Sea-to-Sea NA I'm trying to post yesterdays notes and some photos for the week from the library in Mt Hored, a town at the 80km mark in our ride for the day. They say our internet system is working but I have some time today so thought I would try this. At first attempt the photos wouldn't download so I may have to do those tonight from Madison. Sea-to-Sea NA Day 37 We are now in Wisconsin, having crossed the Mississippi River about 30km back. There was a nice downhill to the river valley; which is much broader than the river is now. Of course we had to climb out of the valley again. This climb was about 10% of the total climbing for the day. The hills have increased in size over what we had the last few days. The forests have returned and they break up the landscape. The rolling countryside is dotted with dairy farms; which look more prosperous than those we saw in Iowa yesterday. Early in the day the road was terrible. I’ve heard of loose spokes, flats due to hitting holes and now of someone seriously injured. Latter the paved shoulder was strewn with gravel to various degrees due to recent grading work on the gravel shoulder past the pavement. This meant crossing the rumble strips to avoid the gravel, a tricky move –dashing into the traffic lane using the 10ft long break in the rubble strip which come along every 50 ft or so at speeds of 30kph plus. This is where Don broke his collarbone today. This 160km ride was completed in 5.5 hours riding time with two very short stops. The wind was almost non-existent for the day except at the end there seemed to be a slight headwind. Temperatures in the high 70s and scattered cloud made it a very pleasant ride on mostly quiet roads.

Sea-to-Sea NA Day 35 The lobby of the residence we stayed in last night is full of people at 6 AM and many of them are wearing raincoats. Many thoughts run through you’re head then; rain on the longest day, it’s a long way to breakfast, what about the bags we left outside overnight? Going outside it was raining pretty hard and the temperature was cool – better get the leg warmers out. I rode the bike to breakfast and by the time we finished that the rain had subsided quite a bit. I got on the road about 6:30 and promptly missed the second turn, realizing my error a mile down the road. Riding in the rain with sunglasses on you can’t see the markings on the road. Sunglasses came off and stayed off for the rest of the day. I don’t know why I missed the turn latter on again but I ended up on a 4-lane highway. I figured that I would stay on it if it was going my way but then it turned south and just as it did, two cyclists crossed the highway in front of me- that must be the road- so I followed them. For the rest of the trip I watched for road markings and strained my eyes to read the print on the guide map. The rain turned into a light rain, the kind that doesn’t get you wet when exercising because your body heat evaporates it almost right away. This serves to keep you cool and as a result I didn’t drink very much water at all but this also raised another problem; that of having to go to the bathroom. Three hours into the ride, just as I was going to head into the cornfield, there was Corrie and his portable outhouse. I watched my odometer turn over 100km, more cornfield and more calf operations (you can smell them before you see them). By this time I had passed most of the riders, either on the road or at rest stops. The rain had subsided and the wind was shifting to a tail wind. I realized this because of the speed I was riding at. You see my leg effort is pretty constant, you shift gears to keep the pedal RPM constant and so your speed changes according to the terrain and wind. I kept track of the time trying to eat something every half hour. Today for the first time on this tour I managed to eat a peanut butter sandwich while riding. On previous days my mouth would be too dry but today it worked fine. By 150km I had a good tail wind when traveling east, the primary direction for the day, but we did have to change to north or south to connect the paved roads. The ride ended at 184 km and a riding time of 6.2 hrs for an average of just under 30kph. The favourable winds made it a pleasant ride into camp and pretty well everyone made it in before 7 PM. Tomorrow is another ride of the same length but judging by the sky now it will be sunny and thus hotter.

Sea-to-Sea NA Day 34 Here we are at Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa. Air-conditioned dorm rooms for everyone tonight. That makes four nights in a row of air-conditioned sleeping accommodation for those who wanted it. It is a nice gesture but for me a lot of moving of gear through doors, up stairs etc. I’m in the ladies wing so my washroom is at the other end of the building (I took my night bottle into the room with me). There will be a dinner and celebration service here tonight. This morning we were on sweep duty so were late getting out of camp. George and I rode together all day, with 3 or 4 stops to check on people or to talk to SAG people. It was a short riding day with only 95km of riding on quiet roads through rolling countryside covered with green beans or corn. The cloud cover kept things cool so all in all it was a nice day. Tomorrow is the longest day so far, over 184 km, but the winds are supposed to be favourable

