Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Overcoming A Few Obstacles...


6/27/09 ~ After a good night sleep on the comfortable couches and Craig and Lynda’s, we woke up to “smiley face” chocolate chip pancakes made by Lynda. We enjoyed breakfast with Craig and Lynda, but knew we had to keep moving , so we said our goodbyes and pedaled onward into Ohio. We rode 40 miles with a nice tailwind into Urbana, and decided to stop at a McDonald’s for soda and some carbs. Dietrich having broken a spoke yesterday was wary of the tensions of the spokes in his rim, and decided to get his rim tuned at the local bike shop. The bike mechanic, while truing the wheel ended up breaking a spoke, and did not have any in stock. The bike shop mechanic felt responsible and thus got his fiancĂ©e to drive Dietrich to Springfield, OH to get his wheel fixed. We decided that Seth and I would ride onward to the set destination of Sunbury, OH and begin looking for a house and Dietrich would follow up behind us after he got his wheel fixed. Seth and Bobby made it to Sunbury and after only one attempt, Francie opened up her basement to us. Because it was only three o’clock and we already had a place to stay for the night, Seth and Bobby went down to the local campground and swam in the pool. After swimming, we returned to Francie’s house and Dietrich arrived shortly after. We got showered up and relaxed, and Francie and her Polish friend Mark cooked us a filling dinner of steak, mashed potatoes, pasta salad and topped it off with rainbow sherbet. After dinner we watched the movie “Cars” and enjoyed the warmth and comfort of the couches while it rained during the night. Thank you Francie for opening up your doors to us and treating us so well……. This is two nights in a row now that Ohio has opened up its doors to us…..

Some Fellow Bikers









6/26/09~ Woke up that morning, in Tipton Indiana, only to find David cooking us up a great breakfast of fried eggs, and all the cereal we could want, it was beautiful, and he's quite the chef at making great eggs. We waved goodbye to our incredible hosts, and rode on out, bound for Ohio, and excited to be entering our last and final state before the Great and Wonderous, Pennsylvannia. We again had great weather, with a slight tailwind, and averaged 20 mph for the next 70 miles which put us in Union City, on the border of Ohio, where we would eat lunch. Just as we were pulling into the subway there however, Dietrich, yet again, broke another spoke sending his rim way out of true, and unrideable. Luckily however it could not have come at a better place, right next to a Napa Auto parts store. Since there was no bike shop, Dietrich needed to fix it himself, and so the great guys at the Napa let him use their shop. He threw the rim in the vice, and quickly fixed his rim back up and ridealbe, while Bobby and Seth enjoyed a great lunch of Subs, and napping.
After lunch, we hit the road again, entering the nice state of Ohio, riding a final 20 miles into the small town of Covington. We entered the town at about 2:30, and began the usual, knocking on doors. We always seem to be catching people when they're "just leaving town" however, soon enough we found our guy, Craig Cota. He was a great big, Harley-Davidson rider, with tatooes, shaved head, gotee and all, slightly intimidating at first. Bobby, stuttered through his words, checking to see if maybe this guy would let us stay at his place. Being the great man himself, he walked us right over and put us in his air conditioned garage. We dropped our stuff off and rode into town to get "the best ice cream" at the local shop, as he claims. We hung out for about 3 hours just trying to meet the locals, and just maybe talk to a girl for once, it didn't work out as planned however so we just relaxed and rolled on back to Craigs place.
We hit up his pool, and began chatting with him, and soon found out he was the man with the knowledge. He began telling us all sorts of different things, about things we could imgagine, and some we even couldn't, it was great. Soon thereafter he told us, to our great surprise, that as soon as his wife, Linda, got home, she could cook us up a huge meal, and thats exactly what she did. We had all the burgers, hot dogs, potatoes, and beans and rice we could possibly want. Yet again, it seems we are spoiled. To top it all off, she made us a great dessert of brownies and ice cream sundaes, with cherry and all, they were so great. Craig also continued to feed us all sorts of great little tid bits of information, and cute stories of his past, and told us all what this bike trip could possibly mean, he even ended it all with a great showing of magic tricks. He definitlely got us excited again to be biking across country, and got our minds on track again. To conclude, a great evening, Linda told us ghost stories of the haunted house they lived in before, a great way to end and incredible night.
It seems as though we always find the best people, in these little towns. We were still 600 miles from home, a good distance away, and the days can seem to get long now, seeing as we have a whole new state to cross... again. Just when it seems like the struggles are toughest, we find great people like the Cota's, and all the other's we've met, we are yet again blown away each day by those we find just by pedalling a distance.
Your prayers are felt, and thats all we can really say about that.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Blessings from David and Joanne






