Every year someone asks Becky and me why we don’t do RAGBRAI. If you’re not familiar, RAGBRAI is the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa. Something like 10,000 cyclists ride about 500 miles across Iowa every year (since 1973) in the world’s largest bike-touring event. By all accounts RAGBRAI is a lot of fun. […]
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“But God…”
The circumstances he described were overwhelming. We occupied the corner booth at McDonald’s. Coffee for him, chocolate shake for me…Don’t judge, I just completed a 30 mile bike ride. Incredibly intricate tattoos covered his arms and neck. Weathered, scarred face showed the wear and tear of hard living. Drugs. Drinking. Gangs. Jail. Pain and loss […]
Continue readingMore TagDo You Love Fish?
I recently heard an interesting story about love. A man says he he’s eating fish because he loves fish. His friend replies, “So you love the fish so much…you removed him from the water, cooked him, and ate him? I’m not sure you love the fish. I think you love the way the fish tastes. […]
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Oh Those Beautiful Plans (And What To Do When They Collapse)
“Are the tours coming together like you planned?” It’s a question I hear about this time every year. I’ll turn to a story from a few years ago to explain how my answer’s changed over time. # # # Day One of our long-awaited Mississippi River trip went precisely according to our carefully crafted plan–until […]
Continue readingMore TagWe Need You (Yes, You!)
You belong. You’re part of what makes us–us. We couldn’t do this in quite the same way without you. We long for those words, don’t we? Belonging, love, being part of the circle–deep down, you and I want to be invited, to know we’re accepted and special and necessary. But we also have this tendency […]
Continue readingMore TagLooking In All The Wrong Places
I learned a lot from teaching. I learned, for example, that questions matter more than answers. I learned that good questions don’t always have one right answer and that answering great questions might lead to some discomfort. I learned that searching can be scary. There’s a story about a boy who seems to be looking […]
Continue readingMore TagWhat Are You Doing With The Next Eight Weeks?
A lot can happen in eight weeks. In eight weeks a team of cyclists will gather at the golden dome of the Wyoming state capitol. We’ll raise our helmets, climb on our bikes, and crank south out of Cheyenne on highway 85. A casual observer might think FRONT RANGE FREEDOM TOUR ’17 begins with the […]
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Wrong Turns And Fresh Starts
I get lost a lot. It’s a gift. Whenever I take off on a new bike route, I’m nearly certain that at some point I’ll stare at a turn and think, “This isn’t where I’m supposed to be.” Doesn’t seem to matter how carefully I pre-plan my ride. I always manage a wrong turn somewhere […]
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Great Teachers, Stories, And Final Exams
I relish the teaching/guiding process. I’ve always been a teacher at heart, though my understanding of what that means has certainly changed. At one time I thought good teaching meant passing along information. My job was making sure my students learned lots of the right stuff. Teach the material and give a test to make […]
Continue readingMore TagDon’t Tell Me What To Do! (Every kid’s idea of freedom)
When I was a kid, I couldn’t wait to grow up and be free to do whatever I wanted. Freedom meant no one could tell me what to do. Cool notion, I suppose, as long as it’s just me in the wide open spaces. Just me and the open road, I can ride wherever I […]
Continue readingMore TagAre You Looking For Your Purpose?
“What’s my purpose?” One benefit of talking to people about bike tours is deep conversations. It’s not uncommon for someone to tackle a big challenge because she’s trying to uncover God’s purpose for her life. I understand. I’ve gained great insight into “What’s my purpose?” while gazing over the front wheel of my handcycle. My […]
Continue readingMore TagWhen We Listen To Imaginary Friends
I see trailers for a new TV show called IMAGINARY MARY. Apparently a thirty-something woman’s “imaginary friend” reappears as this cute little animated stuffed animal which only she can see and hear and, well…you and I likely won’t be watching, right? Who’s silly enough to believe in, much less listen to, an imaginary friend? Until […]
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