Many of us were not ready to see day break today. The night did not give us all a successful night’s sleep. As always we wanted to find some souce of water so we were able to clean up after a very hot day of riding and driving. We found what we thought as a support staff the perfect site at Elk Horn State Park. Needless to say it was a very beautiful site, but we had many different problems through out the night that made the next day a little diffcult. (more…)

I woke up around 2 a.m. to see Jenn Heatwole off. She drove all the way from Salt Lake City twice to find us. In my estimation, Jenn was on the road a total of 23 hours in order to visit with our group. Talk about dedication. I’ve heard a number of people say that it has been really good to spend time with a group of young Mennonites. Jenn was one of them. She explained that she was willing to drive so many hours to experience a bit of home. (more…)

With 3,000+ miles to cover, all the way across America, we knew that Bikemovement would inevitably catch some people’s attention. What we didn’t count on was getting so popular with the local law enforcement. But I’ll be careful not to exaggerate things, especially since it’s in our interest not to: so far we’ve met only three sherriffs, an average of .0025 per mile. Hardly even worth mentioning, if it weren’t such a fun statistic. (more…)

95 miles today. Behind us now are the Cascades and the Rocky Mountains; Tim Shenk was almost clipped by some motorcyclists on his downhill crash and Kendra careened into the side of the car that the Mayor of Lander, Wyoming was driving. Seven of eight bikers have taken some sort of spill – we refer to them, reverently, as ‘wipe-outs.’ We’ve outsmarted black bear, coyotes, rattlesnakes – in some ways it feels like it’s us against the elements – the world. Some days I surmise that the Anabaptists would be proud. And at other times I realize that the hardest parts are yet to come. Because we’re doing community – we’re doing life together – we’re doing church. (more…)

To our backs, the water flow west. Ahead of us, the water flows in the same direction that we continue to travel. We have crossed the continental divide. It’s all downhill from here, right? (more…)

What does it take to be a community?

What does it mean to make a commitment?

What does it mean to rest? (more…)

I am not sure I knew what was going on when I woke up this morning. After waking up around 5 am every morning the 8:30 wake up time was a new experience. As well I was a little disoriented because of where we pitched out tents. After a nearly 115 mile biking day we rode into an area called Swan Valley, which can barely call itself a town. Not knowing where to camp, and after some fervent searching, we were graciously hosted by the “Chapel in the Valley” presbyterian church. Rev. Adrian B. Washington allowed us to use his church facilities…needless to say we were all delighted, we even had a shower (aka..a hose from a faucet …but it was delightful). After such hospitality we all decided we should attend the church service this morning, hence why we could all sleep in! (more…)

In order to intentionally develop a community on this trip, we have undertaken the task of telling and listening to one another’s stories.  Each person takes a turn and can choose to share any piece of their history with the goal of helping the rest of the group to better understand why it is that they believe what they believe and struggle with some issues and not others.
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In an effort to beat the unbearable mid-afternoon heat, lately we have tried to get off as early as possible. This morning 5am rolled around, and we found ourselves getting ready in darkness. Gradually a hint of color appeared in the east, and lit our morning preparations of packing tents, inflating tires, and breakfast. (more…)

We have been together as a group for about 10 days. We all seem to be getting into the groove of things, or at least I seem to be getting in the groove of things as one of the support team members. I really have enjoyed my time getting to know all the members of the group, and what they do and do not like to eat. By the end of the trip I am sure I will be able to tell you exactly what everyone eats and how much to make when Drew says that he is really hungry. (more…)