Huntington, OR

Diane and I are sitting in the shade of the small school in the small town of Huntington, OR, population 570. The school is K-12 and has a total of 90 students. They had 6 graduates last year. The town has one short street and 2 taverns/pubs that experienced a surge of business today. Can you count the bikes?
The people here are very friendly, and so excited to have us that a meet and greet is planned for tonight on the school’s football field, which is where we are camped. Can you find our tent in the picture?
It is unbelievably hot here at the moment; current temperature is 96 degrees F, with an occasional stiff breeze blowing.

Today’s trip was a short one, and mostly downhill. The terrain here is very hilly, as you can see from the picture, and very dry.
We reached our destination by 11 a.m. already, and tomorrow will be even shorter. Reason for that is that a weekend celebration is planned in Boise, Idaho, so the stops are planned in such a way as to get us there on Saturday. After this week, the daily mileage will be increasing. Today I rode with Theresa from Winnipeg, and we engaged in some interesting conversations about Christ and culture.

I’ve said some things about the cooking crew (and there will be more to follow), but you also need to know about Cory, who works for CRWRC in Grand Rapids. Cory drives the SAG vehicle that tows the Johnny on the spot. He doesn’t think it’s much of a job, but as Diane told him, Diane and the cooks put the food into the bikers, Cory provides them with a way to get the food out! In spite of what some might consider his lowly position, he is appreciated by one and all, and we make sure we let him know it.

Jake Kuipers is hovering over me and asking if I’m on the net or not, but no luck so far. I post my notes on Word file, and when internet is available, I simply cut and paste to the blog and hope that there’s enough time to post a couple of pictures.

Spirits are good. There’s a strong sense of unity, and everyone is encouraging of everyone else. We are having a lot of fun, and the work of setting up tents and equipment and taking them down every morning are simply becoming routine. Unless I’m on sweep team, I put the tent up and down and pack everything and I do the dishes for Diane and myself. Diane is busy enough in the kitchen at the time we usually arrive and when we leave so that’s the routine we’ve gotten into. It works well unless I come in late, then Diane puts up the tent. We sleep OK, but nights do get cold in spite of the hot days, and last night again a lot of trains came through town, blowing their horns at every imaginable crossing. So we catch brief naps where we can. We’re both feeling well, and thoroughly enjoying this adventure. Till tomorrow….

Today’s stats:

Distance: 75.96 kms
Average speed: 25.4 kph
Maximum speed: 65.7
Time in saddle: 2.59.11
# of flat tires on trip: 0

Baker City, OR

For the first time, the camp's internet is working well, so here we are in the shade, Diane sitting beside me reading, checking our kids' messages and enjoying pictures of our grandchildren from their cottage vacation in Orillia, ON. We're at the local high school, camped out in the football field, after a short day. It continues to be hot, hot, hot, but if it's a choice between heat and rain, we'll take the heat.

We did not sleep all that well last night because the park we stayed at in La Grande was right beside a railroad yard, as we discovered to our chagrin several times during the night. The noise of train cars being coupled and uncoupled woke us and many others throughout the night, so there were a lot of tired people today. The climb we all feared today was not nearly as bad as anticipated, and most people arrived early. I was in Baker City before noon already.

We are having a good time getting to know everyone. It's hard to remember all the names but we're starting to know them all. The days all end the same, sitting in a circle in between their respective motor homes with the Vinks, Maarhuises, Betty Terpstra, Dini Meyerink, and a couple of the other kitchen crew, enjoying a glass of wine or a cold beer before we go to sleep. Erg gezellig!

I just took 2 shots today: one of the mountains we biked alongside today, and the other a self portrait with a rather dark theme.



Diane travels after breakfast cleanup with 3 other kitchen crew in the Vink's Tracker each day, encouraging the bikers along the way, especially this biker, and shopping when necessary. Yesterday, they picked up $700 worth of odds and ends. She begins work for supper at 3:30 and is finished at around 7. So it's no easy task being on the kitchen crew. The women all get along famously, however, so they have a lot of fun together. Got to keep the kitchen crew happy!

Today's statistics:

Distance: 82.87 kms
Average speed: 21.9 kph
Maximum speed: 51.7
Time in saddle: 3.45.57
Total # of flat tires: 0

P.S. All those who ask me to pass on greetings to others, be assured that I do so! Glad to hear, mom and dad, that you're getting copies of the blog too. We think of you often and hope you're not running out of eggs yet.

