The Cycling Preacher

June 18.

Today was a perfect day for a ride.  We only had to go about 40 miles into Salt Lake City.  I rode sweep with Judy from Florida.  Sweeps get to come in last and make sure everyone is OK.  Except a couple of times people passed us!  They had stopped for a bathroom break or for a coffee break without letting us know.  These are riders who have more confidence in themselves than in the sweeps of the day (and rightly so!).  Even so, it was a weird feeling to be responsible to make sure everyone made it in OK and then to realize that we had let someone get behind us without seeing them.

We did get to stop and help one couple with a flat.  They were working on it and fixing it when we arrived, but a flat, like most problems, is less discouraging when you have company and aren’t alone.  We get a day off in Salt Lake City.  I usually have great plans for seeing the sights but end up just reading and relaxing.  As I write, I am enjoying the outdoor seating at a local coffee shop with free wi-fi!

June 17.

I had a really great day on the 16th riding into Wendover.  There were a couple of very long hills that I climbed without dismounting.  (If you’ve ridden with me, you know that hill-climbing is not my strength.)  When I reached the top of the last one, there was a view of the salt flats down below that was amazing.  It was a wonderful day.

In the evening, though, I had the wind totally knocked out of me.  Perhaps I should have expected this would happen at some time.  After all, I am out here doing something completely out of the ordinary.  Though it’s very exciting, it’s also quite difficult.  On top of that, I have had problems with my teeth and I am technically homeless.  My cats are in Logansport, IN.  My dog is in El Dorado, KS.  My mail is going to KS.  Most of my worldly goods are in IA.  And I went through all those changes very shortly before I set off on this adventure.

We had a team meeting, the purpose of which was to present a problem–the support team is being stretched too thin.  Unfortunately, the suggested remedies were all focused on getting the slow people to either speed up or to ride in the van for the first part of the day and thereby get a head start.  Being pretty much the slowest person on the tour (someone has to be the slowest), I ended up crying inconsolably.  I hate crying in front of people, but we basically have no privacy.  A couple of the others who are often near the back were angry.

I worked really hard to get to the standard that the Bike Adventure advertised: averaging 12 mph and able to go 20 or 25 miles without long stops.  I am in the best shape of my life.  And I have been amazed at the end of these days with long climbs to discover that I am still averaging over 12 mph.  So I felt like the rules had been changed and that I had been lied to.   I felt like I had been told I shouldn’t even try if I wasn’t absolutely sure I could complete the day’s ride.  (Remember I am telling you how I felt.  I don’t think that was necessarily what was meant.)

The next day we had a 94 mile ride along the salt flats, with a strong crosswind/headwind, which would have been tremendously difficult in the best of spirits.  I could hardly speak the words when I asked Grace to put my bike on the carrier.  Later in the morning, I called a good friend and advisor from back home who listened sympathetically and then told me she was proud of me for taking the van!  She said it would have been a cruel thing to make myself ride in that condition.  And she reminded me that, truly, I am on a spiritual journey.  God is able to work miracles within us when we have reached the limits of our own strength.  I have experienced it before, so I know it is true.  “When I am powerless, than I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:10)  After getting support from back home, I was able to have a good day, and even play around a bit.

My original dream was to ride every mile.  That dream was already busted when my crown fell out on the second or third day.  But I am on a pilgrimage, and I am not in control of everything on the journey.

 

June 16.

Today we rode from Wells, NV to Wendover, Utah.  Wendover is in both states. On the Nevada side, West Wendover, are several casinos, but not on the Utah side.  Today was only (haha) 61 miles long, but we had some very large hills to climb.  Our first rest stop was at 6967 ft elevation, where I-80 crosses the Pequop mountains.  And I rode all the way up–about five miles, maybe six.  The inclines on the interstate are not steep, but you sure have to climb for a very long time.  That means, though, that you also get to descend for miles!

There were a couple of construction areas on the way, where the left lane was closed and also the shoulder for a very short distance.  Some of our number thought it would be safe to head on through, but when I looked at it, I decided to walk my bike on the other side of the concrete barricade.  Sorry–no photos! The sheriff showed up at our first rest stop and asked everyone who remained to go ahead and stop.  I would have done that anyway, and already had done so at the first area.

When you go really slow, like 4 to 6 miles per hour up a long incline, you notice more in the scenery, I think.  I can imagine that it might be boring to look out the window at the scrubby plants and flatlands, with short mountains in the distance when you’re tearing along at 75 or 80 miles per hour.  But at this slow pace, you notice the light changing on the hills.  You crane your neck and look up at the rocks as you pass through the cuts in the hills to make a less steep road.  I even had a mouse run into my path once!

At the crest of the last hill before descending into Wendover, I saw a sight I wasn’t really expecting.  I hadn’t thought ahead about the salt flats of Utah, and I didn’t know that they started right there!  I bicycled all the way up that hill, reached the crest and was amazed by what I saw below.  The pictures I got aren’t nearly as amazing as the sight was, especially when accompanied by the feeling of accomplishment after climbing.

