Sea to Sea 2017, Cycling to Alleviate Poverty

We had hot oatmeal this morning. Plenty warm with more heat to come meant setting off earlier than usual. I was with William again, we had a blast. The route was mostly downhill with a heck of a hot climb. Thankfully a creek showed up along that climb, although the rest stop was only 300m later! William and I stopped along with others to cool down. I dunked my helmet while another John went for a full head dip and others went swimming.  The descents featured strong crosswinds making it hard to challenge a new top speed. When we did arrive along Okanagan Lake we had favorable winds. Tim Hortons was a blessed stop for iced cappacinos while the temps soared to what my speedometer read 40°C. With renewed strength we headed out and caught a nice tail wind to push us into Summerland.  At camp I took a dip in a small creek running through the campground along with William, a mom, and her 12 year old daughter.  Dinner was lovingly provided by The Well from Kelowna. We had sa...

Cold morning today, about 8°C. I did stay warm enough under the truck. After the hard uphill yesterday we got the reward of plenty of downhill today with similar distance. Princeton is a fairly nice little town of primarily miners and lumber. First stop in town was at a bakery where I got a chocolate topper croissant and William had a iced coffee. Camp is in a town park, conveniently with a pool! I took advantage and was pleasantly surprised at it's warmth. Next was into town for some coffee with fellow riders. Hamburgers, hot dogs, toppings, carrots, celery, chips, and watermelon made up supper. The local church provided all this food along with plates and cups so we didn't have to wash dishes!  I feel sleepy tired tonight and hope to turn in early. Tomorrow is a big day of around 140km. Time: 3hr 18min Trip: 72.5km Avg: 21.9km Max: 72.1 This last picture was in emphasis of openly vented washrooms

I slept under a truck last night, the gear truck to be more specific. I was not lacking a tent but sought other shelter for it's simplicity. I had done similar back in 2013 Sea to Sea. It I didn't have to set up the tent then I wouldn't! The night was warm and bugs not too bad. Biking was uphill. We rode from Hope, BC to Marring Park up in the mountains. We climbed over 1600m (a mile) in elevation! The climb went on and on, I kept a steady pace again riding with William. We are having sloppy joes on french bread and Kraft dinner (Mac n cheese). Fred had a birthday last night and we celebrated with cake!! No cell phone service overnight but I'll get to posting this when I can. Sleeping under the truck again with a tarp underneath me to keep the dust away. Time: 4 hour 28min Trip: 73.5 Avg: 16.4 Max: 69.7

A critical question to ask in the morning: which way to turn out of the parking lot. I ride with William today, a Canadian of a stockier build and a strong rider. The first hill of the day on George Ferguson Way was quite the way to wake up the legs. We experienced amazing church support! Our second rest stop was at Cornerstone CRC in Chilliwack, CRC. They had out fresh baked goods like cookies (m&m, oatmeal, sugar, chocolate), muffins (pear and apple, crazy berry, blueberry), water, juice, and coffee.  Then along the way there were members cheering from the side of the road. Winds we favorable as 20km later we arrived at Agassiz Christian School for a full lunch of sandwiches, soup, watermelon, water, and coffee! Coffee is the essential drink around these parks. I'm very thankful for the church support we're experiencing on this tour! Tonight we spend camping at Hope Secondary School. Dinner will be taco Tuesday. The highlights of today: A quite old Porsche driven by a...

We ride! Around 20km to White Rock beach where there really is a huge white painted rock. We prayed together, took photos together, and dipped our rear tires in the Pacific. Each small group rode together for the first day. I got to know Jasper, Kaitlin, Ed, Ally, and Herman. Jasper left behind his unicycle this tour. Kaitlyn is shy but becoming more comfortable. Ed is a retired man new to cycling tours. Ally has plenty of energy, she's a professional cyclist. Herman is also new to bicycle tours. The ride was beautiful in weather, mid seventies all day. The wind was behind us. The strangety of today was 0th Ave along the U.S. Canadian border. 0th Ave is a Canadian road paralleling an American road. These two roads are merely separated by a ditch. Border patrol is seen occasionally and there's a rumour of video surveillance. Tonight we stay in Abbotsford, BC. We're at Abbotsford CRC with plenty of grass for renting, only two showers, but a prepared dinner by the church. W...

This morning we had worship and the first pelaton (information) meeting of the tour. We learned our small groups and how each small group will serve throughout the week. Chores/tasks will change weekly for each small group. The afternoon was filled with somewhat comical bicycle training to go over simple skills. Skills like hand signals (left, right, slowing, stopping), riding in groups, rock/debris Dodge, and terrain change (riding into grass). The Canada bike representative organizing this skill training was thoroughly excited about his job, especially in the safety aspect. If he wanted a point emphasized he said it more than multiple times. The most special time today was indian blessing on our journey. The first ritual was a burning of sweet grass to bless the bicycles. The chief, his wife, a daughter and nephew, and a friend sang songs over us and blessed us with healing crystals for sore and cramped muscles. We made a circle and went through something like a rebirth, making a...

