I don't know that I've written much about our big news, but we will be trading our two bedroom duplex dwelling for a three bedroom duplex setting next week. We had looked at some three bedroom places last summer with our same property managers, but couldn't quite swing it at the time. A few additional jobs and a promotion later, we're in a much better position now.
To make matters even better, Jim and Marilyn decided to look into purchasing a duplex in Sioux Falls as an investment property. It just so happens that we were to be the initial tenants, so we got to help in the house hunting and found a duplex with a three bedroom unit and a two bedroom unit which has over twice the square footage of our current residence. We will manage the property for them and benefit from the additional space.
The kids have done a good job of sharing a room for the last two years, but I'm looking forward to seeing them in their own rooms. For one, more of their stuff will be in their rooms instead of spread all over their room, the bathroom and the basement. The place also has two and a half baths, which makes this the first place we've lived that has more than one. The kids will have their own bathroom near their bedrooms in the downstairs.
The main floor has a family space that we'll use as a piano studio for Amy as well as a dinette/kitchen area, half bath and some storage. Upstairs will be a family room where we'll have our main living space and the master bed and bath. There's also a huge walk in closet off of the bedroom, so we should have plenty of room and even a bit of privacy compared to the last two years.
We've been blessed to have the place we've been in. We've learned that we can live with a lot less than we thought we could. We've learned to be patient with one another in close quarters. Hopefully, we don't lose the lessons learned, but we're thankful that we're only a week away from being able to start the next chapter.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Hello Old Friend -or- Revenge of the Bike
Our team's efforts in our Race Across America fell well short after Josiah had to bow out with a knee injury, so on Monday I returned the 2007 Trek Madone 5.0 that I had been using to the store where we'll sell it as a demo bike. I had a few weeks to look into buying the bike, but decided that the deal wasn't sweet enough to pursue it.
So, I'm back on the LeMond Zurich that I picked up last summer. Still a great bike, but I wouldn't have minded trading up. I hit the road with it on Tuesday and the bike messed with me some to let me know that it didn't appreciate being left alone for six weeks. I had loaned the bike to Dave in the bike shop who rode it once (on a ride with me), but apparently that wasn't enough.
I started by spending a good five minutes on the bike trail messing with the saddle height and pitch before finding a position I felt I could live with for the full ride. The bike was also rattling in a way that was driving me nuts. It sounded like the chain or a cable slapping against something, but I couldn't pinpoint it. I started to wonder if Dave had put a ball bearing in the frame just to mess with me. I finally figured out that I had a loose bolt on my bottle cage. A quick adjustment and I was back in business.
I had originally planned to do about 30 miles, but about 15 in I realized that I was starting to lose air pressure, so I started nursing the bike home in order to avoid having to change a tube on the road. As I got closer to home, I got slower and slower. The pressure was dropping and I knew that I was running the risk of damaging the rim if I hit a bump too hard or rolled the tire off the rim on a corner, so I eased it home. I normally run my tire pressure at about 110 psi. By the time I got home I was at 20 psi. Not optimal at all.
Hopefully, the bike will treat me kinder on the next ride (which I'm planning for Saturday). In the meantime, I've been getting reacquainted with my Gary Fisher Rig that I got in April. I had only ridden it once during the Race Across America, so I did the work commute yesterday and rode it to coffee with Aaron this morning. I'll probably look to get out on some decent trails at Newton Hills or Beaver Creek with it soon and test my off road abilities in the next few weeks, but probably not until after our move next week.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Conversations
I've been lamenting lately how I only seem to have enough time and energy to write quick updates on recent events. It's not like I don't still think about things of more substance, I just can't seem to get past issues like schedule and weariness to dive into subjects that require a bit more effort to dive into.
That's why a day like today is such a blessing. I started out with a 30 mile ride where I had some time to think about how different an experience leadership at Mercy is than it was at Hanfield. At Hanfield, I had the luxury of having my vocation and ministry as one entity which gave me a singular focus that probably helped me more than I realized in growing as a leader and worshipper. The challenge with Mercy has been taking a somewhat segmented life where work, ministry and family don't flow as seemlessly and translate it into a cohesive approach to living a life of worship.
The challenge has been good for me in a lot of respects. I have a better appreciation for the challenges that our volunteers face in juggling their commitments. I also have more contact with unchurched people than I ever did at Hanfield. Unfortunately, some of the challenges also become more amplified in my current circumstances. The one that's been the hardest is that I'm not able to hang out with people and foster one on one relationships like I could at Hanfield. With one exception: Aaron.
