Sunday, September 19th

We left Anibes by 9:00 - destination Reims, France, via the shortest route which took us on roads not too suitable for our oversized van. Changed route to avoid freeways and this took us up and over the mountains. Beautiful scenery all around us but still not fast - the Alps in France are different from what we have seen in Italy and Switzerland. The biggest difference is in the houses that nestle in the mountains. Switzerland is prettier.
We stopped for coffee around 10:30, sitting among the motor bikers who were all out enjoying the great weather. We picked up baguettes, grapes and a hunk of brie cheese for lunch and were on our way again. We soon realized we would never reach our destination at the speed we were going so picked up the pace and took the freeways. It can get costly because of the hefty tolls you pay but we do need to get to our destination.
The houses in the mountains have changed from medieval type to more modern the closer we get to the big cities. It's still neat to see villages nestled among the hills - from our vantage point on the freeways, it's impossible to see roads leading to the houses. This part of France also has many apple orchards - the trees are covered with nets and harvesting has not begun yet. We see fields of dried up sunflowers waiting to be harvested. I'm sad that they are not bright yellow anymore, would have loved to see this.....
Grenoble is the biggest city we come through on the freeway. The further north we travel in France, the flatter the countryside gets - we are out of the mountains now and see much better farmland. The vineyards are plentiful again and we are told that the closer we get to Champagne this will be the case as these grapes are used to make champagne...
Before stopping tonight we see some excellent farms - some with crops already harvested, some crops waiting to be harvested and lush green fields with cows grazing. It was so flat it reminded us of the Canadian prairies.

Even though we took the freeway for half the day, we still land up at the youth hostel in Reims just before 9:00 p.m. The cafeteria was still open so we could get a meal there yet.

It's late, time for bed.....tomorrow another 450 kilometers before we get to Den Haag....the weather was absolutely beautiful all day today - beautiful sunset as well.

Saturday, September 18th

We were ready to check out of the hotel this morning when the staff asked us if we were going to eat breakfast first – we didn’t realize that it was bed and breakfast so we enjoyed eating outdoors taking in the view and hearing the waves. Across from where we were, is the island of Elba which is the island that Napolean was exiled to. Ferries run back and forth regularly from the mainland to the island.
What we can’t get over is the number of castles that we have seen in Europe – probably all part of their defense program during war times. They usually sit high up on the hills and now are surrounded by complete towns. Taking photos of this won’t do justice at all because we are too far away.
Since we were so close to Pisa we decide we need to see the leaning tower – you have to see it in relation to another building to see how it leans. It was too busy to take a tour of the tower – many other tourists had the same idea today.
Driving along the Riviera we see the American influence on this area – American flags fly along with the European ones. This goes on for quite a while and all of a sudden the appearance changes and it’s not as luxurious any more…..being Saturday the joggers and cyclists are out on the roads all enjoying the good weather. The tourism book says that the Rivieras are strung with resorts and towns, many of them spoiled because of unregulated development. We didn’t notice that but then we didn’t spend much time there. Now we are out of the Tuscan Region of Italy and the scenery changes. Tuscany is quoted as being a region filled with vineyards, cypress-ringed villas and olive-cloaked hills and this is so true. The cypress trees are unique to this area.
From there we go into the mountain ranges again with the towns/castles nestled right on top and lush green trees all around us. Every now and then we get a peek of the coastline again. One area we passed through was almost like a rainforest. Lots of farming yet as well, all terraced along the side of the mountain. Olive trees are in abundance as well as vineyards….we stop for a lunch break and then decide if we are to make good time today we had probably best get back on the freeways for a while. Being on the freeways, you go through one tunnel after another – the Italians have mastered the building of tunnels. Joe says it’s almost like having tunnel vision…..
Another must place to visit today is Monte Carlo/Monaco. These places too were very busy with tourists today. We checked out the price of staying there but decided we couldn’t afford it and they had no vacancies even if we wanted to stay. This is where the rich and famous hang out…..Joe and Bernie checked out the Ferrari dealership and gloated over the cars there. They have never seen so many Ferraris out on the streets that belong to people there.
By now it’s getting to be supper time and time to find a place to stay. We had to drive for another 2 hours to find both. It was late but we did succeed. Tomorrow we will make reservations somewhere earlier so we can enjoy the evening.

