La Belles on Wheels

The alarm went off at 5:15, which gave us plenty of time to pack up, do our devotions, and get to the Vintage Market in town by 6:00 for breakfast. We loaded our bikes, signed the hostel cycling log, locked the door, and headed to the restaurant. We weren’t the first ones there. A handful of men on their way to work sat around a table by the front door. As soon as we walked in, all donned up in our cycling clothes, one of them said, “Here comes the brush guards for big trucks.” I wasn’t sure how to respond to that. It’s true that we ride between semis and the “brush” on the side of the road but we have no intention of being their brush guards. But I didn’t think he meant any ill by it; so I just said, “Yes, it gets pretty tight out there sometimes,” and took a seat at a nearby table. He then kindly proceeded to ask us several questions about our trip, who we were, which way we were going, &c. It was a nice conversation really. They seemed genuinely interested and, when the man who spoke to us got up to leave, he walked towards the back door and then turned back and said, “You boys be safe out there!” “We will. Thank you.” 

We loaded up with a nice breakfast. Rocky ordered pancakes, Forrest got a bistuits and gravy stack of some sort, and I can’t remember what I ordered but it was plenty. I also ordered a white chocolate mocha since it was a coffee shop as well. Buit when I went up to the counter to pay the lady said, “Your meal is on the house.” “Really? Are you serious? Wow. Thank you so much.” I left a nice tip in the tip jar and wondered if the man who conversed with us covered our meal. He was definitely a regular and a local. Only God knows; but if he did I pray the Lord blesses him for the kindness. 

There was a serious climb out of Ellington that gave us a real good clue of what our day was going to be like. We were aiming for Farmington–a 61 mile ride. There’s a really nice bike hostel there in a jail that went out of service in 1996. They call it Al’s Place after a famous local cyclist. 

The first town we came to when we left Ellington was Centerville. We took a selfie with the sign and missed home. It’s only one syllable different (Centerville, MO instead of Centerville, MA) but over 1000 miles apart. Guess we’ll have to keep on pedaling. After Centerville we came upon the well-known Johnsons’s Shut-Ins State Park. There are some really nice spots to wade/swim in the East Fork of the Black River so we stopped there and visited the Visitor’s Center. We looked around a bit and watched a video of the restoration of the park after a huge flood in 2005 destroyed everything. When we learned the swimming area was nearly  a mile and a half up the river and the water looked to be really low, we opted not to go to it. It was a hard decision to make but we figured we’d better just keep going. We had a lot of climbing ahead of us. None of us wanted to deal with wet swimming clothes afterwards. And we just really wanted to get the day’s biking behind us. So we pedaled on. 

We stopped in Graniteville for a hotdog and an ice cream sandwich for lunch and of course to fill up our bottles with cold ice water. Our next stop for water was in Doe Run, 10 miles shy of our destination. I went in first and filled up my bottles and came back out to wait for the boys by the bikes. After a little while a lady comes out and approaches me. She says, “You must be Forrest’s dad.” “Yes, I am.” “He wanted me to come out and let you know that I’m going to be praying for your safety.” “Wow, that’s wonderful! Thank you so much.” “I was talking to him inside about your trip and told him that I’d be praying for ya’ll and he said, “You should go tell my dad that.” So I wanted to come out nad let you know.” “That’s grea. Why don’t you follow us on our blog so that you can see where we are and you’ll know when we get safely home.” I never got her name but God knows her and I’m thankful for her prayers. 

We got to Al’s Place by 2:30 and were very impressed with it. It’s a small 2-story jail that was built in 1870 and retired from service in 1996. The first floor is used as a place to lock up our bikes during the night and the second floor has been remodeled into a 3 bdrm apartment (sleeps 14 on 7 bunk beds) with a living room, laundry room, kitchen, and 2 full bathrooms. It was super nice. We each had our own room for a change. And we can all say we spent a night in jail 😀 We heated up some soup for dinner and kicked back to watch “Castaway” together. I’d seen it years ago but the boys hadn’t so we had a nice relaxing evening together. It was another crazy day of climbing. Similar to Monday’s ride, over the 61 miles we had an accumulated ascent of 3300 ft with an accumulated descent of 2900. Now that’s some HILLS!!! 

Aug 17

We were up early for a long day. After breakfast and devotions we were able to get on the road by 6:45. The goal for today was to at least reach Murphysboro, IL. Not only would that put us into our 8th state(!) but it would also be the end of our 9th map! It would be an 86 mile ride with plenty of hills but we had two things to motivate us. We’d be passing through Chester, IL, the home of Popeye (whom Forrest really likes) and we’d be taking the “Missippil Levee Alternate” route from Chester to Murphysboro, a more level and biker friendly road than the narrow highway with tons of semis hauling coal. So off we went. 

The 48 mile ride to Chester wenbt surprisingly well. We made really good time, crossing the Mississippi River into Chester, IL by 11:15. I hadn’t told Forrest about Popeye so he was really surprised when we immediately pulled into the Visitor Center and I pointed out the Popeye statue. We took a few pictures and then rode into town for lunch and a visit to the Popeye Museum. The lady at the museum was really nice, telling us all about the creator of Popeye (who lived there in Chester), the upcoming eclipse, and all the cyclists who come through her museum every summer. I thanked her for everything and then went outside to check on our lodging for the night. 

I’d already emailed Jack Wides, a warmshower in Carbondale, 10 miles past Murphysboro, so I wanted to check my email to see if he’d replied. He had replied and said he’d be glad to have us. A warmshower is always nice but it was a hot day and I wasn’t too excited about the extra 10 miles. So I started calling churches in Murphysboro. I spoke with a lady at the Evangelical Church who said she’d call me if she could find someone to open the church for us–she never called back–and I left a message for Pastor Larry of the United Methodist Church. The rest was in the Lord’s hands. 

The Mississippi Levee Alternate is a flatter route that runs, mostly, down along the Mississippi River. But more than being mostly flat it also has far less traffic and no semis. The road into and out of Chester was full of semis headed for the coal terminal south of Chester. They came one after the other–on a road with no shoulder–and seemed to never stop. We still had to ride 10 miles to Cora with the semis, but after Cora we were able to turn on Levee Rd and snake our way to Murphysboro on back roads with very little traffic. For a long stretch we had the road so to ourselves that it was like we were on a bike path. 

On the way to Cora we rode through Rockwood, a little town of 32 people. It’s a dot on the map. We were humored by the town name because it was the loose combination of Rocky’s and Forrest’s names. I think Rocky stopped to take a picture of the town sign. But for as small as Rockwood is and for as quickly as we’d be through it, there was an old Trading Post building that caught our eye as we cycled by. Forrest said, “Whoa! That was cool!!!” I thought it was pretty cool too so I said, “I’ll pull over and wait here if you want to go back and see it.” I pulled over and he and Rocky turned around to go back. Soon they waved me back. I turned around and parked my bike on the “go side” of the road. I could hear a man talking to them. Forrest yelled across the road to me, “Come on over Daddy, there’s cold water for you.” I headed over and was greeted by a kind man named Fred Gilbert who shook my hand and handed me a cold bottle of water. We talked for as long as decency required and then I was itching to take our leave. We still had 38 miles to go to Murphysboro and another 10 if we were to end up in Carbondale. 

As soon as we got back to our bikes Rocky came up to me and said, “Daddy, I lost my iPod.” “How did you do that!?” “I think it fell out of my pocket when Forrest and I were horsing around in the grass in Chester.” “Well I really don’t want to ride back to Chester…” “Let’s call the lady at Subway and see if she’ll be willing to go out and look for it.” He called, and she did go out and look–in vain–but he but he was still convinced that it was there. “Maybe we can ask Fred if he can give us a ride back to Chester to look for it.” “Ok. Go ask him then. If he says yes I’ll stay here with the bikes and you and Forrest can go look for it.” Fred dropped everything and loaded the boys up in his truck to drive the 8 miles back to Chester. I sat by the bikes to wait. As I sat there I got a call from Larry, the pastor of the United Methodist Church in Murphysboro. After he laughed in unbelief that I was cycling across the country with my two sons, he said, “I’m sure we can give you a place to stay here at the church just call me when you get into town.” Nice! Praise the Lord. We had a place in Murphysboro and didn’t need to go to Carbondale. I had no idea how long the boys would be and how much this would delay us so I emailed my regrets to Jack Wides in Carbondale and explained that we’d be staying in Murphysboro instead. 

