Weather or not, here I come

In just four short months I will embark on a journey of a lifetime (which itself will hopefully be the first in a series of “Perfect Circles” journeys). In a way it seems surreal, especially when I don’t feel ready. Part of me wants to plan and likes to plan, but another part of me says, “just skip the planning and GO.” I have read up on many adventurers and their treks and recently I came upon one guy who basically chose not to prepare at all, well at least prepare in the “this is where I’m going” aspect. He took his bike, tent, and toothbrush and headed out to get lost on the open road to cycle around the world. It just so happens fate had other plans and he met a girl enroute and fell in love. But isn’t that the essence of adventurous travel? That is what separates travel from adventurous travel I suppose. Whatever happens in four months, I will be on an adventure. This does comfort me some to know that whatever purchases I may need or whatever planning I think necessary, the “Go factor” is what matters and the open road is what beckons and looms over the rest.

                                   

I would be lying if I said I had no worries. Worry beckons whenever I get dizzy from inactivity or I feel sick from cycling across town. Worry makes itself present when my legs fail to carry me up a mild city hill or when my core feels weak or when my bike acts up and I need to get it looked at. In a Bible study a few weeks ago I looked at the Do Not Worry passage in the Gospel of Luke. That passage is so relevant and yet so easy to look past and ignore. What do I have to worry about? God will protect me and provide for me as He has protected and provides for the sparrows and lilies. But alas, it is much easier to say or write such things than it is to put into practice. After all, God has provided this adventure and laid a dream in my lap…so why wouldn’t He keep me safe on such a voyage? It will be an incredible feeling once I get a few weeks down the road and learn to keep my wits about me and have a sense of “this is actually happening!”

So I say to you, “Weather or Not, Here I Come.” (Now, before you English fanatics get excited, no I did not misuse the word ‘weather’ when I should’ve used ‘whether,’ nor did I unintentionally replace ‘ready or not’ with ‘weather or not.’) ‘Weather or not, here I come’ refers not only to the physical elements that surround us out-of-doors, but also to any physical bodily weather or preparation weather. Where do you think they get the term, “Under the weather?” I pray that I will cycle above the weather and gouge out any eye of any storm that I may encounter. I pray that I will fear no evil or thief or trucker or hill that I will encounter. Whether there is weather or not (and there will be, so the “or not” is obsolete) I will ride my mechanical horse down the Pacific Coast of the US of A and God-willing, back up through the Mojave Desert and Sierra Nevada Mountains. Weather will try to haunt me all the way along and will be my constant companion but I must embrace it like a brother. Although I do ask for your prayer, even though it is four months away, I ask for prayer for final preparations and also during the trip itself. The weather will find me. I pray that it won’t find me unawares. This is becoming real. This is actually going to happen. What have I gotten myself into? Well, the answer is: adventure.

Weather or not, here I come…

Reflections on a week with no riding + My proposed route

Well well, it's been awhile. I thought I ought to return with a blog before you thought I was backing out of this endeavor of mine. I must assure you that it is still on. Some may think I am a bit crazy for doing such a thing in such short a time, but if I knew I would succeed in this, it would be too easy. The super bowl is playing on the tube in the background, but seeing that I am not much of a football fan, I thought I'd pen a blog instead. The game may be  more interesting if the players were all riding bikes or shooting arrows, but I digress. Although...I do enjoy the commercials and trailers. I just got chills up my spine when I saw the new Transformers movie. Maybe I'll get to see it on my trip.

Last Monday on the way to my ASL class, my rear tire blew causing me to walk the rest of the way. Since my tire-changing expertise is lacking, especially when it involves my rear tube, I needed to take it in to a bike shop. A few lazy days later, I finally did. However, needless to say, I went without riding a bike for the longest time since September. It's been a week since I've felt the wind at my back (or front) and experienced the challenge of traveling up a hill. I have had to take that wretched form of transportation called a car. Ironically, the less I drive, the more I dislike driving. That should be backwards. But alas, my tire is fixed and God-willing I should be back on two wheels tomorrow for my morning commute.

Simply put: driving is lame. Stuck in traffic, stop and go, impatient honkers, expensive fuel prices and insurance...it does get you places faster, I'll give you that....only sometimes though, sometimes a bike is faster. But the heater in the auto succumbs you to comfort so easily. I'm sure, even being gone a week, it will still take a little bit of time to get used to riding again...to be in the elements, the cold, the heat, the wind, the hills, the freedom. I have given some thought, not seriously min you, that when my car's life comes to an end, I should take note of my transportation needs and perhaps just forget about getting a new car...and make cycle-commuting my life...but only time will tell on that one.

