Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jig

I've been home a week now and thought by now memories of the bike tour would be fading somewhat into the past and the day to day responsibilities would take over my thoughts. It is not to be. I am able and happy to be fulfilling my roles as a mother, wife, and dog trainer again, but I find myself doing most things with pleasant Sea to Sea memories "swimming" in the forefront - it's funny how we forget so soon any unpleasant memories, though I could count these on 1 hand. I am also surprised by my new-found interest in my computer as it seems the life-line to any information regarding those who shared this experience. I check my e-mail multiple times a day and am even happy to open all those "brooks saddles" responses even though I know they will only say, "I did, ...(name)". It's great when someone actually gives us an update on how things are going; I can now match most names with a face and even personal experience(s). Can't even imagine trying to readjust after 9 weeks of the tour.

I joked on the ride about not getting on my bike for at least a week after I got home, and that is exactly what happened. Even though I did have some "biking withdrawal", I couldn't fit a ride in until today (Sunday) what with my 2 year old, older kids starting school, and tropical storm Hannah hitting the East Coast. It felt great to get pedaling again. After changing my tire (yes, I too succumbed to the bad road conditions last Saturday with thankfully, a slow leak) and cleaning/lubing my chain yesterday, my bike granted me a smooth 30 mile ride in hilly New Jersey. I decided to celebrate by climbing up skyline drive (about as steep as road to High Point, but only 1 1/2 miles long - not surprisingly, they close this road in bad winter weather) - I had taken that route 2 other times in training. I was hoping to fly up that hill at breakneck speed to prove I hadn't lost the strength I gained on the tour, but I had to settle for 6mph, at bit faster than in training.

I found myself smiling and greeting other bicyclists on my route, something I got used to doing as I passed or was passed by many other sea to sea riders. I think I took some of these serious Jersey riders by surprise - Sandy and I had noticed the "serious" ones while training that keep their head down or gaze to the front with no intention of acknowledging your feeble biking attempts on the other side of the rode - their jersey, shorts, gloves, helmets, and even their bikes usually match=) Strange to be biking alone again - I had to stop my hand from pointing out road hazards and signaling a stop. All in all, it was great to be riding again!

I'm posting more pictures for the fun of it - hope you enjoy!

Tom's mom seems to always take pictures of me at family gatherings with my mouth full, so I thought I'd keep up the tradition. See, I really did eat thousands of calories each day. In fact, all the wonderful food is one of those "pleasant memories" I wrote about above=)













Mike is demonstrating a bicycling technique called "crashing at the end of the day."

















To go along with my embarrassing picture theme, I thought I would show you what Sandy's hair looks like "undone". Now you know why we tolerated her daily blow drying ritual - just kidding, Sandy.













Someone thought it was a good joke to insert an extra 1 in front of the 12% grade sign (112% would leave you upside down), a sign that warned us of the very steep grade to come down the Niagara escarpment. This incredible decline was no joke though and I definitely felt like my bike was fighting an impossibility as I climbed back up just to prove that I could.


















This is Gayle, a rider Sandy and I thought was quite a fun "character" just reading her blog before the tour even began. Our hypothesis about her was proved during our 2 week ride. As you can see just from her bike basket and handle bar tassels, Gayle rides to her own pedal-stroke and provided smiles and a great attitude to accompany the rest of us. I even pet one of her pet ferrets who came for a visit in Ontario.













Our Bridgeway church family rocks as they greet me and Sandy and the rest of the riders with cookies, watermelon, signs and smiles. The kids (Faith, Aidan, Grace, Natalie, and Caleb) showed true enthusiasm for each bicycler who was coming down French Hill Rd. What a great encouragement for our last day.













Sandy and I hoist our bikes in the air to celebrate making it to the Atlantic Ocean - actually to the smelly, algae-laden water of the Hudson Harbor. The water was still a welcome sight and smell. Can you tell I am begging for this photo session to be done soon since I am lifting the "heavy bike".













I give much credit to my wonderful family who survived for 2 weeks without Mom with help from both Grandparents and Aunt Sherry (my twin -yes, there are 2 of us). I will never forget your encouragement and sacrifice that allowed me to say yes to this privilege to bring greater awareness and funds to the plight of those who have so little. I love you all!

