Bike-a-thon photos

Here are some photos from the final day of riding at the MCC Summerfest Bike-a-thon

1496 km, $237,500

Well, the riding is done. Did the last 106 km (it was supposed to be 100, but I got a bit lost) of the trip yesterday as part of the MCC Summerfext bike-a-thon. It was a rainy and windy (35 km/h) day, but I got to ride with some great people, and had a lot of fun. Total kms ridden for the trip is 1496 km, and so far, $237,500 has been raised! We'd like to thank all or our sponsors, as well as everyone who donated to the trip, volunteered ,or prayed, or followed the trip in any way.

There will be more pictures coming soon, but in the meantime, here is the final day's ride below. I'm off to enjoy the Summerfest!

Adam

Arrived in Sherwood Park

These photos are all starting to look the same

New aerodynamic helmet design. Not sure why I'm brandishing my fist at the camera

Many mosquitos were harmed in the making of this cycle trip

Well, after 11 days, we finally made it. Arrived this afternoon after 76 km of biking, joined once again by my Uncle Byron. It was nice to have a bit of a shorter mileage day. Our total mileage so far is 1390 km (1355km on the cross Alberta trek, and 35 km on our launch ride with Menno Simons right before we left for La Crete- we'd forgotten to include that so far). Now we're looking forward to joining the MCC Summerfest bike-a-thon tomorrow. Weather is not looking so hot at the moment, but it'll be fun anyways.

Adam

Beautiful weather yesterday and more hills. It was great to ride with Leon Janzen, who was also a rider in the Kenya portion of Cycle for Life. Due to a bit of camera mishandling, I don't have any pictures today, but allow me to assure you, in the absence of our handy stencil, that our mileage as of the end of today was 1279 km.

We did film one video, which I'd like to put below in honour of Rod Reynar, an incredible person, coworker, and friend. Rod, we hope your memories of your time driving during last years trip are as fond as ours.

More Linden Photos

Riding with local cyclist Sidney on the way into Linden

Linden Pictures

Great Support Drivers Anne and Linda


John and Abe on two of the fun bikes provided by Cal's Cycle



The ride through Linden, complete with bike police escort

Got pulled over for speeding. Just kidding.

Having some trouble uploading photos tonight, hopefully I'll be able to put them up tomorrow.

A great day today in Linden, as Abe said. Thanks so much to all the organizers and people who attended- it was lot's of fun. As for riding, we're into rolling hills now, which makes the fact that Steve Heidebrecht, a friend (and ride sponsor- than you Green Acres) did the latter half of the ride today on a single speed very impressive.

John's knee is continuing to giv him trouble. At this point, I think the plan is to take things a say at a time, and not push things too much.

Thanks to Anne and Linda, our stupendous support drivers today. We stopped at a gas station this afternoon, and before we knew it, Anna had arranged free BC cherries, a donation to the ride, and Gelato for everyone. Very impressive! Tomorrow we will be joined by Leon and Mugasa.

Adam

More Linden Cycle for Life

Other cameras took better photos and they will appear later this evening. For now, thank you to Christine and her committee and the local churches for creating a really cool day in Linden to support Cycle for Life: Build Peace. Stop AIDS. Linden, in this noon-hour event, raised 2,500 dollars today, for AIDS, which puts the total now up to $232,500. Wonderful.

Linden Cycle for Life Day Continued

All ages enjoyed the "wonderful world of Cal's cycle inventions" today.

More Linden (Cycle for Life Day)

Seth and Rob ... thank you for showing up today at Linden ... escorting the cyclists into town and hanging around during the festival ... reminded me of Simon and Maureen, two Peace Officers in Kenya who accompanied us during the ride ... Maureen in the vehicle and Simon on a bike. Thank you, all four of you.

