Algona to New Hampton, IA to Fennimore,WI to Madison

Hmm... So I'm (Mark) sitting here in the church in Madison, WI trying to remember the last day that we could have possibly blogged on. The satellite internet has been broken. I'm thinking that it was perhaps Thursday.

Thursday's ride took us from Algona to New Hampton, Ia. My dad, Eric, and I rode together the whole time. Eric is sometimes known as the "prodigal son" because he doesn't always ride with us. Today he wasn't the "prodigal son." We kept together in a pace line to make it through our second 113 mile day.
The ride wasn't as easy as the first 113 miler. There was a crosswind from the north. I think we averaged about 17.4 mph. In the small town of Britt (mile 20) we stopped and had breakfast at the famous "Hobo House." We heard that this is the location of the annual and national hobo convention. We were actually there during that time. There were events happening all throughout that week. The day that we were there had a parade, museum, and coronation of the hobo king and queen scheduled. Some real hobos were in the restaurant. They were very friendly and offered us a sample of poetry they had written or a token commemorating that year's hobo fest. I learned at the Hobo House the definition of a hobo. A hobo is a person who will travel and work. A tramp is a person who will travel, but won't work. And, a bum is a person who will not travel or work. Besides the knowledge of hobos I gained, we enjoyed a glorious breakfast of "hobo hash browns" mixed in with sausage, bacon, peppers, and more - very good. Eventually we decided that we must get going. There were still about 90 miles to do that day.
Our next stop was at Julie's truck. There she had cinnamon rolls waiting for us. What a treat after our huge breakfast! You can always eat when you're biking.
Carrying on, we saw cornfields and soybean fields. They're all over out here in Iowa. I'm amazed that you can ride for days in these fields and yet there is still poverty in the world. It gave me something to think about during the day's long ride. While riding, we also saw tons of ginormous wind turbines. There were hundreds of them scattered throughout the fields. I was so amazed and impressed by the "greeness" of it all. I learned that some of the blades are 130ft. long. i tried to take pictures, but they just don't do justice. You'll have to drive (or ride) out here yourself and check them out.
A third stop we took was in Rockford, home of Devonian fossils." We ate lunch there and bought a pop from the local gas station. A little quick sugar really revives you. For lunch I had a nutty bar and grapes. I don't eat much for lunch anymore. Maybe a few granola bars along the route and that's it. I guess you just gotta do what gets you through the day. Now, Eric takes like 2-3 sandwiches, granola bars, apples, oranges, etc. I'm amazed by how much he eats. Eritia, a fellow rider, eats a lot too. I bet she eats more than Eric. She's really fast too.
So that's pretty much all for Thursday besides taking showers and swimming at the city pool in New Hampton. I started a new book, "Pound for Pound." Theresa gave it to me. I hope it doesn't keep me up too late these nights.

Friday's ride was an adventure from New Hampton, IA to Fennimore, WI. We got to cross the Mississippi River. It's pretty big. I thought that we had passed over all of it and then another bridge appeared. So we crossed that and finally made it to the other side. The ride to the river was up and down, pretty hilly. More and more trees began to appear as we left the fields of Iowa for our new state, Wisconsin. The day was beautiful, sunny and 70-80's. However, it was our third and last consecutive century ride. I was feeling a little worn down. Plus three-hundred miles in three days really can take a toll on your body, or at least the energy that you are able to exert. So, in order to boost our depleted energy stores, my dad and I stopped at a Culvers in Praire du Chaine, Wisconsin (right after the bridge crossing the Mississippi). Here we got a taste of home since Culvers are found in Michigan; we didn't know that they existed out here. A few other cyclists joined us, Augie, Lynn, Dave, Fred, and more came later. Both of us had a double bacon burger, fries, and sundaes. My sundae was Reeses and Twix, very delicious. The food felt great while eating it, but you didn't want to move afterwards. We thought we gain energy, but I think we lost it. All we gained was a heavy stomach. But that was okay, we could survive the next twenty miles into camp.
We made it to camp. I felt pretty good. Three days of a hundred miles hadn't killed me yet. So that night we just relaxed. I did go to bed early though. After a shower at a local pool, peleton, and small groups, I hit the sack. I'd say it was about 9:30pm.

