Thursday, September 10, 2009

Day 11 - Comin' Home!

Thursday, September 10, 2009

There are several different directions in which we are all going after we make our official appearance on stage in front of all the CareNet Conference attendees.

Mark is staying around Baltimore for a while to sell the Christmas Cards that LPC produces and sells. Our Life Cards are just one more way that God uses to financially sustain the ministry of the four Lakeshore Pregnanccy Centers. Check 'em out at www.lpclifecards.blogspot.com.

Bob and Caleb Curtis are meeting up with their family to do some more traveling before heading to the homeland of Holland.

Dave Dreyer, Cliff Lynema, John DeHaan, and Derek Owens are heading back to Holland with the van and trailer full of everyone's biking equipment.

Keep checking back here, or subscribe to our posts so you don't miss out on anything in the future. We'll be using this same blog next year and even prior to then for a few items we want to stay in touch with you on. So stay tunned, just because this year's trip is concluding, doesn't mean we're done stayin' in touch.

Baltimore, MD to Holland, MI

~683 Miles / 11 Hours Driving


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Day 10 - Final Road Report

Today was our last day of riding. We put in a solid day of 76.46 miles through some tough terrain, not the most challenging we've encountered on this trip, but tough. Quite honestly today was fairly uneventful. I was informed by a guy in a vehicle next to me at a stop light that "You done got ur brake light on sir. Ya might wanna get that fixed." Yeah, if my bicycle had brake lights, I might be so inclined to get 'em fixed, but since it's a bicycle, I think we're okay, the red blinky thing on the back is so no one hits me from behind. 'Preciate the concern though.

Bob had something significant to look forward to all day; meeting up with his wife and kids who came to Baltimore. They greeted us with a sign and cheering some 25 miles out of Baltimore and again as we arrived to the hotel. Thanks guys. Seriously though, knowing he'd see the fam. gave Bob a little extra energy boost throughout the day. It kinda made John, Mark and I jealous as we will not be meeting up with our wives for 1, 2, and 3 days from now. We miss them, not collectively of course, we each miss our own wife respectively.

We encountered some pretty amazing country side full of Civil War era history. Lots of really neat Colonial architecture, unfortunately most of these old homes and buildings were not kept up very well. None the less, very cool stuff. Ellicott City reminded me of a scene set on a post card of a remote Italian sea side city, except not in Italy and not by the sea side. Colonial. All 10 minutes that it took us to pass through Ellicott left a good 1st impression. It would've been neat to spend a day there wandering around.

We arrived into the outskirts of Baltimore and made our way down town with relative ease compared to what we were expecting. Really rough roads, but we got here. As we rounded our last corner approaching the Hilton (site of the 2009 Care-Net Conference) we were greeted by a crowd of Care-Net people. Cheering. Cameras. Questions. Conversations. Catching our breath. It was a great ending to a long ride. Thanks Care-Net folks for the warm greeting to close out our ride. It was a blessing.

Tonight we rest up. Tomorrow we make an appearance at the Care-Net Conference and then head in various directions. John, Cliff, Dave and I will head home with all of the gear in the van and trailer. Bob and Caleb will vacation their way home with their family. And our fearless leader Mark is going to stick around for a few days to run our exhibitor's booth at the conference selling our Life Cards.

As I mentioned previously, please keep checking back here or subscribe to our posts if you haven't already done so. We will be updating you on a few things yet into the near future. Then next year when we repeat this craziness all over again, we'll use the same blog.

Thanks to each of you for each encouraging word, prayer, and contribution. We are all extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in this ride as it has been an experience that has deeply impacted each of us personally, spiritually, professionally and organizationally as representatives of Lakeshore Pregnancy Centers of Holland, Allegan, Allendale, and Grand Haven, Michigan. If you have any questions about LPC, how you can get involved in what we do, next year's ride, or any of our other events, please don't hesitate to connect with any of us.

That's it for now, time to call it a night. Till next time.

Today’s Stats:
Ride Time: 5:44:34
Today’s Distance: 76.46 Miles
Total Trip Distance: 701.22 Miles
Average Speed: 13.3 MPH
Max Speed: 35.50 MPH
Flat Tires Today: 0
Flat Tires So Far: 4
Total # of Dog Chases Worth Mentioning: 0 so far
Road Kill Tally:We have the final count. Cliff will let you know upon our return.

Some pix:

We've arrived. Let's get some pictures taken so we can get off our bikes for the last time on this trip.















Thanks for the welcome banner Care-Net.















Not to us, but to your name be the honor and glory.
It is only by His grace that we have had the honor of gathering and growing together to bless His name. For this we are forever Grateful.