Despite only getting 4 hours of sleep the previous night, I only managed to get to sleep around 1:30 or 2:00 AM EST. Of course, that’s at 10:30-11:00 PM PST, so it’s really not so bad.

I awoke at 5:30 local due to the light streaming into the window of our dorm room in University of Washington. I naturally rolled over and continued sleeping, only getting up around 6:30.

Breakfast was followed by worship, introduction, orientation and a short lecture on bike safety. Then after lunch, we grabbed our bike gear and bikes, and headed to the parking lots for some on-bike safety workshops.

The rest of the afternoon was off, so I took the opportunity to familiarize some Americans with the proper rules for playing Euchre. My deck of Canada flag cards trumped any complaints that since we were in America we should play their way.

A group photo, supper, and then off to the Celebration service, jointly organized by a number of local churches.

Coming up tomorrow : Tire dipping ceromony by the ocean, then a gentle 80 km to Kennewick, Washington.

As a side note, the tour has raised over $1.5 million dollars, and the fund-raising hasn’t stopped.

Last Saturday gave the final opportunity for a good long practice ride. Eritia and I got up early (ok, not so earlier, but earlier than my work days!) on a Saturday morning, loaded up our bikes into our respective cars and drove to Thorold. We set off along the beautiful Welland Canal towards Port Colborne.

The weather was great, we had blue skies and a sunny day. We followed the Greater Niagara Circle Route, a nicely paved recreation path that saw us go from Thorold to Welland to Port Colborne to Fort Erie to Niagara Falls. Technically the route would have taken us to Lake Ontario and around to Saint Catherines, but once down the escarpment past Niagara, we cut West to shorten the ride from about 150 k to a more managable (for the sake of time) 120 k. Check out Eritia’s blog for a map of the route.

No  problems with nausea this time around, although again I was pretty beat at 90 k. Fortunatley, a short stop at Niagara Falls for photo ops gave my body some time to come up with more energy.

Also last week I had a nice 50 k ride to Freelton and back, incorporating a ride up Sydenham Road and a 68 km/hr ride down Rock Chapel Road. No time for such things this week; the bike is at the shop getting a tune-up before the trip, and I’m spending more time looking at lists and paperwork to make sure everything is good to go.

In other news, I’m at about 95% of my fundraising goal. I can only thank God for providing the funds to reach a figure that seemed unreachable in December. The exact figure is a bit shakey due to a backlog of work at the Sea to Sea office, but it appears set to rise in the next couple of days anyways.

Last Saturday, Eritia and I decided at the last minute that we would join in the group ride at Halton Hills. On Friday, we had discussed going to the ride, but we couldn’t quite figure out how to get both our bikes there without taking two vehicles or utilizing a bike rack that neither of us trust.

However, Eritia woke me up Saturday morning, since she had decided to experiment and eventually managed to fit both of our bikes into her car. Sure that we were going to be late, we headed up, with the knowledge that rain and thunderstorms were in the forecast.

We managed to get there nicely on time, and accompanied three other Sea to Sea cyclists for a great 81 km ride. At the beginning the wind was against us, and there were a number of short uphill slopes as we gradually made our way up the escarpment (which is rather gently sloped in that area). It was well worth it on the ride back, since I ended up beating my previous speed record by hitting 84.2 kph. I was a little unsure of whether to trust my speedometer, but other cyclists reported speeds of mid-70’s, and I passed one or two people, so I think it’s fair.

In the end, the forecast rain held off pretty much completely until the ride home. God instead treated us to a wonderful morning of blue skies and intermittent clouds, and really a delightful temperature in which to be cycling. Within ten minutes of packing up and heading home, we were driving through a thunderstorm!

All in all, the ride was excellent, and a much better experience than the 80 km on Victoria Day. Riding in a group of 5 is an excellent change, and it makes the distances much more manageable. I didn’t really notice any equipment issues this time, although I am now the owner of a pronounced glove-tan that makes it look like I’m wearing white mits everywhere. That should blend in within a few days if I keep up my lunch time walks, though.

