Back Row: Ron Lauck, Wayne Powell, David Deever, Sara Deever, Heather Watkins, Sarah Abts, Kathleen Miner, Judy Tardell, Howard Abts, Merv Matteson, Aaron Schnuth. Middle Row: Jim Robinson, Wesley Jones, Dana Philabaum, Brian McElroy, Mark Dowden, Mark Brook, Eric Jerger, Jason Douthwaite. Front Row: Mike Wolbert, Matt Dye, Craig McElroy, Tara Reardon, Brian Sabo, Martin Huber, Tish Thompson, Matthew Abts
For Christmas my lovely wife gave me a indoor bicycle trainer so I can “ride” my bike during the winter. I kept telling myself every year that I was going to buy a bike, and didn’t actually get around to it until late this past summer. Bicycling is something I used to enjoy quite a bit when I was younger. First it was just a way to get around the small town I grew up in, but later on in high school it turned into something more.
One thing I always looked forward to every summer was going to camp for a week or two. Not only was it one of a couple times a year I’d get away from my family, but it also gave me the chance to hang around other kids who had no preconceived notions of who I was. It won’t be much of a shock to you that I wasn’t Mr. Popular when I was younger. So getting to hang around other kids my own age, who didn’t know they were supposed to constantly try and make my life miserable, made me feel like I wasn’t a complete and total freak. Being that we were weekly church goers, it was only natural that I went to church camp. Sure I was in Boy Scouts too, but the stories I would hear of Merit Badge Boot Camp from my fellow scouts never sounded like an awesome time. I liked the camping part of Boy Scouts but really hated earning badges.
Methodist Church Camp consisted of sleeping in platform tents and doing all the fun camping stuff sans badge earning. Once I got into high school however I became interested in some of the more adventurous entries in the annual camp brochure. The summer before my freshman year I decided to try out Bike Camp. The first year I attended was a week long tour around the Georgian Bay area of Ontario. Not only did it foster in me a love for Canada, but I liked the camp so much I attended for four summers in a row. I don’t know if it ever had a more official title then Bike Camp, but that’s what we always called it. We’d ride on a pre-planned route of whatever area we were visiting that year while sleeping at night on the floors of churches. It doesn’t sound very spectacular, but trust me – it was a crap load of fun.