Friday, September 17th

Everyone is going their own way now – John D left last night already – had to catch the 10:00 train to Vienna, Dora left bright and early to catch the 7:30 shuttle to the airport. Next were Peter and Rita and Bill and Rita and Andy to catch a 10:30 flight to Amsterdam. John and Irene went over to the train station at 6:30 to book their train trip back to Holland only to find out that the ticket agents were on strike…..what to do now? Their bikes are with us now and we will take them back to Holland for them – this will make their travel so much easier in case they fly now. Karen, John K and Adrian are the only ones left behind when we leave at 9:30 – they fly out at 3:00.
We hit the road, thankful to have Adrian’s “TomTom” with us – this way we don’t have to consult maps at all. Milan is known as the fashion capital of the world – we did see this in how the people were dressed - both ends of the spectrum in regards to the rich and the poor. We were not in the most desirable area of the city in other respects – a little rough to say the least – our windows have to stay open in our rooms because of the heat and all night long there is noise. One of our group had his wallet lifted right out of a front pocket. Good thing it was the last day but still not nice. Getting out of Milan was a bit of a chore but once we got on the freeway, it was clear sailing. We left the freeway after a while so that we could go through the Tuscany region of Italy. Words or pictures will never describe the scenery that we saw. One thing was too bad, the sunflowers were all bloomed out….so sad for me as I was really hoping to see them in bloom yet. Scenes from “Under the Tuscan Sun” show sunflowers so that is why I wanted to see them. I have other sunflower shots so maybe I can transpose them over……olive groves and vineyards are in abundance.
We have picked up a book on Italy and it tells us the places to see in Tuscany so we have planned our route accordingly. We stopped for lunch in a quaint old town…….tourist season is over here so it does become difficult at times to find places to eat. The need for some Italian ice cream in the afternoon led us to places where we weren’t sure we should be. We saw 3 empty tour buses at one spot so we thought there should be something to see in this other town so we kept on driving – well we were the only vehicle on this one particular street filled with pedestrians…..we just had to keep on going even though “Betsy” told us to turn around as soon as possible. Nobody gave us dirty looks – we were all tourists……parking places are very difficult to find in these small towns so you just take your chances – we did finally find some real Italian ice cream and it was worth it.
The plan was to find a place to sleep along the coast of the Mediterranean and we did – mind you we were the only guests in this hotel – and also at supper. We decided to eat there as well and had the local fish for supper. There was a little difficulty in making ourselves understood about what kind of fish we wanted or how it was prepared so each of us got a plate of fish – head and tail still attached. I soon get rid of the head – don’t like eyes looking at me while I eat. It was delicious – served with grilled vegetables and a basket of bread. Every restaurant in Italy has a bottle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar on it and this is how they eat the bread, dipped in this mixture.
All the windows and doors of our room were left open so we could hear the waves hitting the shore – we slept well and woke up to the sound of the crashing waves. It’s a bit overcast this morning……don’t know what the weather will do today but we had a good day yesterday.

Farewell to family.....

Monday afternoon we arrived in Peize at cousin Tjerkje's place. After supper we took a walk and surprised my aunt who lives in a nursing home here. She doesn't see well and we walked into her room and said hello. She knew right away who we were from our voices....she was thrilled that we had stopped by. Tuesday morning, Tjerkje and her friend, Jan went cycling with us and we stopped in at another aunt's place for coffee and then we cycled the surrounding area. Wonderful lush green farm land. The bike paths in Holland are so well laid out and make cycling easy. We stopped in Norg for "patat met" at lunch - delicous french fries with mayo for those who do not know what patat is. In the afternoon another cousin and her husband stopped by in Peize for tea so by now we have met up with all the relatives who are home. All that was left to do now in this area is check out my roots so Joe and I got up early on Wednesday morning and were on our bikes by 8:30 to make the trip to stad Groningen via Hoogkerk. Had to check out the house where I was born. It's still there, only it's a lawyer's office now. From there we went to Groningen - had to see the "Martini Tooren" and get a picture. It is so much easier to get to the "centrum" of any city by bike than car....By now it's coffee time and we do "koffie met appel tart" a la McDonalds. It tastes good no matter where you buy it. We cycle back to Peize in time to have lunch with Tjerkje and to pack up our bags and make our way back to the airport - a 2 hour drive. Along the way we make one last stop in Vries for a quick cup of tea with a cousin of Joe's. Bernie and Anna are already checked in at the IBIS where we are staying as well on Wednesday night. They are off to bed early since they have just arrived that day. We have acclimatized after spending 10 days in Holland. Thursday morning we are up early - the weather forecast was not good - rain and more rain. The forecasters were not wrong.
Let me suggest you follow the other blog that I will be posting on for most of the time. We are disappointed that WiFi is not as readily available as we had hoped. Most places charge outrageous prices for the use of it and time gets away on us as well. When we get into a motel/hotel in time for supper, it's a rush to try to get to a computer as well.
The other site is: http://cyclingeurope2010.blogspot.com -

Today it's Sunday already - most of the group left to go to church in Utrecht but there was not room in the 9 passenger van for 12 people so a few of us had to stay back so Joe, Peter and I volunteered. This gave me a chance to get caught up with the blogs.....

Trip down memory lane......

Well, we have had our weekend with Joe's relatives - on Sunday we were together with 20 of us at Jacob & Hillie's place in Dwingeloo - the birth place of Joe. There were 10 cousins there with their spouses....lots of good food, drink, and fellowship. We spent two days cycling in this area - one with Jacob and Hillie and one day with just the 2 of us. Tomorrow morning we will do a short trip by bike along with Joe's brother and sister in law from BC - Jake and Jenny - to visit the area where Joe's father was born. Cycling is just such a way of life here - ladies at least 20 years my senior are still biking, getting their groceries, going to church, etc. Bikes are parked everywhere and the electric bike has taken over here for those who have some health issues. You see some hard core cyclists here as well - they are decked out in cycling gear and are the only ones that wear helmets. Can't imagine seniors over 80 cycling where we live in Canada. The bike paths make it very easy to go everywhere without being on the busy roads. Mind you there are still bikes on the roads as well - we made a trip yesterday to the place where Joe's mom was from and we had competition on the road(s) with the vintage cars that were going there too. It did get a bit too busy for my liking. Sometimes the bike paths are on the roads so we have to share. Couples cycle along holding hands or holding an umbrella - I haven't mastered that yet. I told Joe to please not get too close - I love him but do not need to hold his hand while cycling. We did get caught in a rain shower yesterday again - t'was time for coffee so we stopped.
We took the scenic route yesterday so we could cycle "op the groote, stille heide" - once I get my camera cord organized, I will post some pictures. The heide has just started blooming...didn't come across the shepherd with his sheep but we did see a shepherd with his flock. Jake & Jenny arrived in Dwingeloo yesterday so we made arrangements to meet for a drink last evening just for the opportunity to talk English....it's tiring to speak Dutch when it's not your first language. I guess it is our first language but because we don't do it regularly, it's not the easiest for us.

