Report From The Riders - Day 10

Day 10

Psalm 96
“Sing to the Lord, a new song. Sing to the Lord, all the earth…
Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy; they will sing before the Lord…”
We have seen this first hand throughout this ride! The heavens, water, fields, and the cows, horses, goats, (and dogs) in them. The trees, forests, swamps and cypress trees. They have all been singing for joy before the Lord. If they are singing we must join in! Let us rejoice and sing to the Lord!


Today was a long hot, windy, hill climbing, dog chasing kind of day.

We got up early for breakfast and to pack up so we could be on the road by 7 am. We were right on schedule until we discovered that Barb had blown another tire before we had even left. The guys gave it a temporary fix that lasted about 30 miles before it blew again. She actually was in need of a new tire. The chances of finding a bike shop open on Labor Day was slim not to mention the remote possibility of finding one in any of the tiny towns in Arkansas or Oklahoma through which we traveled. The guys literally repaired it temporarily with a new tube and a band aid and it held the rest of the day. Tonight Betty’s daughter and husband joined us and brought Barb her new tire should she need it. The heat was extreme today, in the mid 90’s and of course the breeze was against us. Again we did the best we could and made it to our destination of Hugo OK. Tomorrow Texas! Our final destination and we are ready! We hope to ride in at about 4:00 and are very excited. We hope to get some pictures and maybe even a video clip up tomorrow night.

Memorable Moments:
1. Beautiful sunrise this morning to greet us.
2. Carolyn trying to run interference with the van to ward off the dogs and dumping the water cooler out of the van in the process. (It did remain in one piece and we lost only a bit of water after Karen distracted the dogs away from it.)
3. The cyclist Jason met on the road today that had been on his bike since April picking up any job he could along the way. He is somewhere in a tent tonight. We are NOT complaining about our hotel tonight.
4. Taco Salad for lunch not sandwiches! What a treat!
5. Sherry bought Cliff ice cream tonight, sorry Don!
6. The arrival of Betty’s husband Glenn and daughter Sue. They were really happy to see each other!
7. Dinner at Bruams, great hamburgers and ice cream.
8.. More laughter.

Truly Thankful
1. We are thankful for the coolness and beauty of our first 30 miles. God’s artwork was on display.
2. We are thankful for our SAG wagon drivers. We are so grateful to see them when we need our break, especially when they have popsicles!
3. We are thankful for this opportunity to ride, for leadership who has confidence in us and for people willing to give sacrificially in so many ways.
4. We again, thank you all for keeping tabs on us, praying for us and sending notes, emails and blog comments. Keep them coming.
5. We are thankful we will be going home soon to be with our loved ones and enjoy getting back into our regular routines.

Interesting Facts:
1. Dogs are faster in Arkansas than in Oklahoma.
2. Semis own the road no matter what the state we seem to find ourselves in.
3. If a town has a Walmart that means “it has arrived”
4. Even though it was Labor Day we did not pass one family having a cookout like we would in our area.
5. We laugh no matter how tired we are. Sometimes the more tired we are the more we laugh. Betty calls it “fatigue drunk”.


Things to Pray about:
1. Pray as we get started again tomorrow. That we will have a smooth day of riding so that we may arrive when expected.
2. We pray for safety, wisdom, concentration and good fellowship as we ride.
3. We pray for tail winds, a break from the heat and dry roads and lazy dogs.
4. For the finish line to be all we have hoped it would be.

ONE more day of riding until our final destination! We have grown in so many ways. Beware family and friends…you may have a very different loved one upon their return…watch for how they have grown!

Thought from one of our riders journals; “Nothing, absolutely nothing happens in Gods world by mistake”