shoulder was usually wide enough for us, but the entire length had rumble strips that only allowed about one foot between the white line and the rumble strip. Right of the rumble strips it was wider, but rough, more gravely and littered with various bolts, tie-down remnants, and retread pieces. This made it very dangerous as the best place to ride was right on the white line. Some truckers do not appreciate bikers and do not move over at all, even if no other vehicle is coming. Some even purposely emit extra exhaust fumes and smoke as they go by. There were a couple cases today of bicycle part failures that caused 2 bikers to flip. One was onto the roadway, but thankfully, there was no traffic at the time, and the bikers had minor scrapes and bruises. We truly do feel God’s protective care over us and feel the prayers of the many people who offer them on our behalf.
Some riders took a detour today to visit a national park dinosaur exhibit. I did not, as the 91 miles and the heat were enough for me. I did manage to arrive in camp by about 4:00, the same time as Julie wrapped up her SAG duties. The extra time to shower and rest before dinner feels really good.
Love to all, P & J.
The route today was mostly on US40, a very busy 2 lane road with a lot of semis. The shoulder was usually wide enough for us, but the entire length had rumble strips that only allowed about one foot between the white line and the rumble strip. Right of the rumble strips it was wider, but rough, more gravely and littered with various bolts, tie-down remnants, and retread pieces. This made it very dangerous as the best place to ride was right on the white line. Some truckers do not appreciate bikers and do not move over at all, even if no other vehicle is coming. Some even purposely emit extra exhaust fumes and smoke as they go by. There were a couple cases today of bicycle part failures that caused 2 bikers to flip. One was onto the roadway, but thankfully, there was no traffic at the time, and the bikers had minor scrapes and bruises. We truly do feel God’s protective care over us and feel the prayers of the many people who offer them on our behalf.
Some riders took a detour today to visit a national park dinosaur exhibit. I did not, as the 91 miles and the heat were enough for me. I did manage to arrive in camp by about 4:00, the same time as Julie wrapped up her SAG duties. The extra time to shower and rest before dinner feels really good.
Love to all, P & J.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Park City, UT to Duchesne, UT
We needed to cross another mountain range of the Western Rockies today. It took us on a very difficult, long, 8% grade climb. It brought us through some beautiful high mountain forests and rushing rivers. Some of the riders actually had a moose cross in front of them. Others saw a variety of deer, elk. etc. The summit was marked as an elevation of 9,450 feet. We had a few riders that could not make it today because of breathing diffuculties in the high elevation. That is the highest that we have climbed so far on our tour, until we go over 11,000 feet later this week.
Once reaching the summit, it was a long wild ride down to the next valley. I was pushing 40 mph most of the time. The surroundings suddenly changed from dense evergreen and aspen forests to more barren rocky terrain. It is amazing how one side of a mountain can be completely different from the other,
We continued down the long, slow decline to high plateaus with different rock formations, some red, some showing many layers of the rock.
It was another long day, getting to camp at about 5:30 p.m. because I was on breakfast cleanup before I could leave. I am beat tonight, so am going to close my report out. Tomorrow is another 90+ mile days to the dinosour remains area.
Love to all, P & J.
Once reaching the summit, it was a long wild ride down to the next valley. I was pushing 40 mph most of the time. The surroundings suddenly changed from dense evergreen and aspen forests to more barren rocky terrain. It is amazing how one side of a mountain can be completely different from the other,
We continued down the long, slow decline to high plateaus with different rock formations, some red, some showing many layers of the rock.
It was another long day, getting to camp at about 5:30 p.m. because I was on breakfast cleanup before I could leave. I am beat tonight, so am going to close my report out. Tomorrow is another 90+ mile days to the dinosour remains area.
Love to all, P & J.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Brigham City, UT to Park City, UT
Well the warning about a hard day today was certainly true. It was the toughest yet. It was 97 miles, with 2 mountain range crossings of 5,723 feet uphill. Everyone tried to get an early start for the day and our schedule was moved up 1/2 hour in the morning. Most of the ride today was urban, at least until we got through Salt Lake City. The area from Brigham City to Salt Lake City runs together as urban area. Our day's directions were a little confusing and there were a lot of local bikers out riding. I stopped one gentleman and asked directions. He insisted on taking us through most of the city to get us to where we could find our way for sure and led us for about 15 miles. Those are great interaction times and you get to tell about the cause we are riding for.
The Salt Lake City CRC is very near downtown. They hosted refreshments for us in the church basement. In the city, all the street numbers run North, South, East, or West from the Mormon temple downtown. That makes it pretty easy to find your way around. I did not detour to see the temple, as it was such a long day and needed to conserve my energy.
Immediately after leaving the church, the hill climbing for the day started. On a city street, there was a hill that was so steep, myself and 3 guys I was biking with had to walk our bikes up it. That was a discouraging start to what might lie ahead for the day.
The mountain climbing for the day was long and hard. I had my bike in the lowest gear most of the time, which means 5-6 mph. I wish I had one or two more lower gears for the extreme grade climbs (30 gear combos is not enough!!). The first mountain climb was up a narrow canyon that had homes built into the mountain sides and there were quite a few trees at the lower levels for shady spot rest stops. I can see why forest fires could be devastating to such areas. At the higher levels, it opened up more and we had several switchbacks to conquer. When we finally reached the peak of the first range, another CRC local group had a canopy setup with refreshments and carb snacks. They were a welcome site. One of the daughters of those folks had a spray water mister that she enjoyed using to cool us down. Those folks were very encouraging to us.
After that, we had a fun downslope ride for several miles. I could not let it totally go, as the road was not the smoothest and I would rather not wipe out going 40+ mph. The valley below was suddenly very hot. We needed to get on I-80 at that point for about 5 miles. The entrance ramp was so steep and long, that I had to stop and rest a couple times just finish it. Then the climb really began. I have never seen such a long and steep interstate climb. The traffic was very heavy, but we had a wide shoulder. Some of the semis were shifted down so low that they were just creeping along and emitting a lot of exhaust to us. There were several stopped by the side that had overheated. Once we reached the top, it was mostly downhill to the Park City area. We rode past the previous Winter Olympic sites, ski jump and downhill courses. This is a resort/ski town and pretty upscale.
After Park City, we needed to get to the Jordanelle State Park for our weekend camp. We had to get on US40 for about 4 miles, and immediately we could see ahead of us for the next couple miles a very steep hill. The was mentally tough. I kept thinking, I'm in the 4th quarter here and can't lose this game now. I biked most of the day with Don Brunsting and Mark Fasse , fellow Michiganders. We needed each other to keep going and support each other. I can't begin to tell you how physically and mentally challenging this day was. Prayers were answered as we were given just enough strength for the day to complete the ride at about 6:30 p.m. The ride had started at about 7:00 a.m. Also, my prayer about my sore hip was answered as the pain was a lot better today and did not act up during the long ride. It is still sore to the touch, but I can live with that.