Rain gear testing....

Well the "weather radar" this morning said there would be a shower at noon and for the rest the weather would be fine. We left at 11:00 on a route mapped out by cousin Jaap that would be about 60 km long - through the bush and we should be at a coffee shop (aka Tim Hortons)by noon so we should be able to stay dry. Needless to say, it took a bit to figure out the number system of all the bike routes and we were not at said coffee shop by noon so out came the rain gear - it works well and we looked like drowned rats when we stopped at a motel/hotel in Ede for a long awaited cup of coffee. Prices at Tim Hortons are cheap compared to what coffee costs here in Holland. Mind you it does come with a "free"cookie...to eat with the 3 swallows of coffee that you get....
We cycled through lots of beautiful countryside in the Bennekom area - lots to see and not enough time to see it all. We arrived back in Bennekom around 3:30 not having gone the 60 km. because we had another rain shower and had to get out the rain gear once again. I will admit that cycling in the rain is not much fun. Small towns in Holland are neat places to be in...the "vis maart" caravan shows up and parks in the middle of town and those loving fish can buy to their heart's content. Joe bought himself a "lekker bekkje" - he said it was delicious....I will try one later this week - I'm sure we will see more of this when the whole group arrives. Tomorrow we leave Bennekom to travel to the northern part of Holland - both Joe and I come from that area so we will check out our roots and visit with family there. A week tomorrow the whole group will be here...

Arrived....

We arrived at Schiphol just after noon on Monday - good flight from Toronto - slept quite a bit on the plane so were not too tired when we got there. Luggage was all there even though we had to wait quite a while for the bikes, Joe was getting a little worried that they were not coming. We got our rental car and were on the road by 2:00 arriving in Bennekom just after 3:00. By 8:00 p.m. we could hardly keep our eyes open so we headed off to bed - hit the pillow and we were gone. By 1:00 a.m. we were both awake, read a while and fell back to sleep - Joe was up by 8:00 and I slept right through until 9:00. It's a bit overcast today - the bikes have been put together but we are not going out today. Tomorrow it promises to be better cycling weather so we will head out then.


We did a walking tour earlier today and will take a car ride in the countryside this afternoon.....the top picture is at a war cemetery in Grebbeberg where there are many Canadian soldiers buried. The picture with cows is one that Jacob took and put into a steel window case that came from the old family (deWeerd) homestead in Dwingeloo. The bottom two photos show some of the many figures that grace the downtown Bennekom area.

Last minute details......

The list is getting shorter - just a few things to attend to yet before departure. Having a late night departure gives you another day to finish what needs to be done. This way I am home yet for my mother's 87th birthday - she will be in bed way before we head out of Toronto airport. There will be another blog up and running that will be more generic in terms of everyone being able to post on it so will not be as personal as this one. That will be the address that the friends and family of the "Group of 16" will leave for those who want to follow us. The address for that one is http://cyclingeurope2010.blogspot.com - we just hope that wireless access is available all over Europe....
I did get out for a short ride this morning - thought my chiropractor's appointment was for noon - it was at 10:15 instead so had to do a quick ride. Joe says he can wait until tomorrow to pack up the bikes so will do another ride yet tomorrow morning. Adrian did buy a new bike so him and Joe went out for a good ride this morning. Adrian has become stiff competition for Joe going up those hills - Joe used to be faster up those hills....

Four more sleeps.....

Last minute details to get done yet….clothes to pack….bikes to box….it will all get done – there are still four days before we head to the airport to begin our adventure. Flying at 11:00 p.m. gives you a whole long, last day. Gotta get a few bike runs in yet too…Joe and Adrian cycled to Port Dover yesterday in the heat, I had to drive to be their support vehicle. It was a 66 km ride from Ancaster. Adrian even tried out a new bike….

The Countdown Is On.....

Twelve more sleeps and we will be heading off to Amsterdam on the brink of our European Adventure. We have planned it so we can do our visiting with our relatives before our actual "Bike Tour" begins. This way we have adjusted to the time difference and can do some cycling on the roads of Holland to get used to the type of cycling we will be doing for three weeks when the rest of the group arrives. The group of sixteen have all been involved with one or both of the SeatoSea tours and the NewZealand tour that we were part of. Everyone is from Ontario except for John who hails from Alberta. Anna will be our capable "support vehicle" driver - the other 15 are cyclists and we will take turns riding with Anna for company and to help navigate. The SAG vehicle needs to be there for us to carry our belongings from place to place. We will all make our own way to Amsterdam at different times and will meet up with each other at Schiphol the morning of August 26th for our adventure to begin.