10 Most Memorable Experiences of the Bike Tour

#10. Being asked by Mike to pump up his tires each morning - thought he might have been impressed with my expertise with the bike pump until I remembered he was riding with a fractured collar bone.

#9. Sharing communion with 200 other riders and support staff in a state park on Thursday night, feeling our connection not only with the purpose of the Bike Tour, but as brothers and sisters in Christ.

#8. Being able to eat 4000 - 5000 calories a day and still losing 7 pounds in less than 2 weeks.

#7. Sharing the gear truck with everyone - having the opportunity to greet others in the gray of the early morning with, "Good morning Randy." or "How's it going, Jim?" or "Did you finally tell your daughter she can have a dog, Rod?" Knocking into one another on a constant basis and not taking it personally.

#6. Trying to kill a spider in our tent the first night with Sandy who is has arachnophobia tendencies as strong as mine. Our loud debate over who would do the "deed" making sure not to let the 8-legged monster escape and the ensuing laughter about this and anything else we could think of until late probably tipped every one around us not to camp next to us in the future.

#5. Our first day of riding in Michigan with Sandy - a tailwind on flat roads in great weather. Our hilliest day riding in PA & NJ mostly with Chris & John - 82 miles of steep hills up, flying down the other side, and feeling a thrill to climb to the highest point in NJ without any carbon footprint.

#4. Living in close quarters with the "movers and shakers" of the CRC, seeing them as fellow bikers and campers - knowing Jerry Dykstra as one of the couples on a tandem and calling out "On your left Jerry" as you both trudge up a steep hill, playing cards with Len Riemersma, brushing your teeth at 5am as you share a sink with Claire Elgersma. Realizing each biker has a responsibility to move and shake our CRC churches where we live to action.

#3. Basking in the glow of hundreds of Americans and Canadian who waved and encouraged us as we made our way through their towns - we felt a part of a much bigger purpose than 200 riders making their way across the country.

#2. Being called an "ANIMAL" as we rode the hilliest day last Friday. Chris clarified his description later with "You're an animal! but a really nice animal." Much better than his description of another female rider as a"stout" rider.

#1. Hanging out with a great group of fellow-riders that I now call friends - Chris, the quiet guy with a great sense of responsibility and integrity, Johnny, Mr. High Maintenance who kept us laughing and has a loyal streak to never leave anyone behind, Mike, our comic relief with his Canadian quirks and friendly banter, and of course, Sandy, who put up with me for 2 straight weeks and is the best encourager a gal could have!

P.S. Some of you who would like to leave a comment were confused by the "leave comments" page and thought you needed to have a blog to leave a comment. Not true - my blog is open to anyone, just type in your comment and click the "anonymous" line and it should let you send a comment - thanks for reading - I started this blog so others could follow this journey from training till the end, but I realize it is now mostly for me to remember this awesome experience. Still love your comments!

Is it Finished or Just the Beginning?

Two days later I am finally writing about our last day of riding on the Bike Tour. What an awesome thing it was to see hundreds of people at Liberty State Park reciting the Lord's Prayer and giving praise to God who orchestrated and oversaw the entire 9 weeks. We culminated the celebration by dipping our front tires in the water of the Hudson Bay. After yielding to others who needed to "dip", Sandy and I hoisted our bikes in the air by the edge of the algae-laden, smelly water and posed for pictures of our victory stance - of course, my picture card was full and I am still waiting for friends to send me pictures of this moment. The song "This is the Time of My Life" by David Cook played through my mind images of the last 2 weeks flashed in front of me (check out the song through this link http://www.popeater.com/2008/05/22/david-cook-the-time-of-my-life-song-premiere/).

Of course, the journey to Liberty State Park this day was not without incident. Tom had decided months ago to join me in riding the last day of the Tour, a great opportunity for him and 10 others to get a feel of what riding 61 or more miles felt like. Each "day rider" also had to raise $100 for this privilege.

