Day 45 Palos Heights to Chesterton

Day 45 August 13 Palos Heights to Chesterton. Sea to Sea 08

Stats for today.

Distance 55.90 miles
Time in Saddle 4.14 hours
Ascent 986 feet
Current elevation 749 feet
Average speed- 13.2 miles per hour.
Temperature -80 degrees.


Trinity College was very welcoming to the cyclists. They provided a great meal, held a greet the cyclists at 7 and than had a few short films concerning some of the poverty issues.

We woke up this morning at 6 AM at Kerrie and Rogers home. It was great to be sleeping in a real bed and to have the bathroom close by in the middle of the night. Kerrie had done our laundry and prepared our bottles with ice water and put some snacks together for us. Thanks so much Kerrie for your thoughtfulness.

Roger drove us to Trinity and we arrived at 715 and got ourselves organized for our day. Dean Koldenhoven met me and showed me the article in the local paper. He had been Scotts neighbour for the summer and really appreciated Scotts preaching. Thanks Dean for your support for Scott and Kristin.

There was a worship send off service at 8 AM. We read Psalm 121 and Pastor Michael Kooy spoke from Ps 122. He talked about the community we live in and how we continue to encourage, support and need each other. He challenged us as we biked today, to pray for people as we biked through the different areas of the city.

What I think was special was the closing song “Go My Children, with My Blessing”

Go my children, with my blessing, never alone.
Waking, sleeping, I am with you, you are my own.
In my love’s baptismal river, I have made you, mine forever.
Go, my children, with my blessing, you are my own.

Go, my children, with my blessing, riding for mine.
Mine the hungry, mine the branches and I the vine.
Feed the poor and change the structures, displeased always with injustice.
Go my children, with my blessing, riding for mine.

I, the Lord, will bless and keep you, and give you peace.
I, the Lord, will smile upon you, and give you peace.
I, the Lord, will be your Father, Saviour, Comforter, and Brother.
Go, my children, I will keep you and give you peace.

I felt this was a very special song for us as we biked around Chicago today.

I left camp with Bob, Lisa, Len, Karen, Vonda, Sheryl, and Melissa at 9 AM. Hank left with Bill, Mary, Dave, Liz and Katherine. We were told not to bike alone today as it was not safe. We all formed groups of 6 or more people to ensure we were seen in the busy traffic areas. I did not feel uncomfortable at any point in time during today’s ride even though we were biking through busy areas. Ed did a great job again of having us ride on roads we would not normally travel down if we were driving. Both Hank and I decided to stay with the planned route rather than go into Roseland.

Cyclists preparing to get into groups before departure after the send off worship service.

On our way, we biked past Griffith which had been hit by a tornado last week. We saw lots of big trees down and a number of homes that had roofs damaged. We are very fortunate that this storm did not come through this week.

We had refreshments stops at Bethel CRC in Lansing Ill and Second CRC in Highland Indiana. Thanks to both churches for their warm welcome and great generosity. It is very much appreciated. It was a great opportunity to interact with members of the local church.

Refreshment stops at Bethel and Highland. Our welcoming and cheering team as we biked into Highland CRC for lunch.

I arrived at camp at 300. When I stopped at the lunch stop in Highland, Kerrie was there with Trent. Hank decided to ride with Kerrie to the camp ground and meet me there so that we would have a little more time with Kerrie and Roger tonight. Last night we got to Kerrie and Rogers at 9 PM so we did not have much time to relax and enjoy time with them. They had come to Trinity College but it was fairly busy there and lots of things were going on.

I probably forgot to mention that we have left Wisconsin on Monday and left Illinois today. We are now in Indiana and will be changing to Eastern time tomorrow when we enter Michigan.

It seems the time is speeding by and we will be starting the last 2 week section on Monday. All the cyclists are starting to realize that this trip will be finished more quickly than we realize. We will be adding another 50 riders next week. Please pray that they will feel part of the group quickly and will experience the blessings of this tour even though they are riding for 2 weeks.

Please pray that we will continue to raise awareness for poverty and to challenge people to get involved locally and globally.