pilgrimage: a very long journey or search of great moral significance. Sometimes, it is a journey to a shrine of importance to a person’s beliefs and faith.
Before Jordan and I left for India, he told me about a crazy idea he had to do a long distance bike ride and raise money for an organization called Living Water International (https://www.water.cc/). Dreaming of an idea like this is exhilarating. The reality of cycling is fun and sometimes painful. But the planning involved in connecting the dream with the reality is the worst. We spent a lot of hours organizing and coordinating the details of this ride (publicizing our ride, collecting cyclists, and borrowing and fixing bikes). Finally, it’s time to just cycle.
DAY 1. Pine Bluff. 93 Miles.
3/12/11
“1st day of this ride. . . We started at Uncle Bud at 10:00. . . We ended up splitting into 2 groups; Jordan, Wads, and me. Eric was struggling because he was on a mountain bike so Kaiser hung back with him and Beans and Ashley ended up staying with them.”
“We had the most beautiful leg of our trip. The sun was setting, and the fields were green. . . 5 miles before we finished I wrecked I hit a huge rut and wiped out. . . Hopefully I’ll be able to ride tomorrow.”
“The house we are staying at in Pine Bluff is awesome. Eva and Bill are amazing.”
DAY 2. El Dorada. 89 Miles.
3/13/11
“Day 2, about 90 more miles.”
“El Dorado. Youth Group. Applebee’s.”
“Sleep.”
DAY 3. Shreveport. 101 Miles.
3/14/11
“101 miles today it was raining when we left. A little bit depressing we were 50 in and we knew we still had 50 left.”
“We breaked at Pizza Pro. We rode, rode, and rode until 2 hours after dark. We finally got there. Food. Shreveport.”
DAY 4. Teneha. 60 Miles.
3/15/11
“Today was more chill than usual we left at noon.”
“As usual, we stopped a couple of times during the day to snack and eat. At one of these stops we met a crazy chainsaw carver named Rick. “You don’t see crack in these eyes”.”
“Rick, the carver, didn’t have any money, but he wanted to help our cause so he donated a carved wooden eagle to Living Water.”
“The people and the food were both amazing in Teneha; they had a whole table just for desserts.”
“Me and Beans hung our hammocks in their attic, and we slept. Oh we slept.”
DAY 5. Lufkin. 60 Miles.
3/16/11
“We stopped in Lufkin. It was such a short ride on such a terrible road. Daniel Kaiser referred to Hwy. 59 as “the valley of the shadow of death.””
“We actually got into Lufkin early on Wednesday. We had been appointed to run the church service. So we showered, ate some pasta, and headed to the church.”
“Larry is ridiculous.”
“We went back to the judge’s house. He made us homemade mint ice cream with crumbled thin mints in it. I’m really speechless about how amazing this ice cream was, I ate 3 bowls.”
“When we got to the church we were not in a good mood. We just slept and went back to the church and headed out.”
DAY 7. Hempstead. 60 Miles.
3/18/11
“Even though it was only a 60 mile day the ride to Hempstead was the worst riding day. It was the only day I didn’t enjoy riding at all. We were already dragging from cycling 500 miles, and we weren’t well-rested. The fatigue was really the least of our difficulties. We had a 15 mph headwind the whole way to the church, and the landscape was constant hills. Who was it that said Texas was flat?”
“It was ridiculous when we arrived at Hempstead because there was a wedding rehearsal going on and Beans, J Wads, Jordan, and I were just laying on the sidewalk with our shirts off while people were walking in and out in suits. When you’re 500 miles into a cycling trip you get really egocentric. You don’t really care who is around or what they think. It’s all about the immediate needs.”
“Me, Beans, and Wads bathed in the baptistery when we got out the water was murky grey. It was probably one of the most novel experiences ever. You can’t pass that up “
DAY 8. Houston. 50 Miles.
3/19/11
“We were ballin 16-18 mph the whole way into a slight wind and a slight uphill with a great road.”
“We wanted and really just needed to be done.”
“It was smooth until mile 34, I had been pulling for about 15 miles and we were flying so I asked Wads if he wanted to take over. He agreed and I swerved left to let him come up, but he went left too. So my back tire clipped his front. I was riding and then there was no bike under me, and I was flying and then I was skidding on two wrists and a shoulder. When I got up I saw the domino effect wreck; me, Wads, and Ashley all wiped out. “
“When we got close I told the crew the rest of the directions ( Right on S. Kirkwood, Left on Greenbriar). At 622.63 miles we pulled into Living Waters International. I threw my helmet, jumped off my bike, and threw water from the fountain into the air.”
“All the pilgrims had reached their destination.”
Pilgrimage accomplished its purpose. We met our goal of $2200 for a well rehab in Burkina Faso. In fact, we surpassed our goal at $3154. If this pilgrimage has inspired you to help check out: (https://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/pilgrimsstory/pilgrimage) OR (https://www.water.cc/)