In Wendover, we are staying in what was once the officers’ club at a military base where they trained for the mission of the Enola Gay, carrying the nuclear bombs in WWII.  The officers’ club has been restored using as close as possible to the original colors and there are many photos and models of the WWII times.  So we are spending a Night at the Museum.  I hope it stays calm!

One thing that’s disappointing to me is that, in this place, where models of the nuclear bombs are displayed along with the smiling crew of the Enola Gay, there is no mention that I found of the horrible destruction and suffering caused by those bombs.

It’s not too late to support the Fuller Center for Housing!

Donate to the Fuller Center

June 15.

We had great scenery and tailwinds on our way from Carlin UMC to the school gym in Wells, NV.  It was about 73 miles.  The day started out with a run through Carlin Canyon, about 8 miles from our starting location.  The river that carved out the canyon ran right alongside the road.  It was amazing to ride that road with the steep rock walls all around us.  We were told that if you came at sunrise, the walls of the canyon are purple.  I did see some purple rock so I can believe it.  When we exited the canyon, we took a bike trail that led us right up to the shoulder of I-80!  Most of our day was spent on I-80.  As I said before, we have an entire lane width for the shoulder, and most of the way we are separated from traffic by a rumble strip which will serve to alert drivers who start to stray into the shoulder.  The main problem is that it is quite noisy on the interstate.  Concrete pavement seems to be noisier than asphalt.

June 14.

This morning, as everyone was getting ready to hit the road, I was really taken by all the rushing and scurrying that was going on.  It’s a madhouse, but everything gets done.  We are organized into chore teams and each team has a task to do.  Some of the tasks are mainly in the morning and others are mainly in the evening.  So far I have been on the trailer team and the breakfast team.  Next week I expect to be on the site cleanup team.

It’s a little hard for me to get used to this type of group ride.  As one of the slower people, I feel like I have to consider how much I am slowing other people down and if I am going to make other people too late, then I need to get in the sag vehicle.  I am accustomed to having a little more freedom to decide what I am going to do than what I have on this ride.  We rarely pass any gas stations or anything, but even when we do, it doesn’t usually seem like we have time to stop.  So today, I might have been able to go further, but we had a headwind and I was going pretty slow, so I took the sag wagon after the second rest stop.  Most rides I have been on, use of the sag wagon is basically for emergencies.  Here, it seems to be more acceptable to take the sag wagon than to arrive really late.  That’s not entirely true, because those designated as sweeps came in quite late tonight and we held dinner for them and cheered for them when they came in.  So, like I said, I don’t quite get it.

I did do something today that I was really proud of.  I rode all the way up a three mile long incline.  I’m not sure how steep it was, but it was long.  I was even singing on my way up!  And having fun!  But after that came a long stretch with headwinds that really sapped my energy.

Today, we left Winnemucca United Methodist Church and ended up in Carlin United Methodist Church 102 miles away.  We were expecting to stay in the school, but when our leader called to confirm, the person he talked to had forgotten we were coming.  Or they didn’t realize we needed a place to stay.  Or something.  In any case, somewhere the wires got crossed.  Ellen was the person our leader spoke with on the phone.  Within about an hour she had arranged a place for us to stay, a place to take showers, and a meal for us.  Carlin, a town of about 2400, turned out to be one of the most welcoming places we have been.

I got to speak with the pastor’s wife and had a good visit with her.  They have been here three years, but are appointed to another place soon.

Also, for those who are wondering, my tooth feels much better and I am almost done with my antibiotic.  I hope it continues to feel good.

June 12 & 13.

The trip from Fernley to Lovelock was chilly, rainy, and windy for 63 miles, nearly all of it on Interstate 80.  It’s legal for bicycles to travel on the interstate in Nevada, because many places that’s the only paved road.  It’s not as dangerous as it sounds, either, because the paved shoulder is as wide as the traffic lanes with a rumble strip in between.  Mostly it’s noisy.

 

Lucky for me I had adequate clothing for the wind and the rain and made it all the way to Lovelock on my bike.  We stayed in a tiny house church there.  We were scheduled to take showers at the town pool.  Most of us didn’t actually manage a shower because the water was cold!  When the pastor found out, he called a friend of his at the Super 10 motel and a few people went there to get a warm shower.

Before we took the tables down, I didn’t think there was any way for all of us to be able to find a sleeping spot.  It was much roomier after the tables were put away.  We got to see a beautiful sunset.

The next day the weather was beautiful for the 73 mile trip from Lovelock to Winnemucca.  We had snow covered mountains on one side and other mountains without snow on the other.  We didn’t have to ride quite as much on I-80, but we still rode about 25 miles there.  On one stretch, we ran into road construction where the asphalt had been ground off to make way for new.  It was so rough it almost shook my glasses off so I couldn’t see.  I ended up walking about half a mile. The last two days have been relatively flat with tail winds, so it wasn’t too bad.

 

 

Photos on the way to Winemucca

Tomorrow we ride 102 miles to Carlin.  Let’s hope for tailwinds again.