After my ride, Aaron and I got together for coffee at Caribou Coffee. We've been getting together for the last few months and it's been a return to somthing that I've lacked since we moved from Marion. There, guys like Keith, Tim Lehrian, Ryan, Tim Tedder, Jason and others were a regular part of my schedule. I'd get together with them to talk about things, process thoughts and (most importantly) grow relationships. Here, I've not really had that same relational dynamic until now.
Aaron is one of our guitar players, works for one of the colleges in town and is someone that I've just clicked with. He's encouraging, challenging and exactly who I've needed to help unlock some thoughts. Today's coffee was good with a lot of conversation about worship, church and leadership. I'm recognizing that after ten years of leading worship that there are still a lot of areas where I need to grow. We talked about some of the unique challenges that we face at Mercy and in worship in particular. It was good stuff to process through.
About ten minutes after I got home, I got a call from Christer Lagerkvist who is a great friend and brother from Hanfield who I miss a lot. He had emailed yesterday and called to chat a bit. He's working on a masters in ministry at Indiana Wesleyan and was interested in my take on what happened at Hanfield between 2001 and 2005 as the church grew, stagnated and started to shrink. He's studying the tri-generational church and wondered what role the worldview differences between generations may have had in some of the population loss that Hanfield experienced.
It was an interesting conversation and played nicely off of some of what Aaron and I had talked about earlier. I think a lot of the population loss among the 20's and early 30's congregation reflected some of the restlessness that I was feeling at the time, so hopefully some of what I had to share was of some use to Christer. It was also another chance for me to look at where I am and where I've been in order to see where it is that I'm going.
I feel like I had two therapy sessions in one day with guys that I really trust and whose insights I appreciate a great deal.
That's why a day like today is such a blessing. I started out with a 30 mile ride where I had some time to think about how different an experience leadership at Mercy is than it was at Hanfield. At Hanfield, I had the luxury of having my vocation and ministry as one entity which gave me a singular focus that probably helped me more than I realized in growing as a leader and worshipper. The challenge with Mercy has been taking a somewhat segmented life where work, ministry and family don't flow as seemlessly and translate it into a cohesive approach to living a life of worship.
The challenge has been good for me in a lot of respects. I have a better appreciation for the challenges that our volunteers face in juggling their commitments. I also have more contact with unchurched people than I ever did at Hanfield. Unfortunately, some of the challenges also become more amplified in my current circumstances. The one that's been the hardest is that I'm not able to hang out with people and foster one on one relationships like I could at Hanfield. With one exception: Aaron.
After my ride, Aaron and I got together for coffee at Caribou Coffee. We've been getting together for the last few months and it's been a return to somthing that I've lacked since we moved from Marion. There, guys like Keith, Tim Lehrian, Ryan, Tim Tedder, Jason and others were a regular part of my schedule. I'd get together with them to talk about things, process thoughts and (most importantly) grow relationships. Here, I've not really had that same relational dynamic until now.
Aaron is one of our guitar players, works for one of the colleges in town and is someone that I've just clicked with. He's encouraging, challenging and exactly who I've needed to help unlock some thoughts. Today's coffee was good with a lot of conversation about worship, church and leadership. I'm recognizing that after ten years of leading worship that there are still a lot of areas where I need to grow. We talked about some of the unique challenges that we face at Mercy and in worship in particular. It was good stuff to process through.
About ten minutes after I got home, I got a call from Christer Lagerkvist who is a great friend and brother from Hanfield who I miss a lot. He had emailed yesterday and called to chat a bit. He's working on a masters in ministry at Indiana Wesleyan and was interested in my take on what happened at Hanfield between 2001 and 2005 as the church grew, stagnated and started to shrink. He's studying the tri-generational church and wondered what role the worldview differences between generations may have had in some of the population loss that Hanfield experienced.
It was an interesting conversation and played nicely off of some of what Aaron and I had talked about earlier. I think a lot of the population loss among the 20's and early 30's congregation reflected some of the restlessness that I was feeling at the time, so hopefully some of what I had to share was of some use to Christer. It was also another chance for me to look at where I am and where I've been in order to see where it is that I'm going.
I feel like I had two therapy sessions in one day with guys that I really trust and whose insights I appreciate a great deal.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Tour de Kota wrap up
Two more days on the TdK this year with the 100(+) miles yesterday from Lennox to Dell Rapids and another 50 today from Dell Rapids to Madison. I had originally hoped to ride tomorrow's leg to DeSmet, but have to work instead.
