One Month to Go!

One Month to Go!
Booked my flight to California last night! I am so excited!! It cost 430$ (one-way) and the flight is about 7.5 hours. I'm a little nervous to be arriving alone, but fortunately through technology I've been chatting with some other people on the tour and hopefully will be able to meet up with them as soon as I arrive!

May long-weekend my mom booked a campsite at Sandbanks Provincial Park, but I got called into work at Bayfield. I figure I should be working over-time since I'll be camping all summer! I had Sunday off though so I went for a nice 100km bike ride by myself. Biking through Prince Edward County is always beautiful- lots of green grass, lakes, trees, vineyards, etc. But a lot of the long country roads do not have a paved shoulder- proving to be dangerous with a lot of traffic. Drivers are used to cyclists, and are typically polite- and give me plenty of room on the road. But occassionally I'll get someone who nearly clips me or honks angrily as they go by.

 
Met up with mom and Lawrence 3/4 through my bike ride for some homemade goodness at Slickers Ice Cream in Bloomfield! Nothing tastes better after biking for hours on a hot and sunny afternoon :)

Going through Wellington, 200-300 motorcycles passed by me all giving a peace sign. I was confused as to whether I was supposed to return the sign? I found out later it's a hand signal they give each other to indicate they're going in a single line to give me more room on the road.

  

I'm also training for my first half-marathon in June! On Friday I ran 20kms, and was happy to realize after my body reached a certain point it went on auto-pilot and it felt like my feet were running for me- like I was on auto-pilot. I think that will happen quite a bit this summer haha. My body will get into a routine of biking and go onto auto-pilot.

April Update

April 1, 2013

An update on what's been happening lately.

Last weekend I was back in Listowel visiting family. My Opa and Beppe have been very supportive and helpful to me with my fundraising. They attend a United Reformed Church and were going to photocopy my fundraising letter and put it in their friends' mailboxes. Plus my Beppe had a margarine container filled with pennies for me.

Pennies have been pouring in at church too. Total count so far is at $100.00! My dad was helping me count pennies, and suggested we create a penny collection- gathering pennies from every year and putting them on a display board to sell. We'll at least create 5 boards and see if there is any interest in them. It was fun sorting through the pennies actually- we found some coins with potential value- like this one from 1929!

Training has been going GREAT! I feel like I'm in the best shape of my life. This month I've signed up for the Quinte West Healthy Half-Marathon (I'm only running 10km) with my mom (walking 10km) and sister Jenna (running 5km). And in June I've signed up for the Wellington Women's Half-Marathon with Tanisha- where I"ll be running the full 21km! Yikes. It feels good to be influencing my friends and family to exercise with me :)

I've been back in Ontario since January now and have been praying continually for a job. Finally Bayfield announced they were hiring again. I worked there for two years (2008-2010), it's a residential treatment center for boys with severe behaviour disorders. I had an "interview" with them, I just walked in and Todd told me "it's a no-brainer- we'd love to have you back". Hallelujah! Training starts tomorrow, I can't wait to work again! And then this week Tim Hofland also asked if I would be interested in working at his parents greenhouse- absolutely! Working two jobs will be tiring, but I can make up for these past months of being unemployed. I can't wait for my first pay cheque so I can start buying new bike equipment!

My brother Lawrence also announced he's moving home at the end of this month from Thunder Bay!! Another answer to prayers! I'm so excited to have him back. He did the 2008 Sea to Sea and will be able to train with me and give me advice. Well that's all for now- Happy Easter to my beautiful friends and family. <3

Overcoming Fears

I knew there would be a lot of challenges in participating for Sea to Sea. The main one I've faced so far is all the speaking! I can be so shy, I hate asking people for money and I especially hate public speaking! But I just keep reminding myself the money is not for me, it's for those in need and that's the whole purpose of this tour! I wanted to go to my local bike shop to ask them for help and support. I planned on going Monday, but after making up excuses all week, I didn't end up going until Friday. I spoke to the bike shop owner and he was more then willing to help me in any way.
On Sunday Kaitlyn and I had to talk to the church about Sea to Sea. Boy was I scared!

We shared this poem to the congregation:

A Tandem Ride With God

I used to think of God as my observer, my judge, keeping track of the things I did wrong, so as to know whether I merited heaven or hell when I die. He was out there, sort of like a president. I recognized His picture when I saw it, but I didn't really know Him.

But later on, when I met Jesus, it seemed as though life was rather like a bike, but it was a tandem bike, and I noticed that Jesus was in the back helping me pedal. I didn't know just when it was He suggested we change, but life has not been the same since I took the back-seat to Jesus, my Lord. He makes life exciting. When I had control, I thought I knew the way. It was rather boring, but predictable. It was the shortest distance between two points.

But when He took the lead, He knew delightful long cuts, up mountains, and through rocky places and at break-through speeds; it was all I could do to hang on! Even though it often looked like madness, He said, "Pedal!" I was worried and anxious and asked, "Where are you taking me?" He laughed and didn't answer and I started to learn to trust. I forgot my boring life and entered into adventure. And when I'd say, "I'm scared", He'd lean back and touch my hand.

