Day 31 and 32 Pella to Iowa City 94 miles.

It’s Sunday morning, it is quiet and peaceful. Something I really miss on this tour early in the morning as we are usually so busy getting ready, packing up everything, grabbing breakfast so we can get out on the road as quickly as possible.  It may be like that for people who are working as well, but as a retiree, I treasure the time each day I have early in the morning to watch the sunrise,  to do my devotions and to ponder and reflect on the events of the day and the week.  

I am being billeted (hosted) by Arlene and Dave Gibbons who are DRS volunteers.  We have had an opportunity to share our DRS experiences and how they came to get involved with DRS. I went through the list of sites they have worked on and discovered I knew a number of people they have worked with.  That is the neat thing with DRS you meet so many interesting and committed people who love and want to serve the Lord in this way.  Often we feel more blessed by the experience of giving our time and abilities than what we feel we give.   The Gibbons have done Needs Assessment and Reconstruction and hope to go out again this year.  They love the work and the people they work with.  Thank you Arlene and Dave for your passion and hospitality.

As I sit here a reflect on another  busy week as we moved another 400 + miles across the country and have past the midway point time wise and distance wise.  We have finished 5 weeks of cycling across the country and people are feeling the effects of numerous days in the saddle.  We still have 4 weeks left.  This weekend we add a large number of new people to the tour over 22 people and will need to work hard to enfold these people into our group.  Some are known to cyclists others are complete strangers. Hopefully all will find new friends and will feel part of our group quickly.  Some of the joiners are only on for a week which will make it challenging to get to know them before they leave while others are on for 3- 4 weeks.  One old friend for me is Marti Du Plessis and her husband Kobi have joined. They are originally from South Africa and I got to know them before the 2005 tour.  Marti help train me at that time as she has been a competitive rider and also does some timed long distanced rides e.g. (1000 miles in a weekend.) Not for me but Marti loves cycling.  Marti will be riding to Montreal while Kobi is driving to Grand Rapids and then departing. Kobi will be taking pictures of cyclists and hopefully present some quality photos as he has a great hobby in photography and has taken great pictures.

Yesterday we left Pella for Iowa City.  Our time in Pella was great and we really appreciated their generosity and hospitality.  One of the neatest things of the tour happened in Pella. AI young woman, Danita Blows from Geneva NY, was having difficulty with her bike.  It is a Giant  which is the make and her rear derailleur was causing her major difficulties. Apparently it gave loose and compromised her frame which meant she could not ride it, much to her dismay as she had just bought this 2 weeks before the tour. Now Danita came on tour knowing no one and had to make all new friends. Fortunately, she was enfolded by many people who rode with her over the past 5 weeks so she was able to share her frustrations and concerns.  Our bike mechanic Harold Veldman who is a lovely man and a great mechanic talked to Danita to help her process her options.  The Giant dealer would only work with her through her dealer at home.  What to do.  On Friday morning Danita got into Pella and decided to go to the Pella bike shop which sells Trek bikes to see what they had. Harold volunteered to go with her to help her figure out what she should do.  When in the shop she was told by the clerk that they had received a call from a person in Pella that this young woman needed a new bike and could pick up bike and they would pay up to $1000 towards her new bike.  Wow, Danita thought someone was playing a joke on her, but was assured it was true.  Apparently several cyclists had been at Appleby’s discussing Danita’s dilemma and this person overheard the conversation.  What a gift and blessing this is for Danita! 

Celebration service in Pella at Central College

Yesterday, I did not ride as my Achilles tendon was sore after three days of doing hills so I thought it best to take a couple of days off.  I was SWEEP for the day and made sure every cyclist got in safely.  It was a hard day for some as there were lots of hills and wind, but for others it was a great day and the miles flew by.  One hill apparently had a 13 % grade and was a brute of a hill but everyone did it and came in on their own stream.  I did not have to SAG anyone in who had started the ride.  A number of people were not riding because they had some issues before the start or decided they needed to take a day off, like me, which is OK because everyone needs to listen to their bodies and not push too hard that we damage our bodies further and do permanent harm. 

 

Cyclists started out the day riding to Sully IA about 22 miles down the road where they were served a hot breakfast of pancakes, bacon, fruit salad, boiled eggs.  This was a real treat.  The men of Sully CRC were busy flipping the pancakes while the women were busy inside serving everyone.  This breakfast was much appreciated and a great thanks to the people of Sully CRC who worked hard to put this on. Thank you so much.

The ride again was through rolling fields of corn, soybeans and hay.  We could see the farms were very prosperous and the crops all look very good. They seemed to have lots of rain and sunshine this year and hopefully will have a good season if they can all get the crops off in time.  Iowa farmers have been known for their generosity and have given lots to DRS and World Renew and Partners through the years because God has blessed them so richly. Thank you Iowa famers for your love and passion to give back so much of what God has given you.  Sometimes farmers do have difficulty getting crops off because of rain then they lose the good crop. One of the things we keep saying” Iowa is not flat” and we were amazed by the steepness and the number of hills we encountered.  But I think NY will beat these hills the last week of the tour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

note I hope picture show up on blog I seem to be having trouble uploading these. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Along the route, as we were parked at a SAG stop,  we  saw a parade of 100 antique tractors through the country.  Many of these were from the 40”s and 50’s.  You could see young people and old people proud of these pieces of equipment.  As they past our SAG I wonder who would be going faster the tractors or cyclists. Apparently, a number of cyclists were going faster than the tractors and got to past them on the highway rather than being passed by them.

Jane and her stash. Sorry could not get pic to rotate

Iowa City is also a mail drop location and Jane Brouwer steals the prize every time with the most pieces of mail. She received 0verr 10 boxes of goodies. Here is a picture of the stash she received everything from food , wet ones, to disposable urinals. Some people have a great sense of humor and love Jane. Jane readily shares all her stuff with the camp as she says her baskets are full and she has no room to store all this stuff on the gear trailer. People like being around Jane when the mail drops happen.

Today the cyclists can enjoy a relaxing day. I plan to clean my bike, my van, reorganize by clothes baskets as they become quite messy after a week of misplacing, losing and finding things.  Everyone seems to have that problem too. We are forever looking for stuff they we forgot, then needed in a hurry as we get ready to ride or get in from riding.  It is a constant hustle and bustle every day except Sunday when everyone is relaxed and finds order to their lives.  What a blessing Sunday’s are.  God knew what he was doing when he order his people to make a Sabbath and to make it a day of rest.  We will have a worship service at 530 with one of the churches in Coralville and will be served a supper afterwards. We are looking forward to worshipping with fellow Christians today and experiencing God’s presence, peace and love with others. 

May each of my readers, know that God is present in your life and may you feel his love and peace also today and every day.  I pray you too may be a blessing to others and may you be blessed as you love and serve the Lord.