Our original gameplan had been to camp with the kiddos in Lennox and Dell Rapids, but a combination of things conspired against us. First, Maia had a bout of dehydration from spending her birthday in Mitchell with 90+ degree heat for several hours and woke up throwing up on Monday. She bounced back quick, but we didn't feel that camping was going to be the most conducive way for her to recover. Second, the weather has been hot and windy which made us think that sleep would be scarce in a tent with four people. Third, we hate camping.
So, at 5:00 am, I woke up, had breakfast, loaded up the bike and drove to Lennox to register. Folks were already rolling out of town as I arrived and I was on the road myself at about 6:30. Shortly before leaving town, I rolled up behind a guy in a University of Okoboji ride shirt who turned out to be Tim from Terrell, Iowa who we met on the first year of the TdK two years ago. We rode together for about the first 20 miles and caught up a bit. He had ridden to the start of the ride in Vermillion (139 miles) over the weekend with 100 lbs of gear strapped on the bike. He had a few war stories to share and we had great conversation until he needed to take a break. He's a bit of a lone wolf on the bike and I had a rendezvous scheduled with Amy and the kids up the road, so we said our goodbyes for the time being and I headed down the road.
At about 40 miles, I stopped at a gas station in Humboldt to wait for the fam. I was a little ahead of schedule, but Amy had texted me from the home computer because she couldn't find her phone earlier and we were unable to communicate. I had been at the gas station about 15 minutes when our next door neighbor Dick rolled up to the station. I decided to roll out with him and his group about 10 minutes later hoping to catch up with Amy later.
Our group was probably about 15 strong as we headed north and started in on the loop that would help extend the ride to 100 miles. The temp by this point was over 90 degrees and the wind was blowing at 20 mph out of the southeast, so we knew that we'd pay for our life of ease in a bit.
We turned west on the loop and Dick and I moved to the front with Dave Braley (who we went to church with at New Hope Family) to set pace for awhile. Before we knew it, the three of us were on our own. I guess our pace was a little ambitious for the rest of the group. When we hit the turn to head back into the wind the fun began. We immediately slowed to 14 mph and slugged it out for several miles until we reached Montrose. At that point, we saw my co-worker Jeffrey at a rest stop and invited him along for the next leg east.
We rode about seven miles back when I saw a familiar vehicle at an intersection. We had finally found Amy and the kids, so we holed up for a few minutes while I got some food and freshened my bottles. The stop was a bit abbreviated because I didn't want to hold up the other guys and we headed on to Hartford.
Once we turned south again, the carnage really began. First, we lost Jeffrey as the headwind proved a bit much for him. We didn't really want to slow down and prolong the agony, so Dick, Dave and I kept on. I started feeling like I was going to pop, but met the others pedal stroke for pedal stroke as we plowed along.
Pretty soon, something entirely unpredictable happened, Dick started cramping and fell off the pace. Now, Dick rides a lot. He's done an Ironman event, the Triple Bypass ride in Colorado on multiple occasions and often logs 100 mile days. He was among those that about put me in the ground on the group ride in March, so I really didn't expect to see him hit the wall before I did. Luckily, we only had a few miles to go to Hartford, so Dave and I pulled him in. We stopped at a convenience store with a bunch of other riders and Dick called it a day. He thought briefly about just riding home (about another 20 miles), but had Mary come to pick him up instead.
After a lengthy stay during which Jeffrey and most of our other pack riders met up with us, we headed back out. We had a stretch with a tailwind which helped put some wind in the sails again, but unfortunately, as soon as we turned east again, the pain resurfaced. It wasn't long before Dave and I found ourselves alone again and we just fought our way through the wind as best as we could. I really had to dig deep to make the next turn without blowing up, but we had another four or five mile reprieve before turning toward Baltic.
The stretch into Baltic was the longest stretch of the day for me. I didn't feel good at all and could only use Dave's presence as motivation to plod on. There was no power left in my legs and it was becoming obvious that the ride organizers had underestimated the total distance and we would be going into overtime. Dave knew that I was struggling and had pity on me allowing me to take what shelter I could behind him until we finally rolled into Baltic. We stopped at the fire station for water and met up again with Jeffrey and a few others.