Kennewick to La Grande

I promised pictures below, but can't send them due to poor reception. I'll try later. Sorry about that, computer connection situation is very frustrating.

JULY 6: Today was a rest day. Breakfast was at 8:30 a.m. so we got to sleep in. We were up by 7, though, and woke up with a swim in the Columbia River. Very cold, but very refreshing. At 10:30 the Kennewick church hosted a celebration service in the park, with members from other CRC churches within an 80 km radius also attending. Lunch was served by the churches, and in the afternoon we had our choice of activities, from water skiing to hiking to floating down the Yakima River to backyard pools. You can tell by the picture which one we chose. Being in a home gave us a chance to do laundry for free (!), and it was very relaxing. A zip line was also available, and Diane managed to make her way down without screaming and waking the neighbours. We’re back at the park now, waiting for supper (leftovers from the week past), and after that just hanging around.

Everyone is eager to begin cycling again. The weather continues to be sunny and very warm and there is no change in the forecast for the immediate future. Tomorrow we will be crossing the state line into Oregon. Brother John, you asked about my leg muscle pain. A drop of the saddle by half an inch must have been the trick, because I feel great. The week ahead will again not be all that long, but it’s all working up to longer weeks ahead.

JULY 7: On the road again! Just over 100 kms today, the first half into a strong headwind, and the second half over rolling terrain with lots of hills at just over 100 degrees F. We’re currently at a middle school in Pendleton, OR. Supper is over, and all around people are napping as we wait for our nightly peloton meeting. Basically, it’s a meeting attended by all cyclists, led by the head chaplain, Len Riemersma, in which we hear reports of the day’s trip, and statistics such as the day's number of flat tires and falls are announced. The route for the next day is also described, and we already know we will be climbing over 3000 feet in the space of about 10 miles in hot, hot weather. I confess, I can’t do all that in one shot. My regular cycling partner, Wiebo Maarhuis, and I have an agreement that on the really steep ascents we do 1 km. at a time and then rest for about one minute before doing another km. We are also on the sweep team today, which means we had to help the cooks tonight and tomorrow, pack up the gear truck, and be the last to leave, making sure everyone arrives safely at our next destination. OK, time to go, I’ve been called to the peloton meeting. After that, small group meeting and an early bedtime, I think……

The day’s statistics (I meant to start this from the beginning but forgot):

Distance: 116.66 kms
Average speed: 19.7 kph
Maximum speed: 53.6 kph
Time in saddle: 5.55.09

JULY 8: What a long day. I was on sweep team today, which means you have to make sure all the stragglers and strugglers get in OK. Our team left at 8:30 a.m., following clean up after breakfast and loading the gear truck. Three of us stayed with the slower two persons to the bitter end and finally arrived in camp at 5:17 p.m. There was a lot of climbing today, just over 3000 feet in a 16 km. span, and then another shorter climb. The two slowest persons have hybrid bikes rather than road bikes, making it even more difficult for them. But we had fun all the same. Half way to our destination, in the middle of nowhere, was a small general store, where we stopped for a cold beer. Boy, was it good, especially in the continuing heat we’re having. The couple running the store were a real hoot. When asked what the main industry was out there, the man replied: “growing pot.” He was kidding. When one of the cyclist was trying to turn on the light in the toilet, the lady of the store hollered that the light was the clapping kind, you clap your hands hard and the light goes on. In fact, the switch was on the outside of the restroom, and while the poor guy clapped loudly and often, she quietly turned on the switch. Same thing when turning the light off. No matter how often he clapped, nothing happened till the lady said “got to clap harder” which is when she turned off the switch. We had a good laugh at the cyclist’s expense.

As you can tell from the pictures, I hope, the country was big and beautiful for the first half, and heavily wooded the second half. The last 15 kms or so were all downhill, and I’d be hard pressed to tell you how good that feels after all that climbing.
Supper was good again, chicken and potatoes and vegetables and salad. The cooks are doing a great job feeding 170 people every day, and they work hard.

One accident today, fortunately nothing serious. Ed Witvoet’s (tour organizer and logistics guy) wife backed their trailer into a ditch and had to be pulled out with a tow truck. No injuries and all was well.

We are currently in a park in La Grande, OR, right by a huge swimming pool. Because the satellite is not working well most of the time, I’m in the local library, a beautiful, air conditioned place full at the moment of cyclists trying to blog, like me.

I hope to update you again in a day or so. Our love to our children and grandchildren – hope you’re hanging in there Janine! - and siblings and parents and church family and everyone else too.

