The Finish

8 weeks later, we have arrived. From Seattle to New York... on a bicycle.
13 friends in Christ... having each answered a call from God to live out the call to love our neighbors as ourselves. We each gave sacrificially to do something we knew we couldn't do on our own. It was quite the summer...

Here are a whole bunch of photos from the days leading up to the arrival. Pennsylvania was gorgeous and so tough to bike through. Some of the best biking we've had the entire trip, but the hardest as well. 7,000 feet of climbing one day (more than any day in the Cascades or Rockies). We went through some big Appalachian mountains. Oh, and Gettysburg and Philly were pretty awesome!

Arriving in NY was something pretty special. We biked into New Jersey the night before and could see the city (a long ways off) from way across the bay. It didn't really hit that we had biked all the way across the country.

Biking into Manhattan was quite the experience. I loved it... I really did. City biking is crazy at times, but can be quite fun. You just have to be hyper vigilant. Its certainly a more draining day than some, with all the sensory overload, but its some good biking too.
So, we biked from the George Washington Bridge down through Manhattan... along Central Park and to the World Trade Center area... along the point of the city where we could see the Statue of Liberty, etc. From there, we crossed the Brooklyn Bridge which was very beautiful, a great view of the city. We ended at Rockaway Beach, in Queens, along the ocean. Celebrations in the ocean of course.

This summer was an amazing experience and one I'll always remember. I learned a lot about myself, about living with others day in and day out, about loving God and loving others, about learning to let others be in control, about accepting challenging experiences because they'll bring growth, about doing something for someone else... and so much more.
Seeing the country was so cool too... it was a very intimate look at this great country (you feel every bump in the road!). Staying in 40+ different cities across the US showed a lot about communities and that there are churches all over that do things slightly different but all have a heart for Christ and others. So many people opened their doors and hearts to us... and that was a blessing.

So, now its over and tomorrow we go our separate ways. Its pretty crazy. 8 weeks with the same people and you get to know them pretty well. It will be strange without them. We will all try our best to bring the things we learned to where we live.

That's about it for this post. The final blog post from this tour. Thank you again to all those who supported me... ask me more about the trip sometime...

Many more photos, from biking into NY, the celebration, and some from sightseeing as well...

 

LOVE YOU ALL! THANKS AGAIN FOR THE SUPPORT! IN CHRIST, ROB

A recap of the past week (some of the things I remember)

Tues July 17th

Lake Village Indiana to West Lafayette Indiana. A week ago... my last blog post. Stayed in two houses belonging to a church where students from Purdue Univeristy can live. We had a radio voice contest since a few were going to be on the radio the next morning. I bought new clips for my bike shoes. The ride itself was fairly uneventful as I recall. Sleeping in a bed! Good nights sleep...

 

Wed July 18th

Lafayette to Plainfield. Corn fields. Good talks with friends (discussing how we've changed/grown/what we've most learned about ourselves through this trip). Detour into town. Got to church and were told we had hotel rooms donated to us (the Best Western gave us 4 free rooms!). So, showered there then came back to the church for dinner (fried chicken and mac'n'cheese) and a talent show. So cool! They had 12 contestants (2 from our group) who sang/danced/played trumpets/guitars/etc.. each contestant had a jar in the back in which people placed their votes (1 dollar= 1 vote). All the proceeds went to Just+Hope. I shared Just+Hope and introduced our team. Awesome, memorable night. 
And check out Ellen's poetry from the event here, a good explanation of why we ride as well: http://vimeo.com/46159180

Thu July 19th 

Plainfield to Richmond. Through Indianapolis. Stopped at big statue in middle of city. Surprised at how quickly we biked through the city (feels so small coming from Chicago days earlier). Rain…. Lots of rain. Thunderstorms stayed north of us though, so we could ride it all out. Actually, very fun time in the rain. Found a small plastic toy dog and mounted it on my bike. Ate well. Beautiful stained glass windows at the church we stayed at. Every once in a while one of us will share our personal life story with the group... the highlights, lowlights, things that made us who we are, etc. I shared my story this night. Kind of late into the ride to be telling people your story (only one or two others left to share yet), but I had already shared quite a bit and this was a very good night. We always pray for the person after they tell us their story, and it was really nice to have the group lay hands on me and pray. Started watching 3:10 to Yuma with Nicholas... one of his favorites.

Fri July 20th

Richmond Indiana to Columbus Ohio. 106 miles. Very foggy morning. Some beautiful riding. Long bridge like stretches of road. Thick forest area (for the first time in a while it seems). Met 3 other cross country bikers following a similar route. Sang happy birthday to my brother with the group accompanying. Riding into city... had never been to Columbus before. Busy road coming into town. Drove through some rough(ish) areas. Church not where we thought (down the road a few miles further). Stayed at giant church in downtown area. A few of us found the sanctuary later at night in the dark, more beautiful stained glass. Finished 3:10 to Yuma with Nicholas.

Sat/Sun July 21 and 22nd

Columbus Ohio to Mt. Vernon Ohio. Short ride, only about 46 miles. Riding fast at first… with Ashley. Only one break. Showers at Nazarine University in the dorms. Got to meet an alumni from Venture. Watermelon salsa (so good! so surprised at how much I liked it). Strawberry/rhubarb pies. Two church services on Sunday. Talking with lots of folks. Took a short walk down main street with Shannon just to see if any shops were interesting... none open on a Sunday. Laughed harder than I have any other time during this trip during some games... one game where you can't show your teeth (more to it than that, but hard to explain. So hard to keep teeth hidden when laughing hysterically) and another game I'll call 'the quote game' that had me laughing into a complete sweat.

Monday July 23rd
Mt. Vernon to Canton. Another shorter ride (62 miles). Amazed how a 60+ mile day feels like a cake walk. Some of the best riding we've had all trip. Beautiful hills. Reached my second fastest speed (didn't think that would happen in Ohio). So good to see a part of Ohio other than the turnpike, which, to be honest, is one of the only parts of the state I've really seen. Found a pair of cheap but sweet sunglasses. Ate some hot dogs at a cool diner we found near the end of our trip. Stayed a church with a huge game room and black lighted youth room. Played some video games with friends. Something we had no opportunity for the rest of this trip. Nice treat.

Tues July 24th

Canton to Boardman (Youngstown). Yes, another short ride. This has probably been our least miles in any 3 day stretch. But hey, I'm not complaining. I don't believe we'll have more 100 mile rides, but we should have several 80's and 90's left. Bike on the shoulder of another busy road… finished out at a nice park and ate lunch at a pavilion. One of us interviewed with a news crew. Road from the park to our host home (usually we stay at churches but today we're all at a gracious host's house) only a few miles further. Bought a new gatorskin tire for my front tire which I've recently started getting a whole bunch of flats on.

So, yeah. That brings me to right now. Hope you enjoyed the brief and incomplete recap. I'm sure much more happened, but it's hard to remember all those details when we do this day in and day out. Somehow, we arrive later next week in New York.