On the Road with the Boys

Friday was a true shorter day with a late breakfast and Dale and I headed out on the road after 8. We were discussing what shiny objects might distract us on this easy day when I noticed signs for a local fruit farm-blueberries, peaches raspberries. Dale brushed them off as "not shiny" but much to his dismay was this "blueberry" statue at the gate.

Definitely shiny!
At the first SAG, that seemed to come up so quickly Nathan, Josh N and Jim decided to join us for our adventures but some how we lost Dale. The guys said they were up for distractions so I kept my eyes open as they worked at keeping my pace up. We were not disappointed as we went through the town of Sagatuck and I spotted a marine museum with a real Steam ship display. Unfortunately, we were kinda in the middle of a group of other cyclists as I called out "Shiny Object!!! Stopping! Stopping" trying to avoid a crash and getting all four of us out of the line.
The steam ship wasn't going to be open for another 30mins but I explained to the maintenance man, Marshall, what we doing on SeaToSea, and how we wouldn't be able to wait but could we just have a photo on the deck? He agreed so Nathan, Josh and I went into the ship with Jim staying behind to be official photographer.The ship was a part of the Canadian Pacific Railroad fleet that connected the great lakes.
Marshall didn't just usher us to the deck he gave us a tour including the full dining room that he had just refurbished to it's original glory in 6 months. Stunning! Then it was up to the deck where we gave the royal wave.

Then Marshall allowed me to stand on this 4" platform to do my own "King of the World" Titanic shot.

Josh nervously guarded me from behind as he prayed I wouldn't fall. "I don't even know how you got up there in cycling shoes!" Another great adventure.
WE then had to pick up the pace to make it to the historic church in Graafstap. The boys thought I should do my first pace line so Jim in lead and Nathan behind off we flew.


Then we dropped Jim back and I was in lead. Sports photography provided by Josh.
We made excellent time to the church where waiting to meet me was Ed Speyers a missionary with Wycliffe who is supported by my home church, First CRC.

Ed was going to ride in with us so he joined Pieter and Opa Ralph.

For me it was time to change my mode of transportation as my bike was loaded on the SAG and Russ arrived with his tandem bike. It was a little nerve racking for the first bit as we worked on our coordination and communication but soon we caught our rhythm.



Everyone who saw us said we were flying and really impressed at how well we were doing. I really respect Bill and Rita who rode a tandem for the first 4 weeks of the tour....incredibly difficult...Props to them.
We stayed at the CRC conference grounds giving us time to do laundry and be treated to an incredible steak dinner! What a delicious treat! We ended with a service of communion to say good bye to those who were leaving us in Grand Rapids the next day. Jim and Terry are 2 of those so Josh and I decided to have a beach going away party for them. We grabbed our bikes and Jim to find a local store for snacks and beverages. When I went to get on my bike the rear tire was flat. Odd as I hadn't done a full day ride but I left it with some guys to look at and borrowed Melissa's bike.
Now it was another adventure. It was getting dark when we left camp and Josh had a head light I had a tail light and Jim was basically stealth. Not the best combination when you are not familiar with the area. We cycled for a while with no store insight so we asked a local for directions, got off track but found a police station where we got better directions and finally got our loot. Now add to this, I was in sandals, skirt on a different bike, carrying loot is a lot more challenging with these factors and no basket but Jim thought he could handle it. It was VERY dark on the path back to camp...so much so that Josh started calling out "Tree" for the large oaks beside the trail. We safely made it back to camp and gathered on the beach to share our memories and toast our friends under a bright full moon the waves crashing around us. We miss you already, Terry and Jim.
Now also back to camp I found my bike in this condition

and was told I had serious back wheel issues and that Pieter and Louis had blown a second tube on me. I decided to deal with it in the morning.....To Be Continued..