Slow Transition Back to Reality......

It's now 11 days since we stopped biking.... some of us are still blogging.....and reading each other's blogs.....life should have taken on a semblance of normality by now but for me it's not there yet. But then, what do we consider normal? For those of you who went back to school or work, normal came very quickly - those of us who are retired or didn't have a job to go back to, normal will take some time to become reality. Connecting with family and friends will take priority to spending time on the bike. This too is important - they were such a big part of my prayer support.

This past Sunday was probably the first time that most of us were able to worship with our home church family - for me that was the case and it was wonderful to be back with them. It was exciting to relate back to them the highlights of the tour. Their prayer and financial support was overwhelming for both Hilena and myself. Thank you so much members of Bethel CRC!
Pastor Jim's message was based on texts from 1 Corinthians 12 where it talks about how we are one body, with many parts in our church family.....I related this to the bike tour where we could say we were one group with many different cyclists - each of us brought something unique and special to the group - the young people mixed so well with us older ones. I was so impressed by the sincerity of the younger ones when I heard them talking to strangers about the reason for the bike tour. These are our future leaders in the church and we can be very proud of them. I miss the people who I had contact with for 5 weeks - none of us were alone in this endeavour - we were part of a very caring group of people - we looked out for each other, we encouraged each other, we cared for each other, we shared joys and struggles with each other, we cried together, we laughed together. Pictures and memories are what we now have of each other until we meet again and some of us will meet each other somewhere, sometime. Today I met Eritia at her workplace - she is missing people too - she was going to bike home after work and bike back to work tomorrow - she still loves biking.

Last week my 5 year old grandson, Nicholas, asked me to go biking with him - this was just two days after getting home from doing nothing else than biking for five weeks and I had to say to him very guiltily that I didn't have time that day - it felt awful to have to say this to him. The next day I did go biking with him - we cycled along a trail close to home - there was a corn field right beside the trail - nostalgia took over - thinking back to those corn fields in Iowa and Nebraska......only this time I did not have the need/urge to find the 3rd row on the left for my potty break - so used to seeing that sign at Walter's SAG - ladies go 3 rows to the left, men go 2 rows to the right.... I have put 40 km on my bike since coming home. My odometre reads 5600 km now - double what I had on when I started in Denver....I plan to put on lots more yet before the snow flies.

I also think back to all those little cards we handed out along the way.....will curiousity make people look us up on the web site to find out more about why we were cycling or will they be discarded? We can only pray that people want to know more about the cause and help to do something about poverty. We were confronted by poverty in some of the areas we cycled through and each of us knows of poverty in the areas we live in - it won't go away by itself - we all need to do something to improve the lives of those living with/in poverty. None of us can leave the tour saying we were not effected by what we were cycling for. Each of us has been challenged to make a difference somewhere/somehow. This too is part of reality. Joe and I have signed up with DRS to spend 3 weeks in the Lake Charles area of Lousiana in early November - this will give us a chance to live in community again with others - a little like what we did this summer. We hope to make a difference in someone's life there DV. Who knows, we may meet up with some of you other cyclists there.

Reality tells me right now that it's bed time....

Reality has begun.....

Well it's Monday night already - we've been home now for over 24 hours and it's wonderful to be back in our own home after 2 months. John and Anne Span, missionaries with CRWM have used our home this summer since we were going to be away for 6 weeks.

We left Jersey City just before 8:00 a.m. on Sunday and were home in Waterdown at 5:00 p.m. - 9 hours on the road with a few stops along the way. What took us 9 hours in a vehicle took us 7 days of cycling - we live close to Redeemer College and we left there on a Saturday and then did one more full week of cycling to Jersey City - amazing when you think of it....

Walter, one of our SAG drivers had trouble keeping Rita and myself apart so just called us "Margarita" - he promised us each a "Margarita" before the trip was over and he delivered. They were delicious - thanks so much Walter and Geri! Walter treated everyone to pieces of watermelon at his stop - one per person - he was the favoured stop.

Now thinking back to Saturday and all that happened seems so long ago already. I did cycle - went along with Teresa Hoekstra and Sharon Davis-Payton to a drop off point to avoid the many hills at the beginning of the route. We first stopped for coffee and then had a leisurely ride to the staging area and waited for the rest of the cyclists to all arrive. Excitement was building as more and more cyclists arrived and eventually everyone was there. The time had been set at 1:15 for a photo shoot of all the cyclists - took forever to get all lined up and ready for this as the last few cyclists were struggling in. It was a morning of many flats - 35 in all - the roads had lots of debris alongside them...the police were ready and waiting....Billy D's Harley was ready and so were we - it took a bit for all of us to get into position and we were off just after 1:30. At the last minute the final route was changed because the heavy rain on Friday night covered one of the underpass spots with 6 inches of water and it was not safe for us cyclists to travel through this as the road also had many potholes...wise choice.