He took me to people with gifts that I needed, gifts of healing, acceptance and joy. They gave me their gifts to take on my journey, our journey, my Lord's and mine. And we were off again. He said, "Give the gifts away; they're extra baggage, too much weight." So I did, to the people we met, and I found in giving I received, and still our burden was light.

I did not trust Him, at first, in control of my life. I thought He'd wreck it, but He knows bike secrets, knows how to make it bend to take sharp corners, jump to clear high rocks, fly to shorten scary passages. And I am learning to shut up and pedal in the strangest places, and I'm beginning to enjoy the view and the cool breeze on my face with my delightful constant companion, Jesus.

And when I'm sure I just can't do any more, He just smiles and says... "Pedal."

(Author unknown)

They loved it! And we received a lot of compliments afterwards. The pastor prayed for us, and the elders and deacons put their hands on us. It was so touching!

Training Log

Training Log:

So I'm not sure exactly how to train to bike across North America, but I figure I need to do as much exercise as possible. And a variety of workouts to workout every muscle in my body. Here's what I've logged so far:

Feb 13:
1 hour Bootcamp Class
50 min. walk outdoors
Feb 14:
50 min. walk outdoors
Feb 15:
50 min. walk outdoors
Feb 16:
16km skate on the canal in Ottawa
Feb 17:
50 min. walk outdoors
Feb 18:
30 min. on exercise bike (with Kaitlyn)
50 min. walk outdoors
Feb 19:
1 hr. Pump Class
45 min Cycle Fit Class

So I'm pretty much sore all the time- but I figure no pain, no gain!

How you can help!

Hey everyone start gathering your pennies! They may no longer have value to you, but they will to Kaitlyn Kuipers and I as we are doing a penny drive for our Sea to Sea bike tour. Together we are fundraising $20,000. Remember every penny counts!
Look at how much we collected in just 10 days! They just keep rolling in :)

You can also donate online at http://www.seatosea.org

Thanks in advance!

Freely you received, Freely give. Matt 10:8

It is so encouraging to have so much support from my friends and family, both in my community and across Canada! This weekend I went to Listowel with my Dad to visit my grandparents, aunts, and uncles on the Bakelaar side. Everyone was so excited to hear about my upcoming adventure and were very eager to help out in any way possible. I received 3 heavy bags filled with pennies from my Beppe, Aunt Karen, and cousin Alex.
My Uncle Tim showed off his new street bike (pre-Christmas present to himself). He got a pretty good deal for it, and it only weighs 11 pounds. That got me seriously thinking of buying myself a new bike. As of right now I plan on using my dad's bike, it's a little heavier and I'll need to buy smaller tires. My Uncle Tim plans on joining me on the tour for 3 days - London to Ajax, ON. That will really be something to look forward to!

Uncle Tim participating in the MS bike ride

 

 

Yesterday I received such a  nice text from my Aunt Karen:





SO Sara... I was at the gym this morning and everyone I know I asked them if they had or knew of anyone who had temp work.. I said you would do anything.. Corrie asked if you would milk cows.. I said you had never done it, but I would ask. She has done a lot of biking . . her father-in-law is the one who went sea to sea in Canada.. He would love to talk to you about his experience. He is thinking of going as a volunteer if he gets good results from his cancer treatments. Anyways, the guys at the gym said the Home Hardware is very good at sponsoring worthy causes. Some companies may even supply you with a bike as part of their sponsorship! He said if you find temp work here in Listowel then their contribution would be a gym membership and training to get you ready. And the nutritional training that you will need. So if you cannot find work in Trenton and we find work for you here... you can stay with us and train at the gym for free!

 

I feel so blessed to come from such a generous and strong Christian family that is thinking of me and looking after my needs. Without the support and prayers of my loved ones, participating in this amazing journey would not be possible.

"Be the Change You Wish to see in the World"- Ghandi

I am so excited to announce I have signed up for the Sea to Sea 2013 tour this summer! On June 24 I will be biking from Newport Beach, CA all the way to New York, NY on Aug 24! That's a total of 6,178km. This year I was supposed to be living in the Netherlands for one year, and returning to Canada in September. Things didn't work out in the Netherlands, and I ended up returning to Canada early- feeling discouraged and defeated. But when I came back I met up with my good friend Kaitlyn Kuipers. She brought up that now I would be able to do the tour this summer! At first I didn't think it would be possible to come up with $10,000. But then after some serious thinking, I thought to myself I definitely can do this! My brother did the tour in 2008 and had an amazing time. He thought it would be a challenge to raise the money as well, but with the help of a generous community he ended up raising $12,000! Everything happens for a reason, and I truly believe God allowed me to return home early from my travels so that I could participate in this tour and make a big difference in the fight to end the cycle of poverty.

In 2010, I participated on a Global Village trip with Habitat for Humanity to build a house in Guatemala.

It was a real eye-opening experience to see such extreme poverty. I returned to Canada with a newfound appreciation for my country and my life. We are so blessed here! In Guatemala we wore t-shirts with the Ghandi quote written on them, "Be the change you wish to see in the world". I wish to see a world with less pain and poverty. I wish to see a world where everyone does what they can to make this a better place to live. I wish to see a world radiating with God's love.