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.