The boys actually returned around 3:45 with the happy news that they’d found the iPod in the grass. I thanked Fred for his kindness as we got ready to leave. As it turns out, he’s the mayor of Rockwood. How cool is that, eh!? Thank you Fred! 

We very much enjoyed the 38 mile ride to Murphysboro. It was mostly flat with a good climb up into town and we arrived just after 6:00. We went straight to the church and Larry came out to meet us with a big smile. He’d never heard of anyone riding their bikes across the country and was both surprised and impressed by it all. He let us shower in the old parsonage (which is office space now) while he taught an evening class and then met up with us afterwards (8:00) to show us where in the church we could sleep and to give us a key to the church. Once we got the key to the place we we headed over to the nationally famous 17th St. BBQ for a late dinner. Before setting down for the night I saw in my email that Jack Wides was really disappointed that we didn’t come to his place. He said he was really looking forward to meeting us and wanted to know what an Orthodox Presbyterian was. Well I couldn’t pass that up… So I emailed him and asked if he’d like to meet for breakfast. He said he’d be glad to and picked a restaurant 6 blocks from the church 🙂 

Aug 18

We met Jack Wides for breakfast at Cindy B’s at 7:30. He came with a guy named Gary, a pedaling astronomer who’d stayed the night with him. Gary was in the area to write an article on the NASA coverage of the eclipse in Carbondale, the area of the US which gets the longest duration of total darkness–2:41. We all enjoyed good conversation over a nice breakfast and Gary was nice enough to pay. And on top of it all Gary gave us glasses through which to see the eclipse. Thank you Gary! The conversation turned at one point to what an Orthodox Presbyterian was (Jack is a nominal Jew), which gave me ano opportunity to speak of the Lord. Our talk never got very deep but seeds were planted and for that I can be thankful. 

We didn’t get on the bikes until almost 9:15. The goal for the day was the smal town of Eddyville, IL, a 65 mile ride. I didn’t know where we’d stay the night yet so before leaving town I texted Pastor Larry and asked if he knew any churches in Eddyville and if he could put us in touch with a pastor there. With that done we pulled out of town. A little later Larry texted me with the name and number of the United Methodist minister in Eddyville. When we stopped for lunch in Goreville I called Pastor Michael and he said, “The doors are open; go in and make yourself at home. You can eat whatever food you find in the kitchen.” Thank you Lord. We were all set for the night. We pulled into town around 5:30. Two older couples sitting on the front porch of a house in the shade waved kindly at us as we passed by them on Main St. The church was just a block away. We entered the sanctuary and the thermostat read 86 degrees. Pastor Michael said we could set it to whatever we wanted as long as we reset it before we left. We lowered the temp to 70 and waited patiently. There were no showers or laundry so we took a sponge bath and rinsed the salt and sweat out of our clothes. When I was waiting on the boys to get cleaned up I walked over to the house on Main St. to ask them where we could get some dinner. They gave me directions me to the town’s restaurant and then asked a ton of questions about us and our trip. 

After dinner I sat in the basement of the church and worked a bit on this blog post before heading to bed around 11:00. The boys were already asleep on the floor of the sanctuary. I didn’t want to get out my air mattress unless I had to so I decided to try sleeping on a pew. They’re very narrow but since I sleep mostly on my side I figured it should work well enough for a night.

Aug 19

I woke the boys up by 5:30 since we had an 87 mile ride ahead of us. Eighty-seven miles was ambitous–or crazy–in this hilly region but we’d heard from Samuel that there was a great hostel at the First Baptist Church in Sebree, KY. To reach it would put us in a comfy place for the night but more than that it would give us a great church in which to hear the Word and a perfect place in which to see the eclipse. So one way or another, by hook or by crook, we had to make it to Sebree. 

We didn’t have much of a breakfast before heading out of Eddyville so I told the boys we’d stop in Elizabethtown for a bite to eat. It was a 21 mile ride with plenty of tough hills and a lot of humidity so by the time we got there we were ready for a break. We grabbed two sandwiches each, one to eat now and one to save for lunch. In the Lord’s kind providence a heavy downpour passed through town while we were chillin on a bench outside the store with our sandwich. We left town heading for Cave-In-Rock where we were to catch a ferry and cross the Ohio River over into Kentucky. I was glad when we rolled down the hill directly onto the ferry. Talk about perfect timing 🙂 The ferry ride was probably about 5 mins and dropped us onto the shores of Kentucky.

Given the many miles over many hills today I was on the lookout for a pickup that could give us a lift part of the way. There were no pickups on the ferry with us so I gave up on the idea and was ready to head out. But the boys wanted to wait out one more ferry rotation to see if we could find a ride. When that effort proved vain it was time to go. We got to Marion, after many though hills, by lunch so we found a pavilion in town and ate our sandwiches. 

It would’ve been just like any other day except for the fact that were way behind our normal schedule. It was lunchtime and not only had we only gone 30 miles, but we still had 57 more to go. It’s very unusual for us to have so many miles ahead of us after lunch and so few behind us by lunch. Besides the 20-30 min break in Elizabethtown we’d done as we usually do and pedal on. But given the hills and humidity we’d faced here we were… And we still had a lot of hills and humidity ahead of us. There was a bike hostel at the United Methodist church in Marion and Rocky was nearly begging me to stop there. But I knew the Sebree hostel was much nicer and I really wanted to worship and spend the Lord’s Day at the Baptist church rather than the Methodist church. So I pushed him and we pedaled on. The miles slowly ticked by as we passed through Clay and Dixon and finally reached Sebree by 6:30. ––It’s hard to believe but in the 87 miles we covered from Eddyville, IL to Sebree, KY we had an accumulated elevation gain of nearly 4700 ft while dropping almost 300 ft. 4700 ft! That’s more than we climbed in one day even in the Rockies! Now that’s a lot of little hills! 

We rode up to the front door of the church and stopped our bikes. As we were getting off our bikes a man came out of the parsonage next door to greet us. He had a warm, welcome smile and was happy to take us around the back of the church to the downstairs entrance of their bike hostel. Pastor Tony has only been here a year but his predecessor, Pastor Bob (who still lives across the street with his wife Violet), started hosting TransAm cyclists 20 years ago. They used to invite them into thier home and seize the opportunity to show them the love of Christ. When the church expanded many years ago they took the bull by the horns and built this bike hostel into the basement of their annex. It’s the nicest hostel we’ve seen so far. Not only is it large and relaxing but they’ve thought of everything a cyclist might need or want in a hostel. It’s a top-shelf hostel and Pastor Tony and his wife are very good at serving the cyclists and standing ready for every opportunity to tell the world on their doorsteps about Jesus Christ. I pray many come to Christ through the seeds planted and watered here in Sebree, KY. 

After we got cleaned up we headed into town for dinner at the BBQ Junction. I was surprised to discover that it was a hole-in-the-wall “carry out only” place. I was expecting sit-down service. In any case, the owners were kind and the food was excellent. I told the lady we were cyclists staying at the church and her face beamed, “Well, we’re glad to have you! Thanks for coming in. How do you like the hostel?” “Oh it’s super nice. We’re so happy to be there…. And we’re staying to worship there tomorrow as well hanging out for the eclipse on Monday.” “That’s nice. I think you’ll really enjoy the service tomorrow. That’s my home church. I grew up in that church.” We sat at a picnic table outside and ate our meal. I’d commented while inside that the brownies looked good. While we sat eating our dinner one of cooks came out and gave us each a brownie and said, “Here, this is for you. Enjoy.” Everywhere we turn, in both the great and small matters of every day, it’s so very clear that the Lord is looking out for us. 