Statistics for the day:

Distance: 93.3 kms
Average speed: 15 kph
Maximum speed: 66.2
Time in saddle: 5.55.42

Yakima to Kennewick

Because we haven’t been able to get internet access for a couple of days in camp, here’s a two day summary coming to you from a Starbucks in Kennewick:

JULY 4: Today was another easy day: 59 kms. Distances traveled depend a lot on places available for such a large crowd to stay overnight. I rode in a pace line of 5 persons today and what a difference it makes in terms of your speed. Since I was the oldest in the group by quite a few years, I had to work extra hard to keep up the pace, but my pride fueled my pumping legs! On the way from Yakima to Sunnyside we made a stop in Zillah, where Faith Community CRC provided us with coffee, juice, and fruit.

We are currently in the Sunnyside Christian High School, and are looking forward to a pork and beef roast provided by the CRC community here, as well as fireworks tonight and ice cream. It is, after all, July 4, Independence Day, which is a huge event here. It reminds me of a comment Will Willimon made in one of his books when he said that if you’re willing to die for your country they call you a hero, but if you’re willing to die for your faith they call you a fanatic. Wow, there’s my deep thought for the day!

Diane and the cooks get the day off today, and you can see from the attached picture that she had a blast today riding with Bill Den Harder, our camp supervisor (from Aylmer, ON), who supports the tour on his awesome Harley Davidson. She’s now convinced that we need to buy a motorbike as a second vehicle, both for the gas we’ll save and the fun we’ll have. We’ll see what she thinks when we come home! I’ve also posted a picture of Betty Terpstra (Chilliwack), one of the cooks, showing how they mixed up the Waldorf salad they made for supper yesterday.
That’s it for today. We appreciate all the comments, both because it’s fun to know you’re following along, and it keeps us connected to people back home, especially family and friends (but you’re all welcome and loved!!).

JULY 5: After another relatively short day – only 80 kms – we are currently camped in a huge park along the Columbia River in Kennewick, WA. The trip today was through rolling countryside that again resembled parts of the Okanagan, with the main crop being cherries, and the labour force being almost exclusively Mexican. In fact, if you’re reading Shifting Gears, you’ll remember that the population of Sunnyside, where we stayed yesterday, is 73% Latino. It felt like you were in Mexico, except the living conditions were better.

I haven’t had a flat tire yet, but have assisted in repairing 2 flats of others. It is expected that you stop to help someone in need and do not behave like the priest and Levite in that well known parable. Which reminds me of the boy who in response to his pastor’s question, “Why didn’t they stop for the man who had been beaten and robbed?” replied that it was because they saw that he had been robbed already, so there was no point. Ouch! But on tour everyone helps everyone else and that’s the way it should be.

The food on the tour, by the way, has been great. The cooks are a hardworking bunch, and one of them is particularly good looking…. Today Diane went shopping at Costco with 2 others: total bill was just over $4000. I hope to get a picture of their purchases so you get an idea of how food goes into these cyclists.

We also went swimming today in the Columbia River. The water was very cold for those wimpy Easterners, but of course for us Westerners used to ocean temperatures the water was positively warm. It sure cleared any cobwebs and soothed tired muscles. Which reminds me, the first week of the tour is past, and everyone survived. While many wondered if we could actually do this, we now realize that God has given the strength and ability and stamina to pull this off. It feels good, and it also feels good to settle into the rhythm of camp life. A number of people are being billeted tonight in the homes of CRC church members, but we’ve chosen our air mattress and tent over a comfy queen size bed. We might feel differently next weekend, we’ll see.

The weather was hot again today, but for the last 3 nights there have been brief thunderstorms. The rain is badly needed here, however, so no one is complaining, and it really hasn’t lessened our enjoyment of the tour. We expect rain some days, and are prepared for it. Alright, Diane is just finished her work, so it’s time to kick back and relax before sleep. Tomorrow is a rest day, with church at 10:30 a.m. here in the park, then lunch served by Kennewick CRC folks and an afternoon float on noodles down the Yakima River. Until tomorrow night….

Yakima Valley

Hi all, and thanks for your comments. We appreciate hearing from you, and knowing that you're following our adventure and praying for us! Today was an easy day, 66 kms along the river in the Yakima Valley, with lots of downhill and two steep uphills, meaning great speed and fun going down. Top speed today: 68 kph. What a blast! Picture is of me (obviously, duh) on top of the steepest climb today, and you can see that it looks like the Okanagan. We arrived early, Wiebo and I, at 11:07 a.m. and everyone was in by noon. What a treat, to be in an air conditioned school, with the temperature in the high 90's F.

