Author: Rich

I’m a big fan of questions. I started my career as a classroom teacher believing good teachers knew all the answers. Experience taught me that questions mattered more than answers. It’s a principle that extends beyond the classroom. We do better when we resist the temptation to provide (easy, quick) answers and focus on asking […]

Remember the circus? I heard an old circus story recently, about a little boy who heard the circus was coming to his rural town. He begged (and begged and begged) until his mom gave him the dollar to purchase his ticket. On the morning of the big day he got up early and was waiting […]

Our pastor told a funny story this weekend. A while back our church had a staff/team mountain retreat. As a fun activity they shuttled bikes (and themselves) to the top of Vail Pass (10,600 ft) and cruised down the bike trail 16-17 miles to Vail (8,000 ft). It’s a popular tourist thing to do, an […]

Last Friday our team took a shortcut. Triple digit heat, just finished a long climb at the end of a 55 mile day, and they could see the destination right over there. Why ride an extra couple of blocks around neighborhood road construction when there’s a shortcut through the park? So they cruised along the sidewalk, celebrating the […]

We cycle on the shoulders of reckless generosity. About 250 individuals and organizations donated (so far) to FREEDOM TOUR ’18. “Thank-you” doesn’t begin to express our gratitude for every contribution to support the kids at the HOME OF HOPE. Sponsors are the foundation of any fundraising effort. We’re blessed with the support of numerous generous […]

Daryl’s determined. We met him at Elephant Rock through a series of contacts. He’s a ride-a-lot-of-miles kind of cyclist who resonated with the notion of connecting those miles to a bigger story. Daryl really wanted to join the FREEDOM TOUR ’18, but short notice and prior commitments created logistical hurdles. 2018 just wasn’t a possibility. A few […]

What’s the deal with all the smiles? After two days and more than 110 miles in nearly 100° heat, you might expect something else. You might expect some grumbling. You might expect Why did I let you talk me into this? These folks are doing a hard thing, and you couldn’t blame them if they […]

It’s time! The FRONT RANGE TOUR team takes off today from Fort Collins to Boulder. We’ll explore some beautiful country with stops in Denver and Castle Rock before concluding in Colorado Springs. When the show begins, they play the theme music. Here’s ours, along with a video looking back at five years of doing this […]

It’s more than a bike ride. I’ve said it lots of times. The FRONT RANGE TOUR starts tomorrow, and we’ll say it to ourselves. We ride bikes, but the FREEDOM TOUR is more than a bike ride. What makes it different? I thought of four key words: Service. Leadership. Share. Sacrifice. However, almost any bike tour […]

Geppetto wished Pinocchio could be a “real boy.” We know Pinocchio for his long nose, but a cool part of the story happened when The Blue Fairy granted Master Geppetto’s wish and transformed his lifeless wooden puppet into a real boy. Sometimes I wish I could be a real cyclist. By “real” I mean riding a […]