Here we are all ready to go from Sussex Christian School with Tom in his mountain bike garb - his spandex covered by camo hiking shorts. You can take the mountain biker off the dirt trails, but you can't make him show his tight shorts...

Little did either of us know how providential it was that Tom had 2 layers of shorts on that day. We left a bit earlier than The Troop (Chris, Mike, John, Sandy) to get a head start. 15 miles into the ride Tom hit a very bad patch of glass on the roadside while cruising down a hill and proceeded to take a spill. I didn't notice my missing husband for half a mile and was relieved when others informed me he was hurt, but not seriously as I trudged back up the hill in my search for him. Besides a roadrashed elbow dripping blood on his shirt and a mild rash on his right cheek (that's not his face, but the cheek you sit on - hence the providence of have both shorts on, both of which ripped.) Tom looked shaken, but ready to ride again.

Here Tom is fixing number 1 of 4 flats he had on his journey to Jersey City that started with this fall. He is still replaying the accident in his mind - What came first, the flat or the fall? Besides the flats and the horrible road conditions - more glass than the previous 2 weeks combined, potholes, freeze cracks, crazy Jersey drivers, narrow shoulders, we made it to the staging area in Carney, NJ. During the celebration rally we learned that there had been around 30 flats the last day on Jersey roads, a record. I felt strangely responsible as a Jersey resident.

Not surprisingly, the Troop had caught up to us early on and we were able to ride together most of the way. I was particularly proud of my husband who easily kept up with us "seasoned" road riders even with injuries. I had been concerned he had not been training on the road enough as he tends to steer his bike toward a dirt trail after even 10 miles of road riding. But Jersey trails must have been muscle-building enough. It was fun to bask in the welcome of the Goldens on Hamburg Turnpike and our Bridgeway church friends who set up a refreshment stop on Alps road. Thanks you all for showing everyone hospitality - Jersey style.

In Carney, all 200 plus riders followed a police escort through Carney, Jersey City, and Liberty State Park with Billy D and his Harley in the lead. What a sight we were in our Sea to Sea jerseys all riding in a pack. People stopped on the street, waved out of their honking cars, and came out of their businesses to encourage this Sea of riders down their city streets. Rounding the corner, we saw the Manhattan skyline and Lady Liberty herself (it was killing John not to be able to wear his statue of liberty jersey). But the best sight was the crowds of Sea to Sea supporters who lined the path at the park and cheered us to the finish line. John's wife and sister-in-law were so animated you'd have thought they were seeing Elvis reincarnated=) My friends Trish & Dan & 3 boys, Beth(ers) & Ralph, my sister, parents, and husband (he had to get a SAG ride after his last flat) and 3 children yelled and waved their "Suzie" banners as we passed. I will never forget this day and the feeling of accomplishment Sandy and I had that 2 middle-aged mothers of 3 could complete over 800 miles of bike riding and return in 1 piece.

I'm thankful that feeling is not the goal, as I know our glowing faces will fade with time. Speakers at the Celebration Rally that night reminded us that the end of the Tour only starts the real journey of our hearts changing to follow God's heart for the poor and to put our feet and hands to a new purpose of doing our own part to help end the cycle of poverty right where we live.

The "High Point" of My Ride - Friday, August 29

Friday was a day that loomed large in the future during the whole tour - especially for those of us only doing the last 2 weeks. It seems that Ed (the route chooser) had decided to save the day with the most feet of elevation to climb for this particular day - 6857 ft. up altogether as we compensated for the 7356ft. down we would also do. Sandy and I had been happy to bypass the leg of the tour that went through the Rockies and when we heard about this day, we put it to the back of our minds. We even heard rumors that the "higher ups" where attempting to change the route to make it a bit easier, but these plans where thwarted by a bridge under construction. My frantic prayers did seem to have gone unheard.

