Perspective

       I'm writing this morning with a thousand thoughts running through my head.  Snatching them out and putting them in order will definately be tricky. I've been pounding the hours and kms on my bike- still indoors.  The weather has finally seemed to break so getting outdoors will  be easier. Some days the biking goes better than others.  Not sure if the diet or over conditioning/ under conditioning.  I've been reading a book on long distance cycling, posts from sea to sea and talking to any rider I see. I'm learning alot. 
      After a couple of hours my knee started to bug me.  Well since I set my bike up myself I figured it was time to get a proper bike fit.  Researched that too and got in contact with Colin at Athelite for a retul fitsee www.athelite.net/bikefit  What does that mean to someone who doesn't ride? not much. This fit was great.  I jumped on my bike, got fitted with sensors and started biking.  Oops, I should probably say cycling.  After warming up and some computer video of me in action, we adjusted the bike to fit me as I'm actually riding.  Not in a static position as most fitters do.  I'm sitting in a much more comfortable position.  Feels great!  If anyone is looking to fine tune your fit in the Toronto area or north of Toronto, I highly recommend going to see Colin.
      Now this whole riding, or cycling thing has me.  I've jumped in with both feet.  It's how I'm wired, all or nothing.  When I'm up, I'm up, when I'm down, I'm down.  Straightening out the highs and lows is the tough part.  With the events that have happened in the last few weeks that is something that is becoming clearer to me (perspective)  Things I thought were important, or maybe catastrophic don't seem to have the same weight anymore.  My second oldest brother has had some health issues over the past years, different things.  This time it was tiredness, lack of energy, a little heart problem acting up again we thought.  Turns out its a little more than he thought.  He needs a double lung transplant, sooner than later.  Wow, all the problems I had now seem like opportunites instead of issues (perspective) If God puts a situation in your life, remember that time is a precious thing, don't waste it.  Make a difference in yours or someone elses life.  Spend time with those you love, be quick to forgive, listen to them, thank them and love them.
       And on that note, I want to thank all those who have encouraged me, prayed for me, and given to sea to sea of behalf of me.  I am humbled and grateful.

Blessings

Over the past weeks I have received so many words of encouragement and support and last Friday I was overwhelmed by the financial support from our soup/chili supper.  Tonight the collection that our church held on Good Friday was counted and the total was $2100, so I am pleased to announce that I am over the $10,000 amount that I was challenged to raise.  I did not do this.  The Lord has provided.  But my fundraising efforts will not stop.  We are planning to do a baseball tournament on June 1st and are excited to see what the Lord will do.

Riding on my own strength?

Well I haven't blogged in awhile though it doesn't feel like it. Everyday some thoughts come to my mind and I write them down in my head - I do this when my wife asks me questions too I answer them in my head - doesn't always work well and that doesn't count for blogging either. Who knew?
A lot has happened since my last entry As I started to increase my biking time I noticed that my belly button looked different I have a hernia So there I thought, again, that's it for me I can't ride. The pledges weren't coming in very well and it's easy for me to get down. I talked to some other riders and asked them what they thought. Get it checked out So there I was sitting in the specialist office thinking this may be the end of my biking journey. As I moved from waiting room to waiting room I was praying I didn't realize when I started the sea to sea training that biking and praying work together so well but the more I do the more I realize that praying goes together with everything we do Back to the waiting room. I got an email from a fellow rider just before going in to see the doctor He told me he's had a hernia for a couple of years and his doctor told him no big deal A few other emails came in saying they were praying for me. Coincidence?i think not - it's a God thing. He knew I needed a boost at that point. In to see the doctor and he said it was small enough that we could take care if it after the tour He also said I should lose some weight. What a blessing this tour will accomplish that. With renewed strength back on the bike again. I've upped my time to 2 hours as well as frequency of riding. And The Lord upped my fundraising efforts. People started giving and praying for me and I can feel the momentum.
The church I attend allowed me to make a presentation about sea to sea I did some more homework and found out the tour was fully supported meaning the money I raise goes directly to the causes and does not pay for all the logistical parts of the tour How great is that? My daughter put together an amazing presentation board and it went well, I think. People were nice enough to say it did. A week later we had a collection for sea to sea. I haven't been told the results from that yet but I will keep you updated.
My wife said we should have a soup supper. That's not something I grew up with but in this community it's a regular occurrence. Great idea! She booked the gym and away she went. She started making soup, baking, things were going well. Then she talked to the Gems counsellor who just had a soup supper a few months ago. 19 pans of soup she said for approx 70 people. Oh boy now my wife was feeling overwhelmed. Shortly after hanging up the phone two other calls came in " how can I help?" Everyone who offered she accepted and there were many offers!! Things came together wonderfully! Pans of soup, chili, desserts. It was awesome! Coincidence? No it was a God thing. The soup supper was last night from 5:30-7:30. At 5:30 there were 2 people. 15 minutes later 10 people. Well God I prayed I this in your hands. By 6:00 the place was packed full. We had seating for 130 and they were all taken. What a blessing. Such a diverse group of people came People from different backgrounds, some churched some not all together breaking break and fellowshipping together. My grandmother used to pray " send people Lord, but not too many that we would have to turn anyone away" and that's how it went. We set tables twice so figure we fed over 250 souls. What a great night. Lots of food. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. It was a great community event. After all the dust settled and we cleaned up the final tally for the night came in $4587.00. Wow! Happy , happy, happy.
Thank you to everyone who came and donated. Money, food, time, talents. Wow. Is this something we can do on our own strength? No like my wife says its a God incidence.

