Final Notes

Well, the trip is over now I guess.  This feels kind of like a wedding now- you plan and prepare for what feels like forever... and then the whole ordeal is done in what feels like a minute.  Dave and I are back in Arizona and the whole trip feels like a dream.  It's becoming hazy already, so I'll try and recap the final events before I forget it all.

Cycling into Jersey our final day, we had more flat tires than ever before.  Well, not us personally, Dave and I managed to complete the entire 9 weeks without ever getting a flat, but we saw lots of other cyclist pulled to the side of the road doing repairs.  We were pedaling along fine, until, just as my friend, Jo, and I were maneuvering what is called a "jug handle" (a left turn on a major road that involves making a right and a small U-turn, kind of like a "Michigan left"), Dave and Larry stopped to get some M&M's from a refreshment stop and in the process experienced some technical difficulty.  Larry's chain snapped!  I was still cycling along oblivious to the troubles of my companions, but I found out later that Dave- who has no previous experience fixing such issues- was able to take out a bad link and pull the chain back together and get Larry back on the road.  The only problem was that this fixing process took over an hour and we were running on a tight time schedule.  All cyclists had to be to a check point by 12:30 or they would have to take a ride in one of the support vehicles to catch up to the rest of the group for the police escort into the city.  I think Larry and Dave made it to the check point with about 10 minutes to spare.  It was such a close call.  I'm so glad they got to cycle the whole day.

The police escort was pretty awesome.  Officers waved us through red lights and we were all able to keep together as one big group to cycle the last 10 miles to Liberty State Park.  We even picked up a miscellaneous rider who was headed to the gym but thought cycling with us would be more fun.

At the coast, we dipped our tires into the Atlantic Ocean before a great crowd of friends, family, and local supporters- including a group of young participants in a city ministry on a sail boat.

It felt amazing to finish!  I can't believe we made it the whole distance!

Niagara Falls

Us and our Canadian friend Rich 

We had to congregate en-mass prior to biking across the border at Rainbow Bridge.

Liz, Dave & Larry at Niagara Falls

This week we reentered the US at Niagara Falls.  We stayed last night at Sampson State Park on the Finger Lakes and made our way today over a hilly 76 miles to Binghamton NY.  We only have 3 more bike rides before we arrive at Liberty Island Park!  Amazing.  

The Velodrome

Larry, Liz and I (Dave) have all safely arrived in London, Ontario.  We have received a very warm welcome in Canada thus far.  In London I had the opportunity to ride in the Velodrome-- a wooden indoor bicycle race track.  The edges of the track are sloped up to prevent flying off the track as you round the corners.  It is as steep as it looks in the pictures.

The slope on the straight aways were 15 degrees and the slope on corners were 48 degrees!

It is like a roller coaster for your bike.

Dave M. , Dave T. and Liz on the podium

Dave on the turn #2.

Family Bonding

Yeah for family!  The Sea to Sea ship of cyclists docked in Madison, WI this past weekend where we were blessed by the presence of my mom and sister...

and Dave's siblings Tim and Amy!  Woo Hoo!  Tim was somehow magically in the United States home on a bit of leave from Japan- so I hear he gets the trophy for person who traveled the furthest to visit a Sea to Sea rider.  

We Made It!

Here's proof that we made it to Iowa.  This is what we saw a lot of...
Corn fields are really lovely, and they block the wind for you a bit, and they serve as an excellent private space for restroom (or washroom if you're Canadian) needs.  We got to cycle through many, many of them.  We travelled 113 miles on Wednesday, another 111 on Thursday, and 100 on Friday.  Three centuries in three days!  Yikes!
There were also many windmills in Iowa.  I found them quite inspiring.  Inspiring enough that we would want to take several minutes, even on a very long day already, to try and capture their majesty.
Dave was more inspired by the fossils!  Although we did not get to actually see any while we were in town, we appreciated their nearby presence.
And now we're in Wisconsin!  We're staying in Beaver Dam with Dave's sister Amy and brother Tim.  And we met up with my mom and sister Laura!  Woo Hoo!  We got to see lots of family while we were in Iowa too- I loved it!  We feel like we've made it to the homeland.  I can't believe we've finished 6 weeks of our 9 week tour.

I-O-What?!

We are in IOWA!  And our camera is malfunctioning...  Luckily, though, cyclists all around us are snapping photos constantly.  We will borrow some of their photos and try tweaking our camera too.  In the meantime, you can go to www.flickr.com and search "seatosea2008" to find some of these glorious photos our friends have been taking.

Anyhow, we are in wonderful Iowa- the place of Dave's birth and Larry's alma mater and church home.  We have seen so many friends and family- it's awesome!  In Sioux City, Larry visited with around 8 of his former congregants at the camp site and then got to stay with one of the couples at their home for the night.  We stopped by a church today on our route for refreshments and spotted two of Larry's cousins right off the bat.  Then at a celebration service tonight, a whole horde of Meyers appeared out of the crowd to cheer us on and see if we were really still alive and kicking.  

We're doing alright still.  The plan is to bike 113 miles tomorrow, to do a radio interview and a newspaper interview and still have time for supper, a shower, and a little time to rest.  Your prayers for a tailwind would be much appreciated :).

Goodnight all.  We're having a great time and hoping the same for all of you.

Donation Update

In regards to our goal of raising $20,000 to alleviate the cycle of poverty- we've raised over $15,000 now!  

We're still receiving donations via the general website for the tour at www.seatosea.org as well as from people we're just meeting in communities as we bike through them.  We met an awesome pair of people in a Runza's restaurant just yesterday (Runza's is a Nebraska fast food chain that serves "frings," one of my new favorite things- a mix of fries and onion rings) who wrote us a $10 check after hearing about what we were up to.  We feel blessed.