Julie was not back from SAG when I arrived. She had to pickup at least 2 people that could not complete the day and other SAGs had a few more. The camp for the weekend is quite spread out and requires a lot of walking to get to our meal area, showers, and camping. Julie and I would have been far from the other campers if we wanted to be attached to the pickup. We decided that this would be a good weekend to find a local hotel for a couple nights and get recharged, do our wash and get caught up on things. We are at the Hampton in the Park City area and it is WONDERFUL!! No earwigs bugs in our room like our tent has!!
Tonight we worship with the local CRC churches at the state park. Tomorrow is promised to be another tough day of mountain range crossing and are told we will probably up with the snow. We covet your prayers for continued health and strength.
Love to all, P & J.
The Salt Lake City CRC is very near downtown. They hosted refreshments for us in the church basement. In the city, all the street numbers run North, South, East, or West from the Mormon temple downtown. That makes it pretty easy to find your way around. I did not detour to see the temple, as it was such a long day and needed to conserve my energy.
Immediately after leaving the church, the hill climbing for the day started. On a city street, there was a hill that was so steep, myself and 3 guys I was biking with had to walk our bikes up it. That was a discouraging start to what might lie ahead for the day.
The mountain climbing for the day was long and hard. I had my bike in the lowest gear most of the time, which means 5-6 mph. I wish I had one or two more lower gears for the extreme grade climbs (30 gear combos is not enough!!). The first mountain climb was up a narrow canyon that had homes built into the mountain sides and there were quite a few trees at the lower levels for shady spot rest stops. I can see why forest fires could be devastating to such areas. At the higher levels, it opened up more and we had several switchbacks to conquer. When we finally reached the peak of the first range, another CRC local group had a canopy setup with refreshments and carb snacks. They were a welcome site. One of the daughters of those folks had a spray water mister that she enjoyed using to cool us down. Those folks were very encouraging to us.
After that, we had a fun downslope ride for several miles. I could not let it totally go, as the road was not the smoothest and I would rather not wipe out going 40+ mph. The valley below was suddenly very hot. We needed to get on I-80 at that point for about 5 miles. The entrance ramp was so steep and long, that I had to stop and rest a couple times just finish it. Then the climb really began. I have never seen such a long and steep interstate climb. The traffic was very heavy, but we had a wide shoulder. Some of the semis were shifted down so low that they were just creeping along and emitting a lot of exhaust to us. There were several stopped by the side that had overheated. Once we reached the top, it was mostly downhill to the Park City area. We rode past the previous Winter Olympic sites, ski jump and downhill courses. This is a resort/ski town and pretty upscale.
After Park City, we needed to get to the Jordanelle State Park for our weekend camp. We had to get on US40 for about 4 miles, and immediately we could see ahead of us for the next couple miles a very steep hill. The was mentally tough. I kept thinking, I'm in the 4th quarter here and can't lose this game now. I biked most of the day with Don Brunsting and Mark Fasse , fellow Michiganders. We needed each other to keep going and support each other. I can't begin to tell you how physically and mentally challenging this day was. Prayers were answered as we were given just enough strength for the day to complete the ride at about 6:30 p.m. The ride had started at about 7:00 a.m. Also, my prayer about my sore hip was answered as the pain was a lot better today and did not act up during the long ride. It is still sore to the touch, but I can live with that.
Julie was not back from SAG when I arrived. She had to pickup at least 2 people that could not complete the day and other SAGs had a few more. The camp for the weekend is quite spread out and requires a lot of walking to get to our meal area, showers, and camping. Julie and I would have been far from the other campers if we wanted to be attached to the pickup. We decided that this would be a good weekend to find a local hotel for a couple nights and get recharged, do our wash and get caught up on things. We are at the Hampton in the Park City area and it is WONDERFUL!! No earwigs bugs in our room like our tent has!!
Tonight we worship with the local CRC churches at the state park. Tomorrow is promised to be another tough day of mountain range crossing and are told we will probably up with the snow. We covet your prayers for continued health and strength.
Love to all, P & J.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Snowville, UT to Brigham City, UT
Today was 65 miles, with about 16 miles of down slope on I-84. It was cool in the morning and that made it enjoyable. There was some resurfacing work going on for I-84 and we could ride on the right lane that was finished, but still barricaded off for trucks and cars. We finally reached the asphalt crew and had to cut to the shoulder on what looked like pavement. It was really sand and a biker ahead of my did a complete over the bars flip. Fortunately, he was ok and his bike was ok.
It the middle of the desert today, we came across a rocket manufacturing and test facility run by Thiokol for the feds. They had a display of different rocket components outside of the secure area and we could tour that. Some of the young kids on the tour had their photo taken sitting on a polaris missle. The size of the rocket components is huge. Across the valley from there and just across the next hill range was the spot where the golden railroad spike was driven. That joined the east and west rail lines.
Further along, we entered a salt flat area that stretches beyond eyesight. I imagine it is part of the some region connected to the Great Salt Lake. It was completely dead and smelled where there were water holes. After that, we entered the Brigham City area and proceeded through town to a State Park called Willard State Park. It appears to be a huge man made lake with a levy all around it to hold in the fresh water. On the other side of the levy is the salt flat area. It was about 99 degrees when I made camp today and the heat really drains you.
I had a little tumble today that should not have happened if I would have been more careful. I was in Brigham City and had about 6 miles to go and was feeling pretty hot and tired. I decided to pull onto the sidewalk and rest under a shade tree in front of a house. In that town, there is a 2 inch curb that runs all along the end of all driveways. I knew it was there, but I thought by swinging out and hitting it more square, that I would be ok. I slowed way down, but the bike front tire did not bite and I kept going and the bike did not. I feel hard on my right hip. I was not going fast enough to get road rash, but it is very sore.
Tomorrow has everyone on edge. It is very long ride and the climbing is supposed to be very difficult. I've prayed that my hip will not tighten up on tomorrow's long day.
Love to all, P & J.
It the middle of the desert today, we came across a rocket manufacturing and test facility run by Thiokol for the feds. They had a display of different rocket components outside of the secure area and we could tour that. Some of the young kids on the tour had their photo taken sitting on a polaris missle. The size of the rocket components is huge. Across the valley from there and just across the next hill range was the spot where the golden railroad spike was driven. That joined the east and west rail lines.
Further along, we entered a salt flat area that stretches beyond eyesight. I imagine it is part of the some region connected to the Great Salt Lake. It was completely dead and smelled where there were water holes. After that, we entered the Brigham City area and proceeded through town to a State Park called Willard State Park. It appears to be a huge man made lake with a levy all around it to hold in the fresh water. On the other side of the levy is the salt flat area. It was about 99 degrees when I made camp today and the heat really drains you.
I had a little tumble today that should not have happened if I would have been more careful. I was in Brigham City and had about 6 miles to go and was feeling pretty hot and tired. I decided to pull onto the sidewalk and rest under a shade tree in front of a house. In that town, there is a 2 inch curb that runs all along the end of all driveways. I knew it was there, but I thought by swinging out and hitting it more square, that I would be ok. I slowed way down, but the bike front tire did not bite and I kept going and the bike did not. I feel hard on my right hip. I was not going fast enough to get road rash, but it is very sore.