While at the fire station I had a blast from my past when a guy came rolling up on an old Schwinn Circuit just like the one that I had in high school. I loved that bike but sold it so that I could buy a better trumpet (a fact I have lamented on more than one occassion). It was nice to revisit some memories, but I wasn't about to trade the Madone for the Circuit on a day like that.
We had about a two mile stretch back east before making the final turn for the tailwind run into Dell Rapids. Once we hit the corner, we flew. By the time we rolled into the park in Dell Rapids, Amy and the kids were there and we had covered 105.6 miles at 17.2 mph. Amy drove me over the the Catholic school where I hit the showers before we headed back to camp for lunch.
I love the TdK; the community, the challenge, the experience... But I really love the fact that it gives me an excuse to eat about anything I set my eyes on. I dove into a chili cheese dog and a "taco in a bucket" before eating what was left of Xander's ice cream. It was glorious.
The kiddos played a little and I found a patch of grass to call my own for a little bit. Finally, Maia decided to go into complete melt down and we had to take off. We got to walk all the way across the campground to the car with Maia trailing about 15 steps behind Amy absolutely screaming and throwing a tantrum like we had just killed her puppy. Between the kicking and screaming, we managed to get her in the car where she fell asleep within two miles but kept up the "sleep sobs" for the next 45 minutes. We drove to Lennox, picked up our other car and headed home.
After a relaxing evening at home (compared to the ride anyway), we got up this morning and did it all again.
Today's ride went from Dell Rapids to Madison which was an accurately predicted 50 miles. The one thing that I didn't count on (somehow) was that it was downpouring when I left the house this morning. I went out to load the bike in the car and was completely soaked in my gear for the day and I hadn't even left yet. I came back into the house to grab a towel and my arm warmers (since it was only in the 60's) and drove back to Dell Rapids.
It's always hard to tell how many folks have left camp when you show up like I did today, but I hit the road at about 6:30 again expecting that there would be at least 100 riders ahead of me. I think I passed 12 all day. The wind was still out of the southeast which would help us for all but the first little stretch. I headed the first seven miles east into the wind and into a downpour. It wasn't horribly cold, but the rain bit into my legs as though each drop contained a small metal shard. Thankfully, I love riding in the rain (with no lightning) and did my best to see through my fogged, wet Oakleys and keep it on the road. My feet felt like they were underwater as my shoes channeled not only the rain from above, but the streams of water that I was kicking up from below.
When I turned north, I got my first taste of how different today would be than yesterday.The rain hadn't given up, but the wind was a welcome friend instead of vengeful adversary. I flew along on cracked chip and seal roads (not my favorite riding surface) with visions of Paris Roubaix and some of the Belgian spring classic races in my head. I hit the town of Trent at 17 miles and saw what was to be my last rider of the day as he pulled into a rest stop for breakfast.
About two miles farther down the road I started wondering what my average speed was. I took a quick peak and saw that I was just a shade under 19 mph, not bad for riding solo and having done the first seven miles into the wind. My plan had been to ride straight through today as I'm used to doing 50 mile rides and had more than enough food and drink to get me to Madison. Now my plan included seeing how close I could push my average to 20 mph.
Things were going smoothly enough with the road surface as my only adversary, but when I hit Lake County, the surface turned to fairly new, smooth blacktop and I really took off. I started wondering if I was the first rider on the road and found myself looking back every once in awhile to see if anyone was coming with me.
Things continued this way until I hit Lake Madison. I know the area a little from doing a few deliveries out that way and knew that the ride was supposed to keep us on the south side of the lake. Usually there are pink signs with arrows at intersections telling us whether to turn or go straight. I saw no such arrows and the map that I carried (in a plastic back) was not detailed enough to tell me exactly what roads I was supposed to take. I realized shortly that I was not on the prescribed route and doubled back the 500 yards or so that I'd gone to grab the road that I thought I was supposed to be on. I kept thinking I would begin to see signs of some sort, but none were forthcoming. I knew that if I kept going straight, I would eventually hit highway 19 and could head north to get myself to Madison.
It turned out that for the last 15 miles, I had to go forward with no idea whether I was on the route or not. The map showed that I was to follow 19 to 34 and follow that into Madison. This I did. Then, I had to improvise. I rode into town not knowing where the camp was supposed to be. I called Amy to see if she had the details in the stuff the Argus sent me, but the info she had didn't shed much light on things.
