Meets and Greets

We've been here at the U of Washington for over 24 hours now, and I think we are all getting anxious to start riding. The last day has been full of bike safety training, group photos, many truck unloadings and reloadings, orientations, worship, and our first Celebration ceremony, which will be happening every Sunday throughout the tour. Today we celebrated with a few Seattle CRC churches in a ballroom on campus.
Lots of meeting and greeting is going on among us riders. Its crazy how many ages and backgrounds and abilities are represented in the group. Just the large number of people to get to know is quite intimidating, but its nice to know we all have the same goals for the trip (awareness, involvement, and fundraising in the name of poverty). Hearing some stories of fundraising troubles of my fellow riders, reminds me once again of how blessed I have been by the donations I received in my name. Thank you once again!
Tomorrow we dip our tires and begin our trek East.
These pictures portray a common scene this weekend--a sea of jerseys huddled around bikes (or more often one). Random spandex and helmet-wearing is also no surprise.

I realize this post is extremely disorganized, and by the pace of our schedule thus far, I hope you can get used to it! I'll try to keep you as updated as possible, and I think I will err on the side of disorganization rather than polished paragraphs.

I can't wait to report after actual miles have been pedaled!

Synod Presentation

So close!

The excitement is here! After a quick presentation at Synod yesterday and a couple of hours of wrestling my bike into a box, I and fellow (fortunate) Grand Rapids residents were able to drop off their bikes at the Sea to Sea truck. I already feel the loss of my favorite form of transportation--I don't like being so dependent on my car to do my last minute errands, but I know this means the trip starts soon! Although I never doubted this trip would happen, there is quite a different feeling between the day I took a picture of my bike in the snow and yesterday with all the piles of camping gear and bike boxes. Getting a peek at the warehouse gave me a glimpse of the tremendous amount of work that has gone into this event.

Training

Training takes time.

An "Average" Day

This Saturday, Scott and I rode from Grand Rapids up to his cabin in Woodville, MI--home of "The Woodville Country Store," a miniature pony, and not much else. It happened to be the eve of the "Blessing of the Bikes" up in Baldwin, so we were "blessed" with the roar of motorcycles whizzing past us all day. On the up side, the ubiquitous "Welcome Bikers" signs were very hospitable.

Our grand total mileage was 70.69 miles--a distance record for both of us. The route was pretty hilly, and there was a healthy headwind all day, so I really felt good about how it went. I am very grateful for Scott's company (roaring motorcycles aren't very good company). My bike, clothing, and equipment all treated me very well, and I successfully pedaled a short ways with a Dairy Queen blizzard (a skill that I hope to develop more fully in the future).

This time we got a lift home, but I'm trying to imagine doing this 4 weeks (or 9!) in a row. I was surprised that my seat wasn't more sore on a quick ride for an ice cream cone yesterday. That is encouraging. Yes, ice cream is my weakness.

All the answers...ha

Thanks to a few friends and family who have taken up the hobby of cracking jokes about "fixing poverty" by riding an expensive bike, the vision of this tour is on my mind often. And I am grateful for that it.

Thanks to a recent riding partner I gained a little more insight. Not surprisingly, it has been right in front of our faces.

Bikes....poverty....cycling....poor....

Who is most affected by the consumption patterns of us North Americans?
Who can most easily change the consumption patterns of us North Americans?

Our consumption directly affects those in poverty. And though biking from Sea to Sea may seem to be irrelevant in fighting poverty, the lifestyle we are developing in ourselves and promoting to others is right on.

Bike more, burn less petroleum.

Just the bike

I am now a (self-proclaimed) cyclist. After finishing the Riverbank 25k run on Saturday, I became a full time cyclist. Its exciting! The running definitely helped my fitness for the tour, but its nice to have a single training focus as well. I have about 5 weeks until I leave to make my way to Seattle.