Day 8 Kathyrn to Linden to Lousana

Adam, John, accompanied by Anne and Linda D, headed north from Kathyrn (not Kathryn) to Linden, and then to Lousana. Here a group of us caught up them as they approached Linden today, for what was a wonderful noon hour of hotdogs, Kim Thiessen's CD music, Cal's wonderful world of weird and wacky cycles (total fun), Kris Peters entertaining the kids, bookended on a town block by two firetrucks, the presence of two policemen, and 260 people... a really cool stop for Cycle for Life today.

Vulcan, AB

No riding today. It's good to have a bit of a rest and some time to get organized for our last four days of cycling, and of course the upcoming MCC Summerfest at Sherwood Park (check it out at www.mccreliefsale.com)

A long (short) day

Very happy to be riding with Jeff and Byron today and had a wonderful send off from the folks at Lethbridge Mennonite, but the 35 km/h head/crosswind made today feel like a very long 87 km. The rain missed us at least. No pictures, sorry but here's a video.

Day 7 Update

Hey, Byron and Adam... great day ... good work you guys. Thanks for biking. For AIDs. For MCC. For MCC Partners who work with prevention/education, with medication provision, and with orphan care. A woman donated 5,000 today, designated to Mengo Hospital in Uganda, where they built an entire wing, a few years ago, for working with Patients who have AIDS. And then Global Fund and others started to reduce their funding and so Mengo, and other major partners are pressed to be able to provide the kind of essential services that, for the past few years, they have been able to provide.

I am so glad we are doing this Cycle for Life... for AIDS, and for Peace work. With the 5,000 today, we have reached, in pledges and sponsorship totals, 229,000. Our goal had been 200,000. MCC has not been able to raise all the money we commit to the numerous partners in about 27 countries, and so, if we can go well past 200,000, we still may not reach the commitments that MCC has made. This is urgent; thanks John, Adam, Byron ... for cycling. People have been responding generously.

Photos from Day 7

Thank you so much to the sponsors of Cycle for Life:

Tekton Construction

Clarity Glass

Birchwood Furniture Galleries

Kesho Construction

Mennonite Mutual Insurance

Genetics International

P2 Energy Economics

Green Acres Landscaping

Enterprise Rent-a-Car

Happy Trails Campground

Different Bikes

Great Western Bikes

Day 7 - 942km and counting!

Moving Pictures

A very pleasant day today. My dad has joined the ride as a support driver for the next two days assisted by John, who is resting his injured knee. My Uncle Byron, who was a rider in the Kenyan portion of Cycle For Life is riding for the next two days, so it was great to bike with him. We had good weather (27 degrees! and not too windy, which is a bit unusual for Lethbridge) and reasonably flat roads. We were planning to stop once we hit Vulcan (around 100 km) but ended up going right to Mossleigh for a total distance of 134 km. All in all a good day. I also finally got to see the big USS Enterprise in Vulcan, which excited my not-so-inner Star Trek nerd.

Tomorrow the forecast is for a 35 kph cross wind which could be not so fun. As I'm writing this John is watching a recap of the Tour de France, and the speeds, efforts and fitness of those riders makes a small crosswind seem pretty trivial.

John tried his hand at doing some video while in the car- you will hopefully see the fruits of his labour in this post, and in a couple more posts over the next couple days.

a few more pics

A day 5 shot. Amazing bridge.














Day 6...crazy traffic coming into Edmonton.












Only a few irritated drivers and horns blaring. Mostly drivers were very generous and gave us lots of room and affirming honks.

Forward from Day 6 .. Cycle for Life, Alberta South

Great fotos, Kim. People always say it's about 800 km from La Crete to Edmonton, and the same distance going the other way too. Well, Adam and John, in 6 days of careful counting, arrived in Edmonton today, counting 808 km distance. Pretty cool. All those roadsign counters are actually fairly accurate.

