For cyclists out there, regarding Week 1:

Starting Point: Pacific Beach, WA
Ending Point: Ontario, OR
Riding Days: 7
Total Miles: 611.2  (116 miles on day 7)
Total Feet of Climbing: 26,511
Landspeed Record (for Ed): 44.7 MPH
Flats: 6

We are staying on schedule, our bodies seem to be able to recover overnight.  A day of rest is being greatly appreciated right now. I’ve seen and read of people doing a coast-to-coast ride without any rest, but they are certainly better athletes than I am.

All along, we have expected to spread the news of the plight of oral learners along the route.  That is certainly happening – in Yakima, there are new advocates; in Pendleton, OR we were interviewed by Kathy Aney of their local paper, The East Oregonian. Her first comment was “there are a lot of rides that come through here, but none with such a unique purpose”. Mission accomplished! Praise God for the opportunity to share in such a public arena. We are stopped in parking lots of our hotels and convenience stores, asking what we are doing, how far we are going – these are all the opportunities we had hoped for.

What we are finding though, is that this epic journey creates a huge opportunity for our friends at home to share what we’re doing – more so than ever before. We are so thankful for our new friends and old friends that are joining together in this effort – the story of oral learners is being spread – the fact that they exist and may never be able to read.  All it takes is people spreading the news that this huge underserved population of the world is out there and there is hope and help on the way.