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“Cheating”

January 25, 2009 | posted by Jon under united states, updates | Comments (3)

Call it a catch-up post, but I feel like people deserve a longer narrative of what has been going on these past couple of days in recompense for our neglecting to post…..

I respect people who call themselves purists, and I think there is a lot to be said for that viewpoint.  However, when it comes to bike touring, I consider myself an opportunistic purist.  That is, if I can ride, I will, and I prefer it.  But if I can’t ride, I’ll find another way to keep going.  This past week, that “another way” manifested itself in the form of hitchhiking.

Some people might look at the past couple of days of travel as “cheating”, but Lars and I decided early on that we weren’t going to kick ourselves or get depressed about failing to ride every mile.  First of all, our route doesn’t allow it (seach Wikipedia for Darien Gap), and second, we don’t have anything to prove.  It’s not a race, and at our final destination no one is going to fault us for not riding through hardly any of Alabama.  If they do, we already have a response for them - “When was the last time you rode 7,000+ miles transcontinentally?”

Yeah, so maybe I am a little disappointed that my rear sat on more seat cushion than leather saddle these past couple of days, but I think there are lessons to be learned from hitching, just like any other stretching experience.  But before the “thumbs up and out!” sermon, I should recount the week’s events, picking up where Lars’ post left off: Tuesday’s (Jan 20) “Inaugural” ride to Atlanta.

A journal excerpt (verbatim….I was tired when I wrote this):

103.5 miles. Enough said.  6 AM to 6:30 or 7 PM riding.  That seemed like that’s all that was (??).  Not good riding either.  Crammed, trafficky riding.  But to be a little less depressing, a list of things I saw on the road today:

4 bungees, 1 complete set of lingerie, string, tape, 1 frying pan, 2 ice cube trays, a sharp-looking knife, a Barbie, many glass shards, 1 car headlight, a couple of pens, and a hubcap.

I’m tired, congrats to Obama, goodnight.

Tuesday was by far our longest day, but we had Vernon’s house to look forward that evening.  Vernon is a wonderful man who used to teach at Goshen College, particularly in cross-cultural education, so it was interesting to talk both to him and to others with him present, since he added much to the conversation.  Little did we know we would have a cheering, picture-snapping receiving party to greet us when we pulled into their house.  After a splendid meal of cornbread and ham and bean soup, we chatted with Vernon and co. before they graciously left us with their entire house (Vernon remarried and now lives down the street with his wife, but still keeps his original house for guests).

That following morning we were treated to breakfast at IHOP where we met a friend of Vernon’s that worked for the state mapping all the dirt roads in Georgia by hand on linen sheets.  He ate with us, and apparently frequented the restaurant enough to be be able to order “the usual” - a senior special with grits instead of hash browns and two glasses of sweet tea :).  No wonder he comes back…

Lars and I then headed off down the road with full bellies and a bright outlook - for about 10 miles.  I didn’t expect to ride 100+ miles without consequence, especially after 5 days of rest, so that meant knee pain was back in full force.  We rode to I-85 where we promptly situated ourselves on the on-ramp with high hopes of catching a ride on the many trucks headed south.  The only car we managed to stop was a patrol car headed south that told us to get off of the on-ramp, and that hitching in Georgia was illegal.  We smiled and nodded and handed him a card with this website’s address on it, and headed back to the gas station to ask for rides there.  After 3.5 hours of no luck at the gas station, I decided to brave the on-ramp again.  As luck would have it, I was again scolded and told I would not get another chance.  Finally Lars and I caught a ride with two brothers and their Latino workers who were in the repo business.  That ride was culturally stretching for me, because it mixed the down-home, wild southern country boys with a quiet, observant Latino presence.  Then when we jumped in, it seemed as though all of our cultures were as squished as our bodies, and it was a bit uncomfortable.  If different cultures had scents, this ride was like walking into the Yankee Candle Store.  Thankfully it was only for 10 miles.

