…created quite an image along the highway heading out of Cheyenne.
About 40 single-day riders joined our core team to help us get FRONT RANGE FREEDOM Tour ’14 underway. The unity and common sense of purpose made this, for most of the riders, much more than a bike ride. We never managed to get everyone in one place at the 10-mile mark to commemorate our entry into Colorado…the single bathroom was a higher priority.
This was clearly an event in which the journey and the people mattered much more than the destination. A few riders got in a hurry, but most folks used the opportunity to meet and ride with new friends. When our team met Saturday evening, no one talked about how fast they completed the ride.
They were eager to talk about my friends from Harvest Farm who kept their commitment and impressed us with their dedication and compassion toward other riders.
They wanted to talk about Les, who could scarcely ride his bike more than a couple of blocks a few months ago. We’ve been helping him train, gradually increasing his mileage, and on Saturday Les rode more than 47 miles with me.
Les doesn’t get to be first very often. He was the proudest guy in the world as he led our group into the parking lot. The riders who finished as fast as they could missed Les’ high-fives and hugs.
If you ask me, they missed the whole point.
I was honored to ride about 25 miles with the guy who’s using my refurbished, twenty-five-year-old bike.
I enjoyed learning a bit of his story and knowing that something that was gathering dust is now bringing joy to a really great guy.
Some folks might have a difficult time seeing a mission trip in these pictures. But missions are always about relationships, and that’s exactly what was at the center of this day. 50 people in orange jerseys, doing something we enjoy for a cause in which we believe–and at the end, there was ice cream and a party.
What could be better than that?
I’m pretty sure Jesus was there, smiling.
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Today our core team heads out on the second leg of the tour: Fort Collins to Boulder. I hope you’ll follow along here and on Facebook.
Here’s a map of our Monday route. If you can’t see the map, click here.
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