Week One: Seattle Washington to Kennewick Washington

Monday June 30: 81 km. 90F sunny. Seattle Washington to Sultan Washington

We started our grand adventure in Puget Sound, dipping our rear tires in the Pacific Ocean, and biking to Sultan Washington. A nice easy day flat and level. The CRC churches in Seattle fed us with a wonderful breakfast before our ride at Golden Garden Beach.

Tuesday July1: 127 km. 88F sunny. Sultan Washington to Leavenworth Washington

Very tough day biking. We climbed 4000 ft up Steven's Pass with up to a 7% grade, especially the last five miles being the steepest. The entire Sea to Sea Support staff was on top when I got there. A welcome sight indeed. As difficult as the day was, it will be a good way to get us in great shape. "What doesn't kill me will make me stronger!"

A welcome sight along the way

Snow melt has all the steams rushing down the mountain sides

Even the Washington State DOT recognizes the Sea to Sea tour

Wednesday July 2: 93 km. 101F sunny. Leavenworth Washington to Ellensburg Washington

Another 4,000 ft climb over Blewett Pass. It started out at about 70 F at seven AM when we started out and heated up to 103 F by the time we got to Ellensburg. Get into the tough stuff right off the bat! At about 3 AM we got some "rain" at the school where we were camped out. Someone forgot to turn out the sprinklers. What a soggy mess! At least I now know my tent is waterproof.

Sea to Sea support vehicles and cyclists at a pit stop along the way.

A taste of thing to come. By the time we reach Colorado we will be at 12,000 ft.

Thursday July 3: 68 km. 96 F sunny. Ellensburg Washington to Yakima Washington.

The geography has changed dramatically from lush green mountain forests to desert like conditions, where the only green is along the rivers. It was a pleasant downhill ride all morning. We stayed at the Riverside Christian School in Yakima, where the local CRC church provided us with rides to the local bike shop, Wal Mart, or where ever else we needed to go. Mountains of baked goods awaited us at camp supplied by these same friendly folks.

Sea to Sea bikers along the Yakima River.

Clare Kooistra in his very unique three wheel recumbent (Clare is Jackie Vandeputte's brother)

Friday July 4: 66 km. 75 F light rain. Yakima Washington to Sunnyside Washington

Another easy day. Our first rainy day of the trip. We started out in the rain at 7;30 AM for about half an hour, then light drizzle the rest of the day. Travelling along the Yakima River among cherry, apple and pear orchards. And for all you beer lovers, field, after field of hops. All this lush farmland is only a few miles wide and then desert beyond, brown and barren hills. Apparently only one third of Washington is lush green rain forests and mountains, the rest part of the Sonoran Desert, which stretches from Mexico to Southern British Columbia. The Faith Community Church supplied us with drinks and goodies along the way in the town of Zillah WA. The CRC church in Sunnyside WA provided us with a plentiful and delicious dinner. Then snacks at the church where we watched the fourth of July fireworks. All the the cyclists flew American flags that day, supplied by a couple of Canadians on the tour none the less! We are just absolutely blown away by the support and encouragement we are receiving along the way.

The Faith Community Church in Zillah WA provided refreshments along the way.

Myself and a few other cyclists climbing a grade along the Yakima River.

Saturday July 5: 79km. 85F sunny. Sunnyside Washington to Kennewick Washington.

An easy day along the Yakima and Columbia Rivers to Kennewick WA, where the local CRC community provided rides to Wal Mart, bike shops, laundamats and wherever else we needed to go.

A new understanding of the term "river of life", where without the rivers, this part of the country would be nothing but desert.

Camping in a beautiful park along the banks of the Columbia River.

Welcome to my humble abode (for the next eight weeks!)

Sunday July 6:

The CRC church in Kennewick joined us for a celebration service and fed us lunch. Very much appreciated!

A group of recent immigrants from Myanmar and members of the Local CRC, performed a few songs for us.

June 2008 Training Rides

31 km. Huntington Indiana 84F sunny June 2

34 km. Boonville Missouri 91F partly sunny June 3

39 km. Lizard Head Pass, Telluride Colorado 60F sunny June 6

I started at 8,800 ft and climbed to the summit at 10,300 ft. Total vertical climb of 1,500 ft. Maximum grade of 7%.

70 km. Red Mountain Pass, Ouray Colorado 76F sunny June 8

Finally!! Fifth time is a charm! I have attempted to climb this pass four times in the past, but finally made it all the way to the 11,018 ft. summit. I started in the town of Ridgway at 7,000 ft., for a vertical climb of 4,000 feet. Maximum grade of 9%. It took me three and a half hours on the way up and only one hour on the way back down. A very exhausting day, but I achieved what I set out to do.