When I told Pastor Tony we were hoping to stay over both for the Lord’s Day and for the eclipse he was delighted and said we’re more than welcome to. And when I told him I was an OPC pastor, the good stuff began as we started talking about preaching, church polity, and the Reformed Faith. We’re really looking forward to our time here. We’re scheduled to have lunch with Pastor Tony and his family and then supper with Pastor Bob and his wife. 

Thanks for following and thanks for praying. 

Until next time… 🙂 

We worshipped with Pastor Dan Raymond and his family at Son-Rise Christian Church, a congregation of about 200. They were celebrating the 10 year anniversary of Son-Rise with several testimonials from charter members as well newer members who have come to Christ through the ministry there. As a result of these testimonials Pastor Dan did not preach. The service was composed of songs, testimonies, a Scripture reading, and an opening and closing prayer. After the service they shared a meal together, the highlight of which was fried catfish. During the Sunday School prayer time Curtis, the SS teacher, introduced us to those who were attending. As a result, a handful of people came up to us afterwards to greet us and ask about our bike trip. But besides them we were a bit surprised that so few people noticed us or spoke to us. We sat at a large table in the middle of the gym hoping that others would come to join us but none did until Pastor Dan came to sit with us near the end of our meal. I think everyone was just busy and distracted by the occasion for the service. As Pastor Dan said afterwards, it was a time of navel-gazing. 

Just before Pastor Dan came to sit with us he came over to me and asked me what time we were heading off on the bikes. “Probably sometime between 7:30 and 8:00 [in the morning] would be good.” “Well, we’re heading to Kansas City today and, I don’t mean to kick you out, but you can’t stay with us tonight.” Well that was unexpected. I’d emailed Pastor Dan requesting 2 nights’ lodging and when he invited us to stay at his house he hadn’t mentioned that they were leaving and we could only stay one night. So we were not prepared for that bit of information. “Oh, well that’s no problem. There are three campgrounds in town we can stay at.” “Ok. Good.” The forecast was for light rain all day and into the night. Neither of us wanted to camp. And where would we spend the rest of the day? In our tent? In a restaurant? “Daddy, we’ve met some nice people this morning I think we could just go and ask some of them if they have an extra room,” said Forrest. “Or maybe we can ask Pastor Dan if he knows anyone else in the church who can put us up for the night,” he continued. “Son I don’t feel comfortable going up to the people we’ve met and asking that; and if Pastor Dan had anybody in mind I’m sure he would’ve said something. God knows where we need to be and if He wants us to be in a campground for the night we need to be okay with that. He has a plan, we just don’t know it yet.” “I’m okay with a campground too but I just think we should ask.” “Well maybe I’ll do that son but for now I’m trying to wait on the Lord and follow His lead.” “But that doesn’t mean we can’t ask…” “Son, if you really want to ask, why don’t you ask God.” 

I’d asked one of the men we’d met before the service if we could take some of the leftover fish with us and he was happy to let us have all we wanted. So when things appeared to be winding down I walked over to the food tables to see how if there was any fish was left. As I stood looking over the food, on the other side of the table stood a lady getting her crockpot together to go home. I’d seen this lady earlier and we’d exchanged warm smiles. So this time we smiled at each other again. Then she said, “Hi. Is this your first time here?” “Yes it is. I’m biking across the country with my two sons and we’ve stopped here to worship with you.” “Wow. That’s amazing. Where do you live? From where are you coming and where are you going? And where do you sleep?” I appreciated her interest and answered her questions. “[As regards sleeping] it all depends. Sometimes we camp, sometimes we stay with people who’ll host us, and sometimes we stay at churches. Last night we stayed with Pastor Dan but I’m not sure where we’re staying tonight. They’re leaving for Kansas City so we can’t stay there tonight. I’ve put a call out to the pastor of Hillside Christian Church to see if we can stay the night at his church so we’ll see.” “Well I wish I could offer you a room at my house but my husband’s home sick with strep.” “Oh, that’s so kind of you.” “So what do you do for a living?” “I’m a Presbyterian pastor. I pastor the only Presbyterian and Reformed church on Cape Cod.” “Reformed Presbyterian? I read a book from a Reformed Presbyterian. She was an English professor who was a lesbian…” “Rosaria Butterfield,” I said. “Yes that’s her! She totally changed the way I think about the Bible. And I’ve since ordered the Catechism and a Psalter Hymnal. And we’ve changed the way we do the women’s Bible study because of her influence. In fact, I’ve given her book away to all my children.” What a blessed surprise to enjoy this common ground! I encouraged her to continue studying the Reformed Faith. “I wish we could have you stay at my place… I’ll see how my husband is feeling when I get home.” “Well, I’ll give you my number so you can call me if that would work out or if you think of anyone else in the church who might be able to help us. By the way, what’s your name? I’m James La Belle.” “I’m Amber Theobald.” We exchanged numbers and I left there thankful to be in God’s hands and confident that He had a place for us.

When Pastor Dan was ready to leave we rode with him back to his house and immediately began packing up. I wanted to get out of their way so they could enjoy the rest of their Sabbath and would have the time and space they needed to get ready for a trip to Kansas City. We said our goodbyes, thanked him for his kind hospitality, and headed outside to our bikes. It was lightly raining so we decided to put our rain jackets before heading out. “Where are we headed?” Forrest asked as we stood in Pastor Dan’s driveway donning our rain jackets. “I don’t know yet son. When the Lord gives me the address I’ll let you know. For now let’s head back into town.” No sooner had I said that did I receive a text from Amber. “James this is Amber Theobald from Son-Rise. My husband is still very sick, but we would like to get you and the boys a room at the Holiday Inn Express here in town. I called and there are rooms. Would you allow us to do this?” Wow. What blessed providence. As we rode off, the boys ahead of me–and ignorant of that text, I asked Siri for directions to the Holiday Inn Express. It was 1/2 mile up the road right on the bike trail, Hwy 38. I immediately took the lead and led the boys down the road, pulling into Holiday Inn Express. “What are doing here Daddy?” Forrest asked. “We’re staying here tonight.” “In a hotel? We’re paying for a hotel?” “No. This is what the Lord’s provided for us. Amber and her husband would love to have us at their place but since they can’t they’ve gifted us a night here.” We went inside and checked into our room, thankful for the Lord’s kind provision and praying that He would bless the Theobalds for their generosity. We had a place to rest, stay dry, and get a good night’s sleep. Thank you Lord. Thank you Amber. We sent Amber a picture of us in the hotel lobby with our bikes with a hearty ‘Thank you’ before heading off Monday morning. 

Aug 14

The hotel stay came with a nice breakfast as well so as soon as we were filled up we rode off, getting on the road just before 7:30. My target for the day was Houston, a 63 mile ride. It wasn’t that many miles so I was seriously considering going 23 miles further to Summersville. But, with all the hillls, it would involve quite a bit of climbing; so I planned to get us to Houston and evaluate from there whether we should go further or not. 

We reached Hartville by 10:00 and spotted a Subway. I figured we should stop to use the restroom, fill up our bottles, and grab some sandwiches for lunch. Once we were all set we headed down the road. It’s crazy how many hills we climbed. By the end of the day we’d climbed nearly 3000 ft. That’s like going over a Pass in the Rockies. But here’s the crazy part: we left Marshfield, at an elevation of about 1500 ft and ended up in Houston at an elevation of about 1200 ft. Did you get that? We dropped 300 ft in elevation while climbing 3000 ft! Now that’s a lotta hills! 

