Tornado Training!

I hope this title didn't scare you too much. But the weather is crazy!!!! I don't know where to start off, so much has happened in this week. So, I will start with... Tornado Training. When coming through Detroit, I was warned that there will be terrible weather upon me for a week straight. A great women from Ann Arbor lectured me for an hour on how to avoid a tornado. It sounds kinda funny but was actually pretty informative.

Sooooooooooooooo, to put all these last few days into a nice little blog. I will start with my first experience in a homeless shelter in Windsor. It was really eye opening and I'm so glad I got to do it. I am learning so much about people and how unfortunate some people are with the cards they are dealt. It's funny to think that I charged off on my bike to teach anyone and everyone with what I have had to say. But alot of what I have been doing is listening to what everyone has to say and listen to what they think about the treks cause.

I've stayed in 3 homeless shelters so far and they are full of such generous people that have nothing at all. The economic situation in the United States (especially Michigan is alot more desperate than I would have ever imagined) When riding through Detroit I was literally riding on broken glass for about an hour until I got out of the city core. But everyone I approached were really helpful and funny. They all laughed at my accent, and the distance I'm going to travel.

When riding through Detroit I was looking at my side mirror and to my surprise there was a cop pulling me over. He gave me the "whot whot" and I pulled as far over as I could... which was the sidewalk. I couldn't believe that I was being pulled over on a bike. I'm sure there was far more serious issues this cop could deal with but no... he was pulling over a cyclist. What did I do wrong, I don't remember committing any offenses. His first question was, "Do you have a death wish??" It first struck me as odd.... the rhetoric of the whole question made me think... Should I be smart or should I be compliant. Of course I went the compliant route knowing that being a visitor in a foreign county thats usually the best route. Anyway, he went on to tell me that he had never seen someone ride through that part of Detroit before on a bicycle. By the end he was very kind and wished me luck, but was shocked to say the least. There was no infraction.

The last place I stayed at was an addiction centre, in a small quaint village called Adrian. This centre was a truely amazing place... There is no words that will do it justice to explain what my experience was there. These young men from all over the United States were all aged within the 20 to 30 years. They all had serious problems with addictions or violence. But how they all took to the story about what I'm doing their reactions were all so positive. They all sat and listened most praised the cause, and wanted to learn. They fed me and talked to me most of the night. Talking about their problems and then I would talk about every day problems that a typical person with Developmental Disabilities might encounter daily. It was a great exchange and I was so happy to have somewhat connected with these guys on my short stay.

A funny little side note about when I was leaving in the morning I got onto the city trail to link up with the highway. On the trail were highschool kids riding to school. I caught up to them, they were on BMX style bikes so I cruised by them with ease. I grinned because the competitive side is always there and I like racing, even if the other party doesn't know. Next thing I knew they were all on standing on there pedals making ground to catch me. They all had huge smiles on their faces. I kept my pace but it wasn't quick enough, they eventually caught up to me. None of us said a word you could just hear the roar of traffic in the distance and the slight panting of breath. I dropped a couple gears and started pushing the pace. They were trying to keep up with all there effort on their bikes now. I looked at the speedometer and we were all travelling at 35km/h. Then I was started to get tired and started to really push the pace to try and get away from them. But there wasn't alot of ground to cover. I had to race these kids to the next stop light..................... they gained a little ground but I pulled up to the light first YAAYYYYY lol. At the light I talked to them for few minutes, they knew instantly I wasn't from the town and asked where I was going. I told them and they were left speechless. I said my goodbyes and took off in the opposite direction feeling quite triumphant. :)


To wrap this extremely fast week up.... I never ever expected to have learned so much in such a short period of time. The generosity given to me by people has left me every night lying on my pillow smiling about how amazing this world can be. I will end it there and say quickly that I am now in a town called Coldwater. The total distance of the trip is about 580km. I should be in Chicago by Friday night weather permitting.

Godspeed and goodnight
Matthew!

*I had to get a ride across the ambassador bridge in the U.S by a Van.... No bikes were allowed. I was given wrong information. So, technically I cheated.
*Also I will be updating this blog every 6 to 7 days hopefully and will be adding new pictures on the weekend hopefully.