Sea-to-Sea NA Day 33 I’m riding down another endless road. I’m fighting another head wind and my speed is slowly dropping. I verbally abuse myself and pick up the pace a little only to watch it drop again a few minutes latter. A transport truck comes from the opposite direction and bashes me with its wind, Katrina it said on the truck. Then almost immediately after that a truck called Rita (not my wife but the hurricane) comes along and bashes me again. My speed drops even though I duck to try to avoid the wind off of this one. As I look ahead at the endless road I wonder what it must be like for those struggling to get ahead with no light at the end of the tunnel, like this road. Constantly being bashed and battered by poor up bringing, poor education, being born in the wrong place, poor government and then natural disasters, wars and disease. I can see how they would like to just lie down along the side of the road and give up. Me I have a map, I know there is a camp at the end of the road somewhere even though I can’t see it, I have hope. If I can just keep going a little longer, I will get there. Pity those who have no maps, who constantly get bashed by big trucks and who have no hope. That is what this ride is all about. Earlier in the day we had shorter distances before the next road change, we had manageable targets, we had curves in the road, hills we could crest and valleys to descend into. It was much nicer riding that way. That is what this tour can do for the poor – give them just a little hope, help them accomplish one small manageable goal and then maybe they will have hope and strive to reach the next goal on their own or with a little less help. The sky was overcast for most of today’s ride but the winds were far from favourable. Some riders had a nice shower along the road; I had only a few drops. The scenery had changed early today to more rolling hills but then went flat latter on. It looks like most riders will make it in on their own today and that’s good. My time for the non-stop ride of 144km was just over 5 hours for an average speed of 28.3. That should tell you that there was a lot of head/side wind or that I had a rough weekend, the latter I don’t remember so it is probably the former.

Sea-to-Sea NA Day 32 and 33

Ice Hockey in Nebraska in August with the outside temperature at 95F! That is what the boys are doing at the Fremont Family YMCA. The ice stays in the arena all summer and tonight is public skating. When you come out of the arena building, not even the rink, the heat and humidity hit you like a wall. Yes it is now humid something we have not yet had to endure along with the heat. Just slowly walking between our tent and the gear truck makes you hot. I don’t know how we bike in this heat. After the ride today I have probably drank 1.5 gallons of various liquids and only gone to the bathroom once in the last 6 hours. There is a nice wind – nice once you are in camp - but it wore out a lot of people on the last leg of today’s ride. There were a lot of rolling hills, no shoulder and the hot southeast wind. We were riding mostly east which was tough and part of the time heading north so there the wind helped lift the spirits and the speed. Average speed just over 29kph for the 154km ride. Tomorrow is a day off, then we head into another long distance week, problem is the first two days are light and we make up for it towards the end with 2 - 180km days back to back but that is next week. Now we get to relax for a day, and fix bikes, go to church, do laundry and any other chores that need to be done. There is a small water park for kids here just 200 ft from my tent. I have been in it twice and am sure I’ll do so again tomorrow. I mentioned yesterday about being able to ride long and hard. The one physical gift I have been blessed with is that of endurance and so the ability to work hard at anything for a long time. I have trained for cycling for many years so my whole body is in tune with that except one part keeps complaining, especially when I first get back on the bike seat. It is now Sunday afternoon, 100F outside but we are enjoying the hospitality of the Good Sheppard Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod; which is right across the road from our camp. Some of us attended each of the two morning services here and they offered to let us use the facilities and provide food and drinks right away. Some of our group are sleeping in the building as well. Last night it didn’t get much below 80F and remained humid all night. Most of our group went to two CRC churches, one in Omaha and one in Lincoln, both quite a drive away. Lunch was provided but it was a long trip. Thanks for the words of encouragement and support both written and unwritten.

Sea-to-Sea NA Days 31 and 32 Maybe I'm having tandem withdrawal, but since giving it up the teranain has changed from boring sagebrush to boring corn feilds. Having ridden 2005 I know that I can ride this one and not having to pull Rita through the mountains leaves me with not much of a challenge. Those who know me know that I get bored quickly with no challenge, from my grade 1 teacher to now it has always been the same. So I have rode the last 4 days without stopping, solo for more of a challenge but that too is no big deal for me (I had some hitch hikers today for a while). Today the wind was against us most of the 150km ride, average speed 25.5kph, yesterday we had a sside wind and some tail wind in the latter part of the ride so the average was much higher 34.6 kph - at least I think that was yesterday. I think we are in August now but am not really sure, not even trusting my watch. This is how it gets on the tour, I know tomorrow is Sat. of week 5 but that is about it. We get no news of any kind, some where I saw there was a hurricain 'D' around Texas. We have absolutly no idea of what is happening in Canada. Our only worry is tires, water, food and such. I helped several late comers put up tents tonight and will volunteer to break wind for (not before) some people on the really long days next week even if there is a tail wind. Tomorrow I'll ride solo again to finish the week off.