Tomorrow is a day off. Canada Day. And John will have his knee checked and we will see if he is able to continue. July 2, Adam (and maybe John and maybe Byron Thiessen) will cycle from Lethbridge up the 24 a distance. Then will drive back to Lethbridge for night. Sunday, July 3, Kim and I will join Adam (and maybe John and Byron) at Lethbridge Mennonite Church for an MCC Morning about Cycle for Life, after which they will commission the Southern portion of Cycle for Life Alberta. The Cyclists will then bike beginning from where they left off Sat, and at the end of the day, overnight in Calgary. Monday, up towards Linden. Tuesday, arriving in Linden at noon to spend some time with children and adults there who are excited about Cycle for Life and have created numerous neat ways to connect, locally, with this project. Again, Calgary for the night. Wednesday, continue up towards Sherwood Park, arriving there, later in the afternoon on Thursday. Something like that. And on Friday, Cindy Klassen, and a bunch of other rides, younger and older, including me, will do either 50 or 100 km as part of Summerfest and Auction this year. We look forward very much to the Sale. Should be a very good event.

Hi folks,

Well, it felt a bit longer, but it was actually only 98 km today (sorry Kim). It was nice to have a bit of a shorter day today- the long mileages we've been doing have felt a bit taxing both physically and mentally- when you're on your bike for 5 or 6 hours day after day, and you can't admire the scenery too much because you need to watch where your going, you get a bit drained. Today I was riding by myself, but I was only riding for 2 hours and 45 min or so. I also had a tailwind which was nice- thus the 36 km/h average speed (or 35 according to the endomondo map on the mcc alberta website, which has been consistently short-changing us). Traffic was heavy coming into Edmonton, but if you can get over the unpleasant aspects of several tons of semi whizzing close by you at high speed, you reap the benefits of getting a bit of a speed boost from its slipstream. All in all, I think I prefer less busy roads.

Tomorrow, there is no biking. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to it. I plan to do as little as possible, and rest up for Saturday, when we start riding north. We've all been meaning to shoot some video along the ride, but the couple of times we've tried it, things haven't worked out so well. Something to work at in the 6 days we have to go.

Also, Kim and Abe, after putting up with 6 days of bad jokes, smelly bike clothes and complaining from me and John, are finishing their support driving duties- thank you so much to you both!

Adam

Highlight of Day 6...the Reynar family

On our way home from Edmonton today, we made a really important and wonderful stop. We visited Rod and Susan Reynar and family in Olds. They are an amazing family...warm, kind, hospitable, fun, inspiring. And Susan makes a mean pot of chili. Rod has been in bed for months, with severe pain, and no answers from doctors and specialists. It has been this way for him for years. It is very difficult to see a friend suffer. It is also inspiring to see a family cope with the suffering with hope, optimism, love, and care, embracing the visits and interruptions of friends, colleagues and family. We were very blessed by our visit. Thank you, Rod, Susan, Anika and Joya, for welcoming us into your home and lives. We are richer knowing you.

Day 6 total - 808 kms!

Entering Edmonton...over half way to the total of 1450 kms!

A very generous donation from friends we met at a gas station!

Adam taking off for a solo ride. John sad that he cannot ride with him.

A badly swollen and sore knee.

Day 6 - Whitecourt to Edmonton

Hi everyone! Well, today did not work out as we had planned. John woke up with a very swollen and sore knee. He has been struggling with this for the past few days, and just did not feel able to ride today. So, with a lot of disappointment, John joined Abe and me in the support van today. Adam rode 110 kms on his own, from just south of Mayerthorpe to Edmonton. He averaged 36 kms/hr with a nice tail-wind.

John hopes to see a doctor tomorrow about his knee, as well as get some physio-therapy in before Saturday. Adam hopes to get a massage. They are both tired, having ridden more than 800 kms in the past 6 days.

Today we met Chris and Stan Burkholder from Bluesky at a gas station south of Mayerthorpe. They were excited to catch up with the Cycle for Life van and cyclists. It was very good to receive their encouragement, along with a very generous donation. Thank you Chris and Stan!

Pics to come.

