12 November 2010, Friday
Margaret and I are in Jesup, Georgia at a Ramada Inn. We are in room 221. We just ate at Sybil's Restaurant and I am stuffed. Tomorrow I'll ride a bike ride here . . . it's 100 miles plus one or two. I do have a slight problem since I forgot my bike shoes. Guess I'll pedal with my sneakers. (Do they still call them sneakers?)
13 November 2010, Saturday
Pedal, pedal, pedal, pedal . . . that's what I did for 100.9 miles today. It took me six hours, sixteen minutes, and forty-nine seconds to pedal the Altamaha River Partnership Ride for the River Century.
Bad news: I forgot my bike shoes!
Good news: I hooked up with six guys from Savannah who rode faster than I usually do who allowed me to ride with them. These guys made it possible for me to ride the century in a little over six hours with my sneakers on.
Margaret and I got home at 9:06 PM and I will sleep well tonight.
So today I'm most thankful for home. I had a great home as I grew up in Shrewsbury, New Freedom, and Glen Rock, Pennsylvania. I have a great home right here in Statham, Georgia.
It's always good to get home. I love it here because this is where my family gathers. Really . . . the family is the home. The home is the people and the house is what you put the home in. Of course, when you combine family, home, and holidays a special environment is created. I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. I want my focus to be on Jesus but my second highest priority is my family.
I am blessed that my home is in a log house that is more than I could ever hope for and way more than I deserve. It's my refuge from the world. It's where I can be myself, do what I love, and find a very quiet place to sit, think, read, listen, and hang out with my family, friends, and Father who, for some gracious reason, love me.
Yes, I am blessed. Yes, I am home.
12 November 2011, Saturday
We'll be back in Jesup for another Altamaha River Partnership Ride for the River Century. Margaret will be there and so will our older daughter Sarah and a very good friend, Amy Frierson. Margaret will drive our support wagon while Sarah, Amy, and I pedal the 100+ miles. I've already packed my bike shoes so I am ready for this year. The weather-guessers have forecasted temperatures in the sixties with a high of 69. They have also predicted zero chance of rain. With a forecast like that, having my bike shoes, and riding with Sarah and Amy, I'm ready for a fun and challenging Saturday.
Sarah and Amy have never ridden a Century before so this will be a new adventure for them. I told them to forget about the 100 miles and focus on five twenty mile rides instead. If that's a problem we'll ride ten ten-milers! But we will ride it! We'll rest every chance we get, snack on good stuff every opportunity we get, and take our good old time. We'll stick together and like Col. Hal Moore on "We Were Soldiers" we'll leave no man behind! We will ride smarter, not harder, we'll take time to enjoy the scenery and we'll take a few pictures along the way. We'll enjoy the flat terrain too. This is the day the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it!
I am very thankful that Sarah and Amy are taking the challenge of their first Century this weekend and we get to pedal it together. It is a challenge, but the three of us riding together will make is easier than riding alone. I am reminded of some verses in Ecclesiastes. Remember Ecclesiastes? It's the book right after Proverbs in the Old Testament of the Bible. It's the book every teenager should read many times. It's ten chapters that make the readers think life is really not worth living followed by two chapters that explain why it is and how it's done. In chapter 4 verses 9 through 12, we find this choice chunk of wisdom, "Two people can accomplish more than twice as much as one; they get a better return for their labor. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But people who are alone when they fall are in real trouble. . . . A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken."
Well if "three are even better", four must be incredible!
Margaret, Sarah! Amy! Think 100!
On your left!
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