The Journey Begins

Sunday night Diana and I finished our preparations at home and loaded the car to drive to Lynden, Washington, about five miles south of the Canadian border. We spent the night in a windmill at the Dutch Village Inn. Early this morning we set out on our journey. The border crossing was still closed at 7 AM so we had to settle for pictures of Canada.
Before departing we prayed Psalm 91 for our niece Tammy Peters who is on a mission trip in Swaziland, Africa, for Tom Peters our brother-in-law (her dad) who had emergency lung surgery, and for my safety. Thank God he answered our prayer because Diana saw a bike accident just a few miles ahead of me. Not everything went as planned, however. About an hour into the ride it started raining hard and continued for the rest of the ride. With a strong south headwind and heavy rain, it was slow going. I also gave Diana a wrong turn in her directions (yes, she graciously forgave me) and it took us a while to get back together. As a result I had to stop riding just past Deception Pass on Whidbey Island and have Diana meet me. We drove the rest of the way in orde to make it to the Keystone-Port Townsend Ferry for our 3:00 ferry resrvation. As a result I only rode 60 of the 80 miles I planned to ride today.

As I reflected on this trying first day, I thought about all the prayers I had said for months asking God for favorable weather. Instead, He gave me March in June. The weather reminded me that although God hears and answers our prayers, he does not always do so as we would like. Instead he orders our lives according to his perfect plan. Isaiah 50:7 says: "Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame." The weather forecast for tomorrow is for rain again, so I will get on my bike and "set my face like flint" for Mexico and trust God to give me strength to persevere. Here's a screen shot of today's ride:Yes, it's small in the blog, but click on the image and you can see it full size. The ride today included 2745 feet vertical gain, and in spite of the rain and wind I averaged 15 miles per hour.

Tomorrow we travel south on State Highway 20 to US 101 for a total of 75 miles to Shelton. It's a simpler route than today's so we shouldn't get lost, and we aren't dependent on a ferry, so I should be able to ride the whole distance, our Sovereign Lord willing! When things don't go as planned, remember that God's plans for us are always perfect, even when they don't match our plans. I plan, by God's grace, to persevere tomorrow even if God plans for rain. I think that's one of the things he is sovereignly trying to teach me. Please keep us in your prayers!

Precious Farewells and Precious Prayers

Yesterday morning I bid farewell to two precious people in my life (tomorrow we also leave Charlie behind at the kennel for a day). My daughter Rebekah and my grandson Elijah were going on a camping trip for mothers and children to Lincoln Rock State Park in Wenatchee. I told them I would be praying for them, and Rebekah remarked that she was more worried about me on the bike than about her and Elijah camping. I told her that she didn't have to worry, because there would be hundreds of people praying for me. Since they won't be home until after we leave for Canada, their departure meant that I won't see them again until July 3, Lord willing. In the meantime, the only thing I can do to bless and protect them is pray. Worrying won't help; praying will!

By this post, I am asking for your prayers for my Sabbatical ride. Because we have a loving Father who is eager to hear and answer our prayers, we can count on them being powerful and effective. Here is a list of some prayer requests:
- Safety and protection for Rebekah and Elijah at home.
- Obedience and self-control for Elijah.
- Safety for Diana in the car as she drives my support vehicle.
- Little rain and favorable wind as I ride my bike.
- Strength and perseverance on my bike.
- Good health throughout the ride.
- Safety and protection on the road while I ride.

These are just a few of many that I could list. Please feel free to add your own. From the sounds of the weather forecast, the first four or more days of my ride look very cool and wet. Special prayers would be appreciated for favorable riding conditions and tenacity on my part to get through the initially bad weather.

Thank you for your prayers. They are deeply appreciated.

See you tomorrow for a preview of Day One, Monday's ride beginning at Alder Grove, British Columbia.

For Joy and Life

Last January I attended the LCMS "Megachurch" Pastor's Conference and had the opportunity to share dinner with Rev. Gerry Kieschnick, Presdent of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. The subject of my sabbatical came up and he asked what I planned to do. When I told him I was riding my bike from Candada to Mexico his reaction was immediate and strong. "WHY???" I suppose my answer was a little flip. "Because I can." It got me to thinking, however, about why I was planning to do something so unusual.