Following that ride, we got another short ride with a hunter who educated us about the difference between deer raised in Georgia and deer raised in Illinois (no “gamey” taste in Illinois meat), and then we got our final ride  with a couple headed back to Alabama from Atlanta with an automatic wheelchair for their neighbor.  They were incredibly gracious and dropped us off in La Grange, GA where Vernon had referred us ahead to a contact there, named Anton Flores.  After arriving at his home, we had a chance to eat a wonderful meal and talk to Anton and his wife, Charlotte, about a community they have started.  Alterna Community is a housing collective started by Anton and his wife to provide for immigrants in La Grange.  The Flores’ involvement allow immigrants to live in homes rather than trailers and still pay a similar rent, all where earning equity and learning about home ownership.  This group of close neighbors meet together almost daily for liturgy, prayer, or a meal, and work at meshing their beliefs, values, and daily lives into one cloth of life.

What impressed me most about Anton’s work was he really didn’t have many models to work from. Not many people have done this sort of shared buying, and I respect him for seeing a need, coming up with a solution, and then running with the idea.  So far it seems to be working quite well, and the community is expanding.

After breakfast with the Flores’, we headed back out onto the highway….my knee still bothered me. We had high hopes of making it to Montgomery, about 100 miles distant, that day.  We must have been looking extra presentable with our hair just right, because it was not more than half an hour before we got a ride taking us to Greenville, AL, about 140 miles from where we were.  We rode with an Apache helicopter technician that had just returned from Afghanistan.  He was very interesting to talk to, and we asked him tons of questions about his war experience, but again I felt a clash of beliefs that our conversation never really touched on.  I suppose that is part of being in a different culture, even in what seems like a fairly homogenous United States.

We arrived in Greenville around noon, where we leisurely ate lunch.  We were pleased with our position, having “ridden” 140 miles that day already, with about 70 left to go.  After lunch I approached a huge horse trailer and asked the two silent horsemen from Georgia if they would give Lars and I a ride.  They didn’t speak for what seemed like 5 min, finally muttering that, “there’s a lotta’ meanness goin’ around…” and that they would talk about it over their lunch.  After emerging, one of the horsemen introduced the other as, “the meanest man in Georgia.”  Lars and I both immediately considered the fact that we weren’t actually in Georgia, but didn’t tell the men our thoughts.  As soon as we loaded into the cab, the man in the front placed a sheathed knife between himself and the driver, I suppose as a warning to us shady bikers in case we tried to pull anything funny.  I smiled to myself as he put the knife away about halfway through the ride as they both warmed up to us.

After saying goodbye to our final ride, we rode the final 1/2 mile to the Poarch Creek Community Church, where we stayed Thursday afternoon through Sunday to rest my knees.  As we rode, I recounted the events of the past couple of days in my head.  The difficulty and uncertainty of hitching, the many different types of people we met, the split-second choice that people made to pick us up, the good fortune of finding people headed the same way we were, and all the continued hospitality we were shown along the way.  It is hard for me not to acknowledge the protection and guidance of God throughout such a process, and I’m not sure it would have been possible otherwise.  I am slowly learning how to hand over my current position, condition, and outlook to God, allowing space for the unexpected.  I welcome your prayers for our minds and bodies as we continue to exercise both.

Blessings, Baptists, and Bantam Chef

January 15, 2009 | posted by Jon under united states, updates | Comments (14)

Yes, I do have internet again this morning (at a hotel!), and the story behind it is rather incredible (at least to Lars and I), so we thought we’d share it with you.  We got into Union, SC last night around 5.  As usual, we went to the local public library to check email, update this site, and figure out our next steps.  As we were leaving, we asked the librarians which churches they thought would be willing to let us stay in their building for the night.  They told us to check out Tabernacle Baptist Church, saying “that’s probably your best bet.”

Boy was it ever.  We entered the church right as Choir practice was starting and the Wed. evening sermon was concluding.  After talking to a couple of people, our reputation soon preceeded us, and a number of church members were working on setting us up with accomodations .  After tossing around the idea of sleeping in the church’s gym, which would have been more than fine with us, they decided to get us a hotel room, saying, “We’re going to do something better for y’all.”

That seemed to be the theme for the evening.  As we were getting directions to the hotel and trying to thank the people of Tabernacle Baptist as best we could, a lady handed us each $5, saying that we could go get something to eat across the street at the Bantam Chef, a Southern fast food chain that has now become my favorite restaurant in the genre.