Today we rode from Fennimore to Madison. What a relief to be done with our century rides. Today's route covered 70 miles in a hilly and partially wooded Wisconsin. The ride began in the rain. We woke up this morning to a slight drizzle (the inside of our tent got wet). Then as we left camp after a pancake and bacon breakfast, the rain poured, only for about 10 miles though. I thought it was going to be a miserable yet exciting day. I was wrong about the first part. At the first sag stop, Julie's, the sun broke out and dried us off. No longer would we be able to get soaked by the spray from passing cars or feel the water squishing between our toes. But, that's okay. The day turned out to be beautiful. As the sun appeared, so did the color in the trees, wildflowers, and fields. The route took us on a hilly excursion. Up and down through valley's and along flat highways on a bike path (much like the Kal-Haven Trail in Michigan).
My dad and I rode together today, as we usually do. Our first real stop came in Mt. Horeb. It was a small tourist town of say 664 people with an excellent old-fashioned Schubert's cafe/bakery. Here we fed ourselves energy food, lemon bars, raspberry bars, and donuts. We like to eat healthy on trips like this, especially biking ones. When we left we had a final 20 miles to Madison. they went by quick. The hills just rolled us along. My dad enjoys coasting down the hills and then sprinting up them. So for me to keep up, I must really work. Sometimes I think that we go faster uphill than downhill (except on long uphills, then I win).
As we entered the Madison area I noticed one of the city signs which read, "Madison Population 206,054." I guess that its quite a big city compared to the rural ones we've been staying in. Our leaders, Ed and Jen, instructed us that the media would like us to ride into camp all together. So, in order to do this, all the cyclists had to meet at a designated park at 2:30pm. My dad and I were early. We were there at 1:30. I guess we didn't take enough breaks, so we decided to go to a nearby corner with restaurants. We ended up at a Red Robin. I've never been to one before. There we ordered a gourmet cheeseburger, fries, and chocolate malts - very good. While eating, the Olympics was on the television. What a new thing to us. Biking puts you out of the world. All that is happening is the cars and road around you, along with when the next meal is going to come. We've kind of left the world behind. It was nice to see what was happening again, sitting and enjoying out chocolate malts inside air conditioning.
At 2:30, all the bicyclists rode into camp at the church. There we were greeted by a whole congregation with banners, posters, noise makers, and cheering. A brass quartet was even playing marches as we rode in at the church. It was an awesome entrance and welcome. Each church is so unique in their hospitality. This one had all kinds of activities lined up for us, spas, massages, trips to bike shops, sightseeing, showers, laundry, etc. I absolutely love the weekends. At the church, Eric and I met a woman and her daughter who had been praying for us. We didn't even know them! How neat is that. We thank them so much for their prayers and support. It means so much to know that you have people praying and supporting you, especially when one might not even have known them at first.
Pretty soon its time for supper. This weekend they are giving the cooks a break. There's some volunteers who are preparing the food. It should still be good. The church is showing a movie tonight at 7pm, The Flying Scottsman. I think I'll go to see it. They said there's snacks, drinks, and a dark room with air-conditioning (perfect for a nap). So off am I. Thanks for reading and all your prayers. We'll hopefully see some of you in Michigan this week!