It got even more exciting as we started at a good pace - the police cars stopped traffic as we kept on cycling - going from one intersection to the next with sirens blaring stopping the traffic at each intersection. We felt like royalty - waving to the crowds that were forming along the streets - it was so impressive to see all the jerseys up ahead as we crossed bridges and went around corners. This went on for 16 kms until we got to Liberty State Park where we travelled on a bicycle/walking path to the end. I recognized many people who had come to see friends and relatives arrive at the end of the tour. All of a sudden I saw my daughter, her husband and their 3 children - couldn't believe my eyes - what a surprise! Good thing I was riding near the end of the pack because I just stopped my bike and rushed over to hug them - overcome by emotion - never expected this at all - even Joe was not aware that they were coming. After spending a few minutes with them I continued on to the water front. By now most of the cyclists were there and it was time to get into position for some closing words and to dip our tires into the water. Joe and the rest of the support staff were all driven to the same spot and were there to meet the cyclists. After reciting the Lord's Prayer together we made our way down to the water - taking turns to do the dipping since it was so crowded. What an awesome finish to the tour - the weather once again was perfect - clear blue skies and perfect temperature.

Hilena, also from Waterdown, and I posed for a photo to submit to our local newspaper who did an article about us before the tour started. Good job Hilena - you went the whole way!

From here our bikes were loaded onto tractor trailers and transported to a church and we were herded onto school buses for a 45 minute ride to the same church. Nice clean showers awaited us here and we got ready for supper and the celebration service at another church 3 kms away. Once again we were treated to a delicious meal - 700 people in total were fed in a very short time since the evening programme was starting at 7:30 p.m. The church filled up quickly and we started off with some wonderful singing. Four cyclists were asked to share their thoughts about the trip - each one reflecting from their personal lives as to how God was with them before and during the trip.

Then it was time for good byes.....tears flowed - hugs happened - who knows when and if we would see each other again. Memories are what we live on now along with the many pictures that were taken along the way. Each of us will go from here to our own homes - some of us will get back to reality slowly, others will go back to school or work tomorrow or shortly. What will we take away from this time together - the cycling part is over - awareness of why we were doing the tour continues - where will the Lord lead us as we put into practice what we have heard from the speakers at the services we attended?

For 6 weeks I was out of touch with what was happening in the world - I lived one day at a time out of two laundry hampers that held everything I needed - the only decision I had to make each day was what cycling clothes to wear and how much depending on temperature. No blow dryer or curling iron for 6 weeks - how simple life can be lived if we let it. The tour was about people - they became a very important part of my life as we lived in community with each other. We needed each other for encouragement and support. The tour also gave me a renewed appreciation of the CRC - it was wonderful to see how the churches treated us along the way in whatever way they could to make us feel welcomed and with providing meals and snacks. Being a part of the total community on the tour was an awesome experience, the young people and the older ones mixed well - we helped each other out in many different ways - there was unity in the body.

Life becomes much more complex for each of us now - decisions need to be made - supper won't be waiting for us at 6:00 p.m. unless we have already prepared it ourselves. We won't have orange arrows on the road pointing us to the direction we need to go next - we won't have daily maps showing us where we will be camping/sleeping and the list could go on.

We won't have to "Purell" our hands before touching anything on the food tables, we won't have to stand in line anymore whether it be the food line, shower line, bathroom line and this list could go on and on. We hopefully won't be using tall corn stalks, trees, bushes for our bathroom breaks. The "porta potty" won't be just up the road aways. Speaking of the porta potty - Joe was to pull it to the end of the tour and had the hitch all fastened to our van when Ed came running back to tell him it wasn't necessary anymore as he had sold it on the spot to someone in Sussex. A relief for Ed - now it did not have to go back to Grand Rapids. At shower time on Saturday night, one of the ladies made a comment, "this is the last time that we will be doing community showers" - all modesty disappeared weeks ago. All of us are sporting different tan lines, even those who covered themselves with sun screen. We could work on getting rid of those lines but I think there is not enough summer left to get even tans anymore - snow has been flying in some parts of Alberta already so those from there will get a rude awakening upon arrival. Here in Ontario we are enjoying summer yet - I will stop to smell the roses today.

Night before the final ride......

Tonight all the thank you's were made to those who helped make this trip possible - so many people were involved and in all different ways. Tonight's supper was hosted by the Goshen CRC and Sussex, NJ CRC - they put on the biggest and best buffet supper I've seen in a long time.

Joe was able to cycle for the last three days and he thoroughly enjoyed himself which means that I did not cycle - the hills in this part of the country were just too much for me when I could not use my granny gear - they were just too long and too steep to master using only the mid range. I do plan to cycle tomorrow.......

Today's ride was supposed to be one of the toughest on the tour according to the organizer and it was very interesting to hear the rider's comments as they came to the spot where I was at SAG - the young ones all loved the rolling hills, the older riders had mixed reactions - most people made it in but there were a few that had to be driven in. Sore knees seems to be a major problem. Many flat tires also today and a few falls - these are statistics that are recorded each day.

Speaking of weather, we have been blessed with such great weather - today there was cloud cover for most of the day which was a real blessing and it was not too hot out. It's muggy right now and there is a 30% chance of rain over night and there was a few rain drops as I walked into the school to use the computer so we will hope for a great day tomorrow. It would be such a shame if the weather isn't nice for the end of the tour.

We're up once more at 5:00 to get ready for the day....can't wait until I'm home again and can sleep in. Talking about sleep - I had better get back outdoors to our trailer to get some sleep in preparation for a very busy day tomorrow. Next post will probably be from home....