No shoulder, no guardrail! Yikes!! Don't look down!!

51 km. Ellis Kansas 60F sunny June 9

54 km. Burlington to Brantford Ontario 25C sunny June 11

82 km. Brantford Ontario 26C sunny June 13

66 km. Brantford Ontario 20C drizzle June 14

41 km. Odessa Texas 75F partly cloudy June 19

77 km. Ridgway to Placerville Colorado return 39 - 75F sunny June 21

7000 ft. elevation to 9000 ft. to 7300 ft. and return for a 3700 ft. vertical climb. Colorado Route 145 is part of the "Ride the Rockies" bike tour, a 2,000 cyclist annual event, taking place three days afte I rode here. Halfway up Dallas Divide, painted on the pavement was a sign "The burning in your legs is all in your mind!" and then near the summit, another sign "The view is worth all the pain. Savor it!" I'm sure that many times this summer, sentiments like this will come to mind.

41 km. Penrose Colorado 75F sunny June 22

40 km. Kingdom City Missouri 87F sunny June 23

54 km. Kinderhook Michigan 80F sunny June 24

53 km. Burlington to Brantford Ontario 26C sunny June 25

Well, that's it for training for the tour. 3700 km. all told. Physically I'm ready as I'll ever be. Now we are off to an adventure of a lifetime! I'm hopeful all goes well for the cyclists and the support team. I've raised about $11,000 to date, and I understand the total raised has topped 1.5 million dollars. Thanks to all the donors for the support, and we all anticipate God's blessing on the who will be helped by this "little endeavor" Now it's off to Seattle! My email address while on tour is dirksseatosea@live.ca

Sleepless in Seattle: Air Canada decided to take my bike for a tour before I did. I arrived in Seattle on Saturdy 3 PM and for some reason my bike went to San Fransisco. I couldn't get an answer from Air Canada as to when it would set here, so after spending a very anxious night and all day Sunday, my bike finally showed up at 7PM Sunday. All was intact, I put it back together, went for a short test ride and we are now ready for the start of an adventure of a lifetime.

May 2008 Training Rides

25 km. Brantford Ontario -2C sunny May 1

40 km. Brantford Ontario 15C sunny May 4

26 km. Springfield Illinois 79F hazy May 6

102 km. Albuquerque New Mexico 70F sunny May 9

94 km. Grand Junction Colorado 60F sunny May 10

Colorado National Monument. This National Park sits on a 2,000 ft mesa with an entrance on either end. I have biked eastbound through the park a number of times in the past couple of years, a climb of 2,215 ft. with a 5% average grade. West bound is much tougher, with an average grade of 8%. Today I biked both directions for a total of 4,200 ft. vertical climb, starting at 4,480 feet above sea level climbing to 6,695 ft., down to 4,580 ft. and back again. A very tiring, but gratifying day. I am often asked why I am always pushing myself physically. My simple answer is "Because I can." I am always grateful to God that at my age I can still manage to enjoy His creation in so many ways. (My own little secret is that that not so many years ago I was a 340 lb. couch potato)

161 km. Denver Colorado 75F sunny May 11

I was feeling a bit down spending Mother's Day out on the road, away from my wife Elaine, the wonderful mother of my three children, but to make the best of a bad situation, I celebrated by doing a "century" ride! Denver has a wonderful system of bike paths, many hundreds of miles of paved trails connecting all sections of the city. There were literally thousands of cyclists out today. I've never seen so many bikes of all kinds in one place.

20 km. York Nebraska 73F sunny and windy May 12

53 km. Prairie Duneland Trail, Portage Indiana 73F sunny May 13

50 km. Brantford Ontario 19C sunny May 15

53 km. Brantford Ontario 9C cloudy May 16

55 km. Waterloo Indiana 55F sunny May 20

72 km Troy Illinois 60F sunny May 21

57 km. Erick Oklahoma 78F sunny May 22

Erick Oklahoma is a decaying town on old Route 66, looking exactly like scenes directly out of John Stienbeck's "Grapes of Wrath"


Anyone had a Nehi Soda lately?

Erick Oklahoma is also the hometown of Roger Miller, whose signature song was "King of the Road" I wonder if this motel has "Rooms to let for fifty cents"?