Despite the hills, we were making such good time that I was thinking we might make it to Houston around 1:30. So I thought we could push through lunch and eat there. But my left knee started hurting on the climbs so I decided to pull over at Fairview (15 miles west of Houston) for a break and lunch. We were there for about 40 mins, which gave me time to rest my knee and the boys time to play around on nearby haybails. I also called Chantry and caught up on how she and the girls were doing. When we were ready to go we noticed another cyclist riding in from the west. He stopped to say hi and we began talking. He could tell by our loaded bikes that we were touring so he asked for our origin and destination. When we told him he said, “So you’re traveling the whole TransAmerica highway!?” “Yep!” “Wow! That’s great. I live in Bend, OR so I know all about the trail but I’ve never met anyone who’s done it before.” “How about you? Where are you going?” “I’m just out doing a century ride.” “You should ride the TransAm. If you’re already a century rider you’ll have no problem…” We enjoyed a very nice conversation with Cole Farmer and exchanged pictures before he rode off ahead of us. I also sent him the link to our blog. Who knows, maybe he’ll trace our steps one day and visit all the wonderful people we’ve met along the trail 🙂 One thing that blessed me was how concerned he was for our welfare on the trial. He asked us twice how we were doing for nutrition and if we needed anything. I told him we were all set; but I know that if we needed anything he would’ve taken it out of his own pocket and given it to us. He was such a nice guy. Thanks Cole! May God bless you and your riding. 

The remaining 15 miles to Houston were getting more difficult as we went on. My knee was really bothering me. We definitely weren’t going to be able to go on to Summersville today. I had ho idea where we’d stay in Houston yet but I knew the Lord did. We passed through the small town of Bucyrus (about 3 miles west of Houston) and came upon Faith Fellowship Church. Every church parking lot we see along the way is empty because, of course, it’s not a Sunday. But this one had 5-6 cars in it so as we approached it Rocky asked if he could stop and ask to use the restroom. “Sure.” Maybe they can help us find a church in Houston to host us. Just as we approached the front door we saw a lady walking across the hallway. The door was locked so we knocked. She turned to see us and came to open the door. “Do ya’ll need something?” “Yes ma’am. We need to use the restroom if we could.” “Well, of course. Come on in, the men’s room is right here and the water fountain is right around the corner.” Miss Linda had the sweetest and warmest southern demeanor. I immediately felt comfortable around her. I told her I was a pastor and she asked me if I’d like to meet her pastor. She took me to the office and introduced me to Pastor Bill. We had a nice conversation about our bike trip. He was most happy for me that I was able to take such a trip with two of my sons. I asked him if he could suggest a church in Houston at which we might be able to find lodging for the night. “You can just stay right here. We have showers down stairs and we’ll take care of you. You won’t gain more than 4 miles going to Houston anyway.” “Wow. That’d be great. Thank you so much. I was hoping to get to Summersville today but my knee started bothering me a few miles back and I think we need to stop for the day.” I thanked him again and went to find the boys to tell them the news. 

Miss Linda had taken the boys downstairs to the “best water fountain in the church.” When I found them she asked, “Ain’t our pastor great!?” “Yes, he’s very nice. He offered for us to stay here at the church.” “Oh, that’s great. Where will you sleep?” Her granddaughter Morgan, who was with her, began pointing out the futons in the room in which we stood. “These will work fine,” I said. “I’ll take one and the boys will share the other.” Miss Linda didn’t think the boys would fit too well on the futon and quickly suggested that we come stay at her house. “I have a room with a real live bed,” she said. “Why don’t you come and stay the night at my house.” “Well, beds are better than couches. I think we’d like that. Thank you so much.” “Well great. We can have pizza for dinner and watch a movie about a solar eclipse.” I really wanted to get in a good number of miles today but with my sore knee and a kind hostess standing before me it seemed clear that God was telling us to stop and go with her. 

Linda called her husband Leon to come by and pick up our bikes so we wouldn’t have to bike the highway to her house. He showed up in a large horse trailer and, once again, we loaded our steel steeds into the back of an equestrian chariot. She took us to her house, a few miles northeast of Houston, and we enjoyed wonderful fellowship with both her, Leon, and two of their grandchildren, Morgan and Hunter. The kids played together on the trampoline and I visited with Leon and Linda. It has truly been a blessing to experience the joy and love of Christ with so many people across this vast country of ours. Wherever we’ve been, in every state, we’ve met other Christians who, though they begin as strangers, quickly become family by virtue of the bond of the Spirit of Christ. We share a common love for Jesus, a common commitment to God’s Word and church, and a common desire to serve God with our lives. It’s an amazing experience that we’d never have if we weren’t traveling across the country like this and living everyday dependent on God to lead and provide. Furthermore, it’s been such a blessing to see so many retired believers so actively serving the Lord doing what they can with what they have to serve others and show the love of Jesus to all. They stand ready to serve and open to whatever and whomever the Lord brings their way. Good lessons to be learned here. 

Aug 15

I woke up this morning to a knee still aching with pain–neither constantly nor terribly, but noticeably–noticeable enough to concern me. I had hoped to bike to Ellington today–69 miles. That was obviously out, especially with all the hills and Ozarks that stood between us and it. So what’s Plan B? Could we make it 23 miles to Summersville? I had my doubts. While Linda made breakfast I told her my knee was still bothering me and that I was thinking of only going to Summersville. “Do you know anyone there with whom we could stay?” “No I don’t. There’s not much in Summersville and there’s nothing in between here and there.” “Well I guess another option is seeing if someone with a pickup could take us to the bike hostel in Ellington. I could get a day of rest there before going on tomorrow.” “Okay,” Linda said thoughtfully. “I’ll give that some thought and we can ask Leon if he has any ideas.” When Leon came into the kitchen later and asked, “What’s your destination today?” I repeated what I’d told Linda. When I finished Linda said, “Well this is my idea. Leon, how about you take my Explorer to Springfield today and I’ll take your pickup and take a road trip to Ellington today.” “I guess we could do that,” Leon replied. “Boy, if that could work out, we’d sure be grateful.” And with that the plan was set. 

The ride to Ellington was a beautiful one and Linda and I enjoyed some wonderul conversation about the things of the Lord. Except for a detour we had to take around a road closure, we were able to drive most of the way along the TransAmerica trail. So even though we were skipping this section of the trail at least we were able to see it. The road was extremely hilly and windy–so much so that the boys were feeling queasy in the backseat. As we made our way to Summersville it was obvious that I would not have been able to bike those 23 miles today. Getting this ride to Ellington was a blessing because it brought us to a bike hostel in which I could get some rest and it also got us a little ways down the road so that we could at least make some progress towards the goal. 

Here in Ellington we’re enjoying the quiet and cool of the local library. The bike hostel is a very small studio of sorts with a small room for cots, a toilet, and a separate shower. It’s really basic but it’ll keep us dry, bug free, and it has AC. In addition, it’s right next to a large pavilion where we can hang out at a picnic table in the shade if we want. In fact, when we arrived and got unloaded we had a picnic lunch with Linda in the pavilion before saying goodbye. It’ll be nice to rest here. I pray my knee feels better tomorrow because we’re in the middle of the Ozarks now and we’re planning to be back on the bikes tomorrow. I don’t have my maps handy so I’m not sure where we’re headed tomorrow but I know we’ll have fun following the Lord every step of the way. 

Thanks for praying and thanks for following. 

Until next time… 🙂 

Well, well, well… today didn’t go the way I’d planned it to go…

We had a great night in Ash Grove and woke up at 5:00 for an early start. We were headed to Hartville 76 miles away. It’s a small town which allows cyclists to camp on the courthouse lawn. I’d tried to get ahold of the churches in the area to see if we could find a place to worship on Sunday and housing for Sat & Sun PM, but as of yet I’d gotten no response. So I figured if I didn’t hear back in time we’d camp on the lawn, go to church, and hopefully find a family that would take us in for Sunday night and send us on our way. 

