A place to call home

We went to Calvin College with Mark and Katie to drop off our belongings and pick up itineraries for the weekend. We go our allotted 2 laundry baskets per person and began packing at home. Learning to live light can be a challenge as you want to bring all the comforts of life. Do you really need that other pair of shorts, "No". Do you need 6 pairs of underwear, "Yes". This is one of the things I look forward to on the trip is that it helps you quickly decide what is needed versus a comfort item. Mark and I have returned from dropping off the car in Ancaster Ontario last night. It was the wee hours of the morning when we returned. Makes one appreciate a good nights sleep and the comforts of home. Attached is our packing baskets with all of our gear for the week: Tommorrow we go to Calvin for a safety training, meet with small groups, worship service, and dinner. The riding starts Monday morning bright and early when we ride in from home to start the adventure.

Fundraising goal met!

We are grateful and amazed by the generous support of so many! We have successfully met our fundraising goal. The Faith Community CRC family responded generously as well as friends and family to help us meet the goal. For those still wanting to donate, you certainly can. We also have been actively training in our new beautiful Spring Weather. Marijo and I have taken out the tandem as well as many individual rides. As for safety we are reminded of this as in the past week there have been two car/bike accidents we know of in the area. One of them involved our daughters band teacher Mr. Looman. He was killed while riding last week on a bike trail in the area. Thinking and praying for his family as well as the student body of Calvin Christian and other schools he taught at. Please pray for the safety of the Sea to Sea event as well. On a lighter note, I bought two new tires for the tandem. One of the tires was the original tire from 2008. I don't want to take any chances of getting stranded, so will be gracing Blue Thunder with new rubber all around. Peace James

February training can be challenge. My brother Mark and I signed up for the Barry Roubaix race in an effort to encourage our due hibernation and get out there and ride. Last weekend we rode on ice and snow to complete 32 miles. Moments of pure joy combined with sheer terror.

Riding in the Light

We awoke from our winter slumber and arose to find the sun shining. This brought Mark and I to mount the bicycle steeds and pedal through the winter wonderland. We rode from Grandville to downtown on our Single speeds. This means, the pedaling is the equivalent to my Schwinn Stingray that I rode as a 12 year old. Loads of fun and the joy of the sun on the face. God is good!

Back in the saddle again!

It's official! We will be riding the Grand Rapids to Ancaster, Ontario portion of the Sea to Sea. We will ride tandem and have committed to raise $5000 to fight poverty. This will be a one week portion of the 10 week tour. We are excited. We have also goy Mark and Katie Bonner to commit as well. They too will mount a tandem that Mark dubbed, "White Lightning". He calls ours "Blue Thunder". It will be a great time seeing Go'ds creation and meeting new people. Thanks for the support!

The final Ride with Police Escort

Total Mielage: 62
Today we started our ride very early. We slept in a church basement in order to avoid a wet tent in the morning. My dad was kind enough to come and pick up our gear, not an easy feat in this state, as wayfinding can be challenging. The group all needed to head out early enough so that we can meet at 1:30 and have police escort into Liberty State Park. It was a rather wet ride, as the humiditiy was high and it was misting. As we approached the park, it got sunny and the skies cleared!
This is what it looks to ride the highway of NJ as we head to NYC.




We then arrived for the tire dipping. We all said the Lord's prayer and rolled into the Hudson river.


Family Celebration!




A huge THANK YOU to all ouf you who supported us on this tour, with prayer, fundraising, kind comments, and interest. It was great to talk to strangers along the route and share the focus of the tour and how we are striving to have an impact on poverty. As with many mission trips, the biggest impact may be within ourselves. As we shared our stories and talked with people along the road, we experienced a true blessing as well.

8/29/08 Oh Mama!

Total Mileage:82 miles
Max Speed: 52 mph

Did I mention hills.....well today, we climbed mountains. We started our ascent into the Appalachain, Poccono, and Catskill mountains. While not as high as far as altititude, these mountains specialize in steep grade. This was hard for many of the riders, who come from states that do not have these kind of experiences.
As for us, we rode with Stephanie Webb and trucked along with smiles on our faces. It was actually a great day, because you get the reward of the climb, and the thrill of the down hill, and did we ever go fast! There were a few hills that even were frightening, as in you can't see the bottom for a period of time.
Marijo's view:

Going like the wind!

Welcome to NJ. Us with Stephanie Webb.

A touching sign as we rolled into Sussex NJ.