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 […]
Continue readingMore TagCategory: Freedom Tour
A Little Travelin’ Music
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 […]
Continue readingMore Tag
Four Words, Two Principles, And A Culture
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 […]
Continue readingMore Tag
About Being Real
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 […]
Continue readingMore Tag
Butterflies Are(n’t Always) Free
We’ve been asked a few times recently about the significance of the butterfly-and-barbed-wire symbol. It’s actually part of the Project Rescue logo. We use it to symbolize our link with that wonderful organization. The butterfly represents the hope of a restored life for women and children rescued from slavery. The barbed wire, of course, recalls […]
Continue readingMore Tag
What If The Result Isn’t The Goal?
In 2013 Becky and I did a 1000-mile tour around the perimeter of Florida. Well, 1000 miles was the goal. Before we finished there was a slight Bump In The Road in the form of a nasty infection that landed me in the hospital for a few days and ended the tour. I tried to claim I […]
Continue readingMore Tag
Are You Riding The Tour de France?
If you race, you’re going to lose – get used to it. In next month’s Tour de France, 198 elite cyclists will leave the starting line. After 21 days and more than 2,000 miles of racing, one man will wear the winner’s yellow jersey. The other 197, the best riders in the world, will lose. And this […]
Continue readingMore TagWidgets Or Art?
Widget makers value consistency. Every widget must be exactly alike, so the factory thrives on rules and procedures designed to produce conformity. On the assembly line it’s about interchangeable parts and elimination of individualism, freedom, creativity. Not a value judgement, just what’s required to produce consistently high-quality widgets. The FREEDOM TOUR is more art studio […]
Continue readingMore TagGlory Days?
Everyone has a story. We’ve heard it a million times, but what if it’s wrong? Or, what if there’s perhaps a better, more helpful way to think of it. Suppose, instead of “I have a story,” you and I re-frame the narrative a bit. You don’t have a story. You are a story. Suppose, rather […]
Continue readingMore Tag
Where’s The Hope?
Their mothers are slaves, forced into prostitution in horrific, degrading conditions. They were born in a brothel, destined to life as sexual slaves on G.B. Road, literally one of the darkest, saddest, most hopeless places on Earth. No notion of education. Or play. Nothing we associate with a “normal” childhood. They’re not even really part […]
Continue readingMore Tag
It’s Just A Saturday
I’m not a fan of bureaucracy. During my teaching career I consistently chafed against rules designed (I thought) mostly to sustain the organization. It all begins with good intentions and before you know what happened you’ve got committees, meetings, org charts, and lists of rules. And when you ask “Why?” they say something about consistency, […]
Continue readingMore Tag
Putting Perfection In Context
A few folks from our team sported the new jerseys at last weekend’s ELEPHANT ROCK CYCLING FESTIVAL. So begins FREEDOM TOUR 2018. For the next few weeks our house becomes a staging area for jerseys, food, coolers, bikes, flyers, posters, trailers, and all sorts of miscellaneous stuff. We’ll scramble to get everything ready, and I’m […]
Continue readingMore Tag