We left the bike hostel in Ash Grove around 6:30 after a meagre breakfast. I figured we stop in town if we passed something. If not, we’d head on to Walnut Grove and get something there. Well we didn’t pass anything; so Walnut Grove it was––an 8 mile ride. 

hills, HILLS, HILLS!!! It’s crazy how hilly it is out here–and we’re not even in the Ozarks yet! You get going so fast on the downhill you think, “Whoohoo! I’ve got that next hill licked!” But it’s so steep that all your momentum comes suddenly to a 5 mph crawl with all the grind you can crank out. And no sooner do you crest that hill and there’s another, and another, and yet another. There doesn’t seem to be any rest between them; just one after the other. You’re totally puttin out on the downhill to get up all the speed you can and then you’re totally puttin out on the uphill just to get over it. It’s exhausting. And you’re constantly running through your gears. Hi. Low. Hi again. Low again. Click, click, click. Click. Click. Click. I don’t know whose more whipped, us or the bikes… 

We got to the small town of Walnut Grove and there was a gas station open. We stopped to use the bathroom and I saw that they sold breakfast sandwiches as well as biscuits and gravy. Forrest and I ordered the biscuits but Rocky wanted pizza. We sat down next to 3 old guys. You know, the sorta small-town guys that meet every day at the gas station for a cup a joe and a chat. They knew exactly who we were and what we were doing. I think they’ve been sitting there a lotta years watching cyclists go through. One guy even made mention of the original 1976 ride running through there! They said they see guys every day biking through Walnut Grove, most going East like us. They started off with a battery of questions and we enjoyed telling them our story. 

We left there tanked up and ready for the hilly ride to Fair Grove. Up and down we went. Down and back up again. It was early enough that there was very little traffic on the road so we had much of it to ourselves. 

During one of the climbs I reached for the right-hand bar-end shifter to move my chain to my granny gear. I lifted the shifter up to its highest position and suddenly a sharp wire poked into my index finger. Not good. That’s a loose wire frayed from my shifting cable. I yelled to the boys that I needed to pull over–yes they were ahead of me––but I was in third place! Oh wait; that’s last place… 

I pulled over and took out my fingernail clippers to clip the wire. Done. We pedaled off. A little further down the road I reached to shift and was poked by a bundle of about 8 wires. Not good. Thankfully (on this shoulder less road) there was a driveway directly next to me. I pulled into it and called to the boys to stop. “I gotta pull over boys; I’m done. My rear derailleur cable is about to snap.” Now what!? I prayed for help and started running over our options in my mind. I took the shifter off to assess the cable. It was down to a few strands and since the fray was at the top there was no way of pulling any slack up from the bottom–of which there was hardly any anyway. I put the shifter back on and as I tried to run through the gears it wouldn’t budge out of the granny gear. I was dead in the water. No way around it. Whatever we did from here the first thing we needed was a ride. The next bike shop on the trail was in Farmington–on the other side of the state. I told the boys to put out their thumbs for a truck and see if they could get us a ride to Fair Grove, the next town. Meanwhile I called the Davises for prayer. I called Johnny but he didn’t pick up so I left a message. Then I called Mark in Wichita. When he answered I told him where we were and what happened. He said if I called the Bicycle Pedaler in Wichita to order what I needed Debbie would go pick it up and they’d bring it to us first thing in the morning. A four hour ride! Are you kidding me? “That’s too far brother.” “Well you need it don’t you?” I love that guy. “Ok brother. I’ll call the Pedaler.” I called the Pedaler. “I’m broke down on the TransAm in the middle of nowhere and I need a rear derailleur cable.” “I’m so sorry to hear that. So where are you?” “Ten miles west of Fair Grove, MO.” “Ok, well there’s a bike shop in Springfield 18 miles to your south.” You have to understand that on our bike maps we’re zeroed in on our own trail and have no idea what’s around us. We could be a mile from the Taj Mahal and not even know it. So I had no idea I was north of Springfield. All I knew was that there was a bike shop in Pittsburgh with which I was not entirely happy–and you never ever go backwards–and the next shop was in Farmington. “That’s great!” “Ok. I’ll text you the address and I’ll call ahead and let them know you’re coming.” 

Get this! I’m in the middle of my conversation with Aaron at the Pedaler who’s telling me I need to go to Springfield and I turn to see a woman pulled over on the other side of the road in a small white truck with a canopy yelling at the boys, “I’m going to go home and get my trailer and I’ll come back in 5 mins and you can put your bikes in the trailer and I’ll take you to Fair Grove. Just 5 mins! I’ll be back!” “That would be great!” I yelled back. “Thank you so much!” “Sorry Aaron, I’m back…” As soon as I knew where we neeeded to go God sent the means to get there. Amazing. Absolutely amazing. 

Mitzi Gordon pulled up in a big dually truck towing a huge horse trailer, opened the back, and told us to load up the bikes. “Thank you so much!” “No problem. I’m just paying it forward. But there’s not a bike shop in Fair Grove is there?” “No there’s not,” I said.” “But there is one is Springfield. I’ll just take you there and then I’ll bring you back and drop you off in Fair Grove.” “If you could that’s be great!” 

She took us to A&B Cycles in Springfield and they got my right in. My bike was up in the stand in no time. I watched the mechanic replace the cable. “Did you know you’ve got a broken spoke on your rear tire?” “No I didn’t!” There was more than one reason for this stop. In fact there were 4. Forrest broke one of my bottle cages on Thursday when he hit it with a basketball. And my bar tape was breaking and thinning badly. “While you have the bike up can you install this new cage and put on this new bar tape?” Might as well get ‘er done–$150 later. 

Given the time we’d lost I was thinking about our proposed destination: Hartville. I hadn’t heard from any of the churches I’d called. It was a really small town. If we didn’t find any hospitality how would we spend the Lord’s Day? I texted Pastor Terry in Golden City to see if he could help. He said he didn’t know anyone there. Maybe we should stop in Marshfield. It’s a much bigger city. We’re sure to find a good church and more than likely hospitable brethren. “Do you know any of the churches in Marshfield Terry?” “Yes! There’s two great churches there.” Terry gave me their information and reached out to one of them himself. When Mitzi offered to drop us off in Marshfield I was happy to accept. It seemed the Lord was directing us there. I left a message with the two pastors. Thank you Mitzi! You were a blessing from the Lord to us. May He bless you in return. 

When Mitzi dropped us off we headed to Dairy Queen for lunch. Just as we finished lunch Pastor Dan of Son-rise Christian Church returned my call. I explained our need and he said he was an avid cyclist and would be glad to have us stay at his house and worship with him tomorrow. Thank you God. 

After we pulled into Dan’s driveway and got settled in I was feeling bummed that we cycled so few miles this week. They’ve nearly all been short days and we lost a whole day in Girard when we were waiting on parts. I was thinking we might finish early and get home early. Now I’m not so sure. And whatever edge we gained in Kansas with those long days and three century rides has now been swallowed up by these short bursts. … But when I forget the destination and just think about our journey, it’s so very clear to me that we’ve been in the right places at the right time. Without the shorter days we’ve had this week we’d never have met Mitzi. We were in the right place at the right time to meet the one lady God had chosen to give us a ride to Springfield and back. If my cable had not broken there where would it have broken? On a downhill at 30 mph? In traffic? At the end of the day it’s not my show. It’s my Lord’s. He’s in control. He’s at the helm. It’s His glory to direct and guide and it’s my duty to trust Him and not complain. So that’s what I’m trying to do. He knows the end from the beginning and He’ll see to it that we finish this bike trip exactly when we’re supposed to. So we might as well enjoy the journey and trust Him with each day’s destination. ––You’d think we had that figured out by now. 

