On May 7th, Syd Sparks and Stephen Roise set off from Bellingham Washington on bikes to travel three quarters the length of the United States, fundraising for new cabins at Musana Camps. Musana has been forced to turn away over 400 kids due to inadequate lodging. Through this bike trip they hope to raise $166,000 to build 10 cabins and shower houses; enabling them to lead more people toward life transformation as they encounter Christ.
To reach their goal, they need to raise $69 per mile.
Here are some pictures and updates on their journey.
The route
Day 1:
Friday, May 8th
Start: Bellingham, WA
End: Snohomish, WA
Distance; 79
Terrain: rolling hills – 3,280ft of climbing
Climate: 70s, sunny and warm – Beautiful!!
Today was an amazing day to start our ride the weather was wonderful and the ride was beautiful. We started at Good Shepherd Community Church rode and touched Bellingham Bay on the Pacific Ocean and then down Chuckanut Drive leaving Bellingham. It was a great first day.
Bellingham Bay, Day 1
Day 2:
Saturday, May 9th
Start: Snohomish, WA
End: Olallie State Park, WA
Distance; 53.8
Terrain: – 2,200 ft of climbing
Climate: low 80s, sunny and warm – Beautiful!!
It was a great ride again today. We forgot our sunscreen yesterday so we got a little sunburn that we were feeling today but otherwise it was a good day. We changed our route to avoid the traffic in the Seattle area and rode to a State Park part way up the Snoqualmie Pass to break up the climb. Tomorrow is a day off. We will visit Calvary Chapel South in Kent and then resume riding Monday morning!
41 miles in so far, heading east on I90 now!
A bit of the view
Day 3:
Monday, May 11th
Start: Interstate 90 near Olallie State Park, WA
End: Ellensburg, WA
Distance: 67 miles
Terrain: Snoqualmie Pass at the beginning then mostly downhill.
Climate: Overcast, started in the upper 40s then warmed up. Over all pretty comfortable.
Today we climbed Snoqualmie Pass. It was a good climb to start the day. We had to walk around an 8 mile section that was closed off to bicycles because of road construction, but had a walking trail available. After finishing that we jumped back on the bikes and rode the rest of the way to Ellensburg. It was mostly down hill and had some pretty fun parts. It is now looking like rain in the next couple of days so we are praying for breaks in the rain so that we can ride.
Over half done with the 8 mile hike. Due to road construction east of Snoqualmie Pass, the bikers have to hike for about 8 miles.
At the top of Snoqualmie Pass
Day 4:
Tuesday, May 12th
Start: Ellensburg, WA
End: Moses Lake, WA
Distance: 75.5 miles
Elevation: 2675 ft climb
Hours on our bikes: 5 hours 20 minutes
Weather: 46 and rain in the morning. The rain cleared and eventually the temp climbed to the 60s.
We started the day in the rain. It was cold and we had a head wind. We had our first flat several miles into the ride. Thankfully the rain eventually cleared. The drop into the Columbia River Gorge was wonderful even with a headwind. Crossing the river was a bit dicy however as there was no shoulder and traffic was traveling at interstate speeds. Even with Gary trailing us with his flashers going there were some drivers that didn’t seem to see us. We made it through fine and started the long climb out of the gorge. It was great to get to the top and look back at the road we had just pedaled. The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful but enjoyable especially since the weather warmed up.
Stephen and Syd rode through here on May 12
Camping at Moses Lake; lovely place and nice evening. Gary made wild rice soup supplemented with bread.
Day 5:
Wednesday, May 13th
Start: Moses Lake, WA
End: Ritzville, WA
Distance: 41.3 miles
Elevation: 2,017 ft climb
Hours on our bikes: 3:21
Weather: Misting and 50 degrees with a 20mph head wind that turned to rain, and a cross wind.
Todays ride was rough. The 41 miles we rode today felt much longer than yesterdays 75. The weather made it a pretty cold and miserable day. My toes even went numb. I was quite glad to be done.
The greatest part of the day was seeing how God answers prayer, sometimes in ways we don’t expect. In order to tell this though I have to back up to our trip out to Bellingham last week. As we were driving we stopped here in Ritzville to mail a few things. In the process we met one of the postal employees who also happened to be a local pastor. When he heard what we were doing he invited us to come and talk with their youth group when we came back through… That was over a week ago. Fast forward to last night… I texted him to see if he was still interested in having us speak and if he knew of anyplace we could camp in Ritzville. He still wanted us to speak and said he would let me know in the morning if he could find anything. So as we were riding in the cold and rain I prayed “Lord it would be really great to have a hot shower and place to stay inside tonight.” When we arrived in Ritzville the pastor gave us a name and address. Not really knowing what we should be expecting we came to the house and were welcomed straight in. The gentleman gave us towels and showed us where we could get a hot shower and when we were finished he had an amazing hot meal waiting for us. We went and shared a little with the youth group and after some more visiting we were all ready to call it a night… inside. Thank You Lord. Thank you too to Pastor Rio and Mark you have really blessed us today.
After another rainy night they are ready to start day 5. Shorter ride today starting out with some head wind and good chance of rain showers.
Arrived in Ritzville, WA at 3:45 pm today (May 13). On our way west last week we stopped at the post office here. Syd met a PO employee who is also the pastor of a church. The man was curious, so Syd told him about “Cabins for Kids” and gave him a brochure and they exchanged phone numbers.
Pastor Ryo invited Syd to talk about “Cabins for Kids” at their Wednesday night meeting. A member of the church also invited us to stay at his house. God provides for us in every way, but once in a while there’s a special providence.
After Syd’s presentation and a time of prayer, a few gathered for a photo outside the building. L to R: Rio, Gary, Stephen, Syd, Pete, Mark, and Tyson.
Day Six ride photos, Ritzville to Liberty Lake; a warmer, sunnier, and dryer day.
Syd on day six
Stephen
Back at Musana Camps…
Between our saving and the funds that have come in so far from our Cabins for Kids fundraiser we are excited to have started building our first cabin! This photo shows our first cabin under construction with David Family from the Kasana Children’s Center.
We are thankful to be at almost 25% of our fundraising goal.
The first cabin!!!
All of these photos and updates have been pulled from Facebook. To see all photos and updates, click here. (You don’t need a Facebook account to access).
Musana is still 75% away from their fundraising goal! We need your help! To contribute, click here and designate your gift to Musana Camps Cabins for Kids.
Thanks to all who have been praying for and supporting this whole adventure! Keep on praying, they’ve still got a long way to go.