Thank you Lord for ALL your blessings.

Starting Over

       I'm riding my bike on a trainer which in cycling talk is a stand that you put your bike on to give the feeling that you're on the road.  The higher the gear the harder it is to pedal.  People have been telling me that I need to get on my road bike instead of the stationary and now that I'm on it I see what they mean. The seat position is different, my shoulders and arms are killing me.  I also bought new pedals and biking shoes.  These shoes clip into my pedals and keep my feet locked into the pedals.  This is something I have to get used to.  Shifting gears is also something I am having to get used to.
      Well the first ride on the trainer went well, 90 minutes.  I practiced clipping in and out of the pedals.  I adjusted the seat forward and back, up and down.  I moved my feet forward and back just trying to get comfortable.  The second time I rode on the bike I continued to make minor adjustments and things were starting to get more comfortable.  One thing I noticed was I seemed to have a bump or vibration while riding that I didn't notice before.  On my third ride about 1/2 hour in I noticed that I had more vibrations and more bumps.  I felt like I was riding on a gravel road.  All of a sudden a light went off in my head and I realized I hadn't released the tension off the rear wheel from the trainer and I had made dents in my tire from it sitting in the same spot between rides.  Typical man thing to do, read the instructions after there's a problem. 
       Reminds me of how we come to God and ask Him to fix or help us when we need something or have a problem.  Regular instruction manual reading ( the Bible) should be done before we have issues.  This will help in dealing with all the situations God puts in our path.  Many of us have Bibles in our homes collecting dust, and more food than we can consume.  While millions are dying each year of hunger and lack of knowledge of Gods saving grace through Jesus Christ.  Lets all work together to the goal of the great commission. One pedal stroke, one mile, one dollar and one verse at a time.

"Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest."
                                                           Matthew 11:28

Imagination

Best bike ride ever!  Well sort of, it started out easy.  Can still talk and walk.  Actually I'm not on a bike, but at our cottage walking on the river through the snow.  I can't bike so I need to get a workout in.  We're walking around the corner to the big tubing hill.  As we get out of our bay we sink in 6 inches into slush, now its becoming a workout.  No more talking, breathing in and out the mouth only.  After 20 minutes we reach the hill.  Carrie gets a snowmobile ride up.  I climb the hill with the tube.  This will be a workout.  Long climb.  Just like biking up a tough grade.  My breathing is laboured but controlled.  I get to the top gasping for air.  Now my hearts working.  Down we go on the tractor inner tube.  On the bike we call it a controlled descent.  I think this was an uncontrolled descent.  Back on the river for a slush march back to the cottage.  By the time I get back I'm feeling good about my workout/walk (bike ride)  Well only thing left to do is work out some upper body muscles.  I grab a shovel and start on the deck.  3 feet of snow- that should do the trick.  2 hours later I'm done.

Not "bummed out" anymore

Feeling much better.  My butt is recovering much faster and feeling much better.  I can ride 90 minutes and I feel fine the next morning as opposed to before when I couldn't sit down the next day at work.  I am beginning to understand patience.  I'm thankful to God for his patience with me.  Starting on this journey I had alot of thoughts, things like, I can bike 120 kms a day, I can sleep in a tent every night, I can train, I can raise $10,000, I can do all this so I can help raise awareness and funds for poverty.  After going through the struggles to start my journey, God has reminded me that the "I can" only works if your include "with God's help and blessing"  Its funny how as soon as I came to this realization things started to fall into place.  I'm not saying there won't be any more struggles but I know God will be with me in good times and bad. 
Thanks to those who have so generously donated to this worthy cause.  The goal of Sea to Sea is to move people out of the trap of poverty through education and enabling organizations.  Did you know the DRS programs will be sponsored through your donation?  Many other awesome projects will benefit from your donations, from wells in Africa to local soup kitchens in your area. 
Your donation could:
$3,500 can buy a house
$300 can provide temporary, transitional shelter for a family in need
$120 can buy a bicycle for a health care worker or student or entrepreneur
$60 can buy a sheep
$40 can buy a goat
$25 can buy food for a month.
$25 can buy a water filter to provide clean drinking water in Honduras
$15 can buy a lantern and allow men to learn at night after working to feed their families during the day
$12 can buy a mosquito net to protect against malaria
Thanks again for all your support both financially and through prayers and words of encouragement. 

Got my bike!!