50 km. Pecos Texas 98F sunny May 23

211 km. Albuquerque New Mexico 74F partly sunny May 24

This was my longest ride ever and when I got back to my truck after nine hours of cycling, tired but feeling pretty good about my self, I didn't unclip properly and down I went. As I lay sprawled across the motel parking lot, my euphoria about my accomplishment that day evaporated in a moment's inattention. An old saying that I have heard a number of times came to mind. "Those that the gods would humble, they first make proud"

179 km. Albuquerque New Mexico 85F sunny May 25

54 km. Amarillo Texas 70F sunny May 26

52 km. Straffordville Missouri 78F mostly cloudy May 27

53 km. Burlington to Brantford Ontario 23C sunny May 29

April 2008 Training Rides

102 km. Burlington to Paris to Brantford Ontario 10C sunny April 3

82 km Brantford to Binbrook Ontario return 9C sunny April 6
First ride on my new bike, which I will be riding on the tour this summer, a Specialized Roubaix. Due to a different geometry and more carbon fibre in the frame, it has a different feel and handling characteristics than my old bike, a Trek Pilot 1.2. This was also my first use of clipless pedals. After all these years of riding, I've decided to come out of the "stone age". After forgetting to unclip, I fell only twice! Other than a bruised elbow, knee and ego, all was well.

32 km. Dallas Divide, Ridgway Colorado 52F sunny April 12
1300 vertical climb, maximum grade 7%, at 8000 ft elevation. I was going to tackle my old nemesis, Red Mountain Pass today, but it was closed due to avalanche danger, after a late winter snowfall of 30 inches the previous day.

50 km. Penrose Colorado 65F sunny April 13

56 km. Burlington to Brantford Ontario 18C sunny and windy April 16

81 km. Brantford to Waterford Ontario return 21C sunny April 17
Spring has finally arrived here in Southern Ontario!

100 km. Brantford to Lynden 2X to Oakland to Brantford Ontario 27C sunny April 18

90 km. Brantford to Cambridge to Burlington Ontario 20C sunny April 19

32 km. Stoner Colorado 52F sunny April 25

33 km. Ridgway to Ouray Colorado return 50F sunny, windy April 26
1200 vertical climb, 700ft to 8200ft

105 km. Canon City to Pueblo Colorado return 65F sunny April 27

23 km. Salina Kansas 55F sunny April 28

53 km. Burlington to Brantford Ontario 9C sunny and windy April 30

March 2008 Training Rides

102 km. Albuquerque New Mexico 67F mostly sunny March 15

My wife Elaine traveled with me on a ten day road trip road trip to Albuquerque. Saturday she spent the day shopping and I did a 100K ride. The weather was spectacular and we both got what we wanted out of the day. I got in a great training ride and Elaine bought $500 worth of clothes for $200. What a deal!

21 km. Albuquerque New Mexico 40F sunny March 16

20 km. Plateau Texas 78F sunny March 27

102 km. Rio Grande River Trail, Albuquerque New Mexico 68F sunny March 28

84 km. Arches National Park, Moab Utah 70F partly sunny March 30

Spent the day in Moab Utah, the "Mecca" of mountain biking. The town of Moab was absolutely full of mountain bikes, taking advantage of the world class trails and all the area slick rock. Springtime is prime season here as the daytime temperatures in July and August routinely climb over 100F. There were a few roadies, like myself, about 30 or 40 in number, mostly in Arches National Park, about five miles north of town. The Park has about 47 miles of paved road, great for cycling. The town of Moab is at 3900 ft. elevation, and immediately upon entering the park you climb one thousand feet. The maximum elevation is 5200 ft. but you lose and then gain this back about four or five times, for a vertical climb of over 5000 ft. for the day with the steepest grade of 9%. The whole area has a surreal feel to it, almost like being on another planet! An extremely tough, but exhilarating day!

February 2008 Training Rides

25 km. bike trainer Feb 6

25 km. bike trainer Feb 7

15 km. bike trainer Feb 8

57 km. Brantford to Burlington Ontario -3C sunny Feb 23
(Cold, but very invigorating!)

21 km. Liberal Kansas 53F sunny Feb 27

Best laid plans gone out the window!.............................
Feb 29, March 1 and March 2
I had 200 plus kilometres planned over three days,
the weather was in the 60's and 70's and sunny!
Day 1....Rio Grande River Trail, Albuquerque New Mexico
Day 2....Arches National Park, Moab Utah
Day 3....Colorado National Monument, Grand Junction Colorado
Came down with a horrible cold and was unable to bike, run,
or anything else for two weeks. O well, all was not lost, I
was able to soak all day Saturday at my favorite hot springs
in Ridgway Colorado. 57F and sunny all day at 7000 feet!

January 2008 Training Rides

42 km. Brantford Ontario 3C cloudy Jan 12

52 km. Brantford Ontario 3C cloudy Jan 13

20 km. bike trainer Jan 26