St. Joseph, Missouri to Hannibal, Missouri. 6 days of biking across the beautiful roads and side roads that exist in northern Missouri. Hills and flat stretches of road. And along the way, stops in some of the prettiest towns in this part of the state. The chance to get out and enjoy the scenery, enjoy spending time with friends, and an opportunity to do something other are not able to do. Hundreds of riders left St. Joe on Sunday heading out on this adventure. Along the way, they were welcomed into many towns, camped in some beautiful parks, and enjoyed many different bands and performers. Some joined in for the day, and others made the entire ride across the state. But for all, it was an experience that they won't soon forget.
This exciting event stopped in both the towns of Macon and Shelbina, our home area. So we decided to set up a water stop for the riders, giving them a chance to relax along the way, and us the chance to see and visit with people who were making this trek. The temperatures were soaring for this time of the year, and there was no indication of rain. These poor riders! Many left earlier than planned each day, in an attempt to beat the noon day heat. And many more were riding more slowly than usual. But all were pushing to complete this event in style.
Because of the heat, we set up at 6:30 in the morning, and we missed some of them already! But we could only do what we could, so we set up our tent, put out the tables, and hauled out the coolers. Packed inside, we had multiple flavors of gatorade, bottles of chilled water, and some bananas. And the riders started to stop. Many pulled over to purchase a cold drink. They appreciated the bananas! Several spent some time in the shade of the tent and the stock trailer. We remember the young rider who was hungry, and we were happy to be able to give him a choice of protein bars to help, as we all know about growing boys!
We had the chance to visit with some of the riders while they were there. We also were blessed to be able to speak to many, who had asked "so who are you" and to tell them about our mission to help. About our previous trips, and our hope to help more in our own community this fall. We spoke with several who had been to Haiti in the past, and several who were interested in future trips. We passed our a few brochures, spent some time with a very nice nurse from St. Louis who was interested in our medical mission trips, as well as working as a travel nurse (which hits very close to home, as two of our members have done this exact thing.) And we did have many who told us that what we were doing was important, and that they were glad that we had hearts that cared so much.
We saw so many different types of bikes, several tandem bikes, and several small bikers. The lady who had a sitting down style of bike, who said that she was combining her two favorite activities, sitting and biking! For some, this was the first ride of this type, for others, they did long bikes rides frequently. And we were so busy talking and visiting, we didn't get a lot of photos taken. But we hope that you do enjoy the ones that we have here. We have asked each person in the photo for permission to not only take their picture, but to post it here. And to them, we say thank you! And we hope that next year, if the route is through here again, that we will get the chance to catch up with some of these riders, and to make new friendships with others.