Tomorrow has everyone on edge. It is very long ride and the climbing is supposed to be very difficult. I've prayed that my hip will not tighten up on tomorrow's long day.
Love to all, P & J.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Burley, ID to Snowville, UT
We made our fourth state today. It was a pretty brutal day. It was 86 miles with 2 climbs. The first was to climb out of the valley on a 5-6% grade, over the first high hills to another valley on the other side. It was not too long, but was a steep climb. On the other side, we were back into miles and miles of desert sagebrush again. The second climb was at least 15 miles long on a gradual grade, but you could see forever and that made it worse. The temperatures rose fast by late morning. At the hottest point, the thermometer on my watch, which reads high in the direct sun by about 10 degrees, read 111 degrees.
It was close to 3:00 when I arrived at the Snowville town park site. Some did not get in until close to 6:00 p.m. Believe me, there is no snow in Snowville and not many people either. When we arrived in town, we doubled their population. There were no showers, so the camp setup people rigged up a huge blue tarp to a baseball backstop with one slowly dripping hose. That was cold! Everyone was pretty beat and ready for bed.
The vastness of the valleys is unbelievable. Our final approach to Snowville was down a 10-15 mile downslope, but by then the winds had turned to a headwind and that made the last part which was to be easy, much more difficult.
Love to all, P & J.
It was close to 3:00 when I arrived at the Snowville town park site. Some did not get in until close to 6:00 p.m. Believe me, there is no snow in Snowville and not many people either. When we arrived in town, we doubled their population. There were no showers, so the camp setup people rigged up a huge blue tarp to a baseball backstop with one slowly dripping hose. That was cold! Everyone was pretty beat and ready for bed.
The vastness of the valleys is unbelievable. Our final approach to Snowville was down a 10-15 mile downslope, but by then the winds had turned to a headwind and that made the last part which was to be easy, much more difficult.
Love to all, P & J.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Gooding, ID to Burley, ID
Today was our highest mileage day since the tour began. We put in about 85 miles, which is a bit more than scheduled. We had a few extra things today that were interesting and enjoyable. First we were invited to stop at a large diary in the Jerome, ID area to have a cold water and milk break and we were welcome to do a self tour of the milking parlor/factory. It was the Ted Miller diary. I believe he is a transplanted dairy farmer from California. There are many dairymen that have done that. Apparently, their dairies became surrounded by growing suburbs and they decided to cash out and restart in Idaho. The dairy we toured milked 1,700 cows, three times a day. The milking area has a slowly rotating platform that the cows enter on and 50 cows at a time are on the platform being milked. That is just a bit more than our family farm milked as I was growing up. We milked 20-30 cows in total.
Our second stop was a great surprise. As we looked out over the landscape, it was miles and miles of beautiful irrigated farm fields. Suddenly, we came across a giant canyon, with the Snake River at the bottom. You could not see it coming until we were right next to it. As we entered Twins Falls, we crossed the Snake again via a huge bridge and the canyon was again below us. As we watched, a guy jumped off the middle of the bridge and parachuted to the bank way below.
Our third stop was a great lunch stop provided by the Twin Falls Reformed Church. They had subs, chips, cold milk, watermelon, and ice cream bars. Twin Falls appears to be a growing city and has many new homes on the outskirts were the church is located.
Our next stop was unscheduled, but only added 4 miles. It was the view the Shoshone Falls in the Snake River canyon east of Twin Falls. It was a bike ride down a deep canyon road to view the falls and a very tough clime back out again. It was worth the climb, as the falls were beautiful and wider than normal this time of year from the heavy earlier snowfall in the mountains.
The dinner horn just went off, so I will close. Everyone is a bit beat tonight from the higher miles and heat and dryness. In addition to the miles, we had a total of almost 3,000 uphill climbing today. Fortunately, the wind was at our back for most of the day. It was close to 3:00 by the time I got us settled in our new camp at the Burley, ID high school.
Love to all, P & J.
Our second stop was a great surprise. As we looked out over the landscape, it was miles and miles of beautiful irrigated farm fields. Suddenly, we came across a giant canyon, with the Snake River at the bottom. You could not see it coming until we were right next to it. As we entered Twins Falls, we crossed the Snake again via a huge bridge and the canyon was again below us. As we watched, a guy jumped off the middle of the bridge and parachuted to the bank way below.
Our third stop was a great lunch stop provided by the Twin Falls Reformed Church. They had subs, chips, cold milk, watermelon, and ice cream bars. Twin Falls appears to be a growing city and has many new homes on the outskirts were the church is located.
Our next stop was unscheduled, but only added 4 miles. It was the view the Shoshone Falls in the Snake River canyon east of Twin Falls. It was a bike ride down a deep canyon road to view the falls and a very tough clime back out again. It was worth the climb, as the falls were beautiful and wider than normal this time of year from the heavy earlier snowfall in the mountains.
The dinner horn just went off, so I will close. Everyone is a bit beat tonight from the higher miles and heat and dryness. In addition to the miles, we had a total of almost 3,000 uphill climbing today. Fortunately, the wind was at our back for most of the day. It was close to 3:00 by the time I got us settled in our new camp at the Burley, ID high school.
Love to all, P & J.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Mountain Home, ID to Gooding, ID
Well, this tour group is really starting to look like we have lived outdoors for over a couple weeks. Everyone has a bikers tan and the sights in the shower are sort of humorous in a way. I always wondered how grandkids, Sam, Ben and Lydia, always had sandal tans in the summer...well, now Grampa knows and he has the same! The air is so dry in this part of the country, that everyone's throat and skin is so dry. Noses are peeling, bleeding, and eyes are like a racoon when the sunglasses are off.
Today was more challenging again....61 miles, with over 2,000 feet net elevation increase. The first half of the ride was through more miles and miles of nothing but sage brush. I did have my first sighting of antelope today. I also saw a couple jack rabbits. We went by 2 groups of windmills again today, only today we were right next to them. They are huge.
The second half of today had the climb to the top of the buttes in the area. This area is again irrigated and the fields have either alfalfa or wheat in them. We are camped at the local high school and actually have some trees for shade. It reached the low 90s again today.
Our tour group is blending as a community and we have gotten to know a lot of new folks. Over last weekend, we lost 3 bikers who had prior committments and had to leave the tour. We also had our first mail call over the weekend, and we received an encouraging card. Your notes and comments posted on my blog are very encouraging to us.
Love to all, P & J.
Today was more challenging again....61 miles, with over 2,000 feet net elevation increase. The first half of the ride was through more miles and miles of nothing but sage brush. I did have my first sighting of antelope today. I also saw a couple jack rabbits. We went by 2 groups of windmills again today, only today we were right next to them. They are huge.
The second half of today had the climb to the top of the buttes in the area. This area is again irrigated and the fields have either alfalfa or wheat in them. We are camped at the local high school and actually have some trees for shade. It reached the low 90s again today.
