Day: August 9, 2017

The 40 mile ride from Rosalia to Toronto was an easy one. We rode the whole way under heavy cloud cover wondering if it was ever going to let loose and ran. It never did and we were very thankful for the cooler temps and breeze. We left Rosalia by 9:40 and pulled into Lizard Lips, the convenice store just shy of Toronto, by 1:30. Wanting to put the miles behind us, we’d decided to skip a real lunch and get to Toronto asap. The trail mix we’d picked up in Wichita served well to hold us over until dinner. 

Sometime before reaching Toronto I’d looked online for churches in the area that might be able to host us and located The Cowboy Church. I called and left a message. And since it was on the main road I figured we’d just stop by when we reached town. 

When we turned onto the road into Toronto, at the corner of which stood the Lizard Lips, I wanted to keep going and get to the church–eager to secure lodging for the night–but the boys wanted to stop at the store and drool over the ice cream and cold drinks inside. (As it turned out, The Cowboy Church stood next door to Lizard Lips). I waited for what seemed like forever by the bikes for the boys to come out of the store. Finally Rocky came out. “What’s taking you guys so long!? Come on!” “You should come inside Daddy.” “No, I really want to get going. Come on.” “There’s some really nice local ladies in here. You should come in.” Well, maybe they can help us find a place… “Ok.” 

Three ladies sat a table visiting over a meal. “Are my boys giving you a hard time?” I said jokingly. “No. They’re fine.” “So where are you boys from?” one lady asked. “Cape Cod.” “Oh… good ‘ol P-town.” “You know the place,” I said with a smile. “Are you from there?” “No. I was a tour guide for years on several New England foliage tours so I’ve spent a good bit of tiem in New England.” “Wow. That’s great.” A nice conversation began. We talked about our bike trip (she was very familiar with the TransAm) and about my sabbatical. Finally I asked, “Do you know anything about The Cowboy Church? I was hoping to find lodging there for the night.” “Well I don’t know whether or not they take cyclists in but you could stay at my house.” Really? Who is this lady? Can we trust her? “That would be nice! Thank you so much. Where do you live?” “I live right in town, two blocks from Main St. You’ll see my white house. You can park your bikes in my garage.” “Okay! We’ll head there now. By the way, what is your name?” “I’m JeanMarie Dancer.” She took out her tour guide business card so I’d have her name and number in case we got lost in Toronto. Wow. What an answer to prayer. A real bed. A warm shower. And the hospitality of a local. 

We got to her house before she did but she arrived quickly after and brought us right in. She told us to relax and make ourselves at home. Once we got cleaned up we sat around together and got to know each other. I shared a bit more about my church, faith, and family and she shared about her life and recent struggle with a diagnosis of cancer. She asked us to keep her in our prayers and we agreed to. May God use this to draw her to Himsefl and to the new life in His Son Jesus. 

For dinner we headed back to Lizard Lips for pizza. When we arrived we saw a bike outside. I didn’t think there was anyone so close behind us and by the way the bike was parked I figured he was heading West. When we got inside JeanMarie went right up to him and asked him which way he was headed. “West,” he said. And she proceeded to give him a contact in the next town where he could stay the night. JeanMarie has been hosting cyclists on the TransAm since 1996 but instead of signing up with warmshowers, she prefers to spontaneously hang out at Lizard Lips and see who might show up. I introduced myself to Reid as well and also suggested places he might want to stay as he journeys through Kansas and beyond. When my list was getting long I finally suggested he look at my blog and see where we’ve lodged along the way. I also asked Reid how long he’d been on the road. I was surprised to learn that he’d reached Toronto in a month, “with several rest days and a slow start,” he said. There’s 1548 miles left from Girard to Yorktown and I was figuring it would take us 5 wks. Could we finish a week early? Depends on how well  we handle the Ozarks and the Appalachians…

After dinner JeanMarie took us for a tour around the lake in Toronto before taking us back home. Once back home her friend John came over to look at the bikes to see if he could help with our aches. He was able to further straighten Forrest’s chain ring, for which we were grateful, but we still need to visit the bike shop in Pittsburgh for the new parts. 

Aug 8

We were up early and JeanMarie fed us a hearty breakfast to get us on the road. We left at 7:30, heading for Girard, an 84 mile day and the end of our 8th map(!!). Given an overcast sky and low humidity the ride was cool… but whoever said Kansas was flat!? We’ve now biked across the entire state and it’s anything but flat. Granted, the hills are neither mountains nor passes… but neither are they level. We went up and down, up and down again, and up and down yet again. And we had a slight headwind the whole way. All in all it was a good day’s work to get to Girard by 5:30. 

You may remember Cody and Sharon Shrader and thier family. We met them at the city park in Lander, WY. Once we learned that they lived in KS and near the trail we’d planned to see them. They weren’t able to host us for the night but they did want to provide us with dinner when we arrived and a to-go breakfast for the morning. So when we stopped for lunch I got on my phone and called First Christian Church in Girard. Rev. Laurie Anderson picked up. I explained my situation and told her we were looking for lodging for 2 nights. She said that woudn’t be a problem. I was to call her when we got into town. She met us at First Presbyterian Church, which is where First Christian Church also meets, let us into the building and showed us around. She gave me a key and said we had the whole place to ourselves, the lounge, kitchen, fridge, etc. and we could sleep wherever we wanted. I thanked her for the hospitality and we headed out to the park to meet Sharon Shrader with her mother and children for dinner. We were sad to miss Cody, who is away at work in Portland, OR. 

Sharon had kindly and generously prepared us a nice Mexican meal for dinner as well as breakfast burritos for tomorrow and a care package for our bike travels. After the meal I had a wonderful talk with Sharon and her mother while the kids played at the playground together. We encouraged each other with stories of the goodness of God and shared in the joy that comes from trusting and following so loving and wise a God as we have and Sharon shared how blessed she’s been by reading my blog. 

Sharon’s mother–after the numerous other questions she asked me about myself–asked how they could pray for me and my church and then shared about their church, asking me to remember them in prayer as well. It was really funny when, after our conversation together, Sharon’s mother asked, “Now what kind of Methodism are you a part of!?” “He’s a Presbyterian mom!” said Sharon. With a big smile I said, “I’m an Orthodox Presbyterian. It’s a very conservative Presbyterian denomination. Bible-believing and Bible-preaching. The website is OPC.org.” “Write that down for me Sharon,” she said. “We’re in the vein of the Reformers, the Scottish Presbyterians, and the English Puritans.” “Well because you not only sound like a Christian but you live like a Christian too!” “That’s because I am a Christian and the OPC is a solid Christian denomination :)” Before leaving we made a circle and Sharon prayed for us, for our trip, and for our family and I prayed for their family and church. What wonderful providence. We met these people in Lander, WY so that we could enjoy their fellowship in Girard, KS. God is so good. 

We returned to the church, made a few phone calls, and then bedded down for the night in the sanctuary where the AC works the best. Thank you Lord for a cool place to stay, for brethren who pray for us, and for the love of Christ which binds us together. 

Thanks for praying and thanks for following. We’re going to hang out in Girard today. There’s a swimming pool in town that we’ll probably visit. Otherwise we’ll enjoy the rest day. Tomorrow we’ll head to Pittsburgh for the bike shop and hopefully be on the road again after lunch. I’ve contacted a church in Golden City that’s agreed to put us up so we might stop there. 

Until next time… 🙂