Sunday, August 24, 2008

Day 42 Resting in Madison

Today was a relaxing day. I'm a little behind, so excuse my terseness.

We had celebration service in the morning. This weeks fruit of the spirit is faithfulness.

Later someone introduced the ministry fair to everyone and read this quote from a Christian Reformed World Missions brochure.

To go fast go alone, to go further go together

It's fairly obvious how this connects with our tour so I don't feel like I need to explain it.

The church we stayed at even made a little Sea to Sea vanity plate!

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Cool signs! huh?

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We had an abundance of food. What a blessing!

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If you look closely you can see our biker tan lines. A local family let us use there pool. It was wonderful!

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The local church arranged to have a Angklung choir come. I was a little late getting back from the swimming pool, but I walked into them playing Chariots of Fire, my favorite song. It was wonderful.

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Communicating with our familys and friends is important so the internet so here you can see everyone busy emailing and blogging.

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Look at the food!

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It was a great day to prepare and energize for another week of biking.

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Distance Biked Today: 76.76 miles

Time Spent Biking: 5:22

Avg Speed: 14.2 mph

Max speed: 34.2 mph

Total Distance Biked: 2675 miles

Today was a great day, even after riding on the gravel path below for ten miles.

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Early in the morning I found a brochure for Cave of the Mounds at a local gift store that I stop and walked around in. I was excited as the route went right by, so for the next couple of miles I planned a visit. It was just off the route, so it was perfect.

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Cave of the Mounds is a cave that was found by a farmer less than a hundred years ago while he was blasting to start a quarry. He ended up finding a sizable self contained cave that was sealed off from everything. It included stalactites and stalagmites. It isn't anything as big as Mammoth Caves but it is similar.

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I enjoyed taking pictures with a long exposure (2-6 seconds) with Tyler's tripod that he let me borrow. Thanks Tyler!

Claire Kooistra also stopped and went on the tour after I left, but I was surprised none of the other cyclists stopped.

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They also had a huge garden that was absolutely beautiful.

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I also stopped at Little Norway and was going to look at the building and such. But you have to pay ($12!) to get in. That's out of the question. So I talked to the gift shop people for a couple of minutes and one lady was amazed at our trip, when I told her how much money we've raised it literally took her breath away. You can see one of the houses peeking through the trees.

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I stopped again at a bakery and had some bread pudding.

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My extra stops along the way did cause me to arrive very late.

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With all my stops today, I arrived late at the end and missed riding with almost everyone else as a big group to the church where we're staying. They did give us a very warm welcome including all these fun signs!

But Josh Krabbe was in the group and shot this video.

My bike wheel did fail last week. There are little cracks in it which is a bad sign, so I got it replaced tonight under warranty. Let's hope this one holds up.

The local church also provided tons of great food, activities, movies. It was wonderful!

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Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Special Notices

I have four quick news items:

Distance Biked Today:  100.2 miles

Time Spent Biking:  7:14

Avg Speed:  13.9 mph

Max speed: 40.3 mph

Total Distance Biked: 2598 miles

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Even though today was shorter than the last two days, it was far by the hardest. I think the long days with no rest afterwards has worn down my body.

The road was horrible today at the beginning. With huge cracks and big holes, left us zigging and zaggin on a busy road.

Later on in the day, one rider hit some gravel and fell on the shoulder of the road causing his collar bone to break. Today was his last day of riding. This is extremely unfortunate but we are glad that this was the extent of the injuries.

We saw 6 windmill blades at a truck stop. They're huge!

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We crossed the Mississippi today into Wisconsin. I'm not sure how many states that makes. 7, I think?

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Wisconsin has beautiful rolling hills that sometimes leave you on a ridge looking for miles and miles to the left and right at luscious green fields and bunches of trees.

 

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Tonight we had shepherds pie, I had seconds and thirds. Absolutely delicious.

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I slept outside again on a covered platform, but woke up at 4:30 to drizzles. So I moved to avoid the rain, but as it got worse I had to curl up in the corner to avoid getting wet. So, I didn't sleep well after that, but I was in bed at 8:30 so I had enough sleep.