Countdown to the finish line....

It's Wednesday already - we haven't had internet connection since Sunday so this will be short and sweet. We drove for 1/2 hour to find a place in Binghamton to find a library and we have to be back for supper by 6:00 p.m. or we don't eat.

Crossing back into the USA on Monday was the simplest border crossing ever. I won't give you all the details now but it went without a hitch. We had a great day weather wise and road wise on Monday and did our 125 km very quickly - the first 30 were to the border. We stayed in a campground that night which worked very well. Tuesday morning we were up bright and early again and on the road just after 7:00 - great weather again but we did have a tail wind for a bit and the terrain became very hilly - just a taste of what's coming the rest of the week. We again did 125 km. I've been masking a knee pain for the past few days with ibuprophen and decided last evening to switch places with Joe for today which I did. I don't want to land up visiting my chiropractor for the next month to get the problem fixed and with my hand still being numb which prevents me from using all my gears with my left hand, I thought it best to take at least a day off and maybe more. Al Karsten wants to SAG on Friday using Joe's van so Joe will get to ride on Friday again and I will ride in the van with Al - that day will be the toughest of the whole tour we've been told. The scenery is beautiful here in the Finger Lakes Area.

Wednesday morning had us up early once again - Joe had to get ready to cycle and I had to be on the road early to beat the cyclists to the first stop at 30 km down the road. Joe cycled with the ladies that I usually cycle with and had a good ride with them. I enjoyed my day on SAG and had to wait until nearly noon before the last cyclist passed me before I could leave and head off to camp. Met up with Joe et al a few times during the day. At the end of the ride we were met by the friendly folks at Valley CRC for snacks and cold drinks and tonight they are doing supper for us - serving us some New York State specialties - we've seen the menu and it's looking really good.

Those that have been on tour for the whole nine weeks have mixed feelings about ending this week - some can't wait to finish and others would continue on if they could. The weight loss some people have experienced is noticeable - some up to 30 lbs. in total. We'll all have to adjust our eating habits once we stop cycling. It will be bitter sweet for some - reality will set in for each one in different ways. We will be leaving bright and early Sunday morning with 2 passengers who have to be home on Sunday for commitments so that's fine with me as well.

Hopefully we will be able to post again before the weekend but we can't promise - depends where we are camped. Till later....

End of an awesome weekend.....

Bright and early Saturday morning, Bryan, Geri, Trevor, Justin and Julia met us coming back from breakfast at Redeemer all pumped for the ride to St. Catharines. Bryan, Trevor and Justin were to join me along with others who were cycling for the day. The grandsons were chomping at the bit, the rest of us had to have our Timmie's before heading off. Before you knew it we were on the way - first stop was to say hi and bye to my sister, Dorothy who was waiting for me at the corner of Stone Church Rd. and Upper Ottawa. Next to come along was brother-in-law, Tony who was on the lookout to try to find me in the crowd of cyclists. He stopped for a hug and then we were off again. The next stops were out of Hamilton so now we could cycle for a ways without stopping. I must say I have never seen a view of the city that we saw yesterday - it was neat to see it from a different perspective and it was impressive - Toronto with the CN tower in the distance was visible and the haze had lifted.


Leaving the stop hosted by Fruitland CRC, I noticed that my front tire was soft so we pumped it up and I hoped we would make it to Grimsby and then I would have Joe change it for me while I visited with my mother at Evergreen Terrace. We pumped it up once more at the bottom of Woolverton Rd. and I made it. My mother was excited to meet up with my brother, Wally and myself. I hadn't seen her in five weeks and she had her 85th birthday while I was away so this was my birthday visit. Joe promptly changed both tire and tube so I was good to go again. My cousin, Ann Mary along with her husband, Randy and sister, Grace were at Evergreen to meet me as well. It was so special for me to see them - some of you readers will know her and will know why it was so special.....thank you for coming out.

The refreshment stops kept coming and they were wonderful and at every stop you knew someone so it was a chance to connect with family and acquaintances - all great experiences and I won't even try to list them all but I sure appreciated it. This way everyone got a chance to see the tour in action. We so appreciate the response from the communities. At breakfast that morning one of the cyclists made a comment that it was too bad that some of these churches couldn't have been in Utah where they would have loved to have had some of these treats and attention.


From Grimsby Joe drove to St. Catharines, parked the van and got on his bike to meet us so we could cycle in together. He met up with us and cycled the last ten km in with us. A real treat for the grandsons who did 75 km in all - for 13 year old Trevor that was easier than for Justin who is 12 but we had fun doing it. Memories are made of times like this. How many grandkids can say that they cycled with their grand parents?


Beacon High School soon became a tent city - we parked our van and trailer and stayed with DRS friends, Lawrence and Boukje DeRaaf who opened their home to us. Wonderful to sleep on a real bed and be able to do laundry, visit, etc. etc. This is so appreciated by the cyclists.....

It's now Sunday evening - we're back from the celebration service and supper, just waiting for our peleton meeting so I'll continue my ramblings.

We woke up early this morning and our hosts had gone to make breakfast for the cyclists at the high school while we stayed home and ate our breakfast there - much more relaxing for us this way. I had to reorganize my two laundry baskets which contain all the stuff we have with us on tour and there is still stuff that I have never used or needed. It's amazing how little you really need to have to make life possible on the road. It's good too to see what really is important to you or what you think you need to have.