6/25/09 ~ We decided to sleep in at Tyler and Greg's, so we woke up at a ridiculously late hour of 9:30. Greg and Tyler said we should go out for breakfast to their dad's IHOP, so we went their and had awesome breakfasts for free! It was a relaxing breakfast since we were only doing a half day. We eventually got on the rode back up to Attica and our bikes.
In Attica, we thanked Tyler and Greg for an awesome night and got back on the bikes heading for Tipton Indiana. The riding was quick thanks for a nice tailwind and flat terrain. We rolled into Tipton and began looking for a place to stay. We had trouble for awhile but our prayers were answered when David and Joanne showed up on their sporty moped. We began talking to them and they graciously offered their house to us. David was a retired principle of the local elementary school. It was great to sit back and shoot the breeze with him for awhile.
Joanne made the most incredible meal of biscuits and gravy, mashed potatoes, snap peas, macaroni and cheese, and for dessert icecream and cake. It was so good and we couldn't have been more thankful for how much they blessed us that evening. Joanne had also written a whole book full of Christian poems and song lyrics. She gave us each and signed copy and we have been able to enjoy her poems along our trip. We crashed into bed with full stomachs. Boy we are so spoiled on this trip. We want to send out a big thankyou to David and Joanne for how hospitable they were to us. It was truly a blessing from God.

Fun With The Womacks














6/24/09 ~ After a scrumptious breakfast of eggs and cereal provided by Larry, we said our goodbyes and pedaled onwards. Today we were anticipating a new state - Indiana. We rode a good stretch through the morning and really moved quickly thanks to flat terrain and a tailwind. We stopped for food at the Burger King and Rantoul. A nice worker there named James heard about our summer-long adventure and offered us all the free food we wanted. We were blown away by how casually generous he was.
Moving on, we got real close to the border and wanted to stop for a drink in Alvin. We found out there was nothing in Alvin but a nice lady invited us to her hairdressers house. There, we were given free iced tea and we chatted for awhile we these two ladies as the haircut took place. They were also very kind and left us leaving Illinois with good memories.
We rolled into Indiana and stopped in a small town called Attica. Here we planned to catch a ride with Seth's friend Tyler Womack from Wheaton back to his house in Terre Haute. We connected with Tyler, left our bikes at a pastor's house, and headed for Terre Haute. It was great to finally ride in a car again. In Terre Haute, we got to hang out with Tyler and his twin Greg who both attend Wheaton College with Seth. They were great and it was a relaxing night. We grabbed supper at a local Mexican restaurant and than went bowling for the night. After bowling, we headed back to the Womack's to watch a suspensful movie called "The Game". We crashed into beds after an awesome evening that felt like a normal summer evening in light of all the experiences we've had on this trip. Special thanks goes out to Tyler and Greg for being so awesome and hanging out with us and making us laugh - It was so relaxing.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Learning to Trust












6/23/09 ~ Today we were headed to Heyworth. We were rested up and got on the road really early. It was another morning of riding and we made great time. We breaked in Havanna and grabbed some honeybuns and soda. Pressing onward we continued making great time across the flat planes of Illinois. We broke for lunch in San Jose at a small bar of all places. Dietrich originally just went inside to inquire about the condition of the road ahead because there was a detour. We went inside and the place as expected was completely dead. The lady inside was really nice to us and gave us all the free soda we wanted. So we sat there at the bar and had soda and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
After the break, we continued east with more monotonous riding. After a few hours we arrived in Heyworth. Since we arrived so early, we took a break before beginning our search for a house. We had the hardest time finding a place to stay. The local pastors even couldn't really help us out at all. We were beginning to give up hope when Seth met a man named Larry who was riding his bike around the development. They talked for a bit and Larry seemed a bit hesitant. Seth asked him just to think about it for awhile and the parted. Later, Larry found Bobby and Dietrich and said that we could stay at his place. It was a real answer to prayer.
Larry took us to his place and cooked us an incredible meal of spaghetti. We than had cake and ice cream for dessert. We talked with Larry after supper and he mentioned that he was preaching the sermon at his church that Sunday because the pastor was gone. He said his sermon was on the verse where Jesus says to "Let the little children come to me". He talked about the qualities of little children that Jesus finds valuable. One of the first qualities was trust. Larry found that God was really working in his life that night to give us trust. We in turn also had to trust Larry. It was great to see God working through our new friendship and we all came away from the evening with a new insight into the characteristic of Trust. We were truly blessed to have met Larry and we definately could see God through him and how God can provide for us.

