By Bill Turner
565 miles done, 29,780 feet of climbing. Time flies when we have been riding for over a week. The scenic beauty has been wonderful once we left the rain of the Portland, Oregon area. In California we now ride with the bike computer reading 99 to 100 degrees in the sun, verses the 50-60 degrees along the coast in Oregon.
I am again having a wonderful time riding with friends from previous Fuller Rides and making some new ones. I served as a sweep today with Ed Vander Pol, who is a much stronger rider than I am, so my talent on the bike gets stretched a bit (except on the flats and downhills). Tomorrow is
my last day of riding on the FCBA route, and tomorrow I will be heading north with a rented car to join the Seattle to DC ride for three weeks. I expect to ride tomorrow with comedians Mark Murphy and Scott Baker, who put up with my slower pace most of the time and who have become trusted friends.
Earlier in the ride I swept with Connor Ciment and Marie Tanner, both wonderful folks to ride with. Riding with the team has been a joy, the chore groups have worked well. We have had two cooks who have wiped up some wonderful meals in all types of settings when we were not being hosted by a church for a meal. In all of Oregon, the Presbyterians coddled us with wonderful meals and assistance in lining up showers, a vital part of the day, whether it has been 50 degrees and wet or 90 degrees and hot.
It is exciting to again be a part of a FCBA team of riders that will likely raise in the range of 300,000 – 400,000 dollars to support hand up improvements to poverty housing in the USA and globally. Thank you all who support this effort. With a bit of blessing from the Lord, there will soon be a Fuller Center Covenant Partner in the Windham, Maine area. Thank you for reading!
