Cindy working on a tire during one of our many "flat" stops
Cindy phoning to tell her piano teacher that she'll be late for lessons... we were lost on a very non-road-bike-friendly trail
Some of the things we've gotten ourselves into by accident (note: we are actually riding road bikes... don't ask me how we found ourselves on this kind of terrain...)
Prepared for the rain... which never came. We still got wet though. From the inside.
Food, an essential ingredient on any ride.
Lookout point from a hill in North Calgary
Heading out on our first real hill ride
The Millarville Esso "bathroom break" spot\
On the road again
Preparing to take on a hill that cyclists call, "The road to Nepal" (we only did the first hill...)
Sense of victory at the crest of the hill
Lunch stop
This is absolutely the most wonderful thing to do after cycling all morning
Post-hill-ride stretches in Bragg Creek
Well, we're down to the final week. This morning in the van on the way to church when Dad mentioned this fact, Cindy and I errupted in simultaneous "Ahhh!!"s. It is hard to believe that in six days, we will be heading out on what will likely be the toughest thing we have ever attempted. Praise the Lord for the grace and strength He gives us each day. On our training rides, Cindy and I have had a bundle of challenges, learning experiences, and great memories together. Here are a few snapshots of some of our experiences on two wheels.
In the past couple weeks of training for Bike for Bibles, Cindy and I have spun our pedals over 425 kilometers of bike trails, highways and streets through lots of sun (and more recently, rain). Not surprisingly, the more times you turn a crank arm, the more hours you spend outside, and the more times a wheel goes around, the more things go wrong. Here are a few of our most recently learned first-hand lessons:
Lesson #1 – If your sister is slowing pulling out farther and farther in front of you, and the going is getting tougher and tougher, and then you hear a flapping sound, you have a flat tire.
Lesson #2 – If you hear a sudden bang and a hiss and your bike stops, you have a flat tire.
Lesson #3 – If you see a chunk of metal sticking out of your tire, don’t leave it there. You could get a flat tire.
Lesson #4 – If your tire is flat before you leave home, don’t just fill it with air and go. Patch the tube first, or else you may find yourself 20 kilometers from home dragging your rims on the asphalt. Lazyness does not pay off.
Lesson #5 – When changing a tire, take one side off at a time, then put one side back on at a time. Believe me, it is a long and tiring fight on the side of the bike trail in the middle of FishCreekPark to try and pry both sides on at once... pry, pop, pry, pop.
Lesson #6 – When changing a tire, use two tire levers at the same time when trying to pry on or off the final part of the tire. Believe me, it is a long and tiring fight on the grass beside a road in Riverbend to do it with one tire lever.
Lesson #7 – When changing a tire, always check on either side of the tire to make sure the tube isn’t pinched before inflating it. Believe me, having two flats one day after another is not fun.
Lesson #8 – When sitting in the blazing sun next to 52nd St. changing your tire for the second time in one ride, remember that a crown of life awaits him who perseveres under trials. Also remember that scissors work well for shaving off metal nicks in the rim that puncture tire tubes.
Lesson #9 – When patching a tire, put contact cement on the patch and the tube and press the two together with all your strength for five minutes until your thumbs go numb. Otherwise your patch will fall off and you will have a flat. Again.
Lesson #10 – When you’ve biked over 70 km against a headwind, be cautious when stopping, or you may forget to unclip your feet from the pedals and fall on your side into your sister while a rollerblader watches.
Lesson #11 – When you accidentally ride off the side of the road, do not swerve back on quickly and end up crashing with your sister.
Lesson #12 – If you can’t really remember the last hour or two of riding, stop and eat something. Quick.
Lesson #13 – If you use carbon dioxide pressurized air fillers for your (frequent) emergency flats, bring more than one canister.
Lesson #14 – If there is a chance of thunder storms in the forecast, bring your coat. Riding at 20 or 30 km/hr creates its own wind chill. An hour of that in the rain in a T-shirt is cold. Even in July.
Lesson #15 – Do not adjust your brakes unless you are well fed, hydrated, mentally calm, emotionally tranquil, physically rested, bathroomed, and otherwise feeling very patient.
