We spent Sunday afternoon at the Episcopal church catching up on email, texts, and the blog. Sometime in the afternoon another cyclist showed up, Paul from Denmark. He’d started his trip in Canada visiting family and then hopped on the TransAm in Missoula. He seemed nice enough and we all enjoyed dinner together. He was planning on heading out early in the morning and we expected to meet him in Lander. But when I woke up just before 7 (I didn’t sleep well at all), he was still there. Karolina soon asked him why he hadn’t left yet and he said, “I’ve been cycling alone so far and you all seem like nice people so I figured I could cycle with you.” So by the time we all got ready it was 8:20 before we were on the road. Lander here we come!
Karolina took the lead and we were soon blazing a trail at near 20 mph. It was faster than we were used to, but it was largely downhill so we all just tucked and pedaled. Before we knew it we were pulling over to rest at a gas station with 30 miles under our belt in less than 2 hrs. A westbound cyclist soon pulled in from Lander. He’d cycled the 45 miles in 5 hrs so that gave us a pretty good idea of what to expect for the remainder of our day. The only thing was, we would be facing a strong headwind the whole way. It made for a tough ride but we pulled into Lander around 5 PM, making it a 6 hour ride from the gas station. It was a really hard day’s ride and a steady push for 8 hrs of riding, but we stayed together pretty well and were a support to each other both on the hills and against the wind.
We arrived at the City Park to find a brass band practicing and a feast being prepared. After some detective work I discovered that the community band was practicing to open for special guest, Low Water String Band. The food was being prepared to feed the brass band. So I asked the cooks what they planned to do with the leftover food, implying that we were hungry cyclists who would be delighted to help find a place for it.
Soon we had a free concert going on in the park and a community of people covering the lawn enjoying the show. I was at my hammock hanging up the wet clothes I’d rinsed to wear again tomorrow and the cook walked over and said to me, “We have plenty of extra food for you, your sons, and your friends, if you’d like it.” Nice! I grabbed Paul from his tent and we headed to the table. I called Forrest––who went with Rocky and Karolina into town to rescue food (read: our dinner, breakfast, and lunch) from Safeway and the local restaurants before they threw it out––and told him get back to the park asap because I had gotten dinner for us all.
The food was awesome. Brats, baked beans, pasta salad, bean salad, watermelon, homemade chocolate chip cookies, tea, chips, and caramel candies. Thank you Lord! When Karolina and the boys came back she said, “I got pastries for breakfast and some food from a restaurant that will do us for lunch tomorrow.” Wow. This is amazing. I figured out that the pump on my stove is missing the O-ring. That’s why it wasn’t pressurizing. So I’m going to steal the ring from the lid to the bottle and just leave the pump in it all the time. But at this rate, I’m not even sure when I’ll need to use it again. I don’t expect that Karolina will be with us the whole way, but it sure is a blessing for the time being. I hope we’re able to give back to her in some way. She seems to really enjoy sharing her “mission” with us.
After we finished eating I sat back and enjoyed the concert and got all set up to type this post. Rocky and Forrest headed off to the playground. Paul went to bed. Karolina probably went to her tent to rest until she’ll be heading to the restaurant before they close to get some food. Soon Forrest and Rocky come walking back with some strangers, a man and children in tow. I turn as he introduces me to Cody. Cody eagerly shook my hand and congratulated me on our amazing adventure. Then Forrest said, “They homeschool their children and they’re Christians.” “Oh!” I said. Praise the Lord. He then shared how God answered his daughter’s prayers as they drove through Yellowstone today, enabling them to seen a mother elk with her calves and a mama bear with her cubs. We also spoke about the wonder of seeing God’s glory in creation every day we bike. Then a lady came over and introduced herself as Sharon, Cody’s wife. She was very happy to meet me and after a bit of small talk she asked, “Can we pray for you guys?” “Absolutely!” (I can’t remember the last time a stranger did that for us… I was overwhelmed with gratitude.) We made a circle and Cody prayed for our protection and the Lord’s blessing on our time together. After he said Amen, Sharon said “I want to pray for your wife and daughters because I’m a wife too.” So we bowed our heads again and she prayed for Chantry, the girls, and that God would provide us with many divine appointments so we could be the instrument in His hands to change the lives of others ––I forever. I immediately thought of Paul and Karolina who are cycling with us. That was a divine appointment in itself and I pray they were as blessed as we were. We learned that Cody and Sharon live in southeast Kansas so I suggested that maybe we could stop and see them when we travel through. Not sure if it’ll work out, but we exchanged numbers and gave them the blog. As she left Sharon said, “Be encouraged dad, I saw Christ in your son (Forrest) at the playground.” That really warmed my heart. Sometimes it’s so hard to see Christ in our children because we can be so critical and our expectations can be so high. Thank you Sharon. Thank you Jesus.
It’s getting dark now. The sun is laying low on the horizon behind the tre line in front of me. An orangeish glow tops the trees. The park is absolutely quiet. All the noise of the band and its audience is gone. The park is spotted with the tents and bikes of several cyclists just like us. Thank God for a free place to camp, free dinner, a free concert, free breakfast, and probably free lunch and dinner too––Karolina just got back and I can see a bag in her hand. I guess we’re all set for tomorrow. But most of all, thank God for sending Cody, Sharon, and their 4 children over to pray for us. I pray He blesses them with more of Jesus, they’ll need it if they keep sharing Him so freely with others as they did with us.
It’s bed time. Thanks for praying. Thanks for following. After breakfast and a stop at Starbucks (!!!–only seen 2 Starbucks on this trip so far!) we’ll be off to Jeffrey City. I hear the Baptist church at which we’ll be staying has a shower. That’ll be nice.
Until next time… 🙂