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Distance Biked Today:  112.2 miles

Time Spent Biking:  7:17

Avg Speed: 15.3  mph

Max speed: 28.7 mph

Total Distance Biked: 2497 miles

Today was day number two of three of our three 100+ mile days. Yesterday went great, but I am worried that my body will be more fatigued today after having ridden so far yesterday.

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Today we rode by hundred of windmills used to generate electricity. They are over 250 feet tall. The blades are 130 feet long. They cost over 2.5 million dollars to build, and the farm owners are paid $7,000 for each windmill on their property. I also calculated that the tip of the blade is going about 120 mph. It was nice to see them not moving at the beginning of the day.

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The last part of the day was hard. I was tired and my body was sore. So, I stopped and took a nap for about 1/2 hour. This recharged me some and made the last bit a little easier.

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Remember you can still participate by making a donation here.

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Distance Biked Today: 116 miles

Time Spent Biking: 7:26

Avg Speed: 15.5 mph

Max speed: 38.6 mph

Total Distance Biked: 2384 miles

Today was the day with the longest distance. Most of us have been nervous about today and the next two days as they are all 100+ miles days.

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While I was getting ready this morning it started to rain. This added to everyone's anxiety. But it stopped raining for a bit when I headed to breakfast. So I headed out, but then we were biking the same way the storm was moving so I caught up to the storm and was rained on. After noon it cleared up and after a couple of hours I was mostly dry, but dirty.

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It seems ironic to have the first day of rain on the longest mileage day! I would take the rain over the headwind of last week or the heat of the western states any day.

Along the route two churches provided food, including donuts, coffee, Gatorade, fruit and Powerbars.

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The day went good but it was long. At the end though I didn't feel as tired or sore as I usually do, so I have confidence is having a good day tomorrow. I can't ever imagine doing that distance again though.

We were ushered in at the end by a nice tail wind that made the last twenty miles go by easily and quickly.

Tonight we stayed at a elementary school, where I cleaned all the sand and dirt off my bike, especially the chain and gears. Seeing how the school was made for younger people some of us found it challenging adapting, especially the tall folks. Here Nathan Beach is brushing his teeth.

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We found this bug there. It was huge at about four inches long. It turns out it is a Eastern Dobsonfly. Thanks Anne.

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Sunday, August 10, 2008

Day 37 Sioux City to Sioux Center

Distance Biked Today: About 66 miles (my computer stopped working so I'm not sure)

Max speed: 29.2 mph

Total Distance Biked: 2267 miles

Today we biked up and down rolling hills. Some people complained, but I love these. My knees are stronger again and I love flying up the hills pedaling and then coasting down them.

Everywhere we look there is corn and soy beans. The crops look perfect too. Perfectly straight rows, height and consistency in color. Simply amazing. Just think of all the items that you eat and drink (pop) that have corn syrup in it and maybe I bike passed that corn!

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A local church on the way invited us to stop for root beer floats and smoothies. And boy do they know how to make awesome smoothies. Some people had three of each. But I stuck with only one because I know it can sit like a rock in my stomach as I cycle.

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It is a short day, so Nick Ellens wanted to take a short detour to Orange City where he was born only adding about 5 miles to the day.

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We saw the house where he was born, but nobody was home. So he went next door to the same neighbor as when he lived there. His mom had been in contact with her via Christmas cards so she knew a little about Nick. She also invited all (Nick, Julie, Paul, Aaron and I) in and we talked for a bit. (Also, Brittany is from Orange City and joined the tour for the day)

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Orange City is very Dutch. All the building are in the style of buildings from Holland. We even stopped at a Dutch Bakery (opps, Julie had her mouth full).

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I had an Almond Pretzel.

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We are staying at Dordt College tonight. They have been very generous and have let us stay in dorms and they have AC! This will be my first time sleeping in a bed for 37 days! We had a celebration service tonight even!

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They also provided dinner and breakfast for us. They baked pies and Pizza Ranch donated pizza! Yes Pizza for the first time! Of course thought they underestimated the amount of food we'd eat and we ran out, but they even brought us more pizza! Thanks.2008-08-05 Day 37 Sioux City to Sioux Center 033

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Also Greg Dyke left us today. We'll miss you!

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Everyone is anxious about tomorrow. It is a 114 mile day. The longest day on the tour and many people haven't biked that far, so we don't know what to expect.

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