Our tour group is blending as a community and we have gotten to know a lot of new folks. Over last weekend, we lost 3 bikers who had prior committments and had to leave the tour. We also had our first mail call over the weekend, and we received an encouraging card. Your notes and comments posted on my blog are very encouraging to us.
Love to all, P & J.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Boise, ID to Mountain Home, ID
I can't believe that we are entering our 3rd week already. Yesterday the tour worshiped in a Boise park with the Valley Life Community Church. They supplied us with lunch also. Julie and I volunteered along with one other person, to stay befind and provide security while the others went to the worship time. Someone else came back to relieve us so we could go to get lunch there.
Today I felt really strong and made good time, thanks to a strong tail wind the second half of the ride. I had left early to beat the heat again. I left at 7:20 and arrived in the Mountain Home camp site at 11;30. That included a coffee break at the only place along the route today. The landscape is vary barren again. I did see a coyote today. There was nothing between the beginning and end of our ride today, but sagebrush. It reached 98 degrees again this afternoon. Julie got in from her duties at about 4:00. The route was about 55 miles today, with one 1,000 foot climb pretty near the beginning of the day. We spent about 7 miles on I-84 again today.
This town is near an Air Force base and have seen a few F-15s fly over. There are a few clouds in the sky today but only a 4% chance of precipitation. The school where we are camped tonight is very fussy about allowing vehicles near the camp area, so we are not attached to our tent. That is not the first time we have not attached.
We heard that the "goathead" thorns are very bad in the next stretch of the tour tomorrow. I hope that does not mean a lot of flats. Saturdays count of flats was 28.
Love to all, P & J
Today I felt really strong and made good time, thanks to a strong tail wind the second half of the ride. I had left early to beat the heat again. I left at 7:20 and arrived in the Mountain Home camp site at 11;30. That included a coffee break at the only place along the route today. The landscape is vary barren again. I did see a coyote today. There was nothing between the beginning and end of our ride today, but sagebrush. It reached 98 degrees again this afternoon. Julie got in from her duties at about 4:00. The route was about 55 miles today, with one 1,000 foot climb pretty near the beginning of the day. We spent about 7 miles on I-84 again today.
This town is near an Air Force base and have seen a few F-15s fly over. There are a few clouds in the sky today but only a 4% chance of precipitation. The school where we are camped tonight is very fussy about allowing vehicles near the camp area, so we are not attached to our tent. That is not the first time we have not attached.
We heard that the "goathead" thorns are very bad in the next stretch of the tour tomorrow. I hope that does not mean a lot of flats. Saturdays count of flats was 28.
Love to all, P & J
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Ontario, OR to Boise, ID
It got quite cool overnight….around 50 degrees. We did not take a very warm sleeping bag along considering it is summer, so we added some fleece pullovers for the night. I left camp about 7:40 and arrived at the Boise site at around 2:00. It was a 66 mile ride today and it was gently uphill most of the way. We crossed into Idaho, our 3rd state, shortly after leaving Ontario.
It reached the low 90s today. We have not seen a cloud in the sky for the past several days. We had a lot of turns on the route today and had to follow the directions carefully. Boise is the largest city we have come to since leaving Seattle. The last ten miles or so were through the Boise urban area on fairly busy traffic. Julie was parked with the SAG truck at the 50 mile mark today on the edge of Boise. There were 10 acre lots for sale next to her that had a price tag of $299,000. We biked past the Boise State University stadium and are camped on the far end of the city at a high school. There is a strip mall and other stores across the street. We are here for 2 nights, with tomorrow off from biking.
There is a local RCA church that we will be worshiping with tomorrow morning at a park.
The internet satellite dish is still not working, so that is why my updates are posting late. I’ll see if I can find an internet café or such.
Love to all, P & J.
It reached the low 90s today. We have not seen a cloud in the sky for the past several days. We had a lot of turns on the route today and had to follow the directions carefully. Boise is the largest city we have come to since leaving Seattle. The last ten miles or so were through the Boise urban area on fairly busy traffic. Julie was parked with the SAG truck at the 50 mile mark today on the edge of Boise. There were 10 acre lots for sale next to her that had a price tag of $299,000. We biked past the Boise State University stadium and are camped on the far end of the city at a high school. There is a strip mall and other stores across the street. We are here for 2 nights, with tomorrow off from biking.
There is a local RCA church that we will be worshiping with tomorrow morning at a park.
The internet satellite dish is still not working, so that is why my updates are posting late. I’ll see if I can find an internet café or such.
Love to all, P & J.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Huntington, OR to Ontario, ID
I was on sweep team this morning and we had to serve breakfast, cleanup, and load the gear truck with everyone’s bags. The luggage limit is supposed to be 60 pounds, but some are really heavy. Some are using hockey goalie bags, which are huge! I think there is even a goalie in there! It was so sandy and dirty where we had to load that some of us took leg showers before we left on our ride.
Today was only 35 miles, with a tail wind. We did have a 1,000 foot climb right off the bat, but it went down on the other side quite steep and straight. I was able to set a new personal maximum speed record of 46.1 mph. I am feeling more comfortable on those drops, but don’t want to get overconfident. You keep praying, “no flats now, no flats now”.
The scenery changed again today from the barren sagebrush hills, to a wide green valley in the Ontario, OR area, thanks to irrigation. We crossed into the Mountain time zone today and that means we must be making some headway. We are now 2 hours behind our home time. Tomorrow, we will cross into Idaho, staying at Boise for the weekend. It is a 65 mile day tomorrow. The sun is still hot today, but the temps are in the 80s for a high.
Love to all, P & J.
Today was only 35 miles, with a tail wind. We did have a 1,000 foot climb right off the bat, but it went down on the other side quite steep and straight. I was able to set a new personal maximum speed record of 46.1 mph. I am feeling more comfortable on those drops, but don’t want to get overconfident. You keep praying, “no flats now, no flats now”.
The scenery changed again today from the barren sagebrush hills, to a wide green valley in the Ontario, OR area, thanks to irrigation. We crossed into the Mountain time zone today and that means we must be making some headway. We are now 2 hours behind our home time. Tomorrow, we will cross into Idaho, staying at Boise for the weekend. It is a 65 mile day tomorrow. The sun is still hot today, but the temps are in the 80s for a high.
Love to all, P & J.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Baker City, OR to Huntington, OR
It was a pretty short riding day today, I was to the next camp by 10:30 a.m. The mileage was only 45.7 miles, but it was a hot day, The temp reached 96 degrees by mid-afternoon,
We had to ride on I-84 again today and a little farther than planned because the bridge was being replaced on the exit we had planned to exit on. That was a really scary time, as the traffic needed to merge to one lane and the shoulder was between a deep cut rumble strip and the concrete barriers with the truck whizzing by only a few feet away. It was only about 3 feet wide at most. We felt God’s protection, as we do each day, and all arrived safely.
