Preface (f)
For those of you who have been reading about our journey from the first days, you may remember Dirk Homeier, whom we met with his father and brother (both named Chris). They were the unlikely cycling trio we ran into on our first riding day of our trip. (link to that passage)

Since finding them somewhere east of San Diego, we’ve kept communicating with Dirk as he planned his monumental(ly nutty?) cash-free bike trip. As he wanders he celebrates his graduation from Florida Bible College, his future life and his relationship with God.  This is the fourth installment of the email we've collected from him, some of his followers and family.   
(link to the first installment)
(link to the second installment)
(link to the third installment)

Warnings and notices: The following unabridged writings may be offensive to atheists and do not represent the opinions of the BikeBrats. Please use caution; parental guidance is suggested. They are the property of Dirk Homeier; they are presented here with their permission and may not be reproduced.

Date: August 8, 1998
greetings from reedsport, oregon!!!!

for those of you who have been following this journey of faith from the beginning, you have become accustomed to seeing the subject heading of "alone with god." for this portion of my 10,000 mile journey, i thought it best to subject head my e-mail messages the way in which the first newspaper article titled my father's and my journey from springfield, illinois to miami, florida in 1986. once we have reached san diego, i will subject head my e-mail messages as "alone with god II."

to mention briefly what the six days where like peddaling across montana, i could some them up in two words..."mentally demoralizing." yet even amidst the sometimes 20 mph plus winds, i found strength in pursuing on. it really wasn't until i reached glacier national park and the northern cascade mountains in washington did i discover the value of riding every day against the relentless winds and not giving up.

upon reaching glacier national park, i was completely taken back by the tremendous beauty of the great spanse of the mountains. it was riding up to logan pass (6,800 feet) that i really was able to literally suck in god's pure and clean air, and a breathless creation that reafirms in my mind that their had to be a master creator to such formations.

leaving from st. mary, montana in the morning, i was able to pedal across the glaciers to eureka, montana. in eureka i came across a youth group from kingdom city, missouri with their senior minister who was in eureka for two weeks starting a church their. they were actually helping a minister from libby, montana who was originally from kingdom city.

after spending a short amount of time with these christians, they invited me to eat some pizza with them and spend the night with them. in the morning breakfast was made for everyone, and they sang their song for me.

here in oregon, i cannot say enough about the oregon coast. the mornings are replete with a cold fog until the sun burns it off at about 11:00 a.m. as this fog lays heavily along the coast, it gives the crevases of the rock cliffs jetting out over the see an almost mystical feeling. the closest visual i could give is a placid lake in the hills of scotland where only the deer seems to have gone.

yesterday my father and i stopped in tillamook for their famous cheese and ice cream. i guess you can say it was different experience having a cheese omelet with ice cream for dessert. you would understand if you knew something about us homeier's :)

we also stopped at an air museum where class k blimps were housed during world war II. as both my dad and i are wwII nutts, we enjoyed the museum immensely.

today riding along the oregon coast, we came across the famous sea lion cave.

the miles that my father and i are putting in on our bikes are nothing like the 130 to 150 miles that i was doing by myself. many of the hills he walks up, and i walk alongside him. at times i can sense from the tone in his voice that his discouragement comes in feelig that he is slowing me down. yet for me, this time with my dad is irreplaceable by anything. i really don't care how long it takes us to get to san diego. what i enjoy the most is peddaling through new towns, see new places, speaking to people about our loves, and experiencing the great expanse of god's providence.

just this evening as we arrived in reedsport, it was my desire to get in touch with a local minister of a christian church. as we came to the church building, there were some people leaving the church. in asking for the minister we found out that he was gone for the entire week. immediately feeling that my dad and i would have to take an alternate plan, one of the gentlemen invited my father to dinner, shower, and a place in their house. all of this without really knowing us.

it is my great desire for this leg of my trip to in some way have my dad's faith stretched. since my dad would definitely not do this leg without money, i really wasn't sure how god could work. in a small way, i think that god is just warming up in his creativity in showing my dad that although he has money, it's always much more fun to see god lead the way for us.

well, there's much more to say that isn't so connected to this journey, but i will save it for another day as it is now 11:30 p.m.

dirk.

Date: August 9, 1998
greetings from crescent city, california!!!!

after too many days spent in oregon, it's now time for my dad and i to enter into the great state of california!!! crescent city is at the base of the national redwood forest. we should be spending tonight somewhere in the forest, hopefully in our tents.

yesterday, we peddaled 107 miles from reedsport to gold city. i'm simply amazed that my father being 64 is getting stronger by the day. his goal is to not be walking up any hills by the time we reach san diego. last night was spent in a hotel room. i can't tell you how this part of my journey is absolutely spoiling me!!!! it will be quite an adjustment for myself once i am on my own from san diego back to illionois.

well, off we pedal into the giant redwoods. there is so much folklore the is wrapped around these wonderful trees of tremendous size.

bike father, bike son.

dirk.

Date: August 12, 1998
greetings from king city, california!!!

i'll let you in on a little secret...

my father left our seattle to san diego journey on sunday evening. he did this for two reasons. one is to surprise his wife dorothy. she doesn't expect him back in springfield until next tuesday or wednesday. secondly is to give me a chance to surprise my fiance sarah in san diego. she flies in tomorrow night and she doesn't expect me until sunday with my father.

monday, i started from ukiah and rode 130 miles to just above san fransisco. sleeping in the back of horse trailer really wasn't my idea of accomodations, but it still got the job done for the night.

tuesday, pedalled across the golden gate bridge, through san fransisco, and down to just above king city in the county fair grounds. after peddaling until midnight, i think the miles for the day totalled 176.

today and tomorrow is the reall kicker. i figure that if i pedal 200 miles today and 200 miles tomorrow, that should put me at my brothers house around 11 p.m. of course this will all be a surprise to sarah, and across the country, my father's wife will receive a similar surprise from him. :)

now the secret is that in order for this to work, you must keep a liplock on any communication with my father's wife dorothy and my fiance sarah. if you do, i'm sure there will be smiles bounding!!!!

the only hard thing i foresee about peddaling 200 miles today and tomorrow is that its 107 degrees today and probably about the same tomorrow. oh well, i guess i will just loose a little more weight:)

bike father, bike son.