I did recently get some panniers for my bike and am still figuring them out...things are coming together! In the coming weeks I will talk to my support guy (who is currently on a mission to Mexico) about some specifics and share with him my proposed route for the trip in which I attached here. I hope you enjoy it. If you or someone you know lives along my route and would like to accommodate me, please let me know...that would be so great!! Or, if you see a leg of the journey in which you would like to travel with me, either by bike or auto, that's cool too. I'd love the company! But for now, I'm out. Take care and enjoy your own adventures.

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

This is a question that many ask weighing the outcomes of each. What are the outcomes if I STAY: Safety, comfort, stability, security, status quo, boredom, control, expectations. When I think of a trip of this magnitude that I am about to embark on, I cannot help but think upon the COMFORT and SAFETY I will give up. But alas, as Christians, believers in Christ, we are not called to be safe. God himself is not safe, not tame, but He is good. I view adventure the same way. It will be a trek into an untamed wilderness and the safety zone behind me will linger there until I turn a corner into the unknown street. When Simon Peter walked on water as he so famously is known, I cannot help but focus on the other eleven disciples. Peter gets such a hard time for being the disciple who took his eyes off of Jesus, but guess what? He was the only man who stepped out of the comfort of the boat to follow his Lord. The others just sat there and thought he was crazy. Some will think I am crazy for cycling down the Pacific Coast and back up through the Sierra Nevadas during the hottest part of the year with a deadline lingering in front of me. But those folks are the guys and gals who will not even leave the boat. They won’t leave the house, the town, the state…and if they do, it will be by a motorized means. When I venture out my STABILITY will be altered, my SECURITY tampered with, the STATUS QUO out of whack. Becoming a vagabond as one wandering from village to city, BOREDOM will never take place. The CONTROL of my circumstances will be out of my hands. I cannot EXPECT what will happen to me or whom I will meet. Adventure awaits…

                                                                                                           

Should I stay or should I go?

What are the outcomes if I GO: Sacrifice, blessing, risk, hope, adventure, fear, change, faith. Next summer I will SACRIFICE my time that I could be spending with family and friends, watching movies, hanging out and enjoying life at home twiddling my thumbs. That is a sacrifice I am willing to make. If I do not sacrifice and take the plunge, I will be missing out on the BLESSINGS of a God who has called us to sacrifice our very selves. My friends, it is a blessing to go. It is most definitely a RISK to step out of the boat, but oh the joys that will befall you are boundless. Risky business is always wary when you don’t know what will happen next, but that is the joy…the joy of not knowing. Whom do you put your trust in? If it is someone or something other than God Almighty, then you do have something to worry about, but if He is for you, who can be against you? Step out and have a blast. When you do step out, you will be filled with HOPE, hope that you will return, hope that around the next corner will be an ice cream shop and hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. As I have mentioned and will continue to mention, there will be no lack of ADVENTURE outside of the boat. Yes, challenges will happen, but where do we grow? Where are we stretched the most? Inside or outside of the boat? I’ll let you answer that one yourself. FEAR is one that gets me and I’m sure it gets you as well. There will be many dangers along this odyssey and it will not be without fear. But fear is actually good to have. Without fear, adventure will lose its meaning. But with the CHANGING tides, new experiences and opportunities will present themselves and who knows what will happen on the road to exploration. If I set my eyes on the One who has gotten me thus far and is taking me even farther, what do I have to worry? I put my FAITH in Him and His doings and not my own. That is the key I suppose. I long for this trip, but as the weeks turn into months and as the new year is right around the corner I think of all I need to do to get ready for Perfect Circles 2014…will this trip actually happen? Am I ready? It must happen, I’ve told so many people about it. I can’t let them down now…nor ever. I feel like Gollum at times with a contradicting conversation piercing my thoughts. Safety or Sacrifice? Comfort or Risk? Security or Hope? Boredom or Adventure? Control or Change? Expectations or Faith? Stay or Go?

Should I stay or should I go?

A Good Salemite Story

Last weekend as I was riding past Riverfront Park here in downtown Salem, I witnessed a horrific sight. I glimpsed an old cyclist crossing a railroad track as he was leaving the park. As it happens, he did not make it past the tracks. As I looked over I saw him and his bike do a nose dive into the pavement in front of him. At first I did not know what was happening. For a split second, my mind did a flip-flop and a double take. Did that really happen? It looked like slow motion. Regardless, I didn’t think twice as I pedaled on over to him forgetting my agenda. I laid my bike down and knelt down close to this man. He was in bad shape. His face was smashed against the cement with a puddle of blood to show for it. He wasn’t moving except for some shaking and groaning. I quick whipped out my cell phone and dialed 9-1-1. There really wasn’t anyone else around save for the passing cars that took no notice. As I was waiting for the dispatcher to pick up, a gentleman was walking towards me to see what the problem was. I called over to him and asked if he had a phone because mine for whatever reason was not getting through to Emergency. Of all the times for my phone to malfunction, this had to be it. The other man called and got through to the paramedics just as a man and his wife came running from their car parked in the park. I helped get the bike off of him. They asked the man his name and started to administer first aid that they got from their car. Luckily he was conscious and was able to sit up. The ambulance and fire came and took it the rest of the way. They took him away on a stretcher and also were kind enough to bring along his bike. Not a minute after they drove away a downpour of rain and hail started to happen.