 

June 10

One of my good friends was ordained today in the Indiana Conference of the United Methodist Church.  I was thinking of her soon after I awoke, and sorry to miss her big day.  The ceremony was already started by the time I remembered to send a Congratulations her way.

South Lake Tahoe is practically in Nevada already.  Just 2.7 miles into our ride we crossed our first state line.  We had a mountain pass to navigate and then a steep downhill.  I am not good at bicycling up mountains, and going down is both exhilarating and scary.   I kept my speed fairly low, stopped a few times for photos, and my hands were worn out from applying the brakes on the way down!

On the other side of the mountains, the scenery is vastly different.  It’s windy like Kansas but much chillier.  We rode a total of 82 miles into Fernley, Nevada which is not too far from Reno.  A few of our riders left us and we’re not picking up anyone new today.

One of the towns we went through was Genoa, a Mormon settlement founded in 1851, the first in the Nevada Territory.  We went through Carson City, where our rest stop was at the Humane Society.  I felt like I was running out of gas from Genoa to Carson City, but then my energy picked up again.  Just out of Carson City, we headed east on Hwy 50 with a wonderful tailwind.  It felt like flying!

When we turned a corner, that became a crosswind.  At times I was afraid, going up a hill, that I was going to be blown off the road.  I stopped at the top to cry for a bit, and then I was ok to go again.

We stayed overnight in Fernley at the St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic Church.  And I am catching up on stuff here.  I never knew how much work went into these websites!

June 9

In South Lake Tahoe, I didn’t ride my bike at all, but I ended up walking around town for about 11 miles (That estimate is from my pedometer reading of over 22,000 steps.  According to someone on Google, there are about 2000 steps per mile).  My first outing was to the dentist!  My back tooth, which was cracked and just got a crown on it on May 22, was bothering me enough that I found myself noticing it and thinking about it all the time.  The dentist in Lake Tahoe made me an appointment for 11:15.  Next was a trip down to the Lake, itself.

The day was cloudy and it rained off and on all day.  At 6000 ft, Lake Tahoe was also pretty chilly, especially when the wind was blowing.  Out on the lake, though, I saw a couple of people on paddle boards.  I managed to get one good picture of the Lake while the sun was shining. I stopped at a coffee and wine bar for a cappuccino.  They had a sign inside, “Lord, give me coffee to change the things I can change, and wine to accept the things I can’t.”  It’s a cute saying, but may not be the best way to live.

Even the dentist had a good view from the chair!  (My tooth turned out to be infected and I was prescribed some antibiotics, which I think are helping.  I hope this tooth doesn’t need to be pulled.  It might need a root canal.)

When I got back to the church from the dentist’s office, I was invited to lunch at the Riva Grill.  One of our number was already down there.  She had ridden her bike.  For us who were walking, if we had known how far it was, we may not have agreed to meet her there.  Nonetheless, it was a great restaurant with a wonderful view of the lake.  I stopped on the way back at the Safeway, where I discovered that I had left my credit card behind…so back to the restaurant I went.  I got a lot of exercise for a day off, which was just as well, since the previous day I rode in the van and walked around in a parking lot for exercise!

June 8.

Riding into South Lake Tahoe was not as hard as it sounds, because most of us took the van.  Henry, our trip leader, offered us the chance to shuttle ahead to one of the rest stops.  Based on my performance the previous day, I thought it would be wise to do that.  Several of us loaded our bikes on to the Fuller Center van, and went to the first rest stop.  We set up a table of snacks and drinks, and we waited for all the cyclists to arrive.  Two people are assigned as “sweeps” each day, and their job is to sweep everyone in.  Once they arrive, we know that everyone has been accounted for.

Another crew was responsible for actually manning the second rest stop at Silver Lake.  When our van of riders arrived, it was very cold and windy, and we were not thrilled at the prospect of getting out to ride.  No one got out.

On to the third rest stop, where we set up our snacks again atop Carson’s pass, elevation of 8573 ft.  The sun shone, then it rained, then it snowed, then it sleeted, then it was clear again.  It was windy the entire time.  No one was willing to get out and ride, even downhill.  Too wet, cold, and windy.  Riding downhill can be chilly even in better conditions.

When one of our most intrepid riders started down the hill and walked back up a few minutes later, we van riders were confirmed in our decision!  We had no phone service and the phone batteries were all dying.  We had no communication with either the riders who had managed to ride ahead, nor with those behind.  It was somewhat stressful, because we had to decide on a course of action without adequate information.  The van was full and the bike rack was full, so we couldn’t accommodate anyone else who wanted to bail out.  Eventually we decided to leave two people up top with the snacks in case any riders were still on the road.  The van went down to the final destination in South Lake Tahoe to empty out and come back for more people.

Both support vehicles arrived at Carson’s Pass at about the same time.  We were overjoyed to find everyone safe and sound.  We loaded up and drove down into South Lake Tahoe, to St. Theresa’s Catholic Church where we are staying in their gym.  We went to the Community Center for showers which really helped us warm up.

Today was a lesson in making decisions with limited information, taking authority when needed, and trusting God to take care of the parts we couldn’t personally take care of.