Day 6 Morning

Lovely morning in Whitecourt. Weather seems to change on a dime these days, but yesterday we had a tailwind most of the day ... so far, it's calm and sunny. Thanks all for reading this blog. We checked two days ago and saw that since Cycle for Life Kenya, in early May, just under 5,000 stops have been made on this blog. Really cool. Trucks and cars keep honking as they roar by us on the rode... that is also good. Only one "honker" seemed irritated that we took up a bit of space on the right lane yesterday. I think Christians need to be interruptible .... that is what this ride is about. Interrupting ourselves for people who live lives of desperation. Got a note two days ago from Nepal saying that the highest cause of death among women ages 15 to 49, is suicide. And they said that is largely caused by despair. AIDs and relentless poverty is part of that despair in many lives in Nepal. And in many other countries. This ride is intended to bring hope to some of those lives, and our evidence is that it does. A widow in Nepal, last September, whose husband had died of AIDS, and who, herself, now has AIDS, told Kathy and me after a meeting about the SAKRIA AIDS project, that "you are the reason we are alive here". SAKRIA makes sure they have access to the daily medication ARVs, to a Support Group, and to Income Generation Loans. That is what Cycle for Life Kenya and Alberta is about. Bringing awareness, and raising funds ... so that people like the widow and the widows of Nepal and of Kenya, and of many countries where MCC works, can live, can keep their children in school. This is a big big big deal. One driver did not want to give us a bit of extra space on highway 43, but all the others move easily aside as they pass, and honk their support. (Have been making phone calls the last two evenings... some generous responses last night and we are now with pledges, at 224,000 for AIDS. Let's see if we can reach 230,000, yes?!!!!!)

709 kms...end of Day 5!

The only rain that hit John and Adam today came from the big trucks passing by.

Day 5

Super 8 Whitecourt General Manager, Natalie Spencer, with John and Adam. Thank you so much for the sponsorship and free rooms, Natalie and Super 8 staff!

Where they went...

And where they came from. Big hills!

Faces that inspire. Breakfast in Whitecourt.

This is what they rode by the end of day 4.

Day 4 total

Well, 100,000 or 1,000,000...it doesn't matter...it's just a really long ride!

Day 5

This morning we hit the road early, hoping to make the AB highways shorter by cycling longer. The guys put down 182 kms today. Good tail wind, with an average speed of 30-35 kms/hr. It was fun to watch them ride. So, they have cycled 709 kms, just about half way to the goal of 1450 kms. Tomorrow they will cycle from just south of Whitecourt to St. Albert, about 110 kms. From there we head home to Calgary for the night. Adam and John will enjoy a well deserved day off on Friday, July 1st, and then Saturday will head to Lethbridge, and cycle north to Vulcan, beginning the ride north to Sherwood Park.

Tonight we are staying at the Super 8 in Whitecourt. We met the General Manager of the hotel, Natalie Spencer, and we were very warmly welcomed. This is the second year that the Whitecourt Super 8 has generously donated rooms to us for Cycle for Life. Thanks, Natalie and staff! I will include a picture of Natalie, John and Adam in front of the van, showing the Super 8 logo.

More tomorrow.

First flat tire.
And first sighting of a moose.

Day 4 - Donnelly Corner to Fox Creek...almost

Hi all! Day 4 went well! A 140 km day. The riders are amazing, but today was kind of tough. These long days are hard on Adam and John, and they are both needing some down time, a massage, maybe a chiropractor, maybe a counselor?? It's a crazy trip, and they are tired, but still driven to get the job done. Tomorrow is a 135 km day, and Thursday too. Hopefully we will be in Calgary Thursday evening and will have a day off on Friday.

Pics to follow.

Mike, the manager of Paradise Inn and Suites, in Valleyview, AB. Thanks, Mike, for the complimentary rooms! We love staying here! It's a beautiful place!

The Bridge, crossing the Peace River, in Peace River city. What a lovely location. Followed by the longest hill up towards Nampa and Valleyview.

John pulling a Grandpa Schellenberg pose.

Cruising up the hill out of Peace River.