The map I had included a couple of contact numbers for sag support for the ride, so I tried calling one of them to see if they could tell me where I was going, but the number that I had was for someone that apparently wasn't doing support that day, so he gave me another number. The next number was helping with the ride that day, but they were back in Trent where I had seen my last bike rider and started trying to give me instructions based on local landmarks. This proved less than helpful as I have never been in the town of Madison in my life. She finally told me to go to a convenience store to ask for directions. I stopped at the nearest one I could find, but the lady behind the counter didn't have the slightest idea of where to send me. I rode another three blocks to the Shell station and finally got detailed instructions only to discover that I had almost been in the right place when I called Amy.
I talked to Amy to let her know where I had arrived at and discovered from the plentiful volunteers standing around waiting for things to begin that I was, in fact, the first rider to arrive. My 20.4 mph average had been fast enough so that my slight detours and destinational confusion were unable to keep me from arriving first.
I got to mingle with the volunteers for a bit since I wasn't hungry yet and needed Amy to arrive with clothes before I could shower. Riders began to filter in about 45 minutes later and I had a chance to hang with a few of them for a bit before Amy and the kiddos rolled in. I loaded the bike up and hit the showers before downing a chili cheese baked potato, slice of pepperoni pizza and a Rockstar energy drink for an early lunch.
We were just about to head out when my friend Tim rolled in. He seemed in a rather jovial mood and we chatted for about ten minutes. I was glad to get to bookend my two days of the TdK with conversations with Tim. It reminded me of the circumstances that Amy and I found ourselves in when we met Tim having just moved back from Indiana with a vague sense of God's leading and no idea what we were doing or what the next two years were going to hold. I love the position that we find ourselves in now and have said on more than one occasion that I believe we are in a season of blessing.
The day concluded with a trip back to Dell Rapids to pick up the car before heading home. I finally got a nap in this afternoon and should return to work tomorrow without being too worn out but with a few more stories to tell.
I wonder where the TdK will go next year.
Our original gameplan had been to camp with the kiddos in Lennox and Dell Rapids, but a combination of things conspired against us. First, Maia had a bout of dehydration from spending her birthday in Mitchell with 90+ degree heat for several hours and woke up throwing up on Monday. She bounced back quick, but we didn't feel that camping was going to be the most conducive way for her to recover. Second, the weather has been hot and windy which made us think that sleep would be scarce in a tent with four people. Third, we hate camping.
So, at 5:00 am, I woke up, had breakfast, loaded up the bike and drove to Lennox to register. Folks were already rolling out of town as I arrived and I was on the road myself at about 6:30. Shortly before leaving town, I rolled up behind a guy in a University of Okoboji ride shirt who turned out to be Tim from Terrell, Iowa who we met on the first year of the TdK two years ago. We rode together for about the first 20 miles and caught up a bit. He had ridden to the start of the ride in Vermillion (139 miles) over the weekend with 100 lbs of gear strapped on the bike. He had a few war stories to share and we had great conversation until he needed to take a break. He's a bit of a lone wolf on the bike and I had a rendezvous scheduled with Amy and the kids up the road, so we said our goodbyes for the time being and I headed down the road.
At about 40 miles, I stopped at a gas station in Humboldt to wait for the fam. I was a little ahead of schedule, but Amy had texted me from the home computer because she couldn't find her phone earlier and we were unable to communicate. I had been at the gas station about 15 minutes when our next door neighbor Dick rolled up to the station. I decided to roll out with him and his group about 10 minutes later hoping to catch up with Amy later.
Our group was probably about 15 strong as we headed north and started in on the loop that would help extend the ride to 100 miles. The temp by this point was over 90 degrees and the wind was blowing at 20 mph out of the southeast, so we knew that we'd pay for our life of ease in a bit.
We turned west on the loop and Dick and I moved to the front with Dave Braley (who we went to church with at New Hope Family) to set pace for awhile. Before we knew it, the three of us were on our own. I guess our pace was a little ambitious for the rest of the group. When we hit the turn to head back into the wind the fun began. We immediately slowed to 14 mph and slugged it out for several miles until we reached Montrose. At that point, we saw my co-worker Jeffrey at a rest stop and invited him along for the next leg east.
We rode about seven miles back when I saw a familiar vehicle at an intersection. We had finally found Amy and the kids, so we holed up for a few minutes while I got some food and freshened my bottles. The stop was a bit abbreviated because I didn't want to hold up the other guys and we headed on to Hartford.