We were back at the highschool for lunch and then we boarded a school bus to take us to Queenston Heights - the sky is getting darker and darker and we had talked to our daughter and found out that it was pouring rain in the Hamilton area. Oh well, we just had to keep the plan since there was no alternative mentioned to us. We arrived at the park and it was already raining and it kept on raining. Many guests also showed up and we were all huddled under 2 pavilions hoping that the rain would stop. This is at 2:30 and the service is to start at 4:00 - the rain would stop and then it would start up again.....by 3:45 we were told to start making our way over to the band shell area and it was just drizzling. Just after 4:00 the service started and the first song we sang was our theme song for the tour, "Do Something Beautiful" and while we were singing the refrain which goes like, "Go do something beautiful" - the sun came out - how good is our God to have heard the prayers of his people who wanted to have this service outdoors! The rain never started again and we had a wonderful service with Brian Walsh speaking to us on the Fruits of the Spirit and David Raakman as the worship leader. Our son and our daughter and their families joined us for the service - their encouragement and support has been awesome. Many of my church family also came out to greet Hilena and myself and offer encouragement. I feel so blessed but did comment to someone that I'm hoarse from talking so much to everyone today but I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

Tonight we sleep in a real bed again - we're up very early tomorrow to get ready for our border crossing and then one more week of cycling.

From London to Hamilton, almost home....

It's been a few days since I last wrote - probably due to the fact that so many familiar faces pop up along the side of the road and I have to stop and talk - it's so great to be in this part of the tour.....it's home!

We left London high school on Friday morning and made our way back to Dorchester where Rita had to stop for a photo shoot with fellow people from Dorchester at 8:00 a.m. Clara, we did not see you outside so we did not stop - did see your sign on the pole in front of your house. My brother, Wally, joined the "Margarita Express" that day and he travelled with us all the way to Ancaster. He claims he wanted a slower ride - he could feel the effects of cycling 5 days in a row. It was good to have him draft us along the way. First stop was for coffee at the Ingersoll CRC and then it was off to the Streutker farm for lunch. This just so happens to be relatives of Joe so met up with some of his cousins there. Woodstock CRC treated us royally among the hay bales - unique setting.... I never realized how rolling the countryside was in that area. It was hill after hill - good way to work off all the calories consumed already. Next stop was Brantford - a little treacherous getting through town with all the road construction but we made it without mishap. Our first stop was hosted by Cambridge CRC where I met up with friends and two of Joe's sisters - cold water was priority here - we had seen a sign telling us it was 36 degrees so it was warming up. A few kilometers away was Brantford CRC with all their goodies on Jerseyville Road.

My daughter and 3 grandkids were waiting just up the road in Alberton and the grandkids rode with me for a 5 km ride along the quiet road till Nicholas got tired and they met up with me again at Redeemer College. Now the final stretch and we were happy to ride into Redeemer's yard with lots of spectators cheering us in - another 124 km day. I should say that most days are longer rides than what is posted in the Shifting Gears booklet - you kind of make a mental note of how many km you still have to go and it has never been exactly what we think it will be.

Lots more familiar faces here - I won't try to mention them all by name for fear of forgetting someone but it was so much appreciated.....a dear friend did give me a wonderful neck, arm, leg, hand, feet massage right after supper - it did feel so good - thank you, Meghan! She could feel the tension and told me just to relax - wonder why. It did help for my left hand which is still numb. Two sisters and a brother-in-law came to meet me after supper for a short visit.

This was the closest stop to our home but we did not go home - our own bed wasn't available so we stayed in our trailer - next best and no problem. Saturday morning another surprise awaited me, our son, sister-in-law and their 3 kids were joining me to ride for the day to St. Catharines.

More later...

Canada, here we come, en masse.....

Well - we were all up bright and early Wednesday morning - excitement was building in camp especially among the Canadians - friendly teasing taking place right up until we boarded the ferry. It took 3 ferry loads to get all the cyclists across the river and then a few more trips to get all the vehicles across that belong to us. I was on the 2nd ferry load crossing very excited to meet up with our daughter and her 3 children. Everything seems to take longer when you are waiting.....each passport had to be checked off, etc. etc. before we were allowed to cross the bridge to where the spectators were waiting for us and there was quite a crowd. We were treated to Tim Horton's coffee and lots of baked goodies and other wonderful treats. The welcome was overwhelming from the churches in that area.

All of a sudden, I saw them holding a big poster with "Welcome to Canada, Grandma, we are soooo proud of you! and then we met up, a few tears flowed, I'll admit. It had been over 4 weeks since we had seen each other. Now we had to wait for Grandpa who was coming on another ferry. It was exciting to say the least.

Cynthia and the kids went off to camp and were going to ride out to meet up with us so they could ride in with us. Rita, Dora, Joan and myself took off for the final 60 km. of our trip that day leaving the ferry in Sombra and heading off to Chatham along country side that I had never seen before.

About 5 km from camp I met up with Cynthia and the kids and we biked into camp together, first of all stopping at the local Tim Horton's for a drink - it's been a few weeks since my last Tim Horton's stop so I was having withdrawal.....after having supper with us, they headed back to Waterdown.