But God was just setting us up for a great day and in His omniscience, He knew the original route "was where it was at!" I tossed and turned the night before fretting about the my relatively heavy bike - Sandy and I had so far lived up to my "big talk" regarding our familiarity with hilly terrain, but I didn't want to push my luck with a route of this level. The next morning, both Mike and I (the 2 hybrid riders in our group) "dumped" as much weight as possible - no extra butt cream, no camera, smaller bag, basics only - Mike actually stooped to asking Sandy to carry some stuff for him (wish I too had thought of playing on her "nice" personality). Randy and others joked around with me in the gear truck - hoping beyond hope that with me being so close to home, I might know an alternate route and lead them like the Pied Piper around, rather than over High Point (the highest point in NJ). But no such luck. My knowledge of the area was limited.

Right out of starting gate leaving Lackawana State Park in PA, the ride was challenging. Chris even let us stop at a Dunkin Donuts at around the 17mile mark, 3 miles shy of his daily goal to ride 20 miles at least before the 1st stop. We met Claire Elgersma there whose GPS told her that we had already climbed grades that topped most of the Rocky mountain passes (of course, they had to deal with altitude sickness too) - I almost wished she had kept that info to herself as I knew the toughest portion was yet to come.

Wow, what a blast the next 40 plus miles where, zooming down winding, smooth declines at top speeds - Sandy and I both set new personal speed records of 42 and 40mph respectively - (I hope my Dad is not reading this, he is always worried about safety.) Actually, our top speeds pale in comparison to most people on the tour. Sandy and I consider ourselves "speed wimps". I With all this talk about top speeds, I almost forgot to mention the "not so top" speeds we encountered as we grinded up incline after incline at single-digit speeds. On one hill we were thinking we were making good time in our upward rhythm until we were easily passed by one of the "boys"- but our enthusiasm didn't falter.

At the first SAG stop, I borrowed some Advil for my protesting knee joints and we set out again. We ended up stopping for lunch at a deli in the middle of nowhere that was positioned smack dab in the middle of a tough hill. Chris thought we were crazy to stop on a hill, but he had set our lunch break for any time after 50 miles and it was almost 51 miles on my speedometer already - time to stop. The deli owners were delighted with our business as it was their first day of business and we sat eating our humongous sandwiches outside as we waved in more riders who where trudging up the same hill.

At around 60 miles the terrain finally flattened as we entered Milford and Matamoras, PA, crossed a bridge over the Delaware River into Port Jervis, NY and then entered New Jersey. My biking pals were all excited to enter NJ, knowing this was their last state on the tour, but I entered with trepidation - knowing the climb to High Point lay ahead. I pointed out the monument on the top of the mountain as we crossed the bridge said "We are going up THERE!" I don't remember much of a response as the reality of our situation sunk in. We read a sign "RT 23, High Point 4 miles". Doesn't sound too bad till you see the steep grade of the first 3miles of that trip. I am not embarrassed to say most of our group (except Chris) had to stop on the way up to catch our breath - the first time I have ever stopped on a hill. But the break allowed us make our way to the top - at least what I thought was the top. Actually, the top of 23 passes 1 1/2 miles below the actual monument and I actually found myself volunteering to accompany Chris into going the extra distance to the monument all the while wondering why? since I have seen High Point on numerous occasions. I'm glad that I went - the view was spectacular and we had a chance to chit chat with Johnny from the UP and Doug from Canada about the thrill of the view.

Back down the steep road to the monument, I called Tom and found out he was waiting for me somewhere on the very long down hill side of the mountain. That's all I needed to hear as I ditched the other riders at the refreshment stop where Sandy's family was located and went flying down the mountain till I at last saw my husband grinning next to his car with a big sign cheering me on - actually, the sign said, "Way to Go Suzie, Go to room 10." as my husband was standing in front of the lodge where he had rented us a room for the night - your not getting any other info about that out of me. After a long greeting, I reminded Tom that I needed to finish the ride for the day. I whizzed down the rest of the mountain stopping only for food - a free peach offered by a boy at a local CRC owned fruit stand, and multiple almond bars at Kim's bakery where practically every biker had stopped already and I reconnected with my friends. Once at the bottom I admit my dismay as I huffed back up another steep hill to Sussex Christian School - seems the school is located on top of a hill - thanks again Ed!!!