Today I got to sleep in! Past 7am that is. The last of the hotels ended well and on we went to see Stanley Park near Vancouver. The city traffic was something all of us will not miss this summer. Stanley Park was a pleasant but very busy park on a Saturday afternoon. We walked to the beach and ate lunch with a viewing of the harbor. We arrived at Trinity Western University for the registration of Sea to Sea. It's a joy seeing old friends and those I nearly don't recognize. I will say more about the Sea to Sea community in the next two months but for now I wish to call it home. Dinner was good, the meetings were long, and the people are wonderful. It's a blessing to see Sea to Sea as an idea now become reality.

It was our earliest morning yet! Which meant John went back to bed and then had a waffle with whipped cream for breakfast :) Dad drove the family to a Mt. Baker viewing vista up a rickety old forest road. The van shocks bottomed out multiple times but nothing fell apart. We drove through potholes, loose gravel, and even some snow to make it to the vista. At the top we built our first snowman of the summer!  A spec off the peak of Mt. Baker appeared to... it's a bird, it's a plane, it's a hangglider! He lifted his was around as we speculated where he was headed. About 20minutes later he made a quote,"shameful landing." The man who wished to be left nameless had driven to a trailhead the night before. At 2am he began hiking up the mountain for 8 hours to then hangglide down from the top for about a half hour. We just so happened to witness his flight and see him land about 40ft from us. What timing! On with our drive we found an old Sea to Sea friend of Eric'...

The smell of marijuana welcomed us in the legalized state of Washington. We spent the night at a Ramada in Spokane Valley. No pictures were taken by me today. Dad started us and I got us through the rest of the day. I've been feeling tired and simply determined to get to the west coast. We drove highway 2 rather than following the interstate. The highway wound through the mountain range along lakes and rivers. A favorable decision in skipping the interstate and seeing more natural wonders. Through connection with Jack Ofringa, one of my previous highschool teachers, we got a recommendation to go to Deception Pass State Park, a state park on the Pacific Ocean coast . The old growth forest aspect is like rainforest, the ocean is a welcoming sight. The trees range from thin to thick, as thick as 4ft wide and waist high ferns cover the forest floor. The shoreline is mostly stoney, a joy to skip the stones on the water. Tonight we'll be spending the night at another favorite spot...

Breakfast consisted of cheap cereal we brought and milk that mom would have been better not knowing the price of. We traveled into the park to do a short hike and decide how to spend the rest of our day. On whim we decided to bike up part of Going-to-the-Sun Road. The road was closed to vehicles but open to bikers and hikers. We were able to bike over 1800ft in elevation and about 10miles before the road was closed to all traffic due to snow removal. On the ride I saw one black bear going up and two on the way down! Eric got excited and convinced the family to go on a two hour guided hike in possibility of seeing a moose. I actually decided to skip out and in due irony as the hike was to John's Lake! Once the family was back I started our drive to go further west. On this drive we wound around mountain roads and happened to pop out in the famous small town of St. Regis, Montana. We got the "best shakes ever," Huckleberry shakes. As you can see here, trees really do...

We left Glendive around 9am. Many hours were spent driving and battling the winds. The speed limits allowed up to 70mph on Highway 2, but the van would drop a few mpg's to keep speed. I of course drove around 55mph so I could capture the best we can get of gas mileage. The day has wrapped up with us in Glacier National Park spending the night at Glacier Highland Motel. A vague memory for myself, but we stayed the same location years ago. Dinner is out of our cooler and snack box, primarily consisting of cheese and crackers.

Today began with a good breakfast but the drive was long. The Stehouwer family was tired and grumpy but resolved their issues when it came time to enjoy Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The park offered scenic views at the Painted Canyon Rest stop and 36mile scenic loop packed with prairie dogs, wild horses, bison, and hiking trails. From the national park we drove a long hour to Glendive, Montana. Without a pool for entertainment, the family got Pizza Hut for dinner and watched John skateboard and the local skatepark. John was quite thrilled and even made a friend who let him borrow a full size skateboard.  All in all, the day turned out to be a good one for the books!

Quite a cushy stay tonight in the hotel! Eric and John are having a blast on the mini waterslide in the pool area. The drive today was free of backups and of any serious rain showers. John took the first shift, with Eric next, Larry (dad) for the third, and John to pull the family into Fargo, North Dakota.  Peanut butter sandwiches were eaten for lunch but tasty meals off of Culver's kids menu were enjoyed for dinner! Looking forward to a hot breakfast in the morning and stopping at Theodore Roosevelt National Park in the afternoon.

Here go the Stehouwers on a drive over 2300 miles to the start of Sea to Sea from  Vancouver BC. We'll be taking the week to drive and do some sight seeing.

The Stehouwer family will be heading out this Saturday, June 17, for Vancouver, British Columbia!