So we took her advice and headed over to the Bantam Chef, which apparently was owned by a member of Tabernacle Baptist Church.  Upon learning who we were, the owner told the wonderful ladies at the front counter to “take care of us.”  That manifested itself in the form of two huge cheeseburgers “with everything” (chili, tomatoes, lettuce, mayo, mustard, and ketchup), as well as generous servings of cole slaw, fries, and soda.

After delightfully devouring this meal, we sat in the booth of Bantam Chef, stuffed and satisfied.  It was just then that we recieved a phone call from Steve, a reporter with the local radio station.  I talked to him for a couple of minutes on the phone, fielding theological questions such as, “What do you ”Mehonites” believe?”, “Do y’all believe in heaven and hell?”, “Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and our Lord and Savior?”

Steve showed up in the next 15 minutes, and a brief interview (complete with stuttering soundbyte supplied by Lars and I) was conducted, but what was really interesting to me was the discussion of theology that ensued in that local fast food joint.  We spoke with Steve for a while about who the Mennonites are, how they differ from the Baptists, and what commonalities all religions share.  It was clear that he was personally interested in our trip, and it was good to fellowship with him.

Full of food and good conversation, Lars and I gleefully rode to the hotel room provided for us at the Days Inn (which, we were told, was “just about the nicest hotel we have.”), told the clerk our names, and he handed us the keys to a heated, dry room complete with a hot shower and two wonderful beds.  We sat there, still in our bike clothes, shaking our heads at what had just taken place that evening.  I am still processing it further, but suffice it to say that God is good, and sometimes more than good, for reasons we don’t yet understand.

How to ride pain free…

January 14, 2009 | posted by Jon under united states, updates | Comments (5)

Unfortunately, I don’t really know the answer to that subject quite yet.  It has been a frustrating process dealing with one thing or another since Day 2 of our trip, but I can say things are on the upswing and I’m learning an incredible amount about bike biomechanics. 

I hitch-hiked into Durham last Friday with some pretty bad pain in both of my Achilles tendons.  I spent Saturday morning trying to find bike shops that knew what they were talking about fit-wise, and luckily I found one.  The Bicycle Chain of Durham, NC gave me a free bike fitting complete with all kinds of gadgets, but it really just lowered my seatpost. 

While at Rutba House I also did a fair amount of icing and Aleve-eating to help myself out.  On Sunday, Lars, Rutba House members, and I went to a church service at St. John’s Missionary Baptist Church in Durham.  During the service, both Lars and I were called up unexpectedly and prayed over by the pastor and others for healing and safety.  We have yet to find out if the pastor knew about our trip….

Leaving Rutba on Monday made me quite nervous, but I was able to ride the 80 miles to Asheboro without any tendon pain.  However, both of my knees started acting up during the ride due to a seatpost that was too low.  So now I am back to the process of adjusting my seatpost, taking Aleve, and rubbing Flexall on both of my knees to be able to ride relatively pain free.  The pain comes and goes, and it hasn’t gotten much worse or subsided, so I’m just waiting it out.  I’d appreciate your prayers and thank you for the concern many of you have shown thus far.  I’m hopeful about the situation, because I know that it takes a while to get used to the rigors of bike touring, and because we have built in a number of rest days.  Lastly, I guess semi-hopefully, I have 8,000 more miles to figure out a comfortable riding position…..I just hope I find one before I get to Paraguay.

In the news…

January 9, 2009 | posted by Jon under press, united states | Comments (2)

The Mennonite Weekly Review Article:

http://www.mennoweekly.org/2009/1/12/humble-way-travel/

The Intelligencer Journal Article:

http://blogs.lancasteronline.com/potholes/2009/01/07/local-cyclist-departs-for-paraguay/

The EMU article by Jim Bishop:

www.emu.edu/news/index.php/1827

 

 

Short Notice Guests

January 8, 2009 | posted by Jon under united states, updates | Comments (12)

Yup, since heading out on Tuesday, that’s what we’ve become.  It has been both  strange and exciting to leave the circle of support that showed up to see us off in the cold rain Tuesday morning.  Strange that you can so quickly leave that feeling of support and community, but exciting in that you can find it again in the most unexpected places.  So far such support has come through very well for us.  Tuesday night we slept in the now-retired day care center in the basement of the Scott’s household from Charlottesville, and yesterday night we slept in the Warren’s RV on a beautiful 35 acre farm near Farmville, VA.  Mr. Warren actually drove 20 min or so to pick us up at the gas station (which is where we got caught in the dark) and took us back to the family farm (much thanks to Aaron Trimble for that contact).  Tonight we plan to stay in the farm house of a lady I actually just met about 20 min ago here at the Clarksville Library.  We’ll let you know how that goes :).  All of these people have no reason to host us, no reason to completely open their homes and hearts to us, but they do, and for that we are grateful, and give thanks to God for keeping us safe and looking out for us on our journey.

