Rich's Ride

Are They Really Principles?

It’s easy to talk about lofty principles. It’s easy to follow those principles when following them leads to comfortable short-term outcomes. It’s easy to impose the difficult consequences of our principles on others. It’s hard to follow our principles consistently, regardless of circumstances, especially when the short-term outcomes might be disappointing or painful. But following […]

Forgetting What We Know

We forget. For eight years, whenever a group of Freedom Tour cyclists completes a difficult ride, everyone celebrates. Smiles, hugs, handshakes, silly pictures. Watermelon and chocolate milk and ice cream. It’s a universal experience of joy and achievement. You know what NEVER happens? We never divide into men and women, conservatives and liberals, Black and […]

Who Are We?

It was an interesting online conversation. A pretty well-known personality fielded questions about a published article. As always, comments ranged from helpful and educational to silly. This one caught my attention. “You’re not the smartest guy in the room, are you?” In the online world, a snarky remark isn’t all that unusual. It was the […]

Four Years Later

Four years ago. Someone who’s in a leadership position in one of my circles publicly celebrated a difficult, divisive outcome. An outcome I knew would elicit fear and anguish in people I loved. An outcome I believed would bring real pain. If felt like he was laughing at those who wished for a different direction. […]

About Enough

I don’t usually think of myself as affluent. I’m learning, though, that wealth is a relative notion, and by rest-of-the-world standards I live in overwhelming abundance. A huge majority of the world’s population would consider it a wonderful upgrade to live in my garage. I don’t know exactly what to do with that knowledge. I’m […]

What We CAN Do

Right now, all around us, folks are literally crying out for us to just stop talking and listen. Not argue or agree. Not discuss or fix. I think these folks are literally begging us to listen. A few times recently I’ve seen someone online doing what could generously be described as “venting.” Often there are […]

A Key Question

What’s the goal? With a few inches of snow slowing autumn cycling, now’s a good time to go back to basics. As we plan for FREEOM TOUR 2021, what are we actually trying to accomplish? It’s the time when I’m tempted to envision a bigger tour with tons of riders. Because more is better, right? […]

Weighty Words

I wrote (but never published) this nearly two years ago. Words matter. “Nick” was a great student. Bright, outgoing, popular, a really good kid to have in class. Except, it always felt like he was sort of distant with me. I couldn’t figure out why we didn’t connect, so one day I asked him to […]

Define Your Terms

We’re all engaged in a two-way interaction with God. In simplest terms, we call God’s side of the conversation “revelation.” Our side of the conversation, how we respond, is our religion.

By this definition, everyone has some sort of religion. Even if it’s a decisive “No,” everyone responds in some way.

Please Or Serve?

You and I live in lots of circles. We’re part of families, neighborhoods, and churches. We have circles at work and with friends. I’m thinking about different ways of expanding and working with those circles. I want to serve people; too often I end up trying to please them. Pleasing people and serving people look […]

What’s The Job?

I think a lot about my job description. When Becky and I started doing bike tours, I didn’t anticipate a team. Even when we did the first FREEDOM TOUR in 2013, I didn’t envision hundreds of cyclists and more than a quarter million dollars. I believe this whole crazy thing is the result of doing […]

Talking Past Each Other

I’ve lost a few friends. Hopefully not too many of the in-person, face-to-face kind, but I’ve definitely lost some social media friends. A few weeks ago when the streets filled with protesters I made a commitment to listen. It was clear to me that people had something to say, something I didn’t truly understand. So […]

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