Well, I thought that maybe since I was going to be participating in this big adventure next summer that maybe I would try out the blog thing to keep track of it all. I'm definantly more of a designer than I am a writer but please bare with me (and my spelling :P). So here goes...
Earlier this year I found out that my church denomination (Christian Reformed - CRC) is planning another "Sea to Sea" in 2008. What is a "Sea to Sea" event? Well in 2005 the CRC planned a tour that saw 160 cyclists ride across Canada to celebrate the 100 year anniversary for CRC in Canada and at the same time raise funds for Church planting. In 2008, they plan a similiar tour across much of the U.S. and part of Canada and could have as many as 500 participants riding!!
So how am I involved? Well after much prayer I felt that God was calling me to be a cyclist in this tour. Believe me, this decision did not come lightly or with out stress. Trying to figure out where my life is going, my job, where I wanted to live. Everything seemed to be effected by this decision on what to do.
The issues of poverty in this world has been weighing heavy on my heart (especially in the last few years) and I have had a strong need and want to do something that can make a difference. When I found out that the Sea to Sea in 2008's focus was in raising funds for poverty around the world and combined with my love of riding I knew that God was calling me and saying, "Hey here's your chance".
I have been mountain biking for, oh let's see, 4 or 5 summers now and in February 2006 I bought my first road bike. Let me tell ya, learning how to ride a road bike after being on a mountain bike for so long is not as easy as you think. My balance sucked!! But in the last year I have been doing a lot of training for my mtn bike races and have been on my road bike a fair amount and I am definantly improving.
In fact I went out for my first group road ride last night. I was pretty nervous as I know riding by yourself is completely different than riding with others. I had been averaging 26 km/hr on my usual route with minor hills at best. The ride ended up being pretty good. We did 58 km in 2 hours averaging 27.8 km/hr though often on the flats they were flying between 30-35km/hr. I was able to keep up for the first half but then my legs gave out. In a slight mercy I blew a tube so we had to stop for a minute to get that fixed and I had time to rest and recover for the remainder of the ride. I definantly realized I have not been pushing myself hard enough still and have a lot of work to go...but I will get there. Keep ya posted on how things go :)
