The last two days of cycling were the shortest so far 77 km each day and they were short days - a real treat to be in early and be able to sleep on a real bed for the last 2 nights.
Excitement built already early yesterday morning when another 130 cyclists joined us for the ride into Grand Rapids - needless to say the roads became crowded with the extra cyclists - a challenge some time when you wanted to pass them. My brother, Wally, was registered to cycle with us - he started out with Rita and myself but in the rush he got ahead of us and we saw him at all the stops. There weren't 12 stops along the way as we had been told earlier - we were thankful for that or we would never have gotten in on time. The push was on too to get to the staging area by 12:30 for the "grand entrance" on to Calvin College site. The cyclists led by Billy D on his motorcyle were first to ride in followed by our 130 guests and then the support vehicles. I'm sure there are photos showing this - we couldn't see it but we were told it was impressive. I was overwhelmed by seeing my relatives who were cheering from the sidelines. I feel so blessed to have had so many relatives who came to welcome myself and Ed to Grand Rapids...I thank God for wonderful family members.....Last evening we were all together for pizza and beer at a cousin's home as well - was great to have some time away from the big group.
Group time is also great but every now and then you need your own space and some of the cyclists from other areas chose to camp on campus instead of taking a billet for that reason. The weather was perfect for camping.
Later I hope to post some photos showing the tan lines we are all sporting. A group of guys were posing for photos yesterday and I managed to get some shots of this.
The tallest person on these shots is Marc VanOtteren who claims to be 5'19" - he hails from Ada, MI - a great bunch of young men!
Must let some others check their e-mails and be socialable....looking forward to the big celebration service this afternoon. We did as extended family all worship together at Neland Ave CRC - heard a message on "Faith Worth Keeping" - was good to have been there....
1 comment:
Its neat to follow along with you in your blog. It brings back memories of New Zealand. We plan to be in Niagara Falls to meet you next Sunday.
Jesse & Teresa
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