Once we turned south again, the carnage really began. First, we lost Jeffrey as the headwind proved a bit much for him. We didn't really want to slow down and prolong the agony, so Dick, Dave and I kept on. I started feeling like I was going to pop, but met the others pedal stroke for pedal stroke as we plowed along.
Pretty soon, something entirely unpredictable happened, Dick started cramping and fell off the pace. Now, Dick rides a lot. He's done an Ironman event, the Triple Bypass ride in Colorado on multiple occasions and often logs 100 mile days. He was among those that about put me in the ground on the group ride in March, so I really didn't expect to see him hit the wall before I did. Luckily, we only had a few miles to go to Hartford, so Dave and I pulled him in. We stopped at a convenience store with a bunch of other riders and Dick called it a day. He thought briefly about just riding home (about another 20 miles), but had Mary come to pick him up instead.
After a lengthy stay during which Jeffrey and most of our other pack riders met up with us, we headed back out. We had a stretch with a tailwind which helped put some wind in the sails again, but unfortunately, as soon as we turned east again, the pain resurfaced. It wasn't long before Dave and I found ourselves alone again and we just fought our way through the wind as best as we could. I really had to dig deep to make the next turn without blowing up, but we had another four or five mile reprieve before turning toward Baltic.
The stretch into Baltic was the longest stretch of the day for me. I didn't feel good at all and could only use Dave's presence as motivation to plod on. There was no power left in my legs and it was becoming obvious that the ride organizers had underestimated the total distance and we would be going into overtime. Dave knew that I was struggling and had pity on me allowing me to take what shelter I could behind him until we finally rolled into Baltic. We stopped at the fire station for water and met up again with Jeffrey and a few others.
While at the fire station I had a blast from my past when a guy came rolling up on an old Schwinn Circuit just like the one that I had in high school. I loved that bike but sold it so that I could buy a better trumpet (a fact I have lamented on more than one occassion). It was nice to revisit some memories, but I wasn't about to trade the Madone for the Circuit on a day like that.
We had about a two mile stretch back east before making the final turn for the tailwind run into Dell Rapids. Once we hit the corner, we flew. By the time we rolled into the park in Dell Rapids, Amy and the kids were there and we had covered 105.6 miles at 17.2 mph. Amy drove me over the the Catholic school where I hit the showers before we headed back to camp for lunch.
I love the TdK; the community, the challenge, the experience... But I really love the fact that it gives me an excuse to eat about anything I set my eyes on. I dove into a chili cheese dog and a "taco in a bucket" before eating what was left of Xander's ice cream. It was glorious.
The kiddos played a little and I found a patch of grass to call my own for a little bit. Finally, Maia decided to go into complete melt down and we had to take off. We got to walk all the way across the campground to the car with Maia trailing about 15 steps behind Amy absolutely screaming and throwing a tantrum like we had just killed her puppy. Between the kicking and screaming, we managed to get her in the car where she fell asleep within two miles but kept up the "sleep sobs" for the next 45 minutes. We drove to Lennox, picked up our other car and headed home.
After a relaxing evening at home (compared to the ride anyway), we got up this morning and did it all again.
Today's ride went from Dell Rapids to Madison which was an accurately predicted 50 miles. The one thing that I didn't count on (somehow) was that it was downpouring when I left the house this morning. I went out to load the bike in the car and was completely soaked in my gear for the day and I hadn't even left yet. I came back into the house to grab a towel and my arm warmers (since it was only in the 60's) and drove back to Dell Rapids.
It's always hard to tell how many folks have left camp when you show up like I did today, but I hit the road at about 6:30 again expecting that there would be at least 100 riders ahead of me. I think I passed 12 all day. The wind was still out of the southeast which would help us for all but the first little stretch. I headed the first seven miles east into the wind and into a downpour. It wasn't horribly cold, but the rain bit into my legs as though each drop contained a small metal shard. Thankfully, I love riding in the rain (with no lightning) and did my best to see through my fogged, wet Oakleys and keep it on the road. My feet felt like they were underwater as my shoes channeled not only the rain from above, but the streams of water that I was kicking up from below.
When I turned north, I got my first taste of how different today would be than yesterday.The rain hadn't given up, but the wind was a welcome friend instead of vengeful adversary. I flew along on cracked chip and seal roads (not my favorite riding surface) with visions of Paris Roubaix and some of the Belgian spring classic races in my head. I hit the town of Trent at 17 miles and saw what was to be my last rider of the day as he pulled into a rest stop for breakfast.