We also managed to get on TV today: a shot of Diane and Gerri Vink in action, and a group of us including myself coming in to the school on our bikes. We will surely be on the Yakima Yakkity Yak channel tonight! One serious incident today: Jake Kuipers hit an unexpected and bad bump and landed on his head. Aside from some nasty scrapes and a torn bike shirt (the one given him by his church) he's OK.

Everyone is in good spirits, as today is a sort of recuperation after 2 days of lots of climbing. Tomorrow will be a short day as well, giving sore muscles and chafed butts lots of time to heal for the coming days. The spirit in camp is great: very positive and friendly and helpful. We are truly blessed to be a part of this. We miss our family and friends, but what a bonus that Diane and I can do this together. Love you all, and signing off...

Blewett Pass

Today we really blewett on Blewett Pass. We were up at 5:30 and on the road by 7:15 a.m. The sun was strong already and not a cloud in the sky. We were in for a 40 km climb to start, reaching an altitude of 4000 feet again. The grade wasn't as bad as yesterday, so granny gear was needed only for the last 3 kms. There is no describing the feeling of euphoria upon reaching the top of a pass. There was one other steep climb of "only" 5 kms before a long but not very steep downhill into the town of Ellensburg. The two consistent things we had to fight today were the heat - it is well into the higher 80's/lower 90's F - and the headwinds. My top speed going down from Blewett Pass was 67.4 kph, but only because the headwind kept you back. The great thing you discover after 3 days is that you can actually do this. In training while working you don't have time to do this kind of mileage 3 days in a row and you wonder how it will go. It's going really well, actually, and there are no saddle sores to speak of - yet. The Chamois Butt'r is working the way they told me it would. Something to be truly thankful for.

Again I'll post a few pictures taken today. Rather than try to get them in order, I'll briefly describe them. One is a kiss of congratulation on reaching Blewett Pass, a few of the kitchen crew at work, and one of myself at the top of the second pass we had to climb today (picture taken by Claire Elgersma). Hope you enjoy them!

Till next time....

Steven's Pass

For the first time on our trip, 2 days in, we have internet access and I can begin my tour blogs! I'm sitting in front of the Icicle River Middle School in Leavenworth, WA. Everyone is relieved to be here after a long, long climb up Steven's Pass. We climbed 4000 feet of elevation at a 7% grade and it was tough, no question about it. Tomorrow we get to do approximately the same thing, just on a lesser scale. The bonus is that I'm developing buns of steel - ha! I partnered all day today with Wiebo Maarhuis, age 67 from Chilliwack; two of his children are members of our congregation. We're sticking together for the climb tomorrow again too. That's him in the picture with me in front of the Leavenworth sign.

Everything on tour is going well so far. The weekend orientation at University of Washington was OK but everyone was just anxious to get going. The send off breakfast at Puget Sound was great: great food, great people, great weather. We went out in our bike safety groups, each group consisting of 12 people. 20 kms in we had our first incident: Agatha, 77 years old, not paying attention, ran into a metal pole at an intersection, ended up with a concussion, so we had to call 911. She's OK but won't be biking for the next couple of days.

The big thing so far has been the weather. It was hot in Seattle, and it's hot inland. Today's temperature halfway down Steven's Pass was 102 degrees F. In that heat it's hard to put up a tent, much less make up your bed in it while you're sweating buckets. It's now later in the evening and it's cooled down somewhat.

Diane is enjoying the cook crew but struggles still at times with second thoughts about biking, still wishing she could have done it. It's hard for her to see the bikers coming in all excited and not being part of that. On the other hand, the cooking crew has a lot of fun together, and she's making a real effort to get to know everyone. She got to know one person particularly well yesterday. She was in a SAG vehicle directing cyclists near the end of the day, when she saw someone she thought was me, looking exhausted. She felt so sorry for "me" that she went over to "me" and expressed her sympathy and then gave "me" a kiss, except that it wasn't me! Whoever it was certainly appreciated the gesture!

I'll post a few pictures as well from the orientation weekend. A couple are of the De Wolde family who were in Seattle to see John's brother off and to see their pastor (me) off. It was great to see them there. I hope you enjoy the pictures! Now it's time to sign off and head for our tent. Tomorrow is another big day. Hope everyone is well...our love to you all... Ciao.