Look Out For The Cactus!

Do you get more flat tires when you bike near cactus plants? I guess we’re about to find out.

Taos to Tucson 2013 will take us on an October tour through some of the American southwest’s iconic cities. I’ve already had to practice spelling “Albuquerque” and “Tucson”—I’m good with Taos, Santa Fe, Phoenix, and Flagstaff.

We’re excited to partner again with our friends at Convoy of Hope. We’ll use the ride to raise awareness about the oppression and injustice of childhood hunger in America and around the world, and offer opportunities to support Convoy of Hope’s work financially.

If you’ve followed the blog recently, you know we’ve been refining how we approach future projects. We’re trying to make two significant changes.

We need to do less while we’re on the road. Past trips have relied mostly on arrangements made as we traveled. This allowed a lot of flexibility, but also created a great deal of stress and some short nights. We finally concluded that “Becky and Rich by themselves on the road” simply can’t do the riding, keep up the support, arrange routes and lodging, set up speaking gigs, update the blog, keep track of social media, manage media contacts and interview requests, and keep an old, bald guy moving down the trail. (Frankly, the last task’s the most difficult.)

We need to get Becky out of the car and on her bike more often. Why should I have all the fun, right?

Part of the solution is better advance planning. With experience from previous rides, we think we can work out more of the logistics before blastoff without sacrificing flexibility when unexpected opportunities arise.

We also need more help. Part of building capacity is expanding our team. So we’re recruiting—wanna help?

Our major need right now is contacts for speaking opportunities. Check out the route and the list of cities. Do you know someone who might help us make contact with a church, community service club, Salvation Army, detention center, or some other audience? All you need to do is make a phone call, recommend us, and pass along contact information. We’ll explore options and work out details.

We’re also looking for folks to travel with us for a few days. You can bike a little and drive a little, or just drive so Becky can bike. You’ll help us out and spend a few days relaxing in some beautiful country—and you get to hang out with Monte. How cool is that?

There are a number of ways you can be part of the team. Please contact us and let’s talk about possibilities.

Becky and I are looking forward to this latest adventure. Monte doesn’t seem to think it’s a big deal, though I’m sure he’ll enjoy exploring unfamiliar new smells. Maybe he’ll meet Snoopy’s brother Spike.

We want to share hope with those who may not be so sure it exists. We hope people will see us doing this difficult thing and be inspired to believe in their own ability. We invite you to get involved and help us share God’s message of hope and possibility.

It’s gonna be a blast!

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