WE MADE IT!

We made it! After biking our final 90 miles on a glorious, beautiful Maine day, our team sailed into Bar Harbor Friday on the heals of a police escort, greeted by family members, friends, and locals alike at the town pier.

Over 4,000 miles from Washington to Maine; countless opportunities to share about Youth for Christ and the needs of young people; gifts given for the youth outreach projects from thousands of people from kids emptying their piggy banks, to cashiers and waiters, to churches, vbs groups, our own family and friends; wonderful host families and churches; potlucks, picnics, getting up at 5 a.m. day after day and plenty of sore muscles and tushes--we made it.

God has been extremely good to us and we have enjoyed his protection (only minor scrapes and bumps), great weather and care all along the way.

Our team was extraordinary. Only God could take such a motley crew of individuals (different ages, countries, personalities) and meld them into a team like ours--a team that never had major issues with each other and in fact, had a great time together.

Yesterday in Bar Harbor I saw a t-shirt that said "It seemed like a good idea at the time." In this case, it seemed like a good idea...and it was.

It is not over yet. People are still in the midst of traveling home and then there will be all the opportunities to share our message with people back home. Thanks to all of you who have been and are a part of this with us.

The Last Week

We are down to our last week on the road! Tomorrow morning we will leave New York and in quick succession this week will travel through Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Friday night, Lord willing, we will be celebrating the completion of this epic journey across America in Bar Harbor, Maine.

Yesterday we had one of our most challenging days yet on the road. We biked over 120 miles from Redfield to Newcomb, New York, up and down and through the Adirondacks. Upon arrival at nearly 7 p.m. (we started before 7 a.m.) I told Lloyd (who is driving our advance support vehicle) that if I ever had such a crazy idea again to slap me! However, we were greeted by such warm hosts here that the pain has quickly vanished. Tom, our biker from California, figured out that we burned about 7,900 calories yesterday--meaning we can pretty much eat whatever we want these days and not gain weight!

Speaking of support--we are so blessed to have had a number of wonderful support people travel with us over the last eight weeks. Currently we have Lloyd and Marie Bakke from New London, Minnesota who are driving our advance support vehicle and Emma Duncan (who has been with us since the beginning) and Becky Luedtke (almost the entire time) in our Support and Gear Van. They have been a tremendous blessing and help to all of us.

We have also enjoyed the support of so many people along the way--people back home, financial and prayer supporters, wonderful hosts and churches. We are all tremendously grateful for them. As John Duncan said in our church presentation this morning, the way people have supported us and taken us in is a wonderful testament and example of the love and connection amongst the family of God.

Thanks so much to all of you for being part of this adventure with us. Please keep praying and giving. We are not done yet!

Ohio, Pennsylvannia, New York...Counting Down to Maine

In the last three days we have traveled out of Ohio, through Pennsylvania and are now into our second night in New York. We are nine days away from our finish in Bar Harbor, Maine on August 15.


The last couple days have taken us along the shore of Lake Erie, through vineyards in Pennsylvania, today around thunderous Niagara Falls to the the town of Medina, along the Erie Canal.

What are we learning? Lots of things. One thing that stands out to me, though, is what a gracious God we have. Time and again he provides for our needs as a team and personally, protects us, loves us, provides amazing people to care for us, for us to share with, and an incredible creation for us to enjoy.


As a team, I'm sometimes amazed we all end up in the same city at night. Today we had people go this way and that (the route was confusing), but in the end we all showed up. Perhaps the promise of a good meal and soft bed draws us.

And the Road Goes Through....a Lake?

We have good bike maps--usually. Of course, you have to look at them if you expect them to help--which seems to be a problem with a few of our bikers. Most often though we are pretty good at following the route and so far have always gotten to our destination--eventually.

Today though was exceptional. We traveled from Gibsonburg to Cleveland, Ohio--about a 100 mile trip. We travel at different paces and are usually biking in little groups. So today, within minutes out of Gibsonburg, for some reason, we had people going in multiple directions. Amazingly, we all reunited in the next town. Then, just down the route the road was closed. As you can see by the picture it was washed out and now was quite a lake. But did that stop us? No! A few did the sensible thing and found an alternate route, a few never even found the closed road, but Arek convinced me to ditch the bike shoes and socks and go straight through. Was he insane? Could the road be completely gone? Big unseen holes? Ah--let's give it a try. And so we had our little swim before lunch and had a good laugh at the same time.

