We started out on our bikes from the parking lot of Naperville Central full of excitement on trying to ride 320 miles in 6 days. We would be traveling around the northern part of Illinois biking 40-60 miles a day. To see us off were family, friends and a beautiful day. Who were we? We were a hodgepodge of 4 adults and 11 students from Naperville. Our mission was three fold. First, we wanted to show people that Jesus was the Rock of our lives. Second was to spread the belief of the group that "True Love Waits". Lastly to grow closer as a Fellowship of Christian Athlete Huddle from Naperville Central High School. In a way it was unbelievable that we were there at all. But, we have decided that obeying Jesus creates opportunities beyond our imagination. Here are some of my highlights. (Who am I? I am in charge of the FCA Huddle at Naperville Central, I have been teaching Math for 13 years, 6 at Central)

On the first day riding Emily and Jenn touched tires and crashed to the ground. Jenn pops up smiling, but Emily face down in the gravel could not get up. I thought, 'Oh no, an emergency on the first day' but it was not as bad as I first thought. Emily wiped the blood from her knee and dusted herself off, and she was ready to go.

In the middle of the second day riding we stopped, unbelievably, in the parking lot of a local bar in Hennipen. Right after we arrived, a man came out of the bar asking for a spare inner tube because his bike had just got a flat. We scrambled to try to find a spare and then realized he was joking us. He talked with us a long while finally revealing his name, 'The Gobbler'. We quickly realized why after his minute long impression of a wild turkey. We were awkwardly laughing. It was fun to talk to him.

After the first day of biking I was feeling good about the route and the directions. That all fell apart on the second day of riding. It rained hard all morning and when it stopped raining, the wind started blowing. By lunch we were all worn out. Then in the afternoon I told them they only had 10 more miles to go, with no big hills left. But I had badly miscalculated the distance to our destination of Princeton. The 10 miles stretched to be 16. And the no hill statement turned out to be false too. It was the largest hill yet. Now an extra 6 miles doesn't sound too bad. But when you are biking and you have ridden 120 miles in 2 days it is a huge amount of riding. As the last rider Jenny rolled in, I could tell she and many of the riders were pushed to the limit. But the attitude of this group was awesome. They took it in stride and did a great job at the evening service.

Wow. The First Lutheran Church in Princeton gave us the royal treatment. We rolled in around 5pm. There were host families were there to meet us and to take us to their homes to shower and eat. For my host family Wally and Clarisa they were wonderful. They brought us to her sister's house for a shower. Then we went to a Chinese restaurant. It was a feast. Then we arrived at the service a few minutes late. (A few too many egg rolls) After the service we went to our respective host families. Ours served blueberry cobbler and ice cream. In the morning we had eggs, pancakes, sausages off the grill and fresh orange juice. Most of us came back from a tough 2^nd day and were very refreshed after being in a home with a nice bed! Thanks to church and especially Brett Freeman who set up our whole stay there.

As we arrived to the church at Dixon, we had two options. We could ride 12 miles further, or we could stay where we were and catch a ride the next day bypassing 12 miles in our loop. Most of the group was undecided as what to do. We knew there would be some tough hills. It turned out that Emily stepped up and said, "we are doing it, let's go" It was great. As it turned out most thought the extra miles were painless. And one, like Laura, has some memories of a dog chasing that she won't forget too soon. But what struck me most was the fact that this group was doing this together. They were going to work as one unit. It was inspiring.

Mr. Snyder had just radioed me saying that we should slow up. I asked why. He said Joe's pedal kept having problems. Soon they caught up. It wasn’t Joe's pedal. It was his crank. His whole crank fell off. Joe was a little upset. I actually saw him kicking his bike into the grass. (This reminded me of an irate baseball manager having a fit with the umpire) It turned out that Joe lost the battle with his bike. However, he ended up going back to town and buying a new bike. (It was nice that his mom was doing the driving of the van and could help him make this decision)

I will carry many memories of my birthday from this trip for a long time. One was that my wife and kids made a surprise appearance at the church in Dixon on Wednesday Evening. What a great expression of love. Second was the quick 40 miles we rode in the morning Thursday with the Water Park in Rockford being in the afternoon. Thirdly, I will not forget the all you can eat buffet where the students had the hostess announced "Happy Birthday to Mr. Sladkey, who just turned 67 today", and the whole place sang Happy Birthday (I'm 36). And lastly I will remember the students giving words of encouragement to me during a campfire in the evening.

