When Bears Talk

Who knew that if bears could talk, they would sound like the navigation systems on your bikes and in your cars?  

Okay, so maybe it has very little to do with riding a bike, but I did think up most of the plot while riding a bike!  Check it out. You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll say, this guy should be a screenwriter!  


Click on the link below and turn up your sound!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyihqIZwyw8

Ride Safe!
Ride Smart!
Ride With Jesus!

Ron 

><>
O O

I May Have Died Last Summer

A few months ago I had a setback in my bike riding schedule. In the middle of the night I had a nocturnal seizure. I had never had any kind of seizure before. After spazzing out for a few seconds, I was not “present” for about 10-15 minutes according to my wife, Reina. Apparently there were family members and paramedics scurrying around our bedroom and I was lying on my side in bed with my eyes open, but I wasn’t really there. It was like the lights were on, but no one was home. After spending the rest of the night in the emergency room and having a complete battery of eight tests that all came out normal, I was told by my general practitioner and my neurologist that these things happen from time to time, and sometimes we never know the cause. Then they put me on a medication to prevent another seizure from happening.

Ten weeks later I had to take a behind the wheel driver’s test. Haven’t done that in 46 years! Sitting in the chair next to all the nervous teenagers for two hours I was thinking about what a great state we live in where a guy has a lapse of consciousness and the Department of Motor Vehicles does it’s due diligence by giving me a behind the wheel driving test . . . TEN WEEKS LATER! Ah, the bureaucracy of it all. I’m just sayin’! I passed my driver’s test with flying colors by the way, so I guess I’m good to go on a bike, too!

But here’s the really good part. Brace yourself. My wife was amazed at the fact that all these people are fussing around in our bedroom at ‘oh-dark-thirty’ in the morning, and I’m just sitting there with this peaceful expression on my face. (I’m guessing she’s thinking I wouldn’t normally act that way). But here’s the wondrous thing. All the time that this commotion was going on, I wasn’t there. I have this vivid recollection of having spent that time in a meadow or a field. I remember being encouraged to lie down and rest in the field by someone. I felt it was a male presence that was with me. I felt safe. I felt great peace lying on my side in the tall yellow grass with a warm gentle breeze blowing. After awhile, at the urging of the male presence, I got up and left this peaceful place, this private reverie, and woke up in an ambulance on my way to the hospital. Now I’m thinking that it was Jesus who was with me in the pasture. But it could have been Jesus, the paramedic.

A few months later I happened across one of my earliest favorite scriptures. One I had memorized as a child long ago. The Twenty-Third Psalm:

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; 

my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Okay so I’m old enough to have memorized it in the King James Version, and the pastures were yellow in my experience and not green, but hey, I live in San Diego and that’s what our pastures look like in the summertime!

Or is it that I live in His kingdom and this experience was simply a gentle reminder?

Sometimes The Tiniest Thing . . .

. . . can stop our forward motion. 

On a road bike with skinny tires we’re talking about the sharp pointy tip of a thorn, or maybe a tiny shard of glass. Could be a rusty sliver of metal. Things not seen can derail your progress. Do you have a plan for going on down the road?

We usually see the big things in life. We plan for them. We make detours. We go around brick walls, and brick buildings. We weave our way around waterways. But tiny unseen things can change the course of our lives. A cancerous cell. A virus. A fertilized egg. A look. A comment.

It could be a thought planted in your brain. By God. By Satan.

How do we do get ourselves back on course? How do we draw ourselves back into proper alignment? Some lean on their own understanding. Some lean on God. Some lean on the wisdom of others.

Picture yourself reading a book, holding it in your hands. Go ahead, put your hands up like a book in front of you. In your left hand are all the pages you’ve read. In your right hand are all the pages you have yet to read.

Now picture holding the book of your life. In your left hand is the written record of all that has gone on in your life. The roads you’ve traveled. The path you’ve taken. The family, loved ones, friends, colleagues, employers, and neighbors, who have in part shaped your life and who you are. The choices you’ve made. The decisions you’ve made. It’s all written in the book. In your right hand is the rest of your life. The pages are all blank. The roads and paths you haven’t ridden on yet. The choices and non-choices that will create the landscape of the remainder of your life.

It’s all about the choices you’ve made about how to handle those big things and those tiny things that come up as you ride down your road of life. What’s your plan for the twists and turns in your road of life? How will you get around the big boulders and the tiny shards of glass in the road? How will you negotiate the parts of your road where gravity is your friend and the parts where gravity is your worst enemy? How will you handle the wind at your back? How will you handle the wind trying to blow you back? Are you ready for the wet and slippery passages? What will sustain you in the searing draining dry hot times?

Who will you lean on?

Where will you turn for help?

Riding Between The Lines . . .

Marching Ants

Contribute

Power

Donate

Rainbow

Give

Dotted

Bestow

Fence

Serve

Marching Soldiers

Support

In The Sand

Provide

Border

Help

Furrow

Volunteer

Groