Day: August 26, 2017

“Glass!” I yelled as I sped down the hill. But Forrest and Rocky were too close behind me to steer around it. They rode through it and all I heard was “crack.” Forrest and I went speeding on down the hill at probably 30 mph and then he yelled, “I don’t see Rocky!” That’s not good. 

We’d dropped off the car at 9:00 at Enterprise less than a mile from the Super 8 where we stayed the night I’d managed to navigate us the 2.7 miles from Enterprise to the TransAmerica trail. We’d jumped on at Ellett Rd and quickly began a long, winding downhill. It was a great way to start the morning and a most welcome start to Map 12, the last map of our journey. Down we went, faster and faster–until I saw the glass. 

Forrest and I turned around and started biking up the hill looking for Rocky. We finally found him pushing his bike downhill. The glass had made a huge cut into the sidewall of both tire and tube. Without both a spare tire and tube we were dead in the water on the side of a narrow downhill. Not a good place to be. Now what? We needed a ride to the nearest bike shop. I could see on my map that there was one in Blacksburg–probably less than 5 miles from where we were. A jeep with an empty trailer was coming up the hill. Forrest said, “Wave him down Daddy. Wave him down. Wave him down!” I was in deep thought as he cruised on up the hill. “Why didn’t you wave him down!?” “I was still trying to gather my thoughts about what to do son.” “Well there went our chance.” “No, start praying for another one. God will send another one.” Not 30 secs later a big 4dr truck pulling a boat came up the hill. I waved him down and he stopped. “Y’all need something?” “Yes, we hit a patch of glass and we’ve got a bad flat. We need to get to the bikeship in Blacksburg.” “Well I’m going to Blacksburg.” “Boy if you wouldn’t mind giving us a lift we’d really appreciate it.” “Not at all.” We quickly loaded the bikes in the back and hoped into the backseat. I had no idea which bike shop to go to or how far this would take us from the bike trail or how we’d get back on the trail. I figured I’d figure that out later. Right now we needed Rocky’s flat fixed. 

Three bike shops came up on google. One on S. Main one on N. Main and another somewhere else. “I know where S. Main is,” the driver said. “Ok, then; let’s go to that one.” We were there in less than 10 mins. While we waited outside for 5 mins for the shop to open I opened Maps on my phone to try and figure out where we were and how we were going to get back to the trail. It turned out we were less than 3 miles from the trail and a matter of three quick turns would put us on a road which led directly back to the road we were on–ahead of the glass 🙂 We were back on the bikes at 10:30. 

Tony from Sebree had put us in touch with a Presbyterian pastor in the area of Daleville/Buchanan who’d put me in touch with a couple with whom we were planning to stay. I wasn’t yet sure where we’d meet but I figured we’d bike to Daleville and call him from there. The ride was a really nice one down Catawba Road, a narrow, hilly side road which ran along a mountain range on the right. It was a beautiful ride and we only saw a handful of cars. I felt like we were on a bike path. The uphills weren’t bad at all and the downhills were long and steep. We reached 35 mph several times 😀 

We pushed past lunch, stopping only to eat an apple, because I wanted to get to Daleville asap (a 50 mile ride), which we reached around 1:30. I had no idea where to go so we pulled over at the first gas station we saw–Mama D’s. I called Phil Storms while the boys got on their devices. “Hi James. Did you get my message last night?” “No I’m sorry, but I didn’t.” “Well we’re a good hour away from where you are. You should call Will Smith.” The pastor had given me numbers for both Phil and Will but I thought Phil was closer. “Oh, well I’m sorry for the misunderstanding. I’ll call Will.” “Hi Will. This is James La Belle the pedaling pastor….” “I wish I could help you James but I have a full house tonight and can’t think of any other options.” Hmmmm. What now? I’ll call the pastor back. “I’m sorry those didn’t work for you. Why don’t you call Roger at Rader Funeral Home and tell him you’re connected with me.” “Hi Roger. My name is James La Belle and Pastor Jeff told me to call you. I’m a pastor on sabbatical traveling across the country with my two sons on bicycle….” “Sorry I can’t help you. Try St. Mark’s United Methodist Church.” I called St. Mark’s and left a message–even though, given it’s a Saturday afternoon, I knew no one would get it until next week. I googled the local churches. Daleville Baptist Church on Valley Rd. Been very blessed by Baptists lately; I’ll call that one. A lady picked up the phone. I explained the who, the what, and the wherefore. “So where are you now?” “We’re at Mama D’s gas station on Roanoke Rd.” “Well, you’re right across the street from our church. Why don’t you come on over and I’ll try to get ahold of the pastor (her husband :). Right across the street? Are you kidding me!? What wonderful providence. 

As we crossed Roanoke Rd. to head up Valley Rd. I looked up to notice the 76 Bike Route sign. The TransAmerica trail ran directly passed their church! “I’ve definitely seen a lot of cyclists on that road,” the pastor later said to me. Maybe they’ll start an outreach ministry similar to First Baptist Church in Sebree 😀 

Sheila met us at the door and greeted us warmly. After some basic intros we brought our bikes inside and headed down the street for lunch. Her husband Wesley, the pastor, would meet us there. We enjoyed the Italian subs and Wesley and I talked a lot about ministry, preaching, church life, denominations, the OPC, Machen, and the Baptists. Afterwards he brought us back to the church and said, “I have a visit to make, but why don’t y’all hang out here for a few hours until I can come back and get you. Sheila and I would like you to be our guests tonight.” “We’d like that very much brother. Thank you.” 

So here we are, at Daleville Baptist Church. We would’ve biked further today–at least another 20 miles to Buchanan–but the Lord had plans for us here. Please pray that I can encourage Wesley in the Lord and that God will bless us with the preaching of the Word here. We thought we’d be attending our first Presbyterian/Reformed church tomorrow but it looks like the Lord has a purpose for us here at the Baptist church. It’s odd to think that, Lord willing, this is our last Sunday on the bike trail. We’ve not found a single Presbyterian/Reformed church on the entire trail except here in Daleville, VA. And here in the first town where there happens to be a Reformed church, the Lord closes the door to our attending there. Of course we could actually enjoy the Baptist church’s hospitality tonight and then bike on down to the Presbyterian church (wherever it is) for service tomorrow; but I think it’s clear we’re exactly where we’re supposed to be and with whom we’re supposed to be. I’ve tried to learn to let the Lord lead; and I hope I’ve gotten a lot better at following Him. 

Thanks for praying and thanks for following. 

Until next time… 🙂 

I got the boys up at 6:00 so we could head into town for breakfast at the coffee shop on Main. They opened at 7:00 so we had plenty of time to get all packed up and do our devotions. Just before we were ready to head out Carolyn, the Funeral Director, walked over (she lives next door) and invited us for breakfast. Praise the Lord! Not only did she save us a few dollars but it gave us an opportunity to spend time with our kind hostess. We enjoyed egg casserole, fresh fruit, and toast. Thank you Carolyn! 

It was honestly a bit weird spending the night in a funeral home. Rocky was not a little freaked out. There was one bed and a couch upstairs but since the couch was too small I slept downstairs on a larger couch. Rocky thought I was crazy since it was next to the embalming room… Thankfully Carolyn told us when we arrived that there were no bodies in the home at that time. Well that was a relief. But to add to the freakiness when I asked Carolyn if we could do some laundry she led us through the embalming room to the washer and dryer. Rocky had the creepy crawlies for a while and Forrest just thought, “Cool!” and took a couple of pictures. I’m sure Forrest had fun teasing Rocky that night. As for me, I stayed awake nearly all night as the grandfather clock downstairs chimed a tune every 15 mins. Good thing tomorrows was only a 56 mile ride… 

We left New Haven by 8:00 headed for Harrodsburg. I had no idea where we’d be staying and reached out to Tony from Sebree–our newfound lodging expert–and asked him to see if he could get ahold of the First Baptist Church there. He texted me by lunch with the good news that not only would the church put us up, but if we got there before 4PM we could shower at the gym. No problem! We were on schedule to reach Harrodsburg by 2:00. The 56 mile ride that day wasn’t bad. It was full of the hills we’ve gotten used to around this part of the country and so we just kept on pedaling, shifting high and then low and then high again. 