About two miles farther down the road I started wondering what my average speed was. I took a quick peak and saw that I was just a shade under 19 mph, not bad for riding solo and having done the first seven miles into the wind. My plan had been to ride straight through today as I'm used to doing 50 mile rides and had more than enough food and drink to get me to Madison. Now my plan included seeing how close I could push my average to 20 mph.
Things were going smoothly enough with the road surface as my only adversary, but when I hit Lake County, the surface turned to fairly new, smooth blacktop and I really took off. I started wondering if I was the first rider on the road and found myself looking back every once in awhile to see if anyone was coming with me.
Things continued this way until I hit Lake Madison. I know the area a little from doing a few deliveries out that way and knew that the ride was supposed to keep us on the south side of the lake. Usually there are pink signs with arrows at intersections telling us whether to turn or go straight. I saw no such arrows and the map that I carried (in a plastic back) was not detailed enough to tell me exactly what roads I was supposed to take. I realized shortly that I was not on the prescribed route and doubled back the 500 yards or so that I'd gone to grab the road that I thought I was supposed to be on. I kept thinking I would begin to see signs of some sort, but none were forthcoming. I knew that if I kept going straight, I would eventually hit highway 19 and could head north to get myself to Madison.
It turned out that for the last 15 miles, I had to go forward with no idea whether I was on the route or not. The map showed that I was to follow 19 to 34 and follow that into Madison. This I did. Then, I had to improvise. I rode into town not knowing where the camp was supposed to be. I called Amy to see if she had the details in the stuff the Argus sent me, but the info she had didn't shed much light on things.
The map I had included a couple of contact numbers for sag support for the ride, so I tried calling one of them to see if they could tell me where I was going, but the number that I had was for someone that apparently wasn't doing support that day, so he gave me another number. The next number was helping with the ride that day, but they were back in Trent where I had seen my last bike rider and started trying to give me instructions based on local landmarks. This proved less than helpful as I have never been in the town of Madison in my life. She finally told me to go to a convenience store to ask for directions. I stopped at the nearest one I could find, but the lady behind the counter didn't have the slightest idea of where to send me. I rode another three blocks to the Shell station and finally got detailed instructions only to discover that I had almost been in the right place when I called Amy.
I talked to Amy to let her know where I had arrived at and discovered from the plentiful volunteers standing around waiting for things to begin that I was, in fact, the first rider to arrive. My 20.4 mph average had been fast enough so that my slight detours and destinational confusion were unable to keep me from arriving first.
I got to mingle with the volunteers for a bit since I wasn't hungry yet and needed Amy to arrive with clothes before I could shower. Riders began to filter in about 45 minutes later and I had a chance to hang with a few of them for a bit before Amy and the kiddos rolled in. I loaded the bike up and hit the showers before downing a chili cheese baked potato, slice of pepperoni pizza and a Rockstar energy drink for an early lunch.
We were just about to head out when my friend Tim rolled in. He seemed in a rather jovial mood and we chatted for about ten minutes. I was glad to get to bookend my two days of the TdK with conversations with Tim. It reminded me of the circumstances that Amy and I found ourselves in when we met Tim having just moved back from Indiana with a vague sense of God's leading and no idea what we were doing or what the next two years were going to hold. I love the position that we find ourselves in now and have said on more than one occasion that I believe we are in a season of blessing.
The day concluded with a trip back to Dell Rapids to pick up the car before heading home. I finally got a nap in this afternoon and should return to work tomorrow without being too worn out but with a few more stories to tell.
I wonder where the TdK will go next year.
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Long Ride and Race Update
I hit the road for 82 miles this morning for my first really long ride of the year. I'm doing the 100 mile day of the Tour de Kota on Tuesday, so I figured I'd best test myself and see how close I am to being ready. I did the first 40 into the wind (which was blowing pretty consistently at around 20 mph) and had it blow me home. If the 100 mile ride had been today, we'd have had a tail wind for all but about 20 miles of it. Hope next week is kind.
Our team is struggling along in the store's "Race Across America". We had one guy come up short on miles last week and another way short on miles and needing to be replaced due to a knee injury. We're currently sitting in 8th place and I'm wishing that I could log more miles to help bridge the gap, but I'm at my maximum allowable input. Looks like I probably won't be winning a bike (not the end of the world) or the accessories (only two of which I plan to keep anyway). I'm still enjoying riding borrowed stuff.
