Aug. 25, 2008—Sea to Sea riders and support crew made their way back into United States smoothly this morning after five days of Canadian hospitality through southern Ontario.
According to Ed Witvoet, Sea to Sea tour manager, Monday’s border crossing at Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls, Ont., went flawlessly.
“The cyclists could just ride right through (customs and immigration), they didn’t have to stop at all or even show their passports,” he said. “It was just like riding over any ordinary bridge in any city.”
Witvoet worked with both Canadian and American immigration officials well in advance of the tour’s arrival to pre-approve the cyclists’ and support crew members’ crossing.
“The border guards said it was a beautiful sight to see us come across the bridge and they thanked us for being so organized,” Witvoet said.
During the tour’s stint in Ontario, tour supporters—many of them from local Christian Reformed churches—came out in droves to offer refreshments, encouragement and other means of support to the cyclists as they made their way last week from Chatham to London to Hamilton and finally a weekend stop in St. Catharines.
“I marveled at the amount of applause leading up to the city,” said Dale Mowry, of Kentwood, Mich., about Saturday’s relatively short ride into St. Catharines that included six rest stops along the way. “Everyone of these people made a conscious decision to proactively connect with the tour.”
On Sunday, about 1,500 faithful supporters waited out a two-hour thunderstorm before the start of the celebration rally at Queenston Heights Park near Niagara Falls.
The afternoon began with a “meet & greet” from 2 to 4 p.m. that had tour participants and supporters taking cover under two large pavilions in the park.
But at exactly 4 p.m., when the rally was set to begin, the rain stopped and the clouds gave way to sunshine for the rest of the day.
“That moment was amazing,” said Rachel Vandenburg, one of the lead organizers of the St. Catharines hospitality committee. “The timing was so obviously orchestrated by God.”
The rally included lively singing, a sermon by Dr. Brian Walsh, campus minister at the University of Toronto, and a testimony by cyclist and St. Catharines resident Alida vanDijk, who used the analogy of a tsunami to refer to those gathered.
“If each of us did our part in serving those around us, we could be a tsunami,” she said. “Not a destructive wave, but a tidal wave that brings justice and peace to people around the world.”
All those gathered were treated to a barbecue in the park sponsored and served by area churches. When asked if he had enjoyed the meal, Mark Brouwer, of Branchton, Ont., said with a smile, “I think I’m done with food for a while.”
Monday’s ride marks the start of the tour’s last week that concludes Saturday on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean near the Statue of Liberty in Jersey City, NJ.
—Sea to Sea Communications
www.SeatoSea.org
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