Learning to Sweep and Hospitality Redfined

Stats for the day: Total Miles 56 miles Avg Speed: 14.9mph
Quote of the day: "We would love to have you over to our house"

Today started at 5:00am with the blast from the train heading through Richomond, Michigan. We woke up to take down our dew filled tent down and proceed to help serve breakfast. We have been on "sweep duty" with a team of about 20 others. This entails serving and cleaning up for dinner and breakfast. The other thing it involves is a portion of the team staying back to ensure everyone makes it in safely. We served on that team. After loading 200 hockey bags onto the truck and helping take down the set up, we proceeded off to Marine City. This is the border crossing into Canada. We took a small ferry over to the town of Sambra. We were greeted by a large contingent of Canadians. Now, these people know how to welcome you! They had vats of Tim Hortons coffee and donuts, as well as pins of the canadian flag. The local churches also baked what looked like 500 cupcakes with little Canadian flags on them. I opted for the Tim Bits and the cups of joe.
We then hung back in town for a hamburger as we waited for the rest of the bikers to get far enough ahead of us. We then began the infamous sweep. We cajoled and encouraged the others to keep up the pace. Kudos goes to our team lead Bob Brouwer. This man is a great leader and encourager. He is riding the entire tour with his daughter Lisa. We rode with him, David Teitsma, and Kyle and Fred (Can't remember their last names). Overall it was a great day. Lot's of sunshine and great company.
Tonight we were treated by 3 local churches who served dinner and dessert. They all came out to cheer us on and encourage us. They had signs and people standing on corners waving. It was great. We attended the "Pellaton" meeting tonight, and I found that we will not have internet access in camp for the rest of the week. I then turned to a gentleman behind me and asked where there would be access in town. He said, "Well that would be my house, and since you do not have a car, I will drive you there and back." So, off we went with the Janssens. What a nice family. They treated us to the olympics, their computer, and cold drinks. We are having a great time visiting with them.
Tomorrow we have a 75 mile ride to London Ontario. We have been prepped that the hospitality is going to only escalate. You have to love the Canadian people!!
More pictures to come when I can get my computer to have access.
Peace, James and Marijo