Sea to Sea 2017, Cycling to Alleviate Poverty

It was a long day but a welcoming day. Great to be back in Michigan! We crossed into Michigan at the town of Ironwood. A local church served a pasty supper fornus! I'm glad they served pasties because now all riders on Sea to Sea know what pasties are as we pass through the upper peninsula of Michigan. Time: 6hr 0min Trip: 145.3km Avg: 23.0km/hr Max: 43.3km/hr Morning prayer and course opening. Every morning we open with the Lord's Prayer, which when concluded announced the opening of the day's route.  Back in Michigan! Slightly off route I traveled along the Iron Belle Trail between Ironwood, MI and Bessemer, MI. The trail is a very new multiuse paved trail converted from an old railroad line. 

I wimpped out, I put up a tent. The mosquitos have now become too bad to sleep out in the open comfortably.  It's nice having the personal space and a barrier from nature. Typing "a barrier from nature" seems awful, I love nature for the most part. Breakfast was our tasty Sunday breakfast of pancakes and sausage. In planning for after church I brought a skateboard for Caleb as well so we could hit up the skatepark. Caleb has been away this weekend with his family since they came up to visit him. He after all was busy and did not join me at the skatepark. The church we all went to was First Presbyterian Church of Ashland. It's a beautiful older church with an organ and plenty of wood work. The pastor kept his sermon very relevant by incorporating the bicycle wheel. Jesus is the solid rim while we are the spokes. Individually we are weak and can't so easily be bent, but by the tension of many (actually holding the rim in) we are able to stay supported. I spent my...

I slept in the janitors office last night! To find a dark spot to sleep is always tricky so it's convenient to get creative. I slept well in the dark instead of the light in the hallway.  There was a long day ahead but I had no anxiety about the day. Today marked our halfway through the distance of the bicycling, 3490kilometres. A celebration was planned for us an not revealed till all riders had made it to the celebration location which was 120ish kilometres from Carlton, MN. This location meant all riders had to pace themselves to meet by 1:30pm for a group photo and the surprise. The surprise was strawberry shortcake and ice cream! I thoroughly enjoyed about three servings.  The rest of the ride went smoothly enough but with tiresome legs. Nearly as soon as I got to Lake Superior I emptied my pockets and jumped in with all my bike gear on. It felt wonderful! Being in a bay area, Lake Superior was actually quite warm. I road into camp only to go back to the lake with ot...

What a riot last night! We happened to catch the stock car races of Grand Rapids on a Thursday night. A few small groups of Sea to Sea folks made it to the races where we hurt our ears and got covered in dust. By the end of the night the track was slick with burned off rubber and wet from "bones" the water truck guy. He put water in the track to both keep the dust down and slick it up! Today was a day of mid length but easy pace. William gave me the Bluetooth speaker to use for the day. He, Caleb, and Frank all got ahead of me so I stuck my own pace. Starting from the back of the pack I slowly made my way forward as I made me rest stops very brief. It was neat to ride with different people all day. Most of the landscape was lower marshy lands with pines and tall grass. This evening Caleb and I got out to skate into town. I got to try out my new skate wheels which are sufficiently better than my old wheels even! In town is a local festival of sorts. It feels like walking int...

The state bird of Minnesota is definitely the mosquito; they were awful last night! After lathering bug spray on my face I got into my sheet sack. I could hear a buzzing of wings and looked up to see mosquitos gathering on the underside of the gear truck. Even just all the buzzing was enough to flow fear into my veins. The mosquitos buzzed around me face, bit me through the sheet sack, and I gave up. I decided to move inside and a few minutes later Caleb also moved inside. I slept well inside the school. I rested well and had plenty of breakfast: frosted flakes, the breakfast of Thursday. Announced at breakfast there was to be a ten kilometre optional time trial for us cyclists. I did participate when it came to be that part of the route but didn't push myself too hard. Something like an average of 31km/hr (19ish mph) and a time around 18-19minutes. The rest of the day went well and the school is beautiful. Before showering Caleb and I headed off to the skatepark. Since my one wh...

A great night of sleep inside the Lake of the Woods School started my day off well. A blend of Honey Nut Cheerios, poorage, and brown sugar has become my daily fuel. With Caleb on breakfast clean up and William on kitchen truck loading, Frank and I waited around for a later start. The weather was nice and the wind was pleasant. I rode with those three as well as some others who were still in camp. We talked, sang, and laughed our way to the first day stop. The rest of the day riding was a little less cheery but by no means hard. William, Caleb, Frank, and I finished off the day at Jourdan's Family Diner. I had pancakes, Frank a cherry waffle, Caleb and William a Denver sandwich with fries. Time: 5hr 1min Trip: 121.5km Avg: 24.1km/hr Max: 34.7km/hr The remnants of a gas station in Waskish, MN.

We entered the United States of America! Short note, I didn't sleep well because the weather was so warm I couldn't do much too keep covers over me as protection from mosquitos. I slept in Stuart's hammock between two trees. But the day was nice! The weather was cloudy in the morning up till our border crossing where the rain began. We went one by one through customs to get our passports checked and move onto the American side. Shortly after the rain came pooring down while we all took shelter under the secondary inspection covered area. We used the bathroom as needed and got a group picture before moving on. I rode on with William, Caleb, and Frank until a split in the route where we could go more rural or take a more direct route along a local highway. William and Caleb whent direct while Frank and I went rural. Frank ended up getting two flats and needed a change of a rear tire. It was a good thing I was around to help because of my experience from 2013 Sea to Sea havi...

