Week 2... I got behind...

June 30 – Sunday in Payson

Today we went to “Shepherd of the Pines Evangelical Lutheran Church” which is located right behind the high school we were staying at.  It was really cool to experience a different tradition/style of worshipping God and the view of the mountains through the windows behind the pastor was amazing (and I’ll admit a little bit distracting…).  Lunch was at the church and was exceptional! 

July 1 – Monday in Payson (Oh Canada day)

Last day off before re-beginning the planned tour!  In the morning we woke up early to get ready for tomorrow and took a 12(?) mile bike ride to a nearby river which we spent a great majority of the day at.  It was definitely a good way to get our legs moving in preparation of Tuesday after not having biked since Thursday.  During peloton we sang “Oh Canada” to keep the Canadians happy…  Which I didn’t know the words or tune to but oh well!

July 2

Intense climb today of about 3000 ft!  Great practice for when we hit more mountains in the future.  The Stehouwer family was very spread out for this ride, having left camp at different times and also riding at different speeds (in the range of 4-10 mph on the climb).  Camp was in a high school gym and while providing showers, did not quite live up to expectations (scolding hot in the guys’ and freezing cold in the women’s)…  But it was still a good day with leftovers (and fruit as dessert?) for supper.

14 flats and 2 falls

July 3 – St. Johns

Today was a superb day!  My (Joel’s) group’s average speed was easily 20 mph…  I think that everyone had a great day and ride today.  Better yet was the pool in the park that we were staying at for the night.  It was fully equipped with a 1 ft deep pool (which none of us used), a diving board, and a high dive!  You would not believe some of the methods we learned to make the biggest splash (and have the most fun).  After swimming we had supper, peloton, small groups, and then a free outdoor movie.  Maybe about half of the cyclists stayed up to watch “American Tails” with people from the St. Johns community.

9 flats and 1 fall

July 4 – Independence Day (for the Americans)

Day began at 4:15 with an Iphone alarm that the owner slept through and didn’t end until 4:20.  But the rest of the day got much better!   The day actually began at 5:00 with a noise very similar to a cannon being fired…  The town of St. Johns prides itself on its ownership of and use of a cannon on every fourth of July to celebrate American Independence (and make some unsuspecting people jump pretty good!).  Most cyclists got into camp before 12:00 and then had a relaxing (and touristy) day at Zuni Mission Christian School and the surrounding area.  It was really interesting learning about the Zuni culture and way of life.

2 flats and 1 fall

July 5 – Zuni to Rehoboth

Quite a short ride today!  We began the day an hour later than usual (and got confused about the time change) but still finished just after 12:00.  The last 4 miles or so of the ride were spent on Route 66, which meant that our average speed dropped quite significantly due to picture taking…  About 2:30 a storm came and brought thunder, rain, and even hail.  For some reason it seems we bring rain (and normally a good amount of wind) to whatever community we stay overnight at.  As of now, at 3:15 the rain is still coming down.  Thankfully most of us decided to set up camp inside Rehoboth Christian High instead of sleeping outside in tents (that hopefully are unscathed).  As a fun little fact, I (Joel) took a fall when turning out of a café parking lot by unclipping my right foot, stopping, and then leaning left…  No damage to me or my bike, simply quite embarrassing.

6 flats  and 2 falls

 Eric after a good (and hot) day's ride.  This was in Quartzsite, last week Thursday

Hard to see from the picture just how big this hill was, but yeah, we went up that!

For those of you to whom this would be an icon, this is today on Route 66

Hard to tell, but it was so windy some people stood in the rain to keep their tent on the ground...

PS:  if you want to see a whole lot of pictures from Sea to Sea, not necessarily taken by someone you know...  but go to "johnhenry64.smugmug.com"!  He is a pastor at a church in Canada and I (Joel) have been riding with him most days. Or just copy and paste "http://johnhenry64.smugmug.com/Religion/Sea-to-Sea/27520369_rtFTg6#!i=2316185802&k=NtQXKgX" and it should bring you to his site!

I'm trying to convince my mom to write some but she hasn't yet...  Anyone really want to hear from her somehow get ahold of me and I'll keep trying!