Niagara Falls

Us and our Canadian friend Rich 

We had to congregate en-mass prior to biking across the border at Rainbow Bridge.

Liz, Dave & Larry at Niagara Falls

This week we reentered the US at Niagara Falls.  We stayed last night at Sampson State Park on the Finger Lakes and made our way today over a hilly 76 miles to Binghamton NY.  We only have 3 more bike rides before we arrive at Liberty Island Park!  Amazing.  

The Velodrome

Larry, Liz and I (Dave) have all safely arrived in London, Ontario.  We have received a very warm welcome in Canada thus far.  In London I had the opportunity to ride in the Velodrome-- a wooden indoor bicycle race track.  The edges of the track are sloped up to prevent flying off the track as you round the corners.  It is as steep as it looks in the pictures.

The slope on the straight aways were 15 degrees and the slope on corners were 48 degrees!

It is like a roller coaster for your bike.

Dave M. , Dave T. and Liz on the podium

Dave on the turn #2.

Family Bonding

Yeah for family!  The Sea to Sea ship of cyclists docked in Madison, WI this past weekend where we were blessed by the presence of my mom and sister...

and Dave's siblings Tim and Amy!  Woo Hoo!  Tim was somehow magically in the United States home on a bit of leave from Japan- so I hear he gets the trophy for person who traveled the furthest to visit a Sea to Sea rider.  

We Made It!

Here's proof that we made it to Iowa.  This is what we saw a lot of...
Corn fields are really lovely, and they block the wind for you a bit, and they serve as an excellent private space for restroom (or washroom if you're Canadian) needs.  We got to cycle through many, many of them.  We travelled 113 miles on Wednesday, another 111 on Thursday, and 100 on Friday.  Three centuries in three days!  Yikes!
There were also many windmills in Iowa.  I found them quite inspiring.  Inspiring enough that we would want to take several minutes, even on a very long day already, to try and capture their majesty.
Dave was more inspired by the fossils!  Although we did not get to actually see any while we were in town, we appreciated their nearby presence.
And now we're in Wisconsin!  We're staying in Beaver Dam with Dave's sister Amy and brother Tim.  And we met up with my mom and sister Laura!  Woo Hoo!  We got to see lots of family while we were in Iowa too- I loved it!  We feel like we've made it to the homeland.  I can't believe we've finished 6 weeks of our 9 week tour.

I-O-What?!

We are in IOWA!  And our camera is malfunctioning...  Luckily, though, cyclists all around us are snapping photos constantly.  We will borrow some of their photos and try tweaking our camera too.  In the meantime, you can go to www.flickr.com and search "seatosea2008" to find some of these glorious photos our friends have been taking.

Anyhow, we are in wonderful Iowa- the place of Dave's birth and Larry's alma mater and church home.  We have seen so many friends and family- it's awesome!  In Sioux City, Larry visited with around 8 of his former congregants at the camp site and then got to stay with one of the couples at their home for the night.  We stopped by a church today on our route for refreshments and spotted two of Larry's cousins right off the bat.  Then at a celebration service tonight, a whole horde of Meyers appeared out of the crowd to cheer us on and see if we were really still alive and kicking.  

We're doing alright still.  The plan is to bike 113 miles tomorrow, to do a radio interview and a newspaper interview and still have time for supper, a shower, and a little time to rest.  Your prayers for a tailwind would be much appreciated :).

Goodnight all.  We're having a great time and hoping the same for all of you.

Donation Update

In regards to our goal of raising $20,000 to alleviate the cycle of poverty- we've raised over $15,000 now!  

We're still receiving donations via the general website for the tour at www.seatosea.org as well as from people we're just meeting in communities as we bike through them.  We met an awesome pair of people in a Runza's restaurant just yesterday (Runza's is a Nebraska fast food chain that serves "frings," one of my new favorite things- a mix of fries and onion rings) who wrote us a $10 check after hearing about what we were up to.  We feel blessed. 

Halfway to the Atlantic!

Well, here we are ladies and gentlemen- halfway to the Atlantic Ocean!  Aye caramba!  Who really thought they would see the day?!  

This week has been a tough one- not because of any big climbs at all, but endless miles on endless roads and record-breaking high temperatures.  I think this will be our way of life across not only Nebraska (where we are now) but Iowa as well.  

Here's how we're all holding up:

Dave is a steady cyclist.  He passes over whatever terrain he is presented with in a calm, capable fashion.  He leads us through uncertain areas like construction zones like a pro.  He is also our map guy.  His great sense of direction keeps us on track every time- even when roads are not marked and other cyclists question.

  
I am a bit moody- but I'm learning good tricks like how to open a granola bar wrapper and consume said granola bar while pedaling.  I think I may be more of a fair weather cyclists. Today, for instance, we had a headwind for something around 65 straight miles.  I was unhappy. I wanted to give it all up every 5 minutes or so.  Dave helped hold me through by letting me draft behind him and Larry gave me many a thumbs up of encouragement.  With God's help, I was able to continue on for over 9 hours and 96 miles.  I'm going to sleep as soon as I'm through typing.  
Larry is a man who never gives up!  His recumbent is a tough machine to move up mountain sides, but he has climbed every one.  He is known around camp for his resilience and amazes Dave and I each day he makes it back into camp again- sometimes well ahead of us and always with cheer.