I was struggling.

It was my second day of riding, with the first day being 100 miles over lots of Western Pennsylvania hills. We were 45 or so miles along and enjoying a flat section following a river, but I couldn’t quite keep the pace any longer. The group was holding fairly well together, but they were up ahead of me and I was slowly following behind. (more…)

i waved goodbye in my barefeet, down at the end of the drive, blowing kisses to the bikemovement caravan as they rolled away into the distance, eastward bound. the bikers had departed earlier; i now remained, my toes wet with dew as i took slow strides up to the Nissley/Wenger’s charming back porch, a haven for reflection till my ride came to take me back west. light was still making its way into the sky, and church was going on next door. (more…)

This morning, I didn’t wake up at 5am and force-feed myself a delicious breakfast while ignoring the protests of my sleepy, full stomach. I wasn’t surrounded by 20 awesome people wiping the sleep from their eyes and preparing to bike through eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania despite pleas from their tired bodies. (more…)

“Ready for the countdown? Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One.” Jess chanted before she slowly began to stand up after our lunch break in the shade of a tall red barn-like building on the side of the highway. She, as well as myself, was one of the newer additions to the bike movement and still getting used to what peddling a bicycle all day does to your leg muscles. It was our third day of riding and despite being exhausted I loved the challenge of spending whole days using my body to transport me across the country and using my mind to juggle questions of God and church with those around me. (more…)

Bikemovement traveled from Prairie Street Mennonite Church in Elkhart, Indiana to North Leo Mennonite Church in Leo, Indiana.  The group underwent some participant changes today as Tim and Holly Showalter traveled to Goshen and Neil Richer left to fulfill other summer commitments.   Even though I only met them two days prior when joining the group in Chicago, I was able to engage in a few quality conversations with those three as we biked across the remainder of Illinois and Indiana.  There was a sadness with me as they left because I had just begun to connect with these three.  Biking across the country really creates an atmosphere to form and develop meaningful relationships. (more…)

On Tuesday, August 14, I joined up with BikeMovement at Prairie Street Mennonite Church in Elkhart, Indiana. An early activity addressed the question, “What has been an experience of church?” with participants enacting a variety of scenes including meditation, shoulder-tapping, finding oneself inside a box, praise, and consolation. Strikingly, when two people began singing “Amazing Grace,” many other participants joined in, with virtually all participants joining the four-part a capella verses. After the third verse, one person said, “Amen,” was echoed by the body, and the exercise ended spontaneously as most began sitting down. (more…)

After nearly two weeks of traveling in the car, Llamabull has rejoined the bikers. Llamabull, the trip’s mascot, rode the first 22 days of the trip, however began his boycott August 1^st in Nebraska, the day the group road over 200 miles. The boycott stemmed out of a plea for more donations to Amigos, however there are several other rumors floating around to why he hasn’t ridden until now. (more…)

From our days in Iowa, there is a photo of me with a butterfly, with the title “Bekah’s Butterfly”. Interestingly enough, this little creature I found while walking around the lake at our exquisite campsite. I took a walk, after dinner that night. I tend to be a solitary person, and often have difficulty assimilating fully into a group setting. This manifests itself often in me wandering off by myself. Despite the definite atmosphere of community and fellowship among the Bike Movement members, it took me quite a bit of time to feel a part of this group. I am not necessarily an extremely extroverted person, and jumping into the timeline in the middle of the trip, it made things all that more difficult for me to feel an important member of this team. (more…)

I got out of bed this morning very, very reluctantly: it’d been my third late night in a row and I was definitely low on sleep—lower than I attempt to function on at school, much less a cross country bike trip. And the first thought to cross my mind was that this would be our third day of heavy mileage in a row: 113 on Thursday, 93 on Friday, and a potential 100 for today. What in the world was I doing to myself?? (more…)

Day 33: Today I almost died. Being the trip photographer and videographer, I thought being behind the camera was safer then the days I chose to ride. This illusion had been confirmed after witnessing the aftermath of Kendra’s brush with a car and Tim Shenk’s encounter with pavement following a blowout down a hill. But after today’s experience, I think camera operators should be moved up a few notches on the list of world’s most dangerous jobs (perhaps below the snake handlers). (more…)