Pastor Dan Raymond and his wife and daughter have welcomed us warmly into their home. We’re set up in their guest room. They did our laundry. The boys got to swim in the pool before dinner and shoot a crossbow after dinner. Tomorrow the church is celebrating its 10 yr anniversary so they’ll have several testimonies during the service and a catfish fry afterwards. We’re looking forward to meeting the saints and seeing what God’s doing here in Marshfield, MO. Lord willing we’ll be back on the road early Monday morning. I’ll let you know where we end up but I’m thinking Houston, if not Summersville. 

Thanks for praying and thank for following. 

Until next time… 🙂 

The pastor of the church in Girard, Laurie Anderson–with her daughter Bonnie–took us out to breakfast at Eastside Cafe. We enjoyed wonderful conversation and good food before leaving town at about 9:00. The bike shop in Pittsburgh didn’t open until 10 anyway so we knew we could take our time. It was a 14 mile ride but it was so easy that we pulled up to the bike shop at 10 AM about 30 secs before the guy came to unlock the door. Once inside the shop we checked on our order. He said his UPS shipments didn’t usually come in until 12 PM so I gave him my number and asked him to call me when they arrive. Meanwhile we headed over to Root, a local coffee shop 1/2 mile away. I got an iced coffee and the boys got fraps. They didn’t mind us hanging out to enjoy the wifi so the boys got online and I went outside to sit at a table and study our map through Missouri. I really wanted to get on the road since the weather was nice, but we just had to wait this one out. 

Tailwind Cyclists called at about 12:30 and said my parts had arrived. We rushed down there, unloaded our panniers, and they got started on them right away. Roger owned the place and Ryan was his assistant. Roger was working on my bike and Ryan was working on Forrest’s. The boys were on the wifi but I stood by and watched the repairs. I was probably prejudiced due to a review I’d read about this place the other day but they didn’t seem to have it all together. They were distracted in their work and I don’t think they were comfortable with me watching. Forrest and I both were getting new chains and I noticed right away that their method of sizing them (little-little) was the exact opposite of Mike’s preferred method (big-big) in Wichita. Mike said the little-little method tends to make the chain too tight; so this made me uneasy right away. But since Roger was an accomplished cyclist with many years of riding with the pros I thought maybe it would be alright. What do I know!? I went from sitting behind a desk to riding a bike across the country. Roger said he gave me a break on the labor but it was still $280 before I left–and that was on top of the $190 it cost me in Wichita. ––I was pleasantly and gratefully surprised to receive a $500 gift recently. The costs of this trip (both ours and the girls’) have really added up… Now I know why the Lord gifted me that $500 😉 Thank you Lord; and many thanks to those who gave. 

We didn’t leave the bike shop in Pittsburgh until 2 PM. It was too late to go to Ash Grove as I was hoping (68 further miles) so we’d probably have to opt for Golden City. I figured that might happen so while we were in Girard on Wednesday I’d called First Christian Church in Golden City to see if we could get lodging for Thursday night. Pastor Terry Longan assured me we could and told me to call when we got into town. 

We rode hard out of Pittsburgh we were so eager to be on the road again. Maybe we could make it farther than Golden City? Then again, maybe not. The humidity was worse than we’d seen in a while. The sweat dripped down our arms, faces, and sides. It stung as it dripped into our eyes. As much as I was hoping to cover more ground, I figured we’d better call it quits in Golden City. 

We pulled into town by 5:00 (a 33 mile ride from Pittsburgh). I had no idea where the church was but we stopped at the library and went inside for a little AC and water. I spoke with Carol, the lady at the desk, and explained that we were cyclists staying at one of the local churches tonight. “Do you know the pastor’s name?” “Yes, it’s Terry.” “Oh, Terry Longan. That’s my church, it’s right over there.” She pointed to a church less than a hundred yards away on the same block. Sweet providence indeed. I asked her if there were showers there by chance. “No. But you can shower at the city park.” Nice! I stepped outside to call Terry and ended up leaving a message. 
After my shower at the city park I connected with Terry. The church had an air-conditioned second floor above its “Family Life Center” (gymnasium, kitchen, classrooms, etc.) and we could pick whichever room we wanted to bed down in. The kitchen was ours to use but there was a senior citizens group playing cards in the dining area. All in all, we were to make ourselves at home. While at the park a lady walking her dog came over to speak with us. Apparently she lives next to the park and keeps an eye on all the cyclists coming through, all of whom sleep in the park. If the weather is poor she usually takes them in for the night. “So I see you found the shower.” “Yes we did.” “And are you staying in the park, then?” “No. I’ve contacted Pastor Terry in town and we’re staying at First Christian Church.” “Oh, great! That’s my church. I’m glad you’ll have someplace dry to sleep tonight, especially with the hurricane coming.” Did she say hurricane? “You mentioned a hurricane. Should we be worried?” “No. It’s south of us; we’re only getting the rain.” “Oh. Okay.” 

We left the park and headed straight for Cooky’s Cafe in town. We heard the pie was good so I figured we’d eat dinner there as well. The service was very nice but I honestly wasn’t impressed with the food. The steak was pretty tough for medium rare, the curly fries were so-so, and the spinach was sort of bitter. Forrest really liked his fried chicken though. We opted for pie anyway and weren’t disappointed–especially since my good friend Linda Teakell said she’d reimburse me if I ordered it 🙂 I got warm pecan pie with ice cream, Forrest got the coconut cream, and Rocky got the butterschotch cream. They were all really good. 

We headed to the church after dinner. We entered via the gymnasium door and the boys immediately started shooting hoop while I went into the kitchen looking for someone who was looking for me. There were about a dozen seniors playing cards and one lady (Sue) looked at me and said, “Are you one of the cyclists?” “Yes I am. I’m James.” “Great! Welcome. Let me show you to the upstairs.” Sue showed me around, introduced me to all the seniors–some of whom had a few questions about riding a bicycle across America for fun–and offered me and the boys some of the snacks they’d brought with them to their “card social.” Thank you Sue, for your warm smile and hospitality. 

I picked the couch room for us. There were several lazy-boy chairs and 4 couches spread around the room. It’d be better than sleeping on the floor and we wouldn’t have to get our air mats out. I took my stuff upstairs right away so I could pick out my couch. Since the boys were playing ball I figured I got first dibs. Later on when we were winding down for the night an older man walked into the room. I figured it had to be Pastor Terry and it was. He introduced himself and we took the opportunity to express our thanks for the use of the place for a night. He took a picture of us and said he’d post it on the screen on Sunday so they could pray for us. He also said he’d continue praying for us over the next month until we got home. Wow! It’s crazy how many people are actually and regularly praying for us. I remember thinking–after our first day on the bikes, when we were camped in Nehalem Bay State Park in Nehalem, OR–I remember thinking how awesome it was that we had a whole congregation praying us home. It blows my mind now to think how many more prayer warriors have been added to that number over the last 2 months. We’ve met so many wonderful Christians along the way and I know that many of them are indeed praying us home. What peace! What joy! Thank you all so much! 

Aug 11

We got up at 6:30 and headed back to Cooky’s Cafe for breakfast. I ordered biscuits and gravy with sausage and eggs. It needed more seasoning but it wasn’t bad. Either way, we needed a good meal in our stomachs for the 66 mile ride to Fair Grove. After breakfast we headed back to the church to get on our way. The sky was dark and heavy but at least it wasn’t raining. I got all ready to go and looked outside. It was pouring–hard. Ugh. Guess the effects of the hurricane about which the lady had spoken. Now what? We weren’t afraid of rain, but this was a lot of rain. We were going to get wet, very wet very quickly. I looked at the forecast, it was supposed to rain until noon. To stay or to go, that was the question. I texted Pastor Terry. He said we could hang out as long as we wanted. Maybe we’d set out after lunch. Forrest wanted to shoot a few hoops and I was feeling a bit tired. So I figured I’d get a power nap.. As it turned out, Forrest had the music in the gym so loud that I couldn’t sleep. At least I rested my eyes. After 20 mins I headed downstairs. I checked the forecast again. Now it wasn’t supposed to let up in the area until 3 PM. And every city which we’d reach today, tomorrow, and the next day were all forecasting a ton of rain for the next several days. if we try to wait out the storm we’ll be here for a week, I thought. Might as well get on the bikes. Either we get wet today or tomorrow. What’s the difference? I figured we probably wouldn’t make it past Ash Grove, but some progress is better than no progress. So we got ready and headed outside. Terry asked for a picture of us with our bikes so we stood in front of the church door under the overhang. All of a sudden a man rode up in his truck. He got out and walked over to where we stood. It was one of the seniors I’d met. He asked if we’d had breakfast. I told him we did and that we were heading to Ash Grove. –I wonder if he was coming to take us to breakfast?? I asked him to take our picture and we left there at 9:30. 