Our camp for the night was in the very impoverished community of Huntington, OR. We are at the high school which looks like it is out of the 1940s. The last graduating class had 5 students. They play football in an 8 man league which is still a stretch. Well, I guess you get playing time anyway. The town has lost all the young people as there are no jobs here. At one time, the population was 5,000 and it is now 500, mostly retired or people on some kind of disability. In its heyday, the town was a railway center. We were able to help out the local few merchants with purchases, and I am pretty sure we pay them for the camping rights.
During dinner at night, a wind came up with not a cloud in the sky. This is not unusual in this part of the country when the temperature cools down at night. While we were eating, one tent broke loose and started rolling over and over, out of the football field, across a street and over a hill before someone ran it down. During the night the winds continued and became more gusty and a lot of people pulled up their tents and slept in the gym. Our tent held up, but it sure did make a lot of flapping noise and swayed a great deal. I had added 4 extra support pole ropes before going to bed, and they held up. It was not a good sleeping night.
We have a short day tomorrow and everyone can sleep in a little in the morning.
Love to all. P & J
We had to ride on I-84 again today and a little farther than planned because the bridge was being replaced on the exit we had planned to exit on. That was a really scary time, as the traffic needed to merge to one lane and the shoulder was between a deep cut rumble strip and the concrete barriers with the truck whizzing by only a few feet away. It was only about 3 feet wide at most. We felt God’s protection, as we do each day, and all arrived safely.
Our camp for the night was in the very impoverished community of Huntington, OR. We are at the high school which looks like it is out of the 1940s. The last graduating class had 5 students. They play football in an 8 man league which is still a stretch. Well, I guess you get playing time anyway. The town has lost all the young people as there are no jobs here. At one time, the population was 5,000 and it is now 500, mostly retired or people on some kind of disability. In its heyday, the town was a railway center. We were able to help out the local few merchants with purchases, and I am pretty sure we pay them for the camping rights.
During dinner at night, a wind came up with not a cloud in the sky. This is not unusual in this part of the country when the temperature cools down at night. While we were eating, one tent broke loose and started rolling over and over, out of the football field, across a street and over a hill before someone ran it down. During the night the winds continued and became more gusty and a lot of people pulled up their tents and slept in the gym. Our tent held up, but it sure did make a lot of flapping noise and swayed a great deal. I had added 4 extra support pole ropes before going to bed, and they held up. It was not a good sleeping night.
We have a short day tomorrow and everyone can sleep in a little in the morning.
Love to all. P & J
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
La Grande, OR to Baker City, OR
Today was an easier day. Only 49 miles and a 1,400 foot elevation climb. A lot of people again left early in the morning to beat the heat. It made the low 90s again today. I left at about 7:15 a.m. and arrived at the Baker City High School, our camp for tonight, at about 11:15. I immediately treated myself to the largest Diet Pepsi I could find. We are camped on the athletic field.
Today we headed toward the Elkhorn Mountains and paralleled them into Baker City. They still have snow at the very top and this is extremely rare per the locals. At lot of us stopped at a small town of Haines City today for a cup or coffee and snack and talked with the locals. As a group, we are trying to connect with the locals and tell them what and why we are riding and pass out a small info card about the tour if they want to find out more. Most people are very approachable and interested in what we are doing. We passed a large number of windmills up on the hills today. This is not the first time. We saw a lot of the blades for new windmills being transported via semi-trailer on the way out to Seattle. You cannot believe how large the blades are. Each blade is transported on an extra long trailer, about 2-3 normal trailer lengths. Each windmill has 3 blades.
There are 2 museums/exhibitions devoted to the Oregon Trail history here. Julie and I had to catch up on some laundry and did not have time to check them out.
Tomorrow I am back on sweep team again and will need to setup for dinner and serve and cleanup and then get up early to setup breakfast and cleanup and be the last group out to make sure all the riders are accounted for.
I see on the tour site that donations are now at $1.55 million. God is great!!
Love to all, P & J.
Today we headed toward the Elkhorn Mountains and paralleled them into Baker City. They still have snow at the very top and this is extremely rare per the locals. At lot of us stopped at a small town of Haines City today for a cup or coffee and snack and talked with the locals. As a group, we are trying to connect with the locals and tell them what and why we are riding and pass out a small info card about the tour if they want to find out more. Most people are very approachable and interested in what we are doing. We passed a large number of windmills up on the hills today. This is not the first time. We saw a lot of the blades for new windmills being transported via semi-trailer on the way out to Seattle. You cannot believe how large the blades are. Each blade is transported on an extra long trailer, about 2-3 normal trailer lengths. Each windmill has 3 blades.
There are 2 museums/exhibitions devoted to the Oregon Trail history here. Julie and I had to catch up on some laundry and did not have time to check them out.
Tomorrow I am back on sweep team again and will need to setup for dinner and serve and cleanup and then get up early to setup breakfast and cleanup and be the last group out to make sure all the riders are accounted for.
I see on the tour site that donations are now at $1.55 million. God is great!!
Love to all, P & J.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Pendleton OR to La Grande, OR
It was another challenging Tuesday. We biked from Pendleton to La Grande OR. It was a climb of 4,538 feet. We biked toward rolling hills that did not appear too hard, but it was a very steep climb with lots of switch backs. I had it in my lowest “Granny” gear most of the way up. While climbing, we had spectacular views of the area we had come through the previous day, with all the rolling wheat fields way in the distance. The hills we climbed were barren again, with no trees.
Once we finally reached the top, the other side turned into forested, steeper terrain. It was beautiful. We had several more climbs that day through that type of countryside. The road we were on paralleled I-84 for most of the day. There were 2 places that the road did not go on, so we actually biked on I-84 a couple times. That was scary with all the traffic whizzing by and a lot of trucks. Much of that was downhill and I could coast at 30-36 mph. Just before arriving in La Grande, we had a great view of the town below us in the valley, with snow capped mountains in the distance.
We camped in a city park next to an indoor huge swimming pool. That was a special treat. It even had a tunnel water slide. A couple people were unaccounted for at the end of the day, and Julie and I and one young man that had last seen one of the people went back with the pickup truck several miles and checked one of the exits they may have taken by mistake and road about 5 miles down it and found no one. The canyon was so steep we could not call back to our base camp and by the time we arrived back, everyone had show up. Every cyclist is required to sign in at the end of their ride.
It was in the 90s again, but the nights cool down to the 50s and it really sleeps well. The relative humidity has been very low for the past several days. We have generally been following the original Oregon Trail route.
Missing our kids and grandkids….
Love too all, P & J
Once we finally reached the top, the other side turned into forested, steeper terrain. It was beautiful. We had several more climbs that day through that type of countryside. The road we were on paralleled I-84 for most of the day. There were 2 places that the road did not go on, so we actually biked on I-84 a couple times. That was scary with all the traffic whizzing by and a lot of trucks. Much of that was downhill and I could coast at 30-36 mph. Just before arriving in La Grande, we had a great view of the town below us in the valley, with snow capped mountains in the distance.
