Day 38: A Divine Sweep

Today I was on the Sweep Team, which means we are responsible for meals, camp clean-up, and making sure everybody gets in safely. Our duties were lightened immensely by the fact that Dordt served us supper last night and breakfast this morning, and put us up in dorms so we didn't have a camp to clean up.

That meant all we had to do was put out the food for lunches. Sounds simple, but when unexpected rain falls a simple task quickly becomes chaotic. First we hustled to get the supplies out by 5:45 am, then we scrambled to cover the food when a light rain began to fall. When the light rain turned heavy we yanked the supplies off the tables and back into the kitchen truck. We set up the large tents we use for protection from rain, moved the tables, and brought the supplies back out. It was all rather comical, which lightened the mood as we prepared for our longest day of the Tour (114 miles).

I left with my partner, Marti D., at 8:10. We rode at a leisurely pace, wanting to keep the slow riders in front of us. We stopped for donuts in Hospers about 15 miles out of Sioux Center, and then stopped for coffee in Primgar, about 30 miles out. The people there were very interested in what we were doing and gave us two freshly baked ginger snaps in support of our cause.

The young woman working the cash register was quite inspiring. Her left arm hung in a sling. She said that she had been in a snowmobile accident that separated the nerves of her arm from her spinal cord. "My arm is totally useless," she said. "I've been to Mayo numerous times and there is nothing they can do about it." When I asked her how she dealt with the loss, she replied, "This has become my new normal; I've adjusted. The main thing is I got my mind back." (There must have been extensive brain injury) What inspired me was her interest in our ride and her effort to write down the details to make sure she got them right. She had indeed adjusted to her loss.

We continued our leisurely pace, talking about life experiences, theology, vacations, and biking. The County Roads were free of traffic and quite smooth, so you didn't need to pay that much attention to your riding. Ha Ha. We turned onto another county road and I felt a large bump. "What was that?" A large rock that had blended in with tar. 200 yards down the road, I again wondered, "What is that?" My bike was riding funny. My first flat!

We got out the tools to change the flat and it started to rain again. A farmer stopped to offer assistance and ended up telling his life story to Marti and making a donation to Sea to Sea. Much as I hated that flat, this wonderful encounter wouldn't have happened without it.

We finally caught up with the slower riders and rode with them for a while. There were another group of Sweepers behind us and so, with 25 miles to go, Marti and I continued ahead. We raced into camp at speeds enhanced by a still tailwind. That's right, on our longest day of the Tour we enjoyed a strong tailwind. Marti is faster and stronger than me, so I had to work my butt off to keep up with her. What a lot of fun! God is good.

This day had it all: Cool temperatures-smooth, open roads-interesting new people-opportunity to share the mission of the ride-wonderful conversation-and some intense biking. With a great deal of satisfaction and gratitude we pulled into camp at 6:20 and focused our appetites on the supper, which was once again magnificent-chicken, mashed potatoes, cabbage salad, and more cabbage salad (it is one of my favorites).

This day had its share of surprises and more than its share of blessings. It was one of those days where everything is taken care of, and nothing is left unresolved. Today it was obvious that God was on the Sweep Team behind me. What a comfort!