Before long the rain was falling much heavier than before and we were soaked–inside and outside of our raingear. At one point Forrest rode up beside me and said, “This is bad, really bad.” “I was just thinking that. It reminds me of the storm in OR.” He slowed back into position behind Rocky. Nothing to do but keep on pedaling. After about an hour the rain slowed and soon let up. We stopped to take off our jackets and figured on drying our shirts by riding into the wind with them. It worked well and by 2PM we arrived in Ash Grove. 

I don’t think we’re officially in the Ozarks yet, but we’ve definitely hit the Missouri hills. They’re plentiful and steep. You head down the hill convinced that you’ll get up enough speed to make it over the next… but instead you slow to a crawl downshifting in an effort to at least keep moving. And we did alright until our chains started giving us trouble. Forrest’s chain came off twice and he had trouble getting onto his smallest crankset in front. My chain kept skipping and clunking into gear on the back cassette. We let out a few complaints and I wondered if our chains were too short. Now what? Forrest’s chain came off again. I adjusted the front derailleur. Mine kept misbehaving. We pulled over and, with frustration in his voice, Forrest said “This is not good! I can’t get to my granny gear and it makes it really hard on these steep hills.” “You’re right son; it’s not good. We’re both having chain problems. But what are we going to do about it now? We need to bring our hearts to our condition and pedal on.” And we need to pray about it, I thought. Ask God to put His hand on these bikes and help us on our way. So I committed it to the Lord and we pedaled on. We didn’t have any more problems on the way to Ash Grove. 

Typical of Kansas and Missouri, cyclists are allowed to camp in the City Park. But we’d heard from 3 other cyclists that there was now a bike hostel set up in Ash Grove next to the park. So once we got into town we headed for City Hall to get the key. A very nice lady welcomed us. We signed the cycling log and she gave us the house key and took us outside to take our picture. We headed to the house, got cleaned up, and then walked to the library to use the wifi. Now, once I finish this up, we’ll head to the Mexican Restaurant for dinner and a cold one. 

Stopping here today has thrown a monkey wrench in my plans of getting us across Missouri by next Wednesday. Now I’m not sure where we’ll make it tomorrow. We need to find a place with good lodging and a place to go to church. I hope those two can be the same place again. 

PS… for all you prayer warriors, I don’t have an update on Karolina. We passed her in central Kansas when she broke a spoke (for the second time) and had to order a wheel from Pittsburgh. The last I heard she was down for a week–which means she should’ve been back on the bike on Wed or Thusday (yesterday). I’ve texted her several times but haven’t heard a thing. I’m wondering if her phone’s off the hook… Keep praying and I’ll update you as soon as I hear something. 

Thanks for praying and thanks for following. 

Until next time… 🙂 

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… 🙂 

We arrived in Alexander around 9:30 PM. As they said, besides a few homes, there was nothing there but the rest area and a grain elevator. But as the rest area was maintained by the state like the ones on the interstate it was very nice. I had some trees from which to hang my hammock, the boys set up their tent on a nice, level lawn, and the bathroom was clean. A few travelers stopped by during the night but we still slept really well. 

We left at 7:30 headed for Sterling about 100 miles away. There was camping at Rush Center and Larned but both of them were too close so even though we weren’t too keen on a 100 mile day, Sterling was really the only viable option. So we hit the road hoping for and easy ride and friendly winds. 

My addenda from the ACA alerted me to the fact that the 30 miles of road between Rush Center and Larned had become unrideable because they’d since rumble striped the shoulders. No worries, I thought. We’ll just take the alternative route. But the problem included a 10 mile stretch on gravel road. You’ve got to be kidding me…! Neither of us was satisfied with that option. So Plan B was to ride the 13 miles to Rush Center and see if we could hitch a ride to Larned. I stuck my thumb out for about 30 mins. One man stopped (with a bed too short) and seemed inclined to help. I said, “Can you fit 3 bikes in the back?” “Can you?” he replied. He told me we should be fine riding the road and also suggested we take another road (head further E and then S instead of S and then E). I really didn’t want to be on a road where the local drivers were not expecting loaded cyclists. We asked the guys sitting around at the gas station drinking coffee if any was going to Larned. None was and they said the road wasn’t that bad. Finally an older man stopped and said he sees cyclists on this road all the time and we should be fine. I figured the Lord was telling us just to go for it. After all, we’ve driven hundreds of miles on roads with absolutely no shoulder, putting us in the lane itself. So we headed out. The shoulders were indeed unrideable and we were forced into the lane, but the truck traffic wasn’t any worse than we’d braved so many times before and we were soon in Larned. Thank you Lord. 

I didn’t want to ride into Sterling without a plan for lodging so when we stopped on the way to Larned for a snack, I called every church in Sterling hoping to find help. Every number but one rang off the hook. I left a message and planned to try later. A few hours down the road I tried again. Same thing. I didn’t leave a second message. Did the Lord have a different plan? Was I knocking on the wrong door? 

Since I always carry the map and have the GPS, the boys are always asking “How far to the next town?” “How many more miles?” As I was studying the map to add up the remaining miles I noticed that while Sterling was 3.5 miles off route (3.5 there + 3.5 miles back in the AM = 7 miles out of the way), Nickerson was only 8 miles further and on route. Maybe I should call the churches in Nickerson… I Googled and found several churches. The first in the list was Christ’s Bible Church. I’ll try that one. It rang and the answering machine picked up. I started with my message. Before I was done a man picked up. I gave him the who and what and he said, “We have VBS this week (that’s why he was there late) but yes you can stay here.” I hung up the phone with a thankful heart and said to the boys with a smile arising from God’s sweet, fatherly providence, “We were never supposed to go to Sterling. We were always supposed to go to Nickerson. Let’s go!” 

We arrived at the church a little before 8 PM (107 miles). The parking lot was loaded with cars and I knew Phillip was still busy with the VBS so we waited outside. Within 15 mins a young man came out dressed like Robin Hood, reached for my hand with a huge warm smile, and said “Hi! I’m Philip. I don’t always dress like this!” Soon we had 20 people around us eagerly asking questions about our bike ride. One was the church secretary who heard my partial message. “Did he announce our coming?” I thought. It’s like we were celebrities or something. Both adults and kids had questions. It was fun to see their interest. 

“So you can stay at our house or you can stay here.” said Philip. “We’re okay to stay at the church…” “Well, why don’t you come to our house so we can feed you breakfast in the morning; otherwise you’ll be fending for yourselves.” “Sounds good to me!” We biked the few blocks to Philip and Torey’s (sp?) house and they welcomed us warmly. Torey heated up some spaghetti and we sat around the table like the Christian family we are. They have 2 kids, Keziah and Malachi. We had such fun asking riddles of Kezi! I think she’s 10 but she acts much older than that and gladly served us with warm hospitality alongside her sweet mother. It was such a nice visit! I can’t believe we never got their last name! I think it might be Lee but I’m not sure. In any case, thank you Philip, Torey, Kezi, and Malachi! God bless you and your church! I told them of warmshowers and of Karolina and they were quick to say, “Send her here!” What warm hearts… Mt 25.40. 