Besides incredible hospitality, the ride has been mostly good.  The first two days we rode into some cold rain, but we kept our heads up, and it made us appreciate the sun we had today.  Additionally, I’d like to ask for your prayers for my Achille’s tendons, which are acting up again.  It is a recurring problem that I had when biking across the US, and right now they are over-stressed from a newly heavy load and the rigors of bike touring.  So I will try to get them some rest in the next couple of days, and then see how I’m doing.  It is a hard thing to accept this early in the trip, especially when considering what all we have left to ride through, but I’m trying to stay positive and get some rest.

Well, there you have it, update one of many-with a small insight into my all too literal Achille’s heel….

P.S. Lars is doing just fine….he’s a beast

Bikes, BINGO, and Beyond

October 27, 2008 | posted by Jon under preparation, updates | Leave a Comment

Over Fall Break Lars and I decided we were going to set out on a practice run for our trip. Destination: Lancaster, PA. We planned to attend my church, Community Mennonite Church of Lancaster, and make some announcements, maybe talk to some conference leaders, and just do some publicity in general. It turned out that that plan was never realized. After leaving late on Friday we only rode 30 miles to the Getz Farm (est. 1796) north of Forestville, VA. The Getzs’ were very hospitable and gave us their yard to sleep in as well as a wooden spoon we used to cook our pasta that evening. Sitting around the MSR Dragonfly we realized were weren’t going to make the remaining 170 miles the next day. So, being flexible, we changed our route. We were headed to Washington, D.C.

The following day was 100 crowded and busy miles, and we got onto the Metro with all of our belongings just as it began to get dark. We ended up at the WCSC house that EMU owns, where Becca Yoder and Co. were more than hospitable, giving us food, clothing, and a warm dry place to sleep. The following day, Sunday, we spent visiting a church plant in Anacostia that Lars’ aunt and uncle attend. We were greeted warmly by many there and we also received a plate full of food just for showing up. “I’m glad you’re here,” was a common phrase used in church that morning. After church we had lunch with Lars’ aunt and uncle, and left there with stomachs full of pupusas and a bike map of Washington, D.C, which we used on our way home. We had dinner than night at a hip coffee shop/bookstore/restaurant called Busboys and Poets with some friends before coming back to the WCSC house to make cookies as a way of saying thanks for their hospitality. We ended up going to bed at 2 AM or thereabouts.

Monday morning we left the WCSC house around 10 and rode mostly on bike trails for a good 30 miles. They were wonderful trails, and it was an adjustment “rubbing shoulders” with traffic again after such nice paths. We put in 84 miles that day, and ended up in the town of Amissville on Rte. 211, sleeping at the Amissville Volunteer Fire Company’s fairgrounds. It was BINGO night at the fairgrounds, and we learned just as much about Amissville culture as we did about BINGO variations. They didn’t let Lars leave without at least 2 hamburgers, one of which I ate the following morning for breakfast.

Tuesday we were on the road by 9 AM with two daunting climbs ahead of us: crossing over Skyline Drive and Massanutten Ridge via the New Market Gap. We slowly but surely made it up over these hills and had very enjoyable rides down the other side; fall colors are especially enjoyable cruising at 30+ mph. After a jaunt of Rte. 11 south of New Market, we up the 60-some miles by riding into Harrisonburg, sprinting to try to beat the light cycles, glad to be back home.

Overall it was a good trip. I think it has a lot to teach us about the much larger trip that is ahead of us. First, things won’t always go as planned, and we’ll have to be flexible. Second, hospitality will present itself in the form of clothes to wear other than bike shorts, hamburgers from BINGO night, or the phrase “I’m glad you’re here.” And third, we cannot go where God is not.