Join me as I bike Sea to Sea

Distance Biked Today:  86.1 miles

Time Spent Biking:  6:06

Avg Speed:  14.4 mph

Max speed: 30.5 mph

Total Distance Biked: 2849 miles

It was exciting to have 37 miles of today's ride on a bike path. But it was a lot harder than I thought. The further we went South the harder and harder it was to stay on the path as it kept splitting, leaving us standing at unmarked splits trying to figure out what way to go. Eventually, I made it there. One group of people ended up going ten miles down the wrong path.

One person almost fell in front of me and caused a huge pile up. Luckily he didn't fall, and I braked quick enough to avoid running him over. Crisis averted.

We passed lots of little cafe's, so I decided to stop in one and have a quick sandwich. As I waited I caught a couple minutes of the Olympics. This few minutes has been the most that I've seen.

At the end of the path we climbed some stairs and the route merged with a road again. Going through a little crowded suburb, a bicycle cop decided to help escort riders through it. He would meet up with several riders and have them take up the lane and continue through red lights. He did this for group after group after group. It was great to have his support and protection. When I first saw him, I thought he was going to get after me for something, but we was only going to help.

Here's a video of some friends biking down the bike path. There is a long lead in, so you can skip the first few seconds.

I like bike paths because you get to bike off of busy road and in more secluded and peaceful areas.

I see a lot of signs everyday and some just stand out as very odd. Especially this one on a fence around a school playground outside of Chicago.

More encouragers along the way!

What's this? A Meijer? I must be getting closer to home!

The first half of the day was stressful trying to find the right way. The rest of the day, the traffic was horrible. Quite possible the worst traffic and the unsafest conditions for the whole tour. Not only were we on a busy rode, but the occasional drivers were rude and crowded us. Let's hope they get better. Also, we're very thankful to God that we were safe today. I know that he protected us immensely today.

Tonight we are staying at Trinity Christian College. We had a wonderful welcome along with many amenities, including free laundry. So, I did a load and updated this blog while I waited. But it looks like rain, so I had to couldn't let my clothes completely air dry outside. With the chance of rain, I found a nice spot inside and slept there, instead of setting up my tent.

You guessed it! We had Chicago deep dish pizza for dinner. We barely have had pizza on the tour so this was very welcomed.

And lets not forget the soft serve ice cream machine! Mark really knows how to make a sundae.

Lately we have had a lot less flats. This is attributed to the face that we are out of Goathead country now.

Trinity really understood why we are doing this tour. I am excited along with all the people that we meet that we're biking across the country and seeing amazing places. But this is secondary. This tour is about alleviating poverty. About raising awareness and funds for people that do not have the necessities to live because of uneven social structures. Trinity understood this as they showed through the film festival they had were three professors showed films relating to poverty and led discussions sparked by the films. I attended one about housing projects in the area that were torn down to make way for a new highway. I was extremely interested but also extremely tired, so I left early.

Thanks Trinity for your work!

Remember you can still participate by making a donation here.

Also check out more of my photos and videos.