Diana and I first visited California in 1999 after our best friends moved there. We rented a car and drove US 1, the Pacific Coast Highway from Monterey to Cambria. As we were driving up Big Sur I remember seeing a bicyclist riding up that 1000 foot climb. I remarked to Diana, "How can anyone do that?" Now, nine years later I'm preparing to ride that same road for the second time, as a part of my sabbatical ride from Canada to Mexico. There's a tremedous sense of accomplishment to being able to undertake such a feat. So, yes, I'm doing this ride because I can. But I'm also doing it for the joy of it. I love to ride my bike. I love seeing the beauty of God's creation close up and at a pace you can enjoy. I love the great feeling that the physical exercise of riding many miles gives. Now, don't get me wrong. I realize it won't all be joy. I'm sure there will be rainy days when I don't particularly enjoy riding. I'm sure there will be days when I'm tired and sore and don't feel like riding. So what will keep me going? It's the other reason I'm riding.

Because of the wonderful people at Our Savior, I have been able to raise almost $9,000 for a cause that I feel very passionate about. The picture above shows me wearing my new 2008 Ride4US jersey and shorts. This all volunteer local charity began as the vision of one man, Diego Wendt, and in four years has grown to involve hundreds of volnteers and has raised well over $100,000 to purchase ultrasound machines for CareNet Crisis Pregnancy Centers. The vast majority of women who are able to see their child on an ultrasound choose life. As the father of two adopted daughters I thank God that their birth mothers chose life, and want as many other women as possible to see the reality of the child in their womb and make the same choice. In my fund raising I specificaly asked people to pledge per mile, knowing that the fact that I was being "paid" to ride for the sake of life would keep me going on the hard days. Each day I will carry the names of those who have pledged for my ride with me, along with the amount of money raised that day. I will be praying for my sponsors each day, and asking God to give me strength to glorify him. I will also be looking for opportunities to tell other people why I'm riding and to share my faith in the God who considered life so precious that he gave his one and only Son to die on the cross for our sins, so that we could be right with him for all eternity.

So why am I spending three weeks riding my bike from border to border? Yes, I'm doing it because I can (thank God!), but even more I'm doing it for the joy of it, and most of all for the sake of life. To God be the glory!

Contact Points

To begin my Sabbatical my family and I made a trip back to the Midwest. We enjoyed seeing old friends in the Chicago area, and I had the privilege of performing a wedding for a young lady I confirmed, whose parents I had married many years ago. Because of the people and luggage in our rental car, however, I was unable to take my bike along. This meant that if I wanted to train for my Sabbatical Ride from Canada to Mexico I would have to ride a different bike. The bike in the picture is my brother-in-law Tom’s Schwinn Continental II. It’s about 40 years old, has a steel frame and wheels, ten speeds and weighs a ton! It’s a tank. I thought it would be good training for me to ride this bike while I was in the Detroit area—kind of like a batter standing in the batter’s box taking swings with a weight on his bat. Boy was I wrong! What I was reminded of, painfully so, was the importance of “contact points” with the bike. I’ve read over and over how important it is to have the right handle bars, seat and pedals (your key contact points with the bike) if you want to ride long distances comfortably. I brought my pedals with me, but when I tried put them on Tom’s bike I discovered they were a different thread than his, and wouldn’t fit. Therefore, I had to ride in sneakers rather than with my cycling shoes that clip into the pedals. Tom’s handlebars are very small diameter aluminum with unpadded tape wrapped around the upper parts and some dry, hardened pipe insulation shoved over the lower parts. This made for hands that went numb very quickly. Finally, the seat was a very hard, unforgiving lump of vinyl that hammered its way into my backside! After four days and 130 miles of riding I had all I could take! I know if I had ridden any further, I would have developed a saddle sore and would be unable to do my Sabbatical ride at all! Contact points—they are crucial! Our contact points with the Lord are crucial too. The key ones are daily Bible study and prayer. In addition our time spent in worship—singing God’s praises, hearing God’s Word, receiving the Lord’s Supper and offering him our tithes—is a key contact point. If these contact points with God are not as they should be, then our relationship with him is not going to be as it should, just as my relationship with that old Schwinn was not a good one! So keep your contact points with God strong and vital. You will enjoy a loving, joyful relationship with him for all eternity!

Making what's hard a little easier

On Saturday I rode 62 miles (a "metric century, that is, 100 kilometers) in the Skagit Spring Classic. I was joined in my ride by two friends from Our Savior, Mark Tai and Joel Mailand. The ride started out pretty easy, in the flat countryside of the Skagit Valley. Then we enjoyed the beauty of Chuckanut Drive. After that, however, it got harder. When we turned south we got hit with a triple whammy - an uphill climb against a strong headwind on chipseal pavement. It made for tough going. We got into a rhythm, however, and made good headway even over Bow Hill, until we hit the flats again. Then as we headed south toward Bayview we face a massive 20 mph headwind. Pedaling as hard as we coule we could only make about 12 mph. At the end of the ride, however we enjoyed a spaghetti dinner and a good ride home as we relived out adventure.