Later we came to another detour. Emma, our support van driver had called to alert us. "There is a detour, but see if you can get your bikes over the bridge, because the detour is really long," she said. Right. When we got there we found the detour with the bridge just beyond it--split in the middle with both spans straight up in the air! We didn't try to make it across that one.

Detours, roadblocks, unexpected turns--they are all part of life, too. Arek was telling me while we were riding about a Christian comedian who says his favorite words in the Bible are "...and it came to pass." Because everything--problems, situations, troubles, good things--they all do pass eventually. Only God remains the same and he is trustworthy, loving and good. We made it today--put on a few extra miles than we were planning--but we made it all the same. For those whose trust and faith is in Christ, we will eventually make it, too. When that day comes it is going to feel even better, eternally better, that a hot shower and soft bed at the end of a long day.

Day off tomorrow. No maps. No bikes. Just time to refresh spiritually and physically. Monday it is on to Pennsylvania and then New York for the rest of the week. Less than two weeks to go until we dip our tires in the Atlantic!

We're making progress! Today we passed through lots of Illinois cornfields, had an incredible meal and evening with our hosts in Cornell, IL and were even treated to some homemade chocolates. It is going to be hard to go back to eating normally after this experience! Last Saturday evening and our Sunday rest day were spent in Kewanee, IL where we were again treated wonderfully. Tomorrow it is on to Indiana.

At our presentation tonight someone asked our riders that come from out of the U.S. what is something from the experience that really stands out. Emma said it was the second day of our ride going from misty forests to three feet of snow on top of the mountains to desert all in one day. Jonny said it was the number of dead animals hanging on people's walls. Stuart said it was the consistent and gracious hospitality we have seen. He said he asked one woman why they would host us when really we are just strangers. She said, "Because you are our brothers and sisters in Christ." The connection is certainly evident and what a great family to be a part of.


Our team is doing well. Even the few of us who picked up some bug along the way seem to be recovering.

Iowa Has Hills!

The last three days we have been traveling through Iowa. I told everyone Iowa was flat. Was I ever wrong. The first day we actually did more climbing than we did when we crossed the Rockies. We were very glad to see our hosts in Edgewood, the next night in Central City and tonight in Muscatine. Tomorrow we are on to Illinois.

Today was quite interesting. First our route overlapped the huge RAG BRAI ride that involves about ten thousand cyclists going across Iowa. For about 15-20 miles we ended up riding with them. Their day ended well before ours. The last section took us across roads wiped out by the flooding in Iowa earlier this summer. They were closed to traffic, but on our bikes we could get by. The destruction is really unbelievable. Well--most of us went through. A few of our riders followed the detours signs and ended up putting on an extra 16 miles. Ouch!

God continues to be good to us by providing us with wonderful hosts, good weather and supporters along the way. Someone on the RAG BRAI ride today even gave us a donation. All of our riders are still raising funds, so pass the word! We want to raise as much as we can to help reach young people around the world through YFC.

Meeting People Along the Way

Here you see Mike and Dan with a farmer they met along a county road between Glencoe and Northfield, MN on Saturday. The best part about this experience so far has to be all the great and interesting people we get to meet.

So many people have taken us, strangers, into their homes and made us feel welcome. We get to tell our story and the story about what this is all about--reaching young people through YFC--lots of times.

A few days ago we spent a day at the Sonshine Festival. I think Mike alone, passed out about 500 of the little cards to people he met that have our pictures and information about our trip on them. We even ran into and talked with a couple Power Rangers and a human size banana!

Our team members continue to work hard, not just a biking, but at trying to raise funds for the youth outreach projects we are raising funds for. Through postcards, calls, the web, personal conversations we keep trying to encourage people to get involved in these really worthwhile projects. Beating the drum for young people worldwide is really what this trip is all about.

Everyone is doing well--a few colds settling in, a few sore muscles, but overall doing well.

This coming week will have us traveling down the southeast border of Minnesota and through Iowa.