Sioux Center (Dordt College) to Algona

Today was a great ride! I think that I could do it again. Now, many would disagree since it was our longest ride so far and it rained in the morning. I (Mark), however, found it exhilarating. Iowa is such an amazing state to bike in. Perhaps because it reminds me of my home in Michigan. So it did rain this morning, on and off. We were prepared though, taking along our waterproof biking jackets. The rain drizzled for maybe an hour or two then stopped. It was beautiful. The weather was so overcast all day that the sky was filled with dark, looming clouds. These lofty blobs blocked out the sun, preventing the day from getting too hot. The temperature was in the 60's to 70's all day, a perfect biking climate.
About 15 miles into the route a local church provided us with energy food loaded with carbohydrates. They were donuts and coffee. Mmm mmm good. Then 30 miles in another church gave us power bars and gatorade. Our bodies were just buzzing with energy. No rain, rolling hills, or monotonous cornfields could hold us down. So we took off, whizzing away at 20-25mph. There was a tailwind pushing us from behind. What a difference it made. Usually we fight a headwind. Then's it's tough. I'm convinced that the wind always blows from east to west, except on Wednesdays.
So the day went by, as did cornfield after cornfield (there were some soybean fields in there too). Eventually, at mile 85 we reached Walter's stop, our first breaking point since mile 30. There they had the leftover donuts from this morning just waiting for us. So what could we do, but eat more donuts. Then, brimming again with energy, we raced off. Until we hit the town of Wittemere. This town had a Sausage Haus. We decided to quick step inside and take a peek, but were compelled to stay and chat. The owner right away cut up three plates worth of fresh sausage and told us to eat up. Our thanks to him. Protein (or perhaps simply food) was just the thing we needed. So we talked for a good hour about Sea to Sea, fishing trips in Canada, and how the sausage business went. After an hour we ended up buying 10lbs of sausage - it was that good. So we shoved these things into our bike pockets and held onto handbags pf sausage for the 10 miles left till camp. It was quite an adventure. I've never biked with sausage on my back.
Supper today was breaded chicken, potatoes (100lbs of them), broccoli, carrots, some salad thing, and ice cream bars for dessert. It was the usual meal. Nothing stood out too much tonight except the ice cream. I love ice cream, especially since you don't get it much when you're biking.
Now, it's time for bed. We have another big day ahead of us. Instead of a 113 mile day we have a 112 mile day. Hopefully it goes as well. Perhaps another tailwind will come and whip us right along. We'll see.

August 5, 2008

Today we rode 60 miles form Seargent Bluff to Dordt College in Souix Center, Iowa. We left camp at 7:30 am this morning and arrived at Dordt at 1:30 pm, so nice to have a short day. I believe that our next 3 days are all over 100 miles. In Ireton a church welcomed us with rootbeer floats, starwberry-bannana smoothies, and bannanas. Thanks so much! The smoothies were amazing! The whole route today was rolling hills, so much fun to fly down and then coast/push right up.
This is my first time at Dordt College. It has a beautiful campus. They offered us bowling, swimming, laundry, hockey at the ice arena, etc. Tonight they are serving us pizza from the Pizza Ranch and chicken in the Campus Center at 5:30 pm. We have our first mid-week celebration service here at 7 pm in the BJ Haan auditorium. Everyone wear your yellow Sea to Sea shirt. We are always a sea of yellow on celebration days with all of our yellow t-shirts. We get to stay in the dorms tonight too. My dad and Mark went into town to the Dutch Bakery (Caseys) while I stayed around the dorm and did laundry and just lazed around. I guess it was my turn to do laundry and it was nice to just relax. You would think that we have planty of time to do that, but we keep busy biking around and doing the everday camp things. Everything is so beautifully green around here - the lawns, the corn, the trees, the soy beans, quite a contrast to the dry desert areas we have been through further West. Pray for a tailwind and endurance and a joyful attitude on these next long days. These prairie states are high mileage weeks, but we are excited for what is to come in the East, more friends and family and fewer miles.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Today we biked 88 miles from Fremont, Nebraska to Seargent Bluff, Iowa. We woke up at 5:45 am to report for breakfast sweep duties only to find that breakfast and lunch items for the day were pretty much already put out. What a pleasant surprise thanks to those early risers who are quite eager to get on the road and beat the heat and the winds that usually tend to pick up in the afternoon. It was so hot yesterday so everyone was slightly anxious about beating the heat today. We had yet another quite significant headwind. I do not know who choose to go from West to East on this tour, but it always seems like we are fighting the wind. Thanks to the Brower's we got freezie pops along the route. Thanks! 4 miles into our sweep riding for the day we met one of our group who had broken off the left crank arm on their bike and the screws were stripped to put it back on. By coincidence or providence I guess we had the same bike in about the same size on the gear truck that one person was not using for the day. So a SAG got that bike as a replacement. Later on down the road the bike with the missing crank was used for a spare tire. We all share things in common around here as best as we can to help another biker out. What a blessing to ride in this community. As one of the kitchen ladies says, "We are all one big family doing the same thing." We arrived in camp at 5:10 pm and were surprised with spaghetti and peach crisp for dinner with ice cream.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Sunday, a day of rest. Well welcomed and needed. Smoking hot outside. Glad we are not biking today! The Sea to Sea group went to church this morning in two different churches, double duty. We went to Prairie Lane CRC in Omaha, Nebraska. They opened up the gates of hospitality to us and served us quite a spread for lunch. They even had a pizza machine dishing out pizza. I have not had pizza in like 5 weeks now. We heard about Open Door Missions, a local mission, and India Missions. We keep on hearing the stat that every 12 pedal strokes or every few seconds someone dies because of poverty related issues. As the pastor said this morning, this seems to be overwhelming. What should we do? The pastor said to see where God is at work in the world and join in. What a joy and blessing it is to be a part of God's work too. To think that God would include such limited creatures like us. Wow! What a loving God! A Lutheran church next to camp open up their doors when 2 ladies from our group wen there instead of riding the bus to where we were suppossed to go to church. The Luthedran Church heard about what we were doing and opened up there gym and air conditioned facility. We have just been chilling out in here all afternoon. They provided homemade brownies, pop corn, watermelon, and snacks off the fly. We can even sleep here tonight. Thank God for good surprises like this. God bless these churches and everyone else who has so generously provided us the warmest hospitality!

