Last night at peloton, Peter Slofstra spoke about his 2005
Sea to Sea bike tour experience and how he was involved in the organization to
the tour and provided spiritual support.
The name Sea to Sea came from a verse in the Psalms that describes how
God will have dominion from Sea to Sea.
Being Canada is a dominion Peter was inspired to call the bike tour
crossing the country of Canada in 2005 Sea to Sea. This title has been used ever since but now
understanding how the name came to be makes it that much more meaningful. Peter
also discussed the term “let it roll” that was used in 2005 referring to how
much we roll up things like sleeping bags, air mattresses, tents. When we come across intense and friction in
the group we should just “let it roll” - good advice.
He also talked about the community we are in and how much we
need the community we are part of to survive each day. Personally, I know how
much I need the SAG stops and getting fresh fruit and water. I need a break every 15-20 miles and the SAG
stops are life savers for all cyclists.
I know how much I appreciate and depend on fellow cyclists to help me
draft behind them so the day is not as hard.
As I pedal each day, I am reminded how much we need community every day
at home and need to support and encourage each other every day. Not one of us can survive without support and
encouragement from family and friends.
Today, we had awesome hospitality at three churches along
the route and were welcome by a crowd of people at each church. What a welcome
and greeting we received. First was Hope
Fellowship in Court ice where we were surprised by lots of food and dishes of
candy including droppies that cyclists could out into bags to take along. Then onto to Cobourg where we were also
greeted. There we were able to eat freshly made Oliebollen a Dutch raisin
fritter usually served on New Year’s.
What a spread and feast. Once we
left Cobourg the skies got dark and we ended up in rain. I was riding with Dave Geerlings, Russ
Johnson, Nancy Nienhuis and Jan Quist.
We were close to a grocery store so we stood under the overhang out of
the rain. It poured and we decided to
wait it out. We then headed out and
arrived at Brighton CRC where we were again fed a spread of fruit, cheese,
sloppy Joes and sweets. I resisted
eating too much as too many sweets and too much food do not agree with me while
riding. Once my ride is over I am usually famished and want to eat, but have to
wait till supper at 6. At one of the churches and after the rain I caught Barb and Donna in some new garb.
mbankment.
We also ran into an unexpected detour and had to carry our bikes around the construction. Thanks to some strong gentlemen I was able to get my bike up the e
Jan and I arrived at the Christian School here
in Trenton at 330.
The scenery today was beautiful and several times we had
views of Lake Ontario. We also biked
through some neat towns like Port Hope and Cobourg which had amazing displays
of flowers all over. They especially had large pots of brightly colored flowers
hanging from the lamp posts. Gorgeous.
A neat thing that is happening on tour is one of the
cyclists had a tutu along which is now circulating through the camp and a
number of cyclists have had to wear it for an hour. I caught Len Kooy, Rudy Folkerts and Allan Tans wearing
it. Malorie the owner is delighted to
see this happening.
At our peloton meeting Al Karsten shared how he came up with
the bike ride and called it “A Big Hairy Audacous Goal” never imagining that it would continue into
what we are doing today. Thanks Al for your vision and crazy idea.
Yesterday my watch quit, so today I thought I would get a
new battery. The jeweler replaced the battery, but it still did not work. Apparently, the old battery leaked and did
damage to the inner workings. Ugh. Now no watch, and will have to depend on my
phone or GPS for time of day.
Today I am on sweep (help in the Kitchener to serve food and
clean up) so I have finished my blog late and will not be able to post it till
tomorrow as we do not have WiFi here and I have to go either to Tim Horton’s or
MacDonalds to post.
1 comment:
Fantastic post as always, Claire. I am so glad that you are (a) on this tour and (b) so faithful in your blogging. I loved today's pictures as well. Glad bless you real good as you continue on. I, for one, am going to be sorry when the tour ends because it will mean an end to the daily blogs and encouragement. Yes, you guys encourage those us who have are at home to face our challenges, to pray for those we don't know, etc.
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