It would have been a lot harder to do that ride alone. I would have had the four hours in the car up and back without any company. I would have had to fight the headwinds on my own. I would have face fatigue and discouragement without anyone to help me through it.

Earlier last week I saw a couple from Our Savior do something much, much harder than ride a bike 62 miles. Randy and Lisa Doyle laid their newborn son, Djeran Will to rest on Thursday. They were surrounded by faithful family and friends, Randy's parent's Pastor Dan Gerken from Good Shepherd in Tacoma, and many friends from Our Savior. I was so blessed to see the members of Our Savior who came to share Randy and Lisa's sorrow. One of them talked after the service about how God uses us to comfort others after we have gone through something like this. It thought of 1 Corinthians 1:3-4: "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." It was a tremendous example of how doing something hard with friends makes it easier.

My ride in June will be a lot easier because I know I won't be doing it alone. I know that all of you will be with me in your thoughts and prayers. I plan to carry with me each day the names of those who sponsored my ride that day, and I will lift you up in prayer as I ride along. Togther we should have a great time, even if it is hard to keep going once in a while.

Thanks!

I got to thinking that before I embark on this adventure I ought to credit two men who have meant everything to helping me get to the point of being able to do this ride. The first is Michael Davis. I rode my bike with Michael for the first time in March of 2004 and it marked the beginning of me becoming a serious cyclist. Mike overhead me talking about the need to stay in shape after losing weight, and he suggested we go for a ride together. Mike was already an accomplished cyclist. On that first ride he didn't laugh at how I was dressed or the bike I was riding. He took it easy and allowed me to enjoy his company. Not long after that he invited me for another ride, during which he took me up Military Rd. for the first time. Later on, Mike told me this was how could he find out who would become a serious cyclist. Anyone who didn't make it up Military Rd. wouldn't ride with Michael again, and never got serious about cycling. Well, with Michael's help I made it up. For many months he pulled for me and encouraged me. Even when I fell off my bike and broke my arm while riding with clipless pedals for the first time, Mike didn't give up on me. He kept me riding, until in July of 2004 the two of us finished the Seattle to Portland ride of 206 miles together in one day. Thanks, Mike. Your coaching and encouragement got me started, and I will be forever grateful!

The other person I need to thank is John Shula. I first got to know John as a cancer patient when I visited him at University of Washington Medical Center during his second bone marrow transplant for chronic lymphocytic leukemia. On one visit I remember that John received some bad platelets and his heart raced to over 225 beats per minute. He credited his strong cyclist's heart with saving his life. Well, now I believe him. I trained with John as he prepared for America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride in Lake Tahoe in 2005. Then in 2007 John and I trained and rode together in the Honolulu Century ride for Team in Training. John has been a huge insiration for me and a tremendous source of encouragement, not only because of his cycling, but also because of his faith, and his perseverance in battling cancer. He's also an awesome and demanding spin class instructor who knows how to make you hurt on a stationary bike!

I will always thank God for both Michael and John. I would not be the cyclist I am today without both of them. Proverbs 27:17 says, "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." Thanks for sharpening me, men. God bless you both!

The Training Challenge

Today is May 1, which means I've just finished my first first month of serious training for my Canada to Mexico ride. During the month of April, I logged 388 miles with my longest ride being 46 miles. Finding time to ride between the Pacific Northwest rains, full-time ministry, a new puppy, and my family (especially Elijah, my three year old grandson) is a real challenge. It's almost as hard as the training itself. Up until yesterday, I really couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel. I rode 32 miles yesterday, including a climb up Lake Tapps Parkway, which is a 16% grade over a mile long. Nearing the top I was feeling pretty proud of myself (grinding along at 5 MPH) that my heart rate never reached 160, when another cyclist blew by me doing about 8 MPH. So much for foolish pride! (Although I he was less than half my age.) In 1 Corinthians 9:26-27 Paul writes: "Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize." Over the past four years of serious endurance cycling, I've learned there is great value in physical discipline. Making your body do things that are difficult or painful strengthens the spirit as well. It gives you a measure of self-control over your physical body that you might not otherwise have, so that the "flesh" can be reigned in. Not that bodily training is the highest value. In 1 Timothy 4:8 Paul says: "Physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." So, I'll continue to train my body, but even more, I will train my soul by the Word of God and prayer so that godliness can grow in me. Then I'll be ready for this life and the next!