Across America Tour 2014: One week and counting

I can't believe that next Thursday we will be done riding. This summer has flown by so fast it's amazing. I've done my very best to take every moment in and document as much of the journey as possible, but now that we're nearing the end of our trip, everything is sort of a blur.

This week we biked across the numerous farms of Ohio and today we crossed the state line into Pennsylvania (state number 11!). The terrain is definitely starting to roll…. a lot.

Today on a downhill, one of my teammates, Jeff, who is actually deaf, hit the rumble strip and took a bad fall. He ended up breaking his collarbone and needed 5 stitches in the head. It was really hard to watch him tell the team that he would no longer be able to ride with us. Biking across the country has been his dream for over 20 years, and now, a week away from the end, he has to put his bike in the trailer and ride in the van. Please pray for him as he struggles with pain and the heartache of watching his dream end a few days away from completion. He has had a positive attitude accepting his injury. In fact, while he was telling us the report from the doctor, he related his injury to those in Burma and Thailand that we are biking for. He reminded us that everyday refugees over there are watching their dreams die right before them and there's nothing they can do but carryon. Even though his dream is different from the dreams of those in Southeast Asia, he understands a little more what it's like to have a dream ended in a split second.

Something that I noticed today, is that while we pulled off the road into a driveway while we were told the news that Jeff was on his way to the hospital, I saw unity for what it should be in our team. For weeks my leaders have used the word "unity" so much that we've all gotten a little tired of hearing it. As far as we're concerned, the team is unified. We pray together, eat together, laugh together, and get on one another's nerves. Nobody has really been able to define what they believe unity to be, but while we stood on the side of the road praying with worried and heavy hearts for Jeff, I saw the definition of unity. After we said 'amen,' we hopped back on our bikes and continued on our way. I caught a glimpse of the remaining 10 of us in a line fighting our way to the top of yet another hill and recognized how we were working together.

I believe each team member has their own definition of unity, which is largely why there has been so much talk of creating it amongst the team members. However, my definition of unity was what I saw today--- a group of people coming together in prayer and the biking together to our next break.

This passage of scripture seems to fit our team well. It talks about the unity of the body. In our case, each part of the body is a teammate who must work together to keep things running smoothly.

1 Corinthians 12:12-26

For just as ithe body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, jso it is with Christ.13 For kin one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—lJews or Greeks, slaves4 or free—and mall were made to drink of one Spirit.

14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18 But as it is, nGod arranged the members in the body, each one of them, oas he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts,5yet one body.

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty,24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, pall rejoice together.

I ask for your continued prayers for injured teammates, strength to make it through the Appalachians, safety, unity, and joy in all situations.

Thank you again for your support and for following my tour so far.

Blessings,

Sara

'Merica barn in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania's sign was a little bit of a letdown

A short Saturday ride turned into a very wet ride. We waited it out for an hour or so at a gas station.

This little girl, Lux, was adopted from China 8 months ago. She was adorable! I seriously wanted to bring her home with me. She had two other siblings that were adopted from China as well, Kale and Jayden.

The never ending fields of corn in Indiana

After the team got separated during a detour in Indiana, we somehow managed to get there an hour or two before everyone else. Thus, we decided the ice cream shop across the street was a good idea. Oh, and it was about 92 with a heat index of 98 that day. We deserved this ice cream!

Yes, the team made it through downtown Chicago Monday morning rush hour traffic together! It was a miracle! I seriously love riding through cities now, and Chicago is gorgeous which made it even better.