Last Wednesday I hit my 100 pound goal, and just two days
later, I hit my $10,000 donation goal.
Two words, "Praise God".
I don't know how to express my feelings other than to say how thankful I
am for all the people that are involved in this journey. God picked you to be a part of this and I
hope that gives you a sense of comfort.
With my employer matching, total funds raised thus far is
over $20,500! Just because the goal has
been met though, don't stop giving. Next
Wednesday, May 8th, I will ask my employer for the matching gift. The cap is $10,000 but I plan to ask for
matching the entire amount so there is still a chance your donation could
double. If you've not done so, click here, and give. Thanks!
With last week's 100 pound weight loss focus I didn't get
a chance to update you on my riding. So
here is a two-week recap....
The weekend of April 19, 20, and 21 I rode outside all
three days. A first! 75 flat miles Friday, Mount Diablo summit
Saturday, and 50 hilly miles Sunday. By
the end of the weekend I rode 155 miles, climbed 8,200 feet, and burned over
11,000 calories and felt great in the process!
My plan was to replicate the three day ride the following weekend and
come Friday April 26th I set out to do just that.
It was a cold morning and I was just starting to feel the
onset of a cold. Not a great combo but I
had a schedule to keep and out I went.
My speed was down, my energy was down, and I didn't feel right. About 15 miles into the ride I got a flat
tire with my new puncture-resistant tires.
How nice! Fixing a flat is no big
deal but I used my one and only spare tube, had 60 miles to go (much of it
further away from home), and my wife was out of town so it wasn't clear how I
would get home should I have a second flat tire. With all that in mind I made the call to cut
the ride short and turned for home.
Now home, I had something I have not had much of since
training began, spare time. Turning my
attention to my Tour du Burundi to do list I took advantage of my new-found
time and got to work on completing tasks.
What a blessing, if not for my cold, I probably would have continued
riding and those Friday tasks would still be on the to do list. But Saturday would be different, I thought,
as Diablo was calling, and I needed a climb.
Waking up Saturday morning I felt horrible, my cold was
worse, my throat sore, and my voice sounded like Barry
White (Song in video dedicated to my wife). For the first time in my training I bailed on
a ride. I didn't feel great about
it. My mind was telling me I was
quitting but my body was telling me to shut it down. Shut it down I did because of a silly cold
but what a blessing! A second day of
spare time which gave me the opportunity to continue working on my bike carrier
which is a project I have worked on for a while but never had an entire day
dedicated to it.
Bikes in carriers can be checked like any piece of
baggage. My bike carrier, pictured here,
was born from something I found on the web.
I decided to build it because I, first, wanted to minimize the breaking
down and rebuilding of my bike which must be done with a traditional
carrier. A second, and very important
benefit, is space within the carrier. As
you can see from the pictures, I'm able to bring many supplies. Simon asked me to bring paper plates and
plastic knives and forks to minimize water contamination issues and they all
fit nicely in the carrier. All my bike
gear fits too as well as some frisbees and other goodies for the kids. I'm packing it to the 100 pound max, which
explains the wheels to be detached as I'm checking the box. Say a prayer the dang thing holds together.
I took a break from building the carrier around 6 pm
Saturday thinking I would grab a quick bite to eat and get back to the
carrier. I sat down on the couch after
dinner, well honestly, during dinner, and that was it. There would be no getting off the couch Saturday
night and I decided right then to sleep in Sunday, skip church, and not ride
Sunday. Again, Sunday presented more
new-found time and more time to work on the carrier. It was a full day of work and planning
because I had to determine what items would go where within the carrier and
what extra bracing I might need to add to minimize shifting during the flight
and baggage handling.
By Sunday's end, actually it was early Monday morning,
the carrier was 90% complete and as I write this it is 99% complete. Where would I have been on the bike carrier,
an essential component of the trip, if I didn't have two-plus days like I did
last weekend to work on it? Can't say
for sure, but it would not be anywhere close to being done. This coming weekend is booked with other
activities, so no progress would have been made, which leaves the weekend
before I go to wrap up the carrier. That
would have been extremely stressful.
But that stress has been avoided and because of my cold
my bike carrier is virtually done. Who
knew a cold could be such a blessing?
Two words, "Praise God". Even in our suffering there can be joy. Having the bike carrier done eliminates the
last big pre-trip hurdle and I feel joy swelling in me as I write this
sentence.
Thanks for reading this.
Always a pleasure having you along.