Our rehearsal for tonight got derailed as we had a couple of guys that couldn't make it. Problem is, the time they can do it is Saturday when I'm not available. We opted to have the core of the band at rehearsal rather than me this time around as we've got a new song that we're learning and extra songs to practice for a gig in Mitchell on Sunday afternoon. I'm sure we'll be fine, but scheduling has become somewhat of a headache of late.
Our team is struggling along in the store's "Race Across America". We had one guy come up short on miles last week and another way short on miles and needing to be replaced due to a knee injury. We're currently sitting in 8th place and I'm wishing that I could log more miles to help bridge the gap, but I'm at my maximum allowable input. Looks like I probably won't be winning a bike (not the end of the world) or the accessories (only two of which I plan to keep anyway). I'm still enjoying riding borrowed stuff.
Our rehearsal for tonight got derailed as we had a couple of guys that couldn't make it. Problem is, the time they can do it is Saturday when I'm not available. We opted to have the core of the band at rehearsal rather than me this time around as we've got a new song that we're learning and extra songs to practice for a gig in Mitchell on Sunday afternoon. I'm sure we'll be fine, but scheduling has become somewhat of a headache of late.
Monday, June 04, 2007
Church Outdoors
Yesterday we had a combined service between Mercy and our host church, Good Shephard Community, in conjunction with a German food festival with inflatables for the kids and concerts for the afternoon. The weather in the days leading up had been rainy and the forecast for Sunday wasn't much better, but we had a sunny morning and the weather held pretty well until about 1:30. Thankfully, we had already finished the service, food, the concert by our guest group and the kids had had plenty of time to play. Our band was the only thing to suffer the effects of the weather.
Our guest group was Freedom's Call, a group of young ladies from Bemidji, MN who played guitars, mandolins, fiddles and sang (all of the girls played more than one instrument) and did primarily old-timey music (see "O Brother Where Art Thou"). The girls are younger teenagers and are very good at what they do. They weren't necessarily a professional quality group, but if they stay together, I think they have the potential to get there. Amy and I both agreed that the experience they're getting now will help them be able to do a wide range of things musically down the road because they are learning multiple instruments and have great voices and the ability to sing harmony very well.
After Freedom's Call, we started to set up. We knew it was going to rain, but we were under a tent and had a few folks that had come out just to hear us, so we plugged ahead. I figured, if nothing else, we'd get a chance to practice a couple of songs that we might do in Mitchell next week at Casey's church. Maia was distraught because the inflatables were coming down which made it hard for us to decide what to do as a family. I suggested to Amy that she take the kids home and we'd just do a few songs that didn't require keys, so she headed out. The band only wound up doing three songs, but two of them are songs we're still getting a feel for together, so it wasn't totally a wasted experience. We lucked out and the rain let up while we tore down and either took things inside or loaded them on the truck.
I was surprised to be home by 3:00 and we just hung out the rest of the day. The service was well attended (at least 175 people including numerous first time visitors) and the food was fantastic (especially if you love kraut). We've got a few more months before our next big to-do outdoors. Hopefully the weather will be as kind as it was yesterday morning.
Our guest group was Freedom's Call, a group of young ladies from Bemidji, MN who played guitars, mandolins, fiddles and sang (all of the girls played more than one instrument) and did primarily old-timey music (see "O Brother Where Art Thou"). The girls are younger teenagers and are very good at what they do. They weren't necessarily a professional quality group, but if they stay together, I think they have the potential to get there. Amy and I both agreed that the experience they're getting now will help them be able to do a wide range of things musically down the road because they are learning multiple instruments and have great voices and the ability to sing harmony very well.
After Freedom's Call, we started to set up. We knew it was going to rain, but we were under a tent and had a few folks that had come out just to hear us, so we plugged ahead. I figured, if nothing else, we'd get a chance to practice a couple of songs that we might do in Mitchell next week at Casey's church. Maia was distraught because the inflatables were coming down which made it hard for us to decide what to do as a family. I suggested to Amy that she take the kids home and we'd just do a few songs that didn't require keys, so she headed out. The band only wound up doing three songs, but two of them are songs we're still getting a feel for together, so it wasn't totally a wasted experience. We lucked out and the rain let up while we tore down and either took things inside or loaded them on the truck.
I was surprised to be home by 3:00 and we just hung out the rest of the day. The service was well attended (at least 175 people including numerous first time visitors) and the food was fantastic (especially if you love kraut). We've got a few more months before our next big to-do outdoors. Hopefully the weather will be as kind as it was yesterday morning.
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