On a quick fund-raising update, monies collected have now surpassed 70% of the target $10,000.

In other news, I finished my last session at the gym where I was doing strength training. I’ll still be heading in once a week to keep the upper body workouts going, with a few leg presses and squats to maintain the legs thrown in. This also means that I’ve freed up another day of the week to go cycling, so I’d best take advantage of that.

I went for a stellar bike ride today; the sky was blue, the sun too bright to look at (just like a good sun should be, right?), and there was a bit of a breeze. The trip that Eritia and I took to MEC a week and a half ago is paying off, I’m enjoying the greater gear selection immensely. No more feeling too cold on a ride, or having to do laundry constantly (I did that?) due to all my bike shorts being dirty. I also picked up another pair of cycling shoes last week since the ones I had turned into swimming pools whenever the road was wet. Unfortunately, they’re not quite right since they make my toes go numb after about 30 minutes of cycling. I’m hoping they will improve once I’ve gotten them broken in and stretched a little bit.

One response stood out among the rest and, with permission, I would like to share it with you. You’ll find it after the break :

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We started around 9 or 9:30 in the morning, at Eritia’s baking facilities in the Dutch Shop, Grimsby.  A sign and table were set up in the store so people knew that they could buy pies to help fight poverty. And buy they did! We couldn’t keep up with store orders for the longest time, let alone filling our pre-orders!

And speaking of pre-orders, it looks like next time I’ll be able to get many more pre-ordered.  It may be aggressive marketing to trot out pies to people who ordered them, in front of a whole bunch of people who didn’t, but it works. I didn’t actually do that intentionally, but in retrospect its a great idea.

With thanks to Carolin, Chris and his wife, and my siblings Hobbe and Heather, we managed to make one hundred pies and sell them all. All the costs were covered by donations, so Eritia and I both ended up with $448 each toward our Sea to Sea fund.

Also thanks to Bennett’s Apple and Cider in Ancaster, for donating all the apples; Dover Flour, for donating the pastry flour; The Dutch Shop in Grimsby, for allowing us to use their space, allowing pies to be advertised in their store, allowing pies to be run through the cashier so that customers could pay via Interac or Credit Card if they wanted, donating sugar, cinnamon, etc, and covering the majority of the cost for the boxes and pie tins!

Expect another pie day in a few weeks. Pies will be $10, and we’re working on possibly getting some pie filling donated so we can offer more kinds of pies. We have 300 pie tins left, and we’ve already got another donation of apples arranged, thanks to Drummond Orchards. Stay tuned!

That’s a great question, since I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who would say no to pie.

Well, this Saturday is the day after Pi day, which is a sort of mathematician pseudo-holiday (3rd month, 14th day -> 3.14 ~= PI). The day after is a Pie day - my sister Eritia and I, with the help of several intrepid volunteers, will be making apple pies as a fundraiser.

I’m told the pies will be either 9″ or 10″, and very tasty. One of these treats is yours for $8, and we’ll even let you order several!

If you want them prebaked, or baked and frozen, I really need to know by Saturday (short notice, I know) if you’re interested in picking up a few pies. We do plan on freezing a number of unbaked ones, so if you’re late, ask me and I can probably still hook you up.

Many thanks to Dover Flour, the Grimsby Dutch Shop, and Bennett’s Apple and Cider in Ancaster for their generous donations. Thanks to them, the cost of making these pies is next to nothing, so all the proceeds go directly to the Sea to Sea funds!

So email me ( art.smit@gmail.com ) or phone me ( 905-528-5907 ) or even talk to me in person if you want pies.

So, welcome to any Zionites who have come to find out more about what’s happening to me, to the cause, and to the trip! On the top of the site you’ll find a link to a page where you can find out how to help support me on this trip, and also a link to a brief explanation of the cause.

Over the next couple weeks I hope to be writing posts highlighting how the organizations involved work to fight the cycle of poverty and spread the Good News of Christ. Stay tuned!