Three Lutheran ministers from West Virginia arrived at Peace Lutheran Church on Southwest Thistle Street on their triple tandem bicycle of bamboo Thursday, July 2, where they were greeted by well wishers and family members.

After a picnic-style dinner, the three gave impassioned speeches about some harsh realities of world hunger and sited Biblical passages that urge those with food to feed of the poor. They also urged Lutherans across America to donate, and said that even $10 per month would add up to millions of dollars.

The West Seattle and White Center Food Banks were also represented at the event and accepted food donations.

The “triplet” bicycle was custom-made in Ghana. It weighs 52 pounds and and is 10 feet 4 inches long. Its bamboo frame was smoked and treated to prevent splitting, and then sealed with tung oil to preserve the bamboo while providing a natural finish.

Their journey started May 13 at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America national headquarters in Chicago and is scheduled to end Aug. 20 in Minneapolis. Their 65-city tour will last 100 days and cover 13,000 miles. Money raised will go to the ELCA's world hunger program, which has set an annual goal of $25 million. The "Tour de Revs," as they call their quest, hopes to raise $5 million.

Along the way, the ministers also hope to raise awareness of personal health and wellness. "Revelation, revolution and revenue" is the motto for their trip.

While Rev. Dr. Fred A. Soltow, Jr., Rev. Ron Schlak and Rev. David A. Twedt are getting plenty of exercise this summer putting pedal to the metal, they are also aided by a supply van and make some long-distance hops by plane. They flew from Tampa to Puerto Rico in May, which whey quip would be tough to pedal. From Seattle they fly to Anchorage for three days before returning and heading on to Portland and southward to San Francisco, Los Angeles, and points beyond.

"We couldn’t find any dogs to pull the bike to Anchorage," joked Soltow, who is the shortest of the three, but also the "captain," and "alpha dog" which means he always rides in the front position.

Schlak rides in the middle and Twedt in the back. They are the "stokers."

"The bicycle was custom made with the three of us in our positions, based on our height and weight," Soltow said.

Their tour started out shaky on day-one.

"Our first day we pedaled through all the traffic and potholes in downtown Chicago," Soltow said. "But we didn’t run into Blagojavich.

"It's been a spiritual journey and I feel blessed to be spreading the message," he continued. "A lot of people have misnomers on clergy. We have different passions, styles, like anyone else." This point is driven home by their splashy spandex bike attire.

"I’ve done marathons, triathlons, and skied professionally," he said. "I was a K2Sports rep and skied K2’s in 1975-76. It’s a good ski. I know Zoot too, good company." K2Sports was then located on Vashon Island and is now in South Seattle. They just purchased Zoot which features running gear.

"I swam from the Statue of Liberty to Liberty Park on the Jersey side, then rode my bicycle to the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia," said Soltow. "I got all my shots before I jumped in that water, I can promise you that."

"I'm the 'monkey in the middle,'" said Schlak of his central location on the bamboo bike . "Wherever we go people respond giving generous gifts. The Upper Susquehana Synod in Pennsylvania presented us with $52,000 check they raised through lenton dinners. We were surprised and just thought it was going to be a photo-op and handshake." A Lutheran "synod" is a local council, like a "diocese" in the Catholic Church.

"I connected with two brothers on this trip. Both are ministers. My sister is not a minister, but she dated a Catholic priest once," he added with a grin.

"Our message is give to your church’s world hunger program and good things will happen. It’s not about the ELCA. It’s about hungry people."

Schlak acknowledged he asked his wife for the green light to take the bicycle tour.

"I said to my wife there are these two crazy guys and if I say to them 'Let's do this ride' they will say 'OK.' My wife said 'Go ahead.'"

"I’m the tail gunner, shall we say," said Twedt. "The bicycle moves more and feels less stable in the back, kind of like riding the last car of a roller coaster. But I can take in the scenery. I'm 6’ 2” but we are all pretty close to the same weight. It was built with this order in mind.

"We do not discourage people from donating to their local food banks," he added. "In every community we stop we see that those once giving are now on the receiving end. In Michigan when we go by an auto plant there are no cars in the employee parking lot.

"We live frugally on this trip," said Twedt, whose brother and cousin live in the Seattle area. "Most of time we stay at people’s homes."