We camped in a city park next to an indoor huge swimming pool. That was a special treat. It even had a tunnel water slide. A couple people were unaccounted for at the end of the day, and Julie and I and one young man that had last seen one of the people went back with the pickup truck several miles and checked one of the exits they may have taken by mistake and road about 5 miles down it and found no one. The canyon was so steep we could not call back to our base camp and by the time we arrived back, everyone had show up. Every cyclist is required to sign in at the end of their ride.
It was in the 90s again, but the nights cool down to the 50s and it really sleeps well. The relative humidity has been very low for the past several days. We have generally been following the original Oregon Trail route.
Missing our kids and grandkids….
Love too all, P & J
Monday, July 7, 2008
Entered Oregon Today.....
We left the State of Washington behind today and a great weekend camping location. We crossed the Columbia River in Kenniwick on a beautiful suspension bridge. We later rejoined the Columbia River and followed it as a wide lake/river for about 20-30 miles. The water is dammed up farther downstream. There were barren high hills on either side of the valley again. There are many places where powerful pumps draw the river water and pump it up the high hills to land that is farmed.
We left the river valley to head toward Pendleton, OR on highway 37. It was about a 1,000 foot climb up to the top of the high hills. We then went down the Cold Springs Canyon on a very lonely road that had few buildings and no villages for about 15-20 miles. Wheat fields suddenly appeared on the hills toward Pendleton and some has been harvested, some is green, and some is golden and nearly ready for harvest.
I had left a little earlier from camp this morning, as the forecast was for the low 90s and wanted to get some miles behind me before it warmed up. I arrived at the middle school we are camping at a little after 1:00. We are camped on the athletic field on a high hill that has a Best Western in view about a mile across the valley and that is very tempting and inviting.
We had a great lunch and service with the Family of Faith church of Kennewick Sunday morning. Their members had taken the photos and names of each biker on the tour and divided them up so each member had one to two to pray for the entire tour. The pastor’s family had my name on their fridge and I met the pastor’s wife and young son. That was really great. The pastor’s message focused on how we should imitate God’s grace by giving to those in need, without worrying about what we will receive in return, whether recognition or thinking we have earned a better standing with God. That is a timely reminder as there was local press around, covering the tour during the weekend.
Tomorrow looks to be a challenging day of climbing to I believe, LaGrande OR.
Love to all. P & J.
We left the river valley to head toward Pendleton, OR on highway 37. It was about a 1,000 foot climb up to the top of the high hills. We then went down the Cold Springs Canyon on a very lonely road that had few buildings and no villages for about 15-20 miles. Wheat fields suddenly appeared on the hills toward Pendleton and some has been harvested, some is green, and some is golden and nearly ready for harvest.
I had left a little earlier from camp this morning, as the forecast was for the low 90s and wanted to get some miles behind me before it warmed up. I arrived at the middle school we are camping at a little after 1:00. We are camped on the athletic field on a high hill that has a Best Western in view about a mile across the valley and that is very tempting and inviting.
We had a great lunch and service with the Family of Faith church of Kennewick Sunday morning. Their members had taken the photos and names of each biker on the tour and divided them up so each member had one to two to pray for the entire tour. The pastor’s family had my name on their fridge and I met the pastor’s wife and young son. That was really great. The pastor’s message focused on how we should imitate God’s grace by giving to those in need, without worrying about what we will receive in return, whether recognition or thinking we have earned a better standing with God. That is a timely reminder as there was local press around, covering the tour during the weekend.
Tomorrow looks to be a challenging day of climbing to I believe, LaGrande OR.
Love to all. P & J.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Hello for Tri-Cities WA
The tri-cities area is composed of Richland, Pasco, and Kennewick. We are camped in a park along the Columbia River. The river is very wide here, and it is dammed up here. The Yakima River has joined in with the Columbia, and the Snake River joins in not too far downstream.
We had a pretty easy day today, 50 miles on a slight down grade for most of the way and only one long hill climb. I felt really strong today and tried to push it a bit and was in our new camp by 11:15 a.m. We are in a shady park and it is really pleasant camping here. Each day I arrive before Julie does from her SAG duties and I get our tent out of the gear semi and have camp setup by the time she gets in. The Kennewick church welcomed us with lemonade and cookies at the park. Tomorrow, we will worship with them right next to our camp.
Some of us couldn’t wait for showers today, so we bathed in the Columbia. The shore is rocky and the water is cold, but it felt so good to get cleaned up and cooled down, even though it did not get as hot as it had been earlier in the week.
Julie got into camp just before 3:00 p.m. and caught a van shuttle going to a local health club for showers.
Tomorrow is a day off and some of us are feeling like we have had it pretty easy the past couple days. The local church people have opened their homes to a limited number of riders that want to sleep in a real bed for a couple nights. All those slots were taken. They are also offering boat rides to us and shuttle services to local malls and merchants as needed. That is great of them.
Lots of flats today but don’t have the total count yet. Besides counting flats and accidents each day in our evening peleton meeting, we have a statistic of the day….like, how many cases of beer bottles along the way, or how many and what kind of creatures were spotted, dead or alive, number of semis we met, etc. I made my suggestion of statistic of the day to Chaplain Len who leads the meeting, and said that I had counted a dime and later two pennies along the bike edge today and that even more amazing, being Dutch, or more specifically Frisian, is that I did not stop to pick them up. Chaplain Len, who is quite the card, said that HE DID!!, at least the dime…..he said there is a limit to what he will stoop for and figures he must need it more than everyone else!!
Love to all. P & J.
We had a pretty easy day today, 50 miles on a slight down grade for most of the way and only one long hill climb. I felt really strong today and tried to push it a bit and was in our new camp by 11:15 a.m. We are in a shady park and it is really pleasant camping here. Each day I arrive before Julie does from her SAG duties and I get our tent out of the gear semi and have camp setup by the time she gets in. The Kennewick church welcomed us with lemonade and cookies at the park. Tomorrow, we will worship with them right next to our camp.
Some of us couldn’t wait for showers today, so we bathed in the Columbia. The shore is rocky and the water is cold, but it felt so good to get cleaned up and cooled down, even though it did not get as hot as it had been earlier in the week.
Julie got into camp just before 3:00 p.m. and caught a van shuttle going to a local health club for showers.
Tomorrow is a day off and some of us are feeling like we have had it pretty easy the past couple days. The local church people have opened their homes to a limited number of riders that want to sleep in a real bed for a couple nights. All those slots were taken. They are also offering boat rides to us and shuttle services to local malls and merchants as needed. That is great of them.
Lots of flats today but don’t have the total count yet. Besides counting flats and accidents each day in our evening peleton meeting, we have a statistic of the day….like, how many cases of beer bottles along the way, or how many and what kind of creatures were spotted, dead or alive, number of semis we met, etc. I made my suggestion of statistic of the day to Chaplain Len who leads the meeting, and said that I had counted a dime and later two pennies along the bike edge today and that even more amazing, being Dutch, or more specifically Frisian, is that I did not stop to pick them up. Chaplain Len, who is quite the card, said that HE DID!!, at least the dime…..he said there is a limit to what he will stoop for and figures he must need it more than everyone else!!