Friday, August 01, 2008

Today we rode 94 miles from Minden to York. We had a strong headwind along US-6 in the morning that we battled strong and hard against throughout the day. My dad, Mark, and I (Eric) rode together all day today and helped pull some people along through the wind. At a gas station rest stop we met a sanitation worker from the area who said to keep on handing out lots of cards about what we are doing because there are lots of rich farmers in Minden. We had some great roller coaster roads along some of the country roads we road on. It was nice to get off the highway onto some less traveled country roads, much more relaxing. These roads reminded us somewhat of the country roads we ride back on in Michigan with corn standing tall this time of year on both sides of the road. In York we stopped for a delicious Jamocha shake at Arby’s, a simple pleasure that is so delightful on a hot, sunny day after a 90 mile bike ride. We left camp at about 7:45 am this morning and rode into camp at 4:30 pm in the afternoon.
Last night for our halfway celebration we had strawberry shortcake and ice cream for an evening snack. So good! I had 3 helpings.
A few funny coincidences…
A couple of days ago we stopped at a donut shop for our first donut of the tour. I know that is a long time to go without donuts. We mentioned that we never even have donuts for breakfast in the morning at camp. I guess they are not very healthy, but surprise, surprise a local bakery donated a bunch of donuts for us for breakfast yesterday. They drove them to the school we were staying at a 6:30 am in the morning. Thanks! The other night at dinner we were still a little hungry and craving some cereal. Surprise again! There were Cheerios and milk sitting out on the dinner table when we went up to wash our dishes. Just yesterday we were talking about Jamocha shakes at Arby’s. One girl on the tour had never had one and she really wanted to try one so by coincidence today were riding together right when we went by an Arby’s and stopped in for a shake. Thank God for all of these good, little, big surprises! Yes, they do all revolve around food. Food is pretty exciting for us on this tour. Looking forward to pancake and bacon breakfast Saturday tomorrow!

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Today we rode 96 miles from York to Fremont. Going east we had a strong head/side wind. Going north we had an awesome tail wind, about half and half of the ride either way. Overall all the day made us work for our destination. I (Eric) thought I would just ride with my dad and brohter again for the day, but I helped pull along some older fellows through the strong wind, 13 mph. They appreciated it and, hey, variety is the spice of life. Gotta ride with new people sometimes. This was a great time to help. God has better plans than our plans if we are willing to be used by Him. We stopped at the farmer's market in Seward, Nebraska which is by the way from a sign we read in town about 4000 miles from Seward, Alaska. We strolled through and a couple of kind ladies offered us some peanut butter M&M bars. So good even in the morning! A free lemonde came along too after I helped a fellow change a flat tire. Great surprises are around the corner if you just take the time to stop and help, not to mention the great stories that those you help often tell during these times. One guy drove all of Route 66 in 1961 from Chicago to California with his friends to meet some friends they met at convention, a story I never would have heard if I would have just whizzed by. We arrived in camp at about 5 pm hot and tired, but after a solid hamburger dinner we geared up at the YMCA right next to the park we were staying at for a game of hockey in the ice arena. I think I was the only American playing hockey. The rest were Canadians. Wow they are good! After hockey we were going to go for ice cream but ended up just splitting a half galloon with Reeses pieces for the toppings. Gotta live it big on the weekends. We thought we would watch a movie on a laptop, but fell asleep about 20 minutes into it at 11 pm. We watched the movie and slept in the ice arena. It was actually the perfect temperature to snuggle up in your sleeping bag and sleep.