I don’t know if this man was homeless, but he did have some homeless friends near the scene that were afraid and asking about him. The good news is I am sure the man will be okay. It did not look too serious, but one can never tell for sure. I was sure thankful that I was there when I was. Things happen for a purpose. At the exact moment of the accident, I was riding by. The cool thing was that the previous evening I was in a Bible study discussing the Parable of the Good Samaritan founding Luke chapter 10. I had the opportunity to practice what I studied. God is good, no? Every day there are blessings and opportunities if we know where to look…and sometimes, they come looking for us.

Will you join me in keeping your eyes pealed for opportunities to be a blessing in your community and beyond just as the Good Samaritan man had compassion on the Jewish man? Help is in short supply; let’s resupply the world.

To Fender or Not to Fender

I chose to fender.

An easy way to help...

As plans come together for my trip next summer, I am in the continual process of listing what other equipment items I need. Some of the bigger, expensive stuff I have been researching so I am sure I get the right one to suit my needs. Therefore, a practical way to help and support my trip is to donate some funds so I may purchase some of these items. I have included some of them below with an estimated cost.

Ortlieb Pannier Travel Set - $450.00
New Bike Computer - $100.00
Action Camera - $150.00-$200.00
Front Headlight & Rear Flasher - $100.00

Those are the big items that I would like to purchase. Again, donations toward the purchase of this equipment is an easy way to support my "Perfect Circles" trip next summer. Trust me when I say "Anything helps." If you can donate $100.00 great, if you can donate $1.00 also great!

My address: 1123 Orchard Ct. N. Apt. C. Keizer, OR 97303
My phone: 503-990-4909
My e-mail: superwoolym@hotmail.com

Call or write if you have any further questions or inquiries about my adventure. Thank you.

Perfect Circles is a Pacific Coast odyssey, the first in a series of bicycle trips to raise awareness and support for a Christian bicycle adventure ministry & camp...because I believe in getting kids outdoors to enjoy the beauty of Creation. I believe Jesus has called us to change lives using creative options in His Name. The reason for such a trip is to embark on an adventure with God in tow to serve and share with those I encounter, the love and compassion Christ has shown us.

"Though the way is full of perils, and the goal far out of sight, there is no road to which there is no end: do not despair." HAFEZ

"Then the master told his servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full." LUKE 14:23

Can I really complete 3,000 miles on my bike in 77 days?

Well, as October looms over me, Fall weather has set in. Rain has come and so has fog. Winter is around the next bend. But for right now, Fall is the season to take in. With the month of October comes the smell of pumpkins and apple cider. It also gets dramatically cooler and darker. In which case it becomes less and less fun to ride in. However, I have commuted to work and to church several days a week now and keep wondering how I will fare when the weather really turns for the worse. The goal here is not only to consistently ride the bike and to stay in shape, but also to save on gas money. At the rate I am going, I can probably save upwards of $50.00 a month. This is money well saved for my upcoming trip...in 8.5 months.

Wow...8.5 months. It seems like a long time when said aloud, but in reality, it is not. As I am constantly reminded of, it will indeed go by quicker than I think or want. September came and went...where did it go? Your guess is as good as mine. As time progresses, I get more and more excited and anxious about my upcoming trip. As I commute across town or become sore after a mini workout, I am confronted with reality: Can I really complete 3,000 miles on my bike in 77 days? That is a long way. But I am determined to complete it and I hope to be a better person for having done so. Adventure awaits...

As I think of all the things I must repair, purchase and plan in the coming months in order to fully be prepared for the big odyssey, I get overwhelmed, mainly because I am unfamiliar with some of this stuff. However, I have come to terms with the fact that this trip will happen no matter what...if I am ready or if I am not ready. That first week of the trip in Washington will be a relief because I will finally be on the road living and riding this dream and accomplishing this trek for this cause. I pray that everything will come together in due time. As I pore over maps and flip through my calendar and commute to work and errands, and as I purchase a new set of panniers and accessories for my bike, and as I contact places to stay and share my vision of a Christian adventure camp with...things will come together...come together...it's a beautiful thing when things come together like a puzzle. Right now, the puzzle pieces are strewn throughout my apartment, various stores, across states and within my own brain. Eventually I get to see the pieces come together slowly but surely. I ask for your support and prayer in this vast endeavor. Please join me, won't you?

Can I really complete 3,000 miles on my bike in 77 days?