Stats

Days 5 and 6 in the P2A Tour
Mileage:  314.42 Miles
Day 5 Mileage: 69 miles
Day 6 Mileage: 60.4
Maximum Speed:  32.7 mph

Riders:  Rick Stiles, Terence Hall, Thomas Hall
Specific Itinerary: Pacific to Atlantic Oceans
Why?  Because we can :). Because we want to bless people because we have been blessed; and to speak hope and vision into the many lives that cross our path along the way.

Awards Today:

The "King of Flat Tires" Award:  Terence Hall (TWO flat tires today)

The "Master of Emotions" Award: Ricardo Stiles, who patiently coached two non-engineers on how to change a tire.

Biggs, Washington

Biggs is not much more than a dot on a map--one of those tiny towns along the Columbia on the Washington side.  Far as I could tell, Biggs housed three home grown motels, a couple of gas stations, and enough houses for 500 people to round out the town--a small version of Andy and Aunt B's Mayberry.

Still, the views are just natural portraits of grandeur.  We stayed at the Value Motel for $66 dollars which, split three ways, was quite affordable.  And the rooms were clean.  Val, the manager, was a wiry, gregarious visionary, whose mission in life was to make her weary travelers feel like they were special.  Thanks, Val, for your generous gift of hospitiality.  You're in the right business!

The Dalles

The Dalles is an amazing experience. A town, yes.  But home of the historic dam that allows farmland for one hundred miles around to produce hearty corn, beans, peppers, and of course, excellent wine from pampered grapes.  The fruit and harvest all depend on the water that the Dalles  dirverts from the mighty Columbia.

You Meet All Kinds

 for her Y

You meet all kinds of folks each week.  Some pass without incident; others inspire and compel.  

Meet Joan Lawty, a hospitable, welcoming server and South African mission enthusiast.

Meet Tamara--owner of the restaurant on the golf course, in East Bonneville who holds a picture of her business proudly.  Tamara welcomed my request to pray for her in her new adventure of the restuarant.

Hope you'll meet some great folks this week in your neck of the woods!

When Trust Matters

I learned a new lesson in leadership from my "younger" brother Terence.   When jumping exits on the freeway (crossing through exit/entrance ramps to stay on the main freeway), looking right is absolutely critical to avoid being roadkill.
Recumbents have a blind side on the right due to their low-riding, lawn chair seat positioning.

My leadership moment learning came when I began to follow Terence's upright bike movement.   He would be ahead of me and when he jumped, I jumped.  I had to trust implicitly his movement and precise timing when crossing through exits or entrances while avoiding cars zooming past at 70 mph.  At first, I was anxious because my  life was in someone else's hands.  But as I learned to move with him I grew to trust the guy ahead of me.

Sometimes you gotta trust the one who leads you--when your trust has a strong, caring relationship backing it.

Mt. Rainier / Pics

A couple of pictures of Mount Rainier in the background.

Heck's Angels Ride Again

We had finally summited the peak that overlooks the Columbia--six miles of  steady, grueling pedal-pushing at 4.5 to 5.0 miles an hour.  YES!  Atop the world! We weren't alone, however.  So I quickly recruited members for my new tough guys cycle club.   Probably hard to pick me out of the motorcycle gang, but I'm there--the one without the engine.

Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Pacific

So we're standing in the Pacific with our back wheel taking on saltwater.  Nice pic and all, but just a few minutes before the smiles and pose, all fiasco broke loose.  Terence had the worst accident of his biking career just walking his bike through the sand to the water's edge about a quarter mile from the road.  He falls over his sliding bike into a curb and damages his hand and face. I and Rick also wrestled  our overloaded behemoths to the Android moment site only to fall and grind sand into the chains and wheels. Confidence shaken and chagrined by such unprofessional behavior, what could we do but smile like seasoned cyclists?

Tom and Rick's Big Adventure

June 21, 2013.
Day Two of the P2A Tour.
Clateskanie, Washington to Vancouver, Washington.
Mileage: ca 65 miles

Hard to fathom that on Wednesday I was with Dixie and on Friday I'm into mile one thirty of the P2A Tour (Pacific to Atlantic).   The first two days were an exercise in breakdowns (flat tire--Rick, missing screw--Terence's rack, and broken shifter--Tom's bike), yet filled with beauty and the emerald, idyllic spring pasture land equaled only by northern Ireland.