The day of wind. I usually ride a little slower than William out of choice so he let me go ahead and leave before him. I let out easy and relaxed. At about 6km I latched onto a pelaton (like if riders) to take advantage of draft due to the headwind. I kept on with that group and semi accidentally went with them to the sign for the centre of Canada. From there we got to 35km before the group met up with some relatives. I stopped with them but was anxious to move on. George, an experienced rider, and Albert, a strong rider, passed by. I saw them slightly in advance and decided to catch up with them. I knew I would be working hard but I stayed behind them rather than taking a turn at the front. I was repremanded at the next stop and took my turn from there on out. George and Albert pushed me hard as we took 1.5km to 3km turns pulling (being the front of the pelaton). It was just us three but the changes were often enough. I thought about sticking back for William and Caleb but I figured ...

I caught up on some sleep, sleeping in till 7:56am. Another yummy morning of pancakes and bacon. We were all bussed to Covenant CRC for morning service and lunch h. The local CRC's all came together this morning at Covenant to support us on Sea to Sea. It is wonderful to see a church so full and radiating with hymns. Lunch was fully served with hamburgers, pasta, salad, and desserts! For the afternoon I joined a group on the. Hutch's minibus to head down town. Caleb and I found a skatepark and succeeded in busting one of the wheels on my skateboard. Now the trouble is to find a single replacement wheel or a full set of wheels. The more interesting part of our time was a middle eastern / Arabic concert going on adjacent to the skatepark and behind the human rights building. Many middle easterners were dressed in more formal clothing according to the event. Despite these travels I didn't take any pictures. The one picture below is of the sink here at the school we're st...

Pleasant. Today was a pleasant day to be biking. I solved my cold hammock problem by laying out my sleeping mat inside the hammock to buffer the outside air. I had plenty of breakfast and the wind was on our backs for the ride. The first seventy kilometres kept us on a old two lane road with little traffic and fairly smooth pavement. To have both the calm of no cars and less rattles from road bumps felt glorious! Rest stops came plenty quickly despite my relaxed riding. I road with William to start, then Stuart, the man who lets me borrow his hammock. For short bits I rode with others. To finish I met up with my parents and a middle aged man named Ed, a man who enjoys self supported touring. I met up with them at an A&W for free root beer day! All A&W's are serving free root beer today, Saturday July 22, to promote their new recipe root beer with cane sugar and all natural flavors. I had about three quarters of a gallon of root beer today. Rain came in early afternoon whi...

Wind wind wind. The roads smoothed out but the wind pushed against us all day. I rode with William, Caleb, and Frank, a pastor from Iron Springs, Alberta. At the first rest stop we made a key decision to have second breakfast at McDonald's. By this decision we became the back of the pack but missed the downpour of rain, keeping us dry for the rest of the day. I've been riding in regular day clothes for the past few days. The stitch lines of the padding on my bicycle shorts has been more painful than the padding helps. I rode in sweat pants the past two days and in gym shorts today. The landscape was pretty much flat today and with little change in crops. I put in early plugs at 75km till about 95km because the wind whistle in my ears was so aggravating. At 95km I joined a different riding group. William, Caleb, and Frank had gone ahead at the 75km rest stop. this other group helped pull me into camp against the strong wind. Time: 5hr 58min Trip: 133.6km Avg: 22.3km/hr Ma...

The roads were rough, the shoulders were rough, the weather was nice. We couldn't escape the bad roads of Manitoba today. The shoulder was rough pavement and the roadway had jarring cracks every few feet; the sweet spot was right along the rumble strip.  The first half of my day went quickly as I rode with Ed Witvoet, the tour manager. We averaged around 30km/hr during our time together. As the day went on I wore out. Caleb and Frank, a CRC pastor, joined William and I for parts of the day. We all went to a small pub at the end of the day for refreshment and a pizza to revive. We all slumped quite nicely in our classic cushioned chairs, weary from the rattle of the road. Camp tonight is pleasantly on a lake! I swam in the lake, showered in the lake, and watched the sunset over the lake. Dessert was provided by Herman, a farmer from Canada and a member of my small group. Now with a full stomach and a tired body, I am well ready for a good night's rest. I'll be sleeping on ...

I stayed warm enough last night! The hammock the two nights before wasn't warm enough but the ground worked. I slept that little bit better and slept in till 6:23am. Breakfast had already started, I missed all the hot poorage and the cereals that I prefer. I skimped on breakfast and felt it slightly on my ride. Thankfully I was helped out from kilometre thirty to fiftyseven. Kilometre fiftyseven was our lunch stop at Trinity Lutheran Church of Churchbridge. I ate well of sandwiches, muffins, and watermelon. I felt more energy and a better mood for the rest of the ride. William and I finished the day up with rootbeer from A&W. Camp is a pleasant park but with a short walk to the washrooms. Supper was provided by Russell Alliance Church which also provided ice cream for dessert! The upcoming youth pastor, Caleb, happened to be into skateboarding and longboarding. He's got some great upcoming teen ministries and skating is his way to hang with the kids. I happened to break t...