We left Nickerson around 8:30 heading for Newton, KS–around 50 miles. There was also an addendum about that ride but I was confused by it and figured we’d just stay the course. The ride was fine and we arrived in Newton at about 1:30. We were so excited to visit the legendary Newton Bike Shop. I’d seen pictures of it in the blogs of others. We needed repairs. Rocky needed a new tire. We’ll get to sign the wall, joining the hundreds, maybe thousands?, of others. And they have ice cream. 

My heart sunk when we reached for the door only to see a sign which read, “Temporarily closed for much needed expansions. We will reopen in mid-August.” What!? You’ve got to be kidding me! We rode over 2500 miles to get here and it’s closed? We were so disappointed. I knew I needed to quickly bring my heart to my condition. Complaining would be a sin and I couldn’t change the situation anyway. The same God who’s cared for us this far is still in charge and has a better plan than I did. I remembered Mark Davis (who lives in Wichita and with whom we’d be staying until Monday morning) mentioning that there were good bike shops in Wichita. I quickly texted him to let him know that he’d need to bring his bike rack and that we’d need to find a bike shop in Wichita for our repairs. He said no problem, grabbed his bike rack, and headed out for Newton. Meanwhile his wife Debbie got on the phone to see which shop could get us in. She called the Bicycle Pedaler. The lady was genuinely sorry that she couldn’t help. They were 2 weeks out (facing an overload because the Newton shop was closed) and she only had one mechanic on duty today. Ruth got on the phone with me to give her apologies and said she’d see if she could find help for me at another shop. Soon Debbie called back. The other 2 bike shops Ruth had in mind were closed. So we were to head to the Bicycle Pedaler and Ruth would see what she could do. 

We walked into the Bicycle Pedaler and Ruth knew who we were immediately. She explained that the other two shops were closed and that there was nowhere else she could send us. So instead, we were to bring our bikes in and she/her mechanic would evaluate them and see what they could do quickly. Mike came out right away and looked at began to look at the bikes. After explaining that he couldn’t help us and that he was 2 wks out, he suddenly said, let me see what I can do… The next thing we knew he’d fixed Forrest’s handlebar and kickstand and he’d replaced Rocky’s rear cassette and chain. My bike also needs a new rear cassette and chain–and had he had one, he would’ve put it on but he didn’t. We ended up calling ahead to the bikeshop in Pittsburgh, KS so he could order it (along with a new 48 tooth chain ring for Forrest’s bike) and get it in before we get there. What a wonderul providence. Thank you Mike! 

When Mark pulled up to where we were to meet him in Newton the kids said, “That’s gotta be him; he looks just like Johnny.” And Mark was thinking, “Is that James?” With my beard shaved off he hardly recognized me… We stopped by the store on the way home so Mark could pick up some more taters for Debbie. So when we pulled up, I let the boys start unloading all our panniers while I headed straight to the kitchen to bring the taters to Debbie… I walked in and said “Hi Debbie!” and reached out to give her a hug. I thought she looked a bit standoffish and cautious but I hugged her anyway, hoping for the best. Turns out, the reason she was so cautious was because she didn’t recognize me 😀 

We have had such a great time here with Mark & Debbie. They’ve spoiled us with great food and wonderful fellowship. They’ve put their arms around us like family and really made us feel at home. We’ve laughed together over funny things, had our eyes well up together with tears over God-things, shared stories of amazing providences, and enjoyed the blessing of Christian fellowship. We’ve even played a few rounds of Hand and Foot together (a card game) into the wee hours of the night. 

Yesterday Mark took us on a field trip to the Kansas Underground Salt Museum in Strataca. It was so cool. We went 650 ft underground and toured the place from which they mine the salt which the trucks put on the roads in the winter. Apparently they mine 500,000 to 1 million tons of salt every year from this mine and ship it all over the country. The next time you see a truck spraying salt on the roads it probably came from Strataca. Also, because there’s no humidity in the mine and the temp is a steady 68-70 degrees and there’s no varmints that can live down there, it’s a perfect storage vault for all sorts of things. We saw costumes and outfits that movie stars have worn in films and we saw thousands of boxes filled with who knows what that businesses, companies, and Hollywood have paid to have stored in the mine. It was really cool. Thank you Mark! 

Today we went with Mark & Debbie to their church, Newspring Church (newspring.org). It’s the first mega church I’ve ever been in (though it’s a lot smaller than a lot of mega churches) and it certainly was different than we’re used to. But we were blessed. For starters, when Mark introduced us to the greeter at the door, he said “Oh, you’re the cyclists! We prayed for you this morning.” Really? Us? Wow! Thank you God. Upon entering the foyer we met another greeter standing at the door to the sanctuary (I think it was the other greeter’s wife) and she excitedly greeted us and said, “We prayed for you today!” Really? You too? Wow! Mark & Debbie were really hoping that we could meet their pastor but knew that in a such a huge church it was very unlikely. Before heading off to get our coffees, Mark saw the pastor and flagged him down. He stopped and Mark waved us over and introduced us. He greeted us joyfully and wished God’s blessing on me as a fellow pastor and on the remaineder of our bike trip. Mark took us down the hall to the coffee shop and we ordered our drinks. While we were waiting he introduced us to one of the couples serving drinks and they were also very excited to meet us and wished us well on our trip. 

We sat down in the second row and waited for the service to begin. The worship team led us in three songs before the pastor came out to greet the congregation and give a few quick announcements. He then went to the other auditorium, I suppose to do the same thing, and returned after one more song–the theme song for the message series on which he was preaching. His message was on the after life, comparing and contrasting heaven and hell as fixed destinies. He spoke from Lk 16.19-31. I would’ve preached the text differently but I appreciated several statements he made regarding Christ as our only hope. But most of all, I appreciated the love and welcome we received from every person to whom Mark introduced us. 

It’s been good to be reminded on this bike trip that the Church of Jesus Christ is bigger than the OPC. Regardless of our differences and disagreements on many things, it’s clear that God has seen fit to spread His people across many different cultures and denominations. We’re not all meant to be in one church right now and differences are a testimony to the diversity of Christ’s Church. How much better would the Church be if we focused more on the things that unite us than the things that divide us? If we accepted where God has people in their stages of growth rather than trying so quickly to change them to be like us as if we’re perfect? Debate is good, discussion is good, and we all need to grow, but not until heaven will we all be on the same page. We’ve enjoyed seeing that God is at work in all the hearts where His Son is King and Lord. Given my heart and my convictions I’m thankful to be in the OPC and wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. But I’ve really appreciated seeing that God is at work beyond my denomination and outside of my church. I’ve appreciated being reminded that while denominations must exist for the time being it cannot annul the oneness and unity we share as the body of Christ. And one day soon we’ll all be gathered around the Table of our Lord as the one people that we are. 

We’ll be leaving the Davis’ tomorrow… Instead of driving us north back to Newton Mark’s going to take us east to Rosalia and we’ll get on the bikes there. Monday night should find us is in Toronto, KS and Tuesday night should put us in Girard where we may need to rest for a day until our bike parts arrive at the shop in Pittsburgh. That’s my plan… I’ll let you know what God’s is after the fact 🙂 

Our time here with Mark & Debbie has been both a blessing and refreshing. We’ll miss them a ton. There’s simply nothing like the family of God and the love of God’s people. Thank you Mark! Thank you Debbie! May God bless you for blessing us, Mt 25.40. True selfless and self-sacrificing hospitality is shamefully uncommon in Christ’s church and it has been a real privilege to see–and receive–so much of it in our journey across the country. I pray God’s people recover the true joy of Christian hospitality. The world needs it. And God’s people need it. 

Thanks for praying and thanks for following. 

Until next time … 🙂