One cool thing was that we passed through Loretta, the home of Maker’s Mark Kentucky bourbon. We didn’t actually see the distlllery–although I would’ve loved to. And if we’d passed through Bardstown, apparently we would’ve seen 3 or 4 different distilleries! Is that why there’s so much corn around here? Coming into Loretta out of the boonies we suddenly came upon dozens of 6-story black buildings. They looked like barracks or office buildings but not a single car was parked near them. They just stood there one after the other. What in the world…!? As we rode by Rocky looked in one of the windows and caught sight of a barrel. “It’s the Maker’s Mark warehouses we were told about,” he said. “No way,” I said. “There’s way too many of them.” We stopped in the very small town to use the restroom and I walked into a cafe/bar and asked a lady sitting there, “What in the world are all those black buildings we passed?” “Those are Maker’s Mark warehouses.” “Ok, but they’re not all full are they?” “Oh yes they are. And they’re building more.” “Boys, welcome to the bourbon capital of the world.” 

We got to the church in Harrodsburg by 2:00 and were met by Tim Underhill, the outreach pastor. He showed us to the showers and then to the open room next to the weight room in which we’d be staying. It was a huge open floor on which we could lay out our mats and we had access to all the chips and soda in the kitchen we wanted. Thanks Tim! We were grateful for the hospitality and got a fair night’s sleep. 

Aug 25

We were on the road by 7:00 heading for Berea. It was only a 48 mile ride but it would be the end of our ride for today…

When we planned this 3 month bike trip and couldn’t even start it before mid June I knew it would prevent us from seeing Schylie off to Uganda. She was scheduled to fly out of Boston on Sept 4 and we probably wouldn’t reach the Atlantic until Sept 14. Mama would have to see her off and I wouldn’t be there. I’d accepted that. I didn’t at all like the idea and was very sad about the timing, but I’d accepted it. We’d keep on pedaling and get to Yorktown as soon as we could but there was no way we’d get home before she left. So when we saw the family in Cañon City, CO we knew it’d be the last time we’d see Schylie for over a year. That was hard. 

Last Saturday Schylie sent me an email that I couldn’t get off my mind. She wrote, “Thanks Daddy! I love you too 🙂 Miss you dreadfully….” I couldn’t even reply. I missed her too. Dreadfully. 

We passed two westbound riders a while back and they said they’d been on the road for a month… Really? Are we that close? I did the math to figure out our average miles per day and how many days might be left. At that time we were 52 biking days in and had, at most, 18 biking days left. It looked like we’d finish around Sept 8 or 9. Wow! That’d be almost a week earlier than I’d planned… But it’d still be several days shy of getting home in time to see Schylie. We needed to reach the Atlantic about 5 days sooner than our feet could pedal us. 

So when we were hanging out in Harrodsburg I decided to call Enterprise in Berea, KY and book a rental car to drive us to Christiansburg, VA. It would mean driving the entire length of Map 11, 375.5 miles. Berea is the end of Map 10 and Christiansburg is the beginning of Map 12. We were a little bummed not to bike that portion and therefore not to bike the entire TransAmerica Bike Trail. But, hands down, family is worth far more than any plaque on the wall or notch on the belt. As far as we’re concerned, when, Lord willing, we reach Yorktown, VA next week, we will have biked across this vast country of ours. And if you look at a map of the US and you look at the TransAm trail, the stretch between Berea and Christiansburg is very small compared to the rest. So with the Lord’s help we hope to reach our journey’s end by Friday and be home via Amtrak by Saturday. That’s my plan but I’ll keep you posted as things unfold. 

We’ve got to drop the rental off at 9:00 and then we’ll get back on the trail and head for Daleville or Buchanan. With Tony’s help again we’ve made contact with some fellow believers in that area who are happy to host us for Sat night and the Lord’s Day. God is so good. 

Thanks for praying and thanks for following. 

Until next time… 🙂