The Mighty Mississippi








6/22/09 ~ After a great nights sleep in the Maloney's basement, we woke up and Brenda provided a great breakfast for us. With full stomachs, we packed the BOBs, said goodbye to Brenda and headed east for the Mississippi and Illinois. Along the way, we actually got to see Jay on the side of the road. We rode onwards and with the exception of some wet roads, we avoided rain and hit the might Mississippi.
Crossing that river was quite a milestone as we really began to feel like we were back in the east. We broke for lunch on the other side of the river in Quincy and did some bike repairs and cleanup. Than we got back on the saddle and continued riding onwards to our final destination of Rushville Illinois.
It was sweltering hot and about 5 miles outside of Rushville we noticed a pristine lake with a water trampoline and a blob right next to a local church. We stopped in and found out that it was a church run summer camp and they were having summer camp there that week. There were kids from Alabama, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana. They were happy to let us swim in the lake and they also provided a delicious supper. As usual, we turned a lot of heads with our goofy biking spandex and ridiculous tan lines.
After that we rolled down to Rushville to find a place to stay. We had a horrible time finding a place but were finally blessed with meeting Pastor Steve of the local free methodist church. He told us the local churches had a fund that was to provide for people who were stranded and needed shelter. So, he called the local campground which also had air-conditioned rooms and we got to stay in one of those rooms that night. It was great to relax in the AC before hitting the sack. It was a long hot day and a cool room with a soft bed was just the thing we needed.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

With the Maloneys in Missouri....









6/21/09 ~ After a good night sleep in beds compliments of Jim and Cindy we woke up to rain. We decided to stay in bed and wait out the rain. We slept in until 7:30 and the rain cleared up and we decided it was alright to ride. We said our goodbyes and made our way across the rolling Missouri Hills in the 95 degree heat. After about 45 miles; 10 miles outside of our lunchstop in Macon, Bobby's tire exploded and a golf ball size rut jutted out of his tire. He knew the drill and immediately threw up his thumb for a ride while Dietrich and Seth rode the final 10 miles into Macon. Bobby quickly got a ride from a couple, and set up camp outside the Wal Mart in Macon, and Dietrich and Seth shortly arrived. Bobby replaced his tire and after a lunch break we were ready to trek the final 50 miles to Monroe City. The ride went smoothly and after arriving in Monroe City we got straight to business and began knocking on doors. After our second try; the Maloney's Jay, Brenda and their son Shawn opened up their doors to us. We enjoyed a nice shower and dinner with the family hearing about Shawn's football days. We spent the evening relaxing, eating ice cream and sharing stories. It was truly great spending the evening with the Maloneys and watching them open up as the evening progressed. We would just like to say a special thankyou to them for how much they helped us. The hospitality we have been shown across the Midwest has been truly amazing!

Pics will be put on soon....

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Hello Missouri!








6-19-09 ~ In splendid fashion, Bob came through with an awesome breakfast this morning. We feasted on eggs, breakfast potatoes, sausage, and bacon. After checking the weather, we packed up waved goodbye to Bob and waved hello to Missouri. The riding was pretty uneventful throughout the day. We breaked for lunch in Cameron and than pressed on because we knew there was a chance of showers later in the afternoon. Fifteen miles out of Chillicothe things started to go wrong. Dietrich had a flat and we stopped as the thunder and lightning was hitting around us. He worked quickly and just as he put the wheel back on the tube blew again. He changed it out again and we kept riding knowing that rain was around the corner. Five miles out of town it started to ride hard. Seth found a second wind and led the charge into town feeling like he was in the tour de France. One mile outside of town Dietrich blew another flat. The rain was dumping and instead of wasting another tube, we decided to let Dietrich get a ride into town and Seth and Bobby charged into town finding shelter at the local McDonalds. Dietrich showed up soon after and we all went inside to dry our clothes on the air blowers in the bathroom. After supper, we rode into the suburbs looking for a place to stay. The first house we checked turned out to be a success with Jim and Cindy offering their bathroom and three beds. We couldn't have asked for more. They truly blessed us with shelter from the rain and Cindy even offered us icecream and brownies later. Jim turned out to be a fellow bike tourist also. The only difference was he had a motor on his. He had toured all over the US on his motorcyle including riding up to the Alaska and the artic circle. It was fun to here different stories from him. We were truly blessed by this couple and crashed into bed with stomachs full of icecream and brownies.

Last Night in Kansas

















6-18-09 ~ We decided to make today an easy ride, so we slept in til 9. After having a great breakfast of pancakes provided by Jason, we slowly got our stuffed packed up and got ready to leave Topeka. Jason owned a nice road bike and so we asked if he wanted to ride a few miles with us today and he was up for it. He took off work for alittle and we met him a few miles up the road and he joined the crew. It was fun to have another person along with us. The riding was nice and we had a real strong tailwind. We made it to Atchison and were pretty soon pigging out at the local Chinese buffet. We had met a young guy named Justin earlier and little did we know that while we were eating he had found a guy who was willing to put us up for the night. He introduced himself as "Bob Berg, like iceberg without the ice cause I'm not cold". We knew we would like him instantly and after we were done eating we rolled over to his apartment. He was incredibly generous and we had chips and salsa and Long Johns Silver while we talked. Afterwards, we rode our bikes down to the banks of the Missouri river and relaxed their as the sun set. Later, we relaxed and watched "Yes Man" before going to bed. Bob was great and promised to cook breakfast for us in the morning. He was a proffessional chef and we were excited to taste some of his cooking. We all slept in the same room including Junkyard his dog. It was a great bonding experience with relaxing pillow talk.