Today's ride from Chatham to London took longer than we had hoped it would - even though it's very flat countryside, the winds were not in our favour and it took us until 3:30 to get in this afternoon under clear blue skies.......124 km in total. The people here in London have treated us very well - supper is here at the high school and then we are off to the Beerda's to sleep in a real bed tonight. The computer lab was open in the school so I've made use of it even before taking a shower. Those sitting beside me haven't complained of the smell so obviously it's not too bad.
Tomorrow, Hamilton, here we come - that is to Redeemer College.

Final Days in Michigan....

Sunday's family time was over before you knew it and then we were off to the Celebration Service with Shane Claiborne - an awesome service where Shane used as his prime example, Mother Teresa, in his message on "Revolutionary Gentleness". We can all learn from her. Memories are made of all the time that we spent together on the weekend with family.

Monday morning we were sent off with words of encouragement from the staff at Calvin College - and then we were on our way just after 8:00 a.m. We had a tail wind that day which was wonderful. Rita and I averaged 25 kph for the ride of 110 km and were in camp nice and early. Tuesday night was a different story - it was a 153 km day with head winds and it took us a lot longer to get in. Joe was finished at his SAG stop early and biked to meet us and drafted us in the last 20 km. The weather both days was great.

Now Joe and Peter are on as official support crew - Joe brought along the trailer so now I do not have to sleep in a tent every night - this does make it so much easier to get up and ready in the mornings. Rita shares the trailer with us....leaving Peter to sleep in the tent which is his choice..either he snores too much or he is too tall to fit into the trailer.

Tuesday night we got the message that we were all to be finished breakfast by 7:00 so we could make our way into Marine City for our ferry crossing on Wednesday morning. This had everyone up very bright and early.

The Final Leg....

Well, more than 2/3 of the trip is over - this is the place of changeover - 10 people leave the tour and 60 new ones start. It will be overwhelming for those 60 who are starting.

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....

Time for reunions....

The excitement is building - tomorrow we ride into Grand Rapids from Grand Haven. Today already so many visitors have come to see friends, family, etc. etc. All along the route today were strangers welcoming us in - neat to see the support along the way. Thursday morning we left Chesterton, Indiana just after 7:00 a.m. knowing that we would lose an hour during the day and we had 133 km to go so we had to keep going. We did stop in New Buffalo for a "latte" around coffee time and from there kept on pedaling all the way to South Haven. The last 40 km were with a strong head wind so we were very tired by the time we got to camp just after 5:00. Rita did have another flat tire yesterday and we had the bike turned over, the rear wheel off when a very kind young gentleman named Reuben stopped to see if we needed help - we said yes and within 10 minutes we were back on the road. What a relief for us since time was getting on and we still needed to travel a few kms. This day we traveled along the shores of Lake Michigan. Met up with a cousin, Sarah Boonstra-Boer who is heading up the welcoming committee in Grand Rapids - she has an enormous job trying to organize food, billets, camping, spa arrangements and many other treats for the cyclists.

Sarah was at camp again tonight with her whole family helping make supper which was being supplied by CRHM and I met up with her again. This morning, Joe's cousin, John Karsten was at Graafschap church to welcome me and make arrangements for coming to the CRC Conference grounds to bring us to his home for a sleepover. Just as we were leaving Graafschap Church this morning we see Joe and Peter drive in - talk about coincidence! We saw them for a few minutes and then Rita and I were off again to continue our ride. We knew they would catch up with us again soon. All the cyclists made Graafschap their first refreshment stop today - a lovely lunch was had by all before most of us went downstairs to see the museum they have put into the basement of their new building for all to see showing the history of the CRC in America. This is the oldest congregation. Very impressive display....

We did go through downtown Holland with a mission - someone told us we had to go to the peanut store and have a "peanut padded bar" which is their specialty and it went down very well - nice downtown area - too bad we didn't have more time to explore it better.

Rita and I arrived at camp just after 3:00 today - the earliest ever and we had 78.7 kms on our bikes. We could see Lake Michigan but the air temperature did not lure us in. Some did but did not last long in the water. Beautiful location for a conference ground....

Was standing by my bike just eating a peanut butter and jam sandwich when all of a sudden 4 people said, are you Margaret DeWeerd and here were 2 couples we have worked with on a DRS assignment, George and Grace Couperous from Trenton, ON and George and Annette Meyerink from Byron Centre, MI - it's a small world out there. I also have 4 siblings + spouses who arrived in GR today. My brother, Wally, is cycling with me tomorrow and possibly a few days next week and an aunt and a cousin and a neice have all come to GR as well and will be staying at the home of one of my other cousins who has moved to Texas - we all hope to get together for brunch on Sunday morning at my uncle and aunt's home - should be fun.

We have been told that an extra 130 riders will be joining the 145 riders on tour now for the ride into Grand Rapids and we will all meet about a mile out and ride onto campus en mass - should be very exciting but also a bit nerve racking.....and we've also been told that there will be 11 stops along the way at CRC churches for snacks on the route which is only 76 kms. long - we'll be rolling into camp if we eat at each of the stops...

I must get back to our hosts - was only going to be a few minutes on the computer and it's been more than a few - my load of laundry is almost dry and it's getting real close to bedtime - am tired tonight and there is one more day of cycling this week.