Tally Ho!

Time to board a flight and time to reflect.  Training for the Tour has provided so many unexpected blessings, which I will articulate in a moment, but first some statistics.

First ride February 3 started at 9:27 am, 38 miles, 1,269 of elevation, 3,185 calories burned.  Just about passed out at the end of this ride.  Started a dramatic food intake reduction that week and was literally shaking when I returned from the ride due to lack of food in my system.

22 outside rides later, I rode 1,003 miles, 72.5 hours in the saddle, averaged 13.8 mph, 59,414 feet of climbing, and 78,450 calories burned.

Last ride May 11 ended at 2:50 pm, 71 miles, 5,673 of elevation, 5,414 calories burned.  Hottest day, by far, of my training and the most challenging.   It was tough but felt great once it was done, and with all the weight lost, I look, if I do say so myself, amazing on the roads.  :).

Now the blessings.

Blessing 1:

Donations to date total $21,375!  The initial goal was $5,000.  I do not have a fundraising personality so to raise 4 times what was expected has taught me when I believe in a cause and talk to people about it, I'm not selling the cause, I'm just sharing what I know, and people give as they feel led.  I never expected a donation from any individual because I did not want to put myself in a position of judgment.

That approach can be applied to my Christian faith.  I'm not selling Christ, I'm just telling people what I know, and the person decides if the Christian faith is something they want to explore.  And never, NEVER, judge a person for what they think of Christ and my faith in Him.

Blessing 2:

As of this morning I have lost 105 pounds since I started taking better care of myself on August 7, 2011 with half of that loss happening since the end of January of this year.  Some perspective, the bike box I'm bringing, fully packed, weighs 100 pounds and I have been weighing myself, then grabbing the box and weighing me and the box to gauge the weight of the box.  That box is me, or at least what was hanging on me.  Amazing!  What a blessing to feel how I feel and how sweet I need not worry about sitting in a tight airplane seat for hours on end.  And what a blessing for the person on the plane sitting next to me.

Blessing 3:

My faith is stronger.  You know, faith is like the muscles I've been training.  If I want stronger faith I have to, like my muscles, exercise it.  I don't know what will happen on this trip, but I am 100% confident God has been preparing hearts and minds of people I will encounter, and setting up situations for my faith to be exercised even more, and preparing my heart and mind....and body.  All I have to do is show up and trust Him.

Blessing 4:

My son got an internship at my company because of my blog.  Whoa!  Didn't see that one coming.  I added one fellow-employee to my blog distribution because we sat next to each other at our CEO's retirement party a couple years ago and we learned we are both Christians.  Fast forward to this March and we are together again at a management retreat and just "happen" to meet in the buffet line.  He asked how I came to know Burundi so I told him about my 2007 Burundi trip with my son.  That led to more details about my son graduating college in May, and by the end of breakfast my co-worker was asking if my son might be interested in working in our Costa Mesa office.  It eventually led to a 3 month internship for my son and he starts in June!!  That, my friends, does not happen, if not for this blog.  Thank you Lord!

Blessing 5:

My wife.  Always knew she loves me and supports me but she has gone above and beyond this time sacrificing as much, if not more, than me for this trip.  Those 72.5 hours I've been riding outside she is home holding down the fort.  And those hours don't include rest time and time away from home.  She is my blog editor and has as much to do with the final product as I do.  She has encouraged me on riding days when I was not motivated to ride to get my fanny out there.  She is truly a gift and when I get back I so want to return the favor and make sure to take extra-good care of her.

Blessing 6:

The people God has put in my life helping me prepare.  Friends encouraging me to lose weight, tremendous trainers, fantastic bike shop store employees, and nutritionist.  And just this morning while sitting at Peets Coffee, two pastor friends coming over, one reading scripture as an encouragement and the other praying with me and my wife who joined me today.  What a blessing!  An amazing array of people and personalities that helped me get to where I am today.

Blessing 7:

My attitude....toward me.  Saturday's ride was scheduled as 100 miles and 7,500 feet of climbing.  It started with a ride up Diablo, 11 miles and 3,500 feet of climbing.  As my friend and I returned to the bottom of Diablo, we, for a variety of reasons decided to cut the ride short and do the ride I described at the beginning of this post.  Had I made the decision not to do the more challenging ride when first started training I would have beat myself up for not doing what I said I would do.  Saturday, however, after changing to an easier route I had this thought, "Enjoy the ride".  That is new for me and I've really learned to not beat myself up, not be so hard on myself, and love me more.

Blessing 8:

You.  The emails and comments I have received over the months have served as great encouragement.  And as I would receive notifications of donations I would just smile and say, "Thanks God!  That's so cool.". Thanks for being a part of this!

There's more but I have to get going.  I will update my blog and/or email while in Burundi as I am able.  Take care.