Lesosn #16 – Drink at least one bottle of water for every hour that you are cycling, otherwise you’ll have to make up the deficit once you return home, which is not my favorite past time.
Lesson #17 – Bend your elbows slightly when grasping the handlbars and keep your cadence at least 90 RPM. Otherwise Cindy will calmly remind you, “elbows and cadence?” and you will be forced to admit your downfalls, “um... elbows locked, cadence 70... Argh.”
Lesson #18 – A faint, constant and unidentifiable squeak is annoying. I guess that’s not a lesson...
Lesson #19 – When your behind is sore, try standing when pedaling. If your legs are sore, standing may not be wise. If both are sore, hope that you don’t have many kilometers left.
Lesson # 20 – Shift down before you reach the hill, not once you’ve reached it.
Lesson #21 – If you are on a hill in your lowest gear and you are standing up and you are leaning all of your weight on one pedal, and it doesn’t go down, that is bad.
Lesson #22 – Never stop pushing hard until after you have crested a hill.
Lesson #23 – Do not despair when your sister passes you on the uphill. You will pass her on the downhill. (It has to do with mass and acceleration physics equations).
Lesson #24 – Be prepared that it could take you five hours of bike maintenance before you can leave on your three hour bike ride.
Lesson #25 – If you are waiting for your sister to get through a pedestrian gate after cycling 83 km, beware of looking back and calling to ask if your sister has fallen off her bike. Your legs could give out and you could fall off your bike. (Actually, this is more humorous than painful).
Lesson #26 – It is really encouraging to recite Scripture verses while riding.
Lesson #27 – When you are tired and sore and need some encouragement, it’s time to go get a hug from Dad.
Yesterday morning, I arrived safely in the Calgary airport from Ecuador. After eleven hours on three different flights and twelve hours of waiting in airports, I was exhausted but very happy to be home. Thank you all so much for your prayers for me. Spending six weeks in Ecuador has been an incredible learning experience. It has been so encouraging for me to see how our God is working around the world and I have been so inspired by the many answers to prayer that I have witnessed.
Sharing in the lives of Ecuadorian families, and living in a new culture and language has left me with a new perspective, and profound gratitude for God's many blessings. I can't wait to share more with all of you!
I am pleased to announce that, thanks to the generosity of our many sponsors, we have successfully surpassed the halfway mark to our sponsorship target for Bike for Bibles. So far we have received $1430, and our goal is to raise $2400 to help spread God's word at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. (see our other posts under the "Bike for Bibles" category)
Thank you so much everyone! We continue to trust God, who alone is the Provider of every good thing. (James 1:17)
Yesterday I went fishing with Justo, Santiago, Josue, Juan and Cristina to the Cajas, an isolated place at over 4,000 meters altitude with lakes. We didn't catch any fish, but the scenery was beautiful. I had the opportunity to experience several new things, such as climbing uphill through mud in rubber boots at 4000 meters, and being stung by stinging nettles. When we first started hiking, just walking slowly uphill felt about as difficult as running. I was feeling terribly unfit and couldn't figure out what was wrong until Justo said, "Kim, do you notice the altitude?" I went running this morning back down in Cuenca, and it was a lot easier than walking up in those mountains, so my exhaustian must have been from the altitude.
I followed Justo and Santiago up into this strange forest growing on the side of the mountain. That's where I got to experience the stinging nettles. I wonder how plants can sting like insects... strange. The plant life was so unique. It was warm and calm and the ground was sopping wet, but the foliage was more like that of a dessert or prairie because of the altitude. Very interesting. We had lunch on some rocks next to one of the lakes, and I had a lot of fun taking pictures of some of the plants and scenery. God is surely an amazing archetect!
Here are a few lovely pictures of a classic and gourmet cuisine here in Ecuador... Cui. Or, more commonly known as guinea pig. Giovani and his family invited Claudia and Paolla and I over to their house for supper, and I got to see the whole cooking process. They put the cui on a big thick stick and slow-roasted it over charcoal for about 45 minutes. I didn´t know what to expect taste-wise, but it was actually very good... something like tough chicken with a slightly different aftertaste. And the feet were crunchy.
Here is the picture of me with a monkey in Shell. God was sure creative when he made the monkey... their tails are amazing, and their curiosity even more so!
