On The Road Again

We have been back on the road a week since Switzerland and already we have been overwhelmed with blessings from God each pedal of the way.

On these long 40 to 50 mile days God sure has given us the strength we need in creative ways.  One lady pulled over as we were resting on the side of the road and gave us frozen blueberries and a donation for the refugees.  Another lady stopped to take pictures of us riding by and when we shared our cause she not only donated but bought us cold drinks at a nearby gas station. 

A man drove by slowly in a truck vidoeing us on a busy road.  Dustin rode along beside him and handed him a card and he handed back a donation, our wheels never stopping.

We stopped at an antique shop along the Decatur Highway in Alabama for a little break.  Turns out Fred Hunter from Absolutely Alabama (absolutelyalabama.com) on Fox 6 Birmingham was there doing a story on this shop.  They liked our unicycles and asked if they could catch up with us down the road in a few hours and do a story on us.  And they did!  It was a great couple hours spent with them interviewing and recording us from the side of the road, while driving alongside and in front of us and they even gave Dustin the camera to shoot us riding along. 

We rolled into Cullman AL without knowing where we were going to stay for the night since our advance calling yielded no donation anywhere in town.  We were headed to where we had found the best rate but stopped in at Comfort Suites to see how we'd fare.  The receptionist made one call and they donated a beautiful room for us!

We had been strung along all day by a hotel in Florence AL who thought they could donate room.  We were headed there until a call at 6p when they said they had no room for us.  We stopped at a picnic table to figure out what to do, feeling like we had run out of options.  Just then the phone rang and it was Lauren Schifano who lives in Florence and will be riding her unicycle across Alabama soon (www.uniacrossbama.blogspot.com), inviting us to stay the night with her and her fam!  What an answer to prayer and God's perfect timing!

It was nearly the same story in Selmer TN as Cullman AL. Stopped at one hotel and the price was high.  Went to the next hotel and they were expecting us!  Greeted us by name and said the First Baptist Church had covered our night.  The church had a wrong number for us so we missed the memo but God didn't!  We connected with the youth pastor that evening  and enjoyed some delish Mexican food with him and his fam at the #1 restaurant in TN!  Thanks Chandlers!

Katie picked up a tack leaving Florence and we discovered it shortly down the road. Dustin patched it but our top-of-the-line pump didn't like the 65 psi of the big wheel and the connecting threads melted from the heat of the volume.  Again, in God's providence our route that day happened to be along the www.handy100.com so it was a perfect day to have a problem with the pump that's supposed to solve our problems.  We made it to a ride rest stop set up along the route where they had a pump, snacks, drinks and super friendly, helpful guys from The Shoals Bike Club to lend a hand. 
Oh yes, God is watching over us!

Swiss Generosity

Our 2 week break in Switzerland was not fruitless for the Refuge Ride.  Many friends we connected with throughout our stay gave generously for the Refugees.   The group we partnered with for these outreaches in Switzerland plans on taking an offering for the Refuge Ride next week at their community meeting.  The generous 11 year old boy who gave the first Swiss donation also gave us the last donation before we packed up and flew back to the USA.  He and a friend came back to our last show in Montreux and contributed an even larger bill.  So special!

It is a great encouragement to have so many, young and old, from around the world generously join us on this venture to help Syrians in crisis.  Thank you!

We have mixed feelings about resuming the ride in 2 short days on July 23rd.  Ready or not, open roads here we come!

Refuge Ride Around The World

Though we are doing outreaches in Switzerland these 2 weeks, pausing the actual riding across America, the Refuge Ride is still rolling along.  After one of our shows the other night at the Montreux Jazz Festival, an 11 year old Swiss boy had a lengthy chat with Dustin and asked questions about many things including the Refuge Ride.  When he learned what we were raising money for he immediately reached in his pocket and handed over 1 Franc.  A few minutes later he opened up his wallet and gave 5 Francs then came back a bit later with a larger bill.  What a precious, generous boy who is doing what he can to help make a difference.

