Wandering Wheels

A bicycle is probably the most important item necessary if a person is to ride one across America. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to determine that, does it?

After riding across America in 2009, I knew I had to do it again. I told Margaret, "That's too good to only do one time." She whole-heartedly agreed. With her on board I added, "If I'm going to do a new ride it only seems logical that I should do it on a new bike. Right?" (C'mon, agree with me.) As you can see, she did give in!

Sometime later my son-in-law, Barry, said to me, "Wouldn't it be fun to buy a frame on eBay and build your own bike?" I thought it was a good idea and started looking. When I spotted a yellow 56 cm Cannondale R2000 frame I knew it should be the next machine to take me on another adventure. The price was right, $350, and it was a Buy It Now so I clicked on the magic button on my Mac keyboard and that yellow frame was mine!

Soon the much-awaited package was on the back porch and the search for parts was on! I found Mavic Cosmic Elite Wheels on Craig's List; Ritchey Logic WCS alloy handlebars, Ritchey carbon seatpost, Selle Italia saddle, and Mavic skewers on eBay; Cateye Strada computer, water bottle cages, SRAM Force groupo (shifters, crank, cables, brakes, and rear cassette), Ritchey carbon fork, a pair of Serfas tires, tubes, some bar tape, a Ritchey headset, all from Jimmy Marbut, owner of Sunshine Cycles in Athens and Watkinsville; and a pair of SPD pedals Barry found at a bike shop in Atlanta. With my Cannondale R2000 frame and all the necessary components to build a really nice bike sitting in my study I suddenly developed a terminal case of let's-build-a-bicycle-itis!

I had already asked Jimmy at Sunshine Cycles to take all the parts and make a bicycle. He agreed to do so. Sunshine Cycles opens at 10:00 AM every day except Sunday but Barry (son-in-law) and I were at the Watkinsville shop at 8:00 AM on a Monday morning to get this project rolling. Jimmy soon had an operating Cannondale on one of his bike racks and it was mine! And . . . I was cranked and ready to ride it.

I've put some good miles on that yellow Cannondale already. It's a good ride, a little different than my red Cannondale that carried me across The United States of America in 2009, and I believe it's ready for the new challenge. Barry said he thinks the new bike is faster too. Sure I like the part about being faster but I'm really a Point A to Point B kind of rider, plus I stop to take lots of pictures, talk to people, venture into junk stores and bike shops, and eat in the fine dining eateries on the backroads of this country. I do think it's an easier ride than my other bike but I'll confirm that somewhere in Michigan or Minnesota early next year. For right now, I am simply thankful that the yellow frame, wheels, and box of miscellaneous parts that was in my study is now a light (18.12 pounds), comfortable, classy-looking machine that is still in my study. You don't think I park it in the garage do you? It might get dusty!

All of that miscellaneous parts becoming a bicycle makes me think about the church and the human body. In the Bible, 1 Corinthians 12:12, the Apostle Paul wrote, "The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up only one body. So it is with the body of Christ." He added in verses 14, 18, 22, and 27 respectively, "Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. . . . But God made our bodies with many parts, and he has put each part just where he wants it. . . . In fact, some of the parts that seem weakest and least important are really the most necessary. . . . Now all of you together are Christ's church, and each one of you is a separate and necessary part of it."

There you have it, Parts is Parts until someone like Jimmy gets hold of them! Then parts become a 56 cm yellow Cannondale R2000 bicycle capable of carrying someone across the roadways of America from the Atlantic to the Pacific. And each part is a separate and necessary part of the whole machine.

So it is with the church. Parts is Parts until God gets hold of them! Then parts become a living Family of the Father. He puts each part, separate and necessary, just where he wants it and together we are Christ's church and capable of carrying the love of God not only from coast to coast but around the world!

The new bike works because all the parts are separate and necessary and just where they should be. Same thing for the church.

Let's find our places!