What a great greeting to New Jersey by those from Sussex and Goshen churches. Sandy and I had wondered how those in our state would stack up to those Sea to Sea crazed Canadians, but these 2 churches outdid themselves. My good friend Anne and others were wonderful hosts and saw to the bikers' every need - a huge dinner,trips to the bike shop, last minute showers, full course breakfast, warm dry beds, etc. You all were the Bomb!

News from the last day and more pictures to come - it's after midnight - time for some shut eye.

Remembering a "Girls Day Out" - Thursday, August 28

I did not have access to a computer to blog since Thursday morning and even though I am home, I plan on reminiscing about the last few days on the tour through this venue. Thursday, I felt in a funk. I had days like this in training where the last thing I felt like doing was spending the day with my butt on a small seat and my feet set in rigid shoes clipped to metal pedals. This position gives you no choice but to start pumping your legs lest you fall over onto the concrete.

Sandy being a good and faithful friend put herself in the precarious position of riding alone with me as I hovered near the grumpy mark. But hanging out with just eachother was just what I needed to get through the day. I realized then that God had taught us to encourage one another in needed ways as we trained together. We pretended we were just on a training ride - except for the joy knowing that we didn't need to finish the ride and then still make dinner, plan for kids summer camp schedules, make 4 business return calls, feed the dog, or answer to ourselves for the dirty house we left to spend hours riding a bike.

We took it easy and laughed our way down a relatively short (57 mile) route, making frequent and long stops to blog in a library, eat lunch in a park, detour to see a scenic overlook of a very old viaduct bridge, and just to enjoy an absence of testosterone - some things cannot be adequately laughed over in the presence of men. We dragged our feet so long, at one point the final Sweep Team (2 or 3 riders whose job is to "sweep" the last riders in at the end of the day) caught up to us. This fact sent us into more laughing stitches since we had joked about this possibility along the way, crying "wolf" or "I think I see the Sweep Team coming behind us" as we rode. Of course, we did not end the day "at the end of the line" - we had to retain some dignity.

Picture Update

I finally can put some more pictures on my blog since I am home and have my usb cable for my camera - thanks for reading my blogs until now without pictures to back them up - hopefully my "naked" words have painted some pictures in your mind.

I decided this hilly day to try another type of "bike" - actually, Billy D whose in charge of our gear truck let me take a break in style. Too bad I was wearing spandex and a reflective vest instead of a cool leather jacket and boots.
A week and a half into the ride Sandy and I can put up and take down our tent with our eyes closed.
This is the camp fire where we were tortured (only allowed 1 smore). Really felt like "good" camping that night.
We ate pizza next to a bike shop with the name Shifting Gears, the same title as the Sea to Sea devotional book - too neat to pass up. Can you tell we are all holding in our stomachs from eating some very "loaded" pizza?
Watch out Niagara Falls, here we come..... - actually this picture was taken as we were leaving.
Sandy, Mike, Bill (on recumbent) as we road along the Welland Canal in Ontario, the route for boats to bypass Niagara Falls.
Our weekend hosts (billet in Canada), and Vahrmeyers. You can catch only a glimpse here of the beauty of their home surrounded by flowers and peach orchards. What a relaxing weekend.
We tried to drag Ralph out of this comfy lounge chair at a SAG stop to get going again. He reluctantly followed me and Sandy and left Rita (who is in my small group) to "chill" by herself.
Our 2nd hostess (billet), Anne DeJonge with Sandy and Jo (from NY). Us east coast girls decided to have a sleep over at Anne's house. Anne has had an interesting life as a missionary in Nigeria before moving back to Canada. We were a bit worried riding to her home as she cautioned us she was going to give us the "rules of the house." We breathed a sigh of relief when Rule Number 1 was "Make Yourself at Home!" We were waiting for the Rule Number 2, we're still waiting Anne?
Us outside a grocery store in Ontario where we had a chance to talk to several people inside the store about the goal of the Sea to Sea Bike Tour - of course, this stop was a bit longer than usual because of the glorious air conditioning inside. We came out to find John donating $10 to some local girls who were riding their bikes soon to find a cure for Lou Gehrig's disease. How neat to be able to encourage these young bikers.
This is heaven for me - hundreds of cupcakes (didn't matter they all had Canadian flags stuck in them) and chaos with so many welcoming Canadians as we crossed the border that no one was counting how many I ate. I'll just tell you I ate 1 for each member of my family - I won't say whether that means immediate or extended family. Also, pictured is a cup of Tim Horton's coffee named after a famous Canadian hockey player. Seems this store is like our Dunkin Donuts except they go nuts every time Tim's name is mentioned - growing up in Florida did not prepare me for hockey player hoopla. Hey, isn't dunkin a donut (Dunkin Donuts) as a sport going to be added to the Olympics in 2 years? -
The 1st day out from GR my family met me about half way on our route to Lansing at one of the SAG stops. Jimmy had a great time trying out this recumbent bike.