Love to all. P & J.
Friday, July 4, 2008
It’s rainy in Sunnyside!!
We received some rain during the night camping in Yakima last night, along with thunder and lightning. It was not a storm and not that much rain, but the tents were pretty wet when we had to pack them away in the morning. It was sprinkling during breakfast and during the first hour of riding. It was the first time that the bikers had to put on their rainwear for riding.
We continued along the Yakima River today into the wide Yakima Valley. The area is very dry and only averages about 8 inches per year and we were part of the exception with the rain we experienced. This area is now farmable, thanks to diversion of the Yakima River into various canals for irrigation. The valley now grows grapes, apples, cherries, pears, and lots of hops. The hops grow on long strings from the ground to high rows of support legs and cabling.
Along the route today, the Faith Community Church in Zillah hosted a great break of snacks and wonderful fruit. We had a short ride today and I was at our Sunnyside Chr. High School camp for tonight, by a little after 11:00. There were a few people along the route today that had signs out and cheered us on. Everyone used the day to dry out their gear and clean the road grit off their bikes and themselves. It is amazing how dirty your legs get when riding on wet roads. I’m familiar with tan lines, but these are dirt lines. I cleaned my bike chain today and am ready for tomorrow.
Tonight, our cooks had the night off and the Sunnyside CRC put on a great Mexican feast, along with strawberry shortcake and ice cream for us at the local Christian grade school. Then afterwards, they invited us to their church for root beer floats and the 4th fireworks are right across the road.
Julie was able to phone home today and some of our kids and grandkids were keeping our pool clean! We miss everyone, especially on the holiday. We had a couple of the Canadians in our group go to Walmart and buy a whole bunch of tiny American flags and we all mounted them on our bikes and SAG vehicles today. Good for them, as they are very proud of their country and they just celebrated Canada Day a few days ago.
Today, as the day progressed, it cleared out and is now beautifully clear and the air is now cool and dry. Should be great sleeping in our tent tonight.
Tomorrow is not a huge day as we go to Kennewick which is about 50 miles on down the Yakima Valley….which we learned tonight is really part of the Sonora Dessert that starts in Mexico and stretches all the way up to Canada between various mountain ranges.
Oh, by the way, we had a total of 22 flat tires today, and I had one last night that was discovered just before going to bed. Rick Gritters helped me change it. Apparently, there is a local thorn called a goathead, that likes to flatten tires.
Love, P & J.
We continued along the Yakima River today into the wide Yakima Valley. The area is very dry and only averages about 8 inches per year and we were part of the exception with the rain we experienced. This area is now farmable, thanks to diversion of the Yakima River into various canals for irrigation. The valley now grows grapes, apples, cherries, pears, and lots of hops. The hops grow on long strings from the ground to high rows of support legs and cabling.
Along the route today, the Faith Community Church in Zillah hosted a great break of snacks and wonderful fruit. We had a short ride today and I was at our Sunnyside Chr. High School camp for tonight, by a little after 11:00. There were a few people along the route today that had signs out and cheered us on. Everyone used the day to dry out their gear and clean the road grit off their bikes and themselves. It is amazing how dirty your legs get when riding on wet roads. I’m familiar with tan lines, but these are dirt lines. I cleaned my bike chain today and am ready for tomorrow.
Tonight, our cooks had the night off and the Sunnyside CRC put on a great Mexican feast, along with strawberry shortcake and ice cream for us at the local Christian grade school. Then afterwards, they invited us to their church for root beer floats and the 4th fireworks are right across the road.
Julie was able to phone home today and some of our kids and grandkids were keeping our pool clean! We miss everyone, especially on the holiday. We had a couple of the Canadians in our group go to Walmart and buy a whole bunch of tiny American flags and we all mounted them on our bikes and SAG vehicles today. Good for them, as they are very proud of their country and they just celebrated Canada Day a few days ago.
Today, as the day progressed, it cleared out and is now beautifully clear and the air is now cool and dry. Should be great sleeping in our tent tonight.
Tomorrow is not a huge day as we go to Kennewick which is about 50 miles on down the Yakima Valley….which we learned tonight is really part of the Sonora Dessert that starts in Mexico and stretches all the way up to Canada between various mountain ranges.
Oh, by the way, we had a total of 22 flat tires today, and I had one last night that was discovered just before going to bed. Rick Gritters helped me change it. Apparently, there is a local thorn called a goathead, that likes to flatten tires.
Love, P & J.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Yackity Yack...we're in Yakima!!
Ahhhhhh....an easier day today! Only40 miles and mostly down Yakima Canyon with just a couple climbs. I tried to start early today because of the heat and I hit the road at about 8:00 a.m. I was in the camp in Yakima by 11:30 and, yes it did get hot again today....it was 99 at 3:00. Julie and I took the pickup over to a Burger King to avoid the heat and drink as much diet coke as I could on refills. We then stopped at a Wal Mart to replace one of our foldup chairs that someone inadvertantly thought must b e theirs.
Yakima Canyon has desolate high hills on both sides and a large Yakima River running along side the route. The scenery was barren, but overpowering in its vastness. The are big horn sheep in the area, but did not spot any. There is one man on our tour who is a forester, and he gives us things to look for in plant life and wildlife for the area we are going through. He did say that we are now in rattlesnake country!
Everyone is lazing around this afternoon to beat the heat. The school we are at is air conditioned, so some are playing cards on the floor. Some of the young folks get on there bikes and check out the local town after riding for the day.....oh to be young again.
A lot of people connect to the internet to update blogs and email families every day at the end of the day. Some of the schools have a wireless network we can use or we can sit outside and find an electical outlet near the media trailer to connect the our satellite hookup. Now I am sitting in the shade doing just that. A volunteer work team left a little while ago to help at a local charity agency for a few hours.
Thats it for now. We hope it cools down enough to sleep tonight.
Thanks for all the prayers and encouragement. It keeps me going.
Love to all, P & j
Yakima Canyon has desolate high hills on both sides and a large Yakima River running along side the route. The scenery was barren, but overpowering in its vastness. The are big horn sheep in the area, but did not spot any. There is one man on our tour who is a forester, and he gives us things to look for in plant life and wildlife for the area we are going through. He did say that we are now in rattlesnake country!
Everyone is lazing around this afternoon to beat the heat. The school we are at is air conditioned, so some are playing cards on the floor. Some of the young folks get on there bikes and check out the local town after riding for the day.....oh to be young again.
A lot of people connect to the internet to update blogs and email families every day at the end of the day. Some of the schools have a wireless network we can use or we can sit outside and find an electical outlet near the media trailer to connect the our satellite hookup. Now I am sitting in the shade doing just that. A volunteer work team left a little while ago to help at a local charity agency for a few hours.
Thats it for now. We hope it cools down enough to sleep tonight.
