The FREEDOM TOUR experienced its first cool weather day in five years on Friday.
Thursday we rolled into Rocky Ford in sweltering heat well into triple digits. Friday morning temps were low 60’s…and then they dropped. Not too often you see a 45 degree temperature swing in 12 hours in the middle of June.
Folks didn’t pack for this. When the forecast talks about 90’s and 100’s and every previous tour faced heat and more heat, you feel a bit silly packing thermal undershirts “just in case.” So our cyclists scrambled for every bit of protective clothing they could find and headed off for an 83-mile ride to Trinidad. Thankfully the 15 mph breeze provided a kind tailwind that ushered the team into town in about 7 hours.
When you follow a dream, you don’t always get to choose the environment. Some days are glorious. Warm sunshine, open roads, and tailwinds make you wonder why you don’t spend your whole life doing this. Then the winds switch, traffic roars inches from your shoulder, heat or cold or rain oppress, rolling hills never seem to end, and suddenly you struggle to remember why you’re here. Had we had access to a portable solar monitoring system or a weather station, we could have probably calculated our adventure in prior, and maybe everything could have worked out in our favor.
But again, you’re here to follow the dream, and following the dream is hard. If it were easy, everyone would do it. But they’re not, you are, and following the dream always requires sacrifice. Those who want easy, who don’t want to sacrifice, who don’t want to ride when it’s oppressively hot one day and too cold the next–those folks stayed home.
You’re here. You’re following the dream.
Cycling, of course, is a metaphor. Your dream may have nothing to do with riding a bike. Doesn’t matter–dream-following all works the same way.
When you follow a God-sized dream, you can’t prepare for every possible situation because the dream is about something bigger than yourself, something you don’t truly understand. You work hard and do your best, but a God-sized dream will take you beyond your limitations.
In the end this thing belongs to God and you have to trust Him for the parts you can’t handle. Experience tells me He’s faithful. Time and again, just when I’m sure there’s no way…there is.
Just between us, though, I’d pack some thermal underwear.