Topeka!








6-18-09 ~ After a great nights sleep in Tara's apartment and a delicious breakfast of biscuits and gravy, we packed our stuff and started the trek to Topeka. The ride was flat and relatively uneventful. On the way, we did pass numerous bikers all wearing the same outfits and riding the same bikes. We finally stopped to talk to one of the girls and found out that this group was biking from Virginia Beach to Oregon for Habitat for Humanity. They would ride for 6 days and than build on the 7th day. It was really cool to meet a whole group of people doing the same thing as us right in the middle of the nation. The rest of the ride went smoothly and navigating the city traffic in Topeka was not much of a problem. At Bobby's cousins, we unpacked our stuff and showered. We than grabbed lunch at Bobo's a local burger joint that brews their own Root Beer. It was delicious and we spent most of the day relaxing. Carol, Bobby's cousin, got home from classes. She is studying to become a lawyer. We ate an awesome meal of meatballs and mashed potatos before Jason, Carol's husband, got home. Jason works for a non-profit organization that helps local farmers in Kansas. After dinner, we all rode bikes to the local ice cream shop and relaxed and talked in the warm summer evening. Back at there place, we crashed into the bed they provided for us with full stomachs, grateful for how God provides for us throughout this trip.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

"Lifes a box of chocolates, you never know what your gonna get"





6-17-09 ~ We woke up after a great night sleep, again to Bobby's alarm. It was a beautiful morning but it was one where you could tell it was gonna be blazing hot that day. We were the first in the Osborne grocery store and inhaled a breakfast of apple juice and honey buns. Down the rode not more than ten miles Dietrich broke a spoke on his rear wheel on the cassette side. Of course the one tool we don't have is the tool to remove the cassette. We quickly decided to have Dietrich hitch hike up to the next big town of Beloit while Bobby and Seth rode. Seth and Bobby had an absolutely miserable time getting to Beloit as there was a brutal headwind. The miles seemed to drag on compared to the riding yesterday.
On Dietrich's end, he became great buddies with the Kansan boys in blue. The cops were great and got Dietrich to Beloit. When Seth and Bobby got to Beloit, they found Dietrich joking and carrying on with the local cops. It turns out that there is about one cop on duty per county and they had radioed all around and could transport Dietrich from county line to county line in relay fashion. The only problem was that the cop in Clay county, the county east was busy and would be unable to participate. Again Eric the cop came through and found Dietrich a ride to the town of Manhattan where Kansas State University was located. The final decision of the team was this: Dietrich would go to Manhattan while Bobby and Seth would ride onward to Clay Center which was 40 miles short of Manhattan. Dietrich, depending on when he got his bike fixed, would either spend the night in Manhattan or hitch hike back to Clay Center to rejoin Bobby and Seth.
Dietrich's ride wasn't coming for a few hours, so Bobby and Seth left. Their ride couldn't have been more miserable. A ridiculous headwind the entire way, sweltering heat, and nothing but fields. Seth spent most of the ride staring straight down not even wanting to look up to see how far he had to ride.
Despite the terrible conditions, Bobby and Seth championed forward and were within 10 miles of Clay Center when Dietrich pulled up in a luxorious truck. They stopped to talk. It turns out that the reason that the Clay county cop was unable to participate in the relay that morning was because an attempted murder had occurred with a cop killing the attacker. We were told about how dramatic this was for the small Kansan town that hasn't seen a crime like this in decades. Cops were everywhere and us as outsiders were unlikely to find any hospitality in the town. Taking things as they came, Bobby and Seth decided to join Dietrich and ride the rest of the way to Manhattan.
In Manhattan, we got Dietrich's bike fixed and had a supper of Chipotle burritos. Bob Conway, the man who we stayed with in Osborne, had managed to get ahold of his daughters who go to K-State. They were glad to put us up in their apartment. We rode down there and met Tara, Traci, and Tessa. We ended up staying in Tara's apartment because she had the most room. She was great and let us shower and relax. We also met Tara's boyfriend Tanner who had grown up on a huge farm west of Manhattan. It was awesome to hang out with people our age and that night we had a rousing game of Rummy. We played cards to the late hour of 10:30. Seth managed to pull out a W in Rummy. We had a blast hanging out with the Conway family and Co. We crashed onto the couches after a long day ready for sleep.

We would really like to thank the Conway family for all the ways that they blessed us in the past 2 days. Everything they did for us was above and beyond anything we could have expected. The people of Kansas truly practise the virtues of kindess and generosity that every American should have.