We had three services. The one at Crystal Lake was the best. Here is a short breakdown of what went on. I started with a short introduction of the evening with Eric J following up with our mission and how we got to this point. Then Karl, Brandon, Joe and Lauren worked with everyone doing a mixer. They did a great job. Laura and Eric D did music doing 4 songs. Great choices too. Jenn and/or Laura did the testimony. This was a very hard thing to do. Both did a tremendous job in being open and honest. Jenny and Emily presented a song by La Rue and then broke everyone into groups. They gave leaders discussion questions. This was a great time for people to really dig into what was presented. Lastly Eric D distributed "true love waits" cards to everyone. He asked people to prayerfully consider signing the card on their own time in the next few days. He presented it with a great analogy to a Bomb. Ali closed us in prayer. It was a great way to end to service.

Mrs. Jandrain was in charge of a midday party at a park in St. Charles. It was quite the celebration. All the parents were there. It was a feast of salads, sandwiches, and desserts. Before we ate, each person shared one special moment they had on the trip. It took a while to go through everyone, but it was well worth it. It was clear that it had made an impact of everyone. We then ate. MMMMMM. Thanks Mrs. J. Then to the parents surprise, the students had a water balloon fight. I heard the parents saying "I can't believe they have the energy for that".

After the party in the park on the last day we had to bike the last 20 miles home. A few parents biked the last 20 miles with us. Mr. Jandrain, Mr. Brorson, and Mr. O'Neal all made the brave trek. I overheard one say "So this is how it works". The only problem was it poured rain almost the whole 20 miles. We had a few problems staying together the last miles. One Mr. Snyder decided to go to Aurora first before getting to NCHS. The Eric's decided to go through Warrenville en route to NCHS. The rest of us just had to change Karl's tire en route to NCHS. (We had only 4 flat tires the whole trip)

Ali squeezing the sweat out of her head band.

Laura and Eric being chased by the dog.

Meeting Bible Joe.

Always seeing Jenn out in front.

Watching Eric D. be Eric D.

Seeing the stains on Brandon's hands from his paintball gloves.

Remembering Jenny's expression as she rolled in on the second day

Knowing that Lauren wouldn't put on gloves because it might hurt her tan.

Karl always had "the tool"

Seeing my wife and kids at the entrance of the fellowship hall in Dixon

Playing basketball with the kids from Dixon.

Seeing Joe play Monopoly with the girls from Dixon.

Watching Brandon and Mr. Krema play Ultimate Frisbee.

Knowing the difficulty everyone had when Mrs. Pecoraro left on Wednesday.

Mr. Krema and Mr. Sladkey hanging out together at the Water Park

Seeing Emily's leadership sometimes subtle and sometimes not but very important.

Riding with the T-shirts that Jenny designed.

Mr. Sladkey, Mr. Snyder, and Mrs. Pecoraro coming in 20 minutes late to the first service.

Eric D's song

Joe vrs the bike

Eric J scrape from the river.

The good luck bandanas from Laura.

Mr. Krema and Mrs. Pecoraro reading only 2 pages of their books.

Mr. Snyder's laugh.

The most improved biker: Ali Krema

Laura's t-shirt slogans

Jenn's smiling face

Lauren's devotional from the first day.

Karl riding the whole way with little preparation.

Emily's song from La Rue.

Jenny's positive attitude.

The bee at the buffet

I know I will miss some. But here is a try.

My wife: You are the best!

The leadership team: Emily, Jenny, Joe Eric J and Mr. Snyder. Without your help and encouragement this would have never happened

Emily: the menu worked great

Eric: the supply list was awesome. Thanks for the bike help as well

Joe: You were perfect in rallying the troops for afternoon rides.

Jenny: The mission was excellent

Mr. Snyder: Your help planning the trip and executing details was invaluable

Mr. Krema and Mrs. Pecoraro: Thanks for going above and beyond in your duties as van driver.

Doreen Busche, Brett Freeman, and Gay Todd: Thanks for your organization at the churches. You are a true gift from God.

Mr. Jandrain: Thanks for a wonderful picnic

FCA Thanks for all the support for the trip.

Lauren, Eric J, Laura, Eric D, Karl, Jenn, Jenny, Emily, Joe, Ali, Brandon: You guys are the best. Your personalities, faith, encouragement and commitment are inspiring. Thank you.