August 9  Relaxed Rideand Adventure

 The day was overcast and cool, but by mid morning the sun was out and the skies cleared.  It was another perfect day for cycling.  Maggie,a friend of Claire from the ’05 ride joined us for the day.  We left the school at 7 AM.   Riding along the country roads was so beautiful, my legs were working well, and it just felt good to be on the bike.  A song kept coming to me all day:  “God Is So Good”.  I sang it over and over as the day went  on.  Sometimes I just feel overwhelmed to be part of this great tour!   We, were joined mid morning by Jane and Barb and stopped at a restaurant for a second breakfast or early lunch.  Peanut butter and jelly every day for those who are cycling the whole 9 weeks gets rather tiring!  There were about 40 cyclists there overwhelming the 3 staff.  Cyclists poured coffee after bringing out cups and assisted the staff as much as they could.  Harry got us to give the staff a big round of applause.  Claire and Isplit a vegetarian omelet which was great and I had my second cup of tea for the week.  Sweet! . Claire and Maggie know this area well, so suggested we go off route through a Mennonite Community.  We called to let the appropriate people know what we were doing so that no one would come looking for us.  On the way to St Jacobs we saw huge beautiful farms with houses that had been added to many times.  We stopped at the Blue Moon for  brewed “hydration”.  The little town of St Jacobs has a huge market area which was not open today and lots of nice shops.  We spent a little time looking around before heading to the Christian school in Breslau where we were camping.  Each time we stop or meet people, we take the time to tell them what we are doing and that we are raising funds for poverty.  We hand them a card and encourage them to go to the web site for more info, or to give a donation.   Every night at our Peloton meeting, one of the things we talk about is “money stories”.  Every meeting several people talk about those they came in contact with and the donations they received.  Tonight someone told a story about a non-Christian whom he had been talking with who donated over $1000!  So amazing!  We arrived at the school at about 4 PM, likely one of the last groups in for today.  We added 10 miles to our ride today for 81 miles.Tonight at Peloton the small groups acted out a challenge to use the bells and whistles on bikes for some kind of a presentation.  These people are creative!  We laughed until our sides ached.  

Ken VanWoerkom arrived tonight at about 10.  Phil helped him set up his tent.  He is joining the tour for a week.  Ken and his wife Shirley biked with us on the“08 tour.  Shirley died last summer of cancer.  We are so happy to see Ken come for this week.