We are so happy to have reconnected with our Syrian friend Jmool whom we met here last year during the Jazz Festival in Montreux.  Last year Jmool attended our show with a young boy who had just come from Syria and lost both his parents the week before in the conflict.  This direct contact with Syrians even here in Switzerland inspired the Refuge Ride and our desire to help those facing incomprehensible circumstances in Syria.

We just received a message from a mom in England whose son is riding unicycle from the UK through Holland to Belgium.  Any money they raise on this ride they want to contribute to the Refuge Ride!  God is on the move around the world!  Thanks for moving with us!

What Keeps Us Going

Today's hills were a challenge for sure!  Probably nothing compared to what is to come but enough for this stage of the game.  During one really steep climb, I was done and about to bail with my legs and lungs screaming.  Dustin rode up beside me and held my hand so I could keep my balance as we inched our way up the steep, long grade together!  A few times cars came up behind us and we rode single file but once they passed, there he was, making all the difference.  Such an example of how God is always right there with us, giving us strength when we don't have enough to go on!

Ethel Lane phoned us again the other day!  She must hear God because again it was perfect timing! We had stopped under a bridge to momentarily escape the pouring rain after some challenging hills when she called. She had been thinking of and praying for us in the rain and wondered how we were doing.  We are so thankful for our new and faithfully encouraging friend who is one of many helping to keep us going!

Sunday night we were blessed to be connected by a volunteer on our support team to First Baptist Church in Pell City AL in St. Clair County.  They covered our hotel, fed us and allowed us to share briefly in their evening service.  They thoroughly blessed us by their warm welcome and generosity.

Now we pause the Refuge Ride for an outreach in Switzerland until July 23rd.  It was largely through this outreach last year that this whole ride started.  There we met a boy about 10 years old who had just come from Syria the week before where both of his parents had been killed in the unrest.  This broke our hearts and we knew we wanted to do something to help Syrians suffering so greatly.

Thank you for journeying with us these 562 miles and helping make a difference.   Stay tuned for much more...

Trails and Tails

It has been such a treat to be on the trail and off the road these last 3 days, with no cars to worry about and few dogs to out ride.

We thought the trail would be busy this holiday weekend but we saw more turtles, rabbits, deer and fox than we did people.

We did meet up with a fun group of tandem riders at our hotel in Cedartown GA.  We told them our tandem broke.  :-) 

And as we were taking off the next morning we met Kenny Herriot from Scotland.   He is one of the best wheelchair racers in the world who is in the area for a few months training.  Check out this inspiring man:  http://www.kennyherriot.co.uk

From Cedartown we crossed the state line from GA into AL and the Silver Commet Trail became the Chief Ladiga Trail.  As we rode into Piedmont AL, our destination for the day, a biker approached us looking excited to see us.  He had heard about us from the tandem group he had crossed paths with earlier.  He was headed back to Cedartown on his 100 mile ride that day but was in no hurry and wanted to take us out for ice cream!  We had a special visit at Solid Rock Cafe with our enthusiastic new Colombian friend Emilio.

It was nice to be picked up in Piedmont by friends from MN who are vacationing nearby and stay with them for the night.  Fun times!

More Than Chicken

We had an amazing experience at Chick-fik-A in Austel GA the other day.  The manager seated us, had a server take our order from the table and covered the bill.  Becca was our kind and attentive server who returned to our table with a wad of cash.  She and the other servers had been wondering what to do with tips they had received lately and they all decided to contribute them to the Refuge Ride!   They told other tables about the Ride and people stoped by to ask us for cards, give donations and tell us they would be praying for us.  A policeman even handed us cash on his way out.  Several times while we were sitting there, servers brought us more of their tips.  We were so encouraged and blessed by the generosity of Becca and the other servers and customers there that day!   Thank you Chick-fil-A!