Don't fret, this is not a picture from the remake of "Children of the Corn in Spandex." Sandy is just returning from 1 of her many "walks in the corn". Actually, this scene was replayed several times a day for the first week as we rode many warm days through corn fields. We were all drinking a lot - need I say more....

B to B -- Back to Blogging

I had a stretch of bad luck in the blogging department for the last few days. Tuesday there was no Internet access and I thought it felt like a good day to take a break from the computer anyway. We went 78 miles and the hills were a'rollin. Up and down, up and down. It was fun zooming down and seeing how far you could get up the next incline before you had to pedal.

"The Troop" (including Sandy, Mike, me, Chris, John) stopped at a coffee shop and I had a great big piece of lime bundt cake - it tasted wonderful even though I had felt queasy on and off for the morning. Lunch was served by a local church at a farm on the route, what a beautiful setting - they even had Twinkies which I packed for the road. I promised my daughter Kenzie I would bring her home 1 Twinkie since she is deprived and has never had one. But the Twinkie did not have a long life in my bike bag mixing in bump after bump with sunscreen, lip balm, butt cream, camera, etc. Sandy and I had a funeral for the twinkie when we arrived in camp - don't gross out but we ate the remains=)

We ended up at a beautiful State Park on Seneca Lake, one of the finger lakes. The showers happened to be far enough away that I climbed back on my bike and rode there with towel flying and shampoo hanging on for life. With my versatile bike, I raced across the grass area to the showers, bypassing the longer route on the pave road - hey, I have to keep making up advantages my very heavy bike brings over these light road bikes, especially when we are grinding up hills.

My knees ached and groaned all night and I awoke Wednesday morning dreading the hilly day ahead. Sure enough, we dragged ourselves onto the road the next day and kept up a whopping 14-15mph - hurting puppies describes us. God had pity on me 10 miles into the ride and shot me a burst of energy just as the hills hit. These hills were not the up and down version, but the up, up, up version. My knees actually did better and did not bother me once they were warmed up. These hills I love - that was not a typo, I really do enjoy this type of hill where you find a rhythm for your pedaling and breathing and grind up the hill.

At the bottom of a fun descent, Marijo and James, along with others, were working really hard finishing up a very large waffle cone. John and I decided this cross-training maneuver looked good and we stopped too looking to work our taste buds on a grape slushy (John is such a kid) and apricot ice cream. I was surprised when I noticed John putting back on his reflective vest (the one thing we were told was mandatory and may be life-saving) after being bugged by Cheryl from Canada. I too have been forced into this "pestering John to wear his vest" role - seems he has a hard time covering up his "cool" jerseys with a tacky vest with his name written in black marker. In his defense, he must have spent a lot of Internet time searching for cool jerseys to buy - they are unique. Mary (John's wife), I gladly hand the pestering role back to you.

We ended up at a school and my parents, sister, and kids came to pick me up - they got a hotel in Binghampton. After 4 crazy hours of hearing stories from my kids, hearing the news on the TV, hearing music and sports channels in the restaurant we ate dinner, I was on sensory overload and was relieved to return to the relative quiet of camp. I can't write much about how hard it was to visit with my kids and have to leave them again - I might tear up in the library where I am sitting. i put Jimmy to bed and he kept asking me to sleep in the bed next to him and even my 12 year old cried. I better go - we still have 35 miles to ride today. Can you tell I need to do something else besides think of my kids?