Category: Rich’s Ride

I told you last time about our team’s ZOOM conversations. Dick Foth said he wanted to discuss freedom. He began with Jesus’ words: “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” So there’s a chain: obedience –> truth –> freedom. It’s […]

Every tour is unique. Maybe you think after 8 years it’s just rinse and repeat. When you bring a group of people together with different backgrounds, riding abilities, and expectations it’s never same-old-same-old. Toss in the stay-at-home model and the uncertainties created by COVID-19 and you’ve got “unique.” It’s a bike tour, so first thought […]

How do you do a tour, when you can’t do a tour? FRONT RANGE TOUR 2020 kicks off this week, but with COVID-19 it’s not smart for a bunch of sweaty cyclists to invade a new church every night for 5 or 6 nights. However, we still want to ride bikes together, and the kids […]

Cyclists deplore extra weight. Serious riders go to great lengths – and spend lots of money – to remove every unnecessary ounce. Especially during climbs, seemingly small grams make a big difference. So it’s a big deal when we ask every FREEDOM TOUR participant to carry two stones with them during the journey. It’s a […]

It’s as if he wrote this quote just for us. “We are not to simply bandage the wounds of victims beneath the wheels of injustice, we are to drive a spoke into the wheel itself.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer Wheels, spokes, and victims of injustice – the perfect bumper sticker slogan for the FREEDOM TOUR, written by […]

We all want them. Overnight success. Viral ideas. Instant vaccines. Magic bullets are illusions, of course. Overnight success springs “magically” from lots of sleepless nights, crumpled papers, and cold coffee. Successful ideas almost always rest on a string of “failures.” The scientific method doesn’t care about expediency. Skip steps and you might get faster results, […]

I’d like you to meet someone. Cheyenne likes to run. When we launched the HOPE & FREEDOM CHALLENGE, she committed to run 150 miles to support the kids at the HOME OF HOPE. Cheyenne wanted to make her miles go ever farther, so she’s asking friends and family to donate and support her effort. I’m […]

I don’t stop enough. Odd comment about bike riding. Usually we think keep going, just a little more, you can do it. DON’T STOP. It’s easy, especially on a bike, to roll on with that mindset until you’ve cranked a lot of miles. Yesterday I was huffing and puffing my way up a significant climb. […]

I keep hearing this will be the summer with nothing to do. Everything’s cancelled. Summer camps, organized sports, vacations, pools, rec programs. An entire summer, cancelled. Maybe not. Depends on the story we tell ourselves. Here’s a brief parable. + + + In 2011 Becky and I planned a bike ride. I would crank my […]

Back in the old days – three or four months ago – bike tours involved groups and maps. Everyone meet here. Go that way. Turn left at the second light, right at the highway, and stay together. We even had electronic gizmos to keep us on course. So what happens in a new world? What […]

Human trafficking didn’t shut down. No surprise, perhaps, that those who prey upon the weak and marginalized don’t observe niceties like social distancing. Ruthless criminals exploit vulnerability wherever they find it. No surprise, either, that those already rescued and living in shelters and safe houses are struggling during this crisis. As lock downs limit access […]