Thanks for all the prayers and encouragement. It keeps me going.
Love to all, P & j
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Boy, it’s hot!!
Hello from Ellensburg, MT. Today was a shorter distance ride, just under 60 miles, but had a couple tough climbs. The first one was a 4,000 foot climb up to the top of the pass, on Hwy 97. The second climb was shorter in terms of elevation change, but was pretty steep and the temperature got really hot after we lost altitude from the first climb. By the time we reached Ellensburg, it was 101 degrees (but a dry heat!!). The landscape changed drastically today and we are now in high plateau desert, with very few trees and a lot of sagebrush. The town of Ellensburg is larger than I thought it might be and is a nice clean town with trees and greenery in this valley. The high school we are using to camp at is very new and nice. We are using their showers and a lot of us have our computers plugged into wall outlets in the school, which is air conditioned by the way. I might put our mattress in the school for tonight!
On a typical day, everyone starts rousing at 5:00 – 5:30. Breakfast is at 7:00 and everyone packs a lunch for the day to take on the bike. Some people start as early as 7:30 on their ride. Every 10 days or some we are assigned to a “sweep” team. On those days, the team assigned for that day needs to help set up for dinner and cleanup at night, and then the next day gets up early to help serve breakfast and cleanup after breakfast. The team needs to be the last group out of camp and must make sure all riders along the route are accounted for and not left behind. When we arrive at the night’s camp, we need to sign in so they know who is and is not accounted for.
Dinner is at 6:00 p.m. After cleanup, we have what we call a peleton meeting and recap the day and experiences. We usually find out how many flats there were that day, yesterday was 11 with the same person having 6!! Apparently there was something poking through the tire that they did not see and it kept making flats. I have not had amboi flat yet, but let’s not bring that up. We have had a couple incidents….one lady hit a post on the bike path the first day and had a slight concussion and took a couple days off. One young man could not get his cleats released in time and twisted his ankle pretty bad and took today off.
After the peleton meeting, we break into assigned small groups of 5-6 and discuss the meditation for the day from the “Shifting Gears” devotional book, and have prayer time together. Everyone is pretty eager to hit the sack by 9:00 for the night.
Tomorrow is a shorter day and not much elevation climbing. We should arrive in Yakima pretty early in the afternoon. A short day will be good for everyone, considering the last 2 days. There is opportunity for a limited number of volunteers to help at an agency relating to helping those in need and poverty. This will happen at various cities along the tour route.
Love to all, P & J.
On a typical day, everyone starts rousing at 5:00 – 5:30. Breakfast is at 7:00 and everyone packs a lunch for the day to take on the bike. Some people start as early as 7:30 on their ride. Every 10 days or some we are assigned to a “sweep” team. On those days, the team assigned for that day needs to help set up for dinner and cleanup at night, and then the next day gets up early to help serve breakfast and cleanup after breakfast. The team needs to be the last group out of camp and must make sure all riders along the route are accounted for and not left behind. When we arrive at the night’s camp, we need to sign in so they know who is and is not accounted for.
Dinner is at 6:00 p.m. After cleanup, we have what we call a peleton meeting and recap the day and experiences. We usually find out how many flats there were that day, yesterday was 11 with the same person having 6!! Apparently there was something poking through the tire that they did not see and it kept making flats. I have not had amboi flat yet, but let’s not bring that up. We have had a couple incidents….one lady hit a post on the bike path the first day and had a slight concussion and took a couple days off. One young man could not get his cleats released in time and twisted his ankle pretty bad and took today off.
After the peleton meeting, we break into assigned small groups of 5-6 and discuss the meditation for the day from the “Shifting Gears” devotional book, and have prayer time together. Everyone is pretty eager to hit the sack by 9:00 for the night.
Tomorrow is a shorter day and not much elevation climbing. We should arrive in Yakima pretty early in the afternoon. A short day will be good for everyone, considering the last 2 days. There is opportunity for a limited number of volunteers to help at an agency relating to helping those in need and poverty. This will happen at various cities along the tour route.
Love to all, P & J.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Latest from the Cascades
Sorry that we have not updated you in a couple days, but the schedule has been hectic and the satellite link was down last night.
Sunday was a day that started with worship as a group and training the rest of the day and another worship service with area Seattle churches, at the U of W ballroom. It was 92 degrees in Seattle that day and most air conditioning does not run or exist out here.
Monday, we biked over to the Golden Beach Park on the Puget Sound and had our rear tire dipping ceremony and were off on our first day. The Seattle area churches gave us a great breakfast on the beach. The remote broadcast link did not work that day, sorry. We biked 48 miles the first day to Sulton, WA and camped out at the High School athletic field. What a great site of tent in our traveling tent city. The temp on Monday reached 95.
Today was a difficult day for all. We had a 79 mile day and the first half was up the Stephans Pass to 4,150 feet, all from zero. Wow, what a long, hard climb. One guy in our group that has done a couple Rocky Mountain week long rides said he never had such a hard day in his Rockies experience. Most of the second half was downhill and I reached 40 mph before getting a little nervous and eased on the brakes. There was a little crosswind and I do not need a bad experience. Some people did not get in until supper time. Today the scenery was spectacular. The Cascades are beautiful....filled with evergrenn and foilage and snow capped peaks. There was occasional snow in the ditches as we rode by. We were usually next to a roaring mountain river with very turbulant waters.
Tomorrow is another tough day with another 4000 foot climb and leave the beautiful Cascades for the high level desert plateau of WA and ID.
Thanks for your continued prayers and support and blogs comments. We feel you prayers!!!
Love, P&J
Sunday was a day that started with worship as a group and training the rest of the day and another worship service with area Seattle churches, at the U of W ballroom. It was 92 degrees in Seattle that day and most air conditioning does not run or exist out here.
Monday, we biked over to the Golden Beach Park on the Puget Sound and had our rear tire dipping ceremony and were off on our first day. The Seattle area churches gave us a great breakfast on the beach. The remote broadcast link did not work that day, sorry. We biked 48 miles the first day to Sulton, WA and camped out at the High School athletic field. What a great site of tent in our traveling tent city. The temp on Monday reached 95.
Today was a difficult day for all. We had a 79 mile day and the first half was up the Stephans Pass to 4,150 feet, all from zero. Wow, what a long, hard climb. One guy in our group that has done a couple Rocky Mountain week long rides said he never had such a hard day in his Rockies experience. Most of the second half was downhill and I reached 40 mph before getting a little nervous and eased on the brakes. There was a little crosswind and I do not need a bad experience. Some people did not get in until supper time. Today the scenery was spectacular. The Cascades are beautiful....filled with evergrenn and foilage and snow capped peaks. There was occasional snow in the ditches as we rode by. We were usually next to a roaring mountain river with very turbulant waters.
Tomorrow is another tough day with another 4000 foot climb and leave the beautiful Cascades for the high level desert plateau of WA and ID.
Thanks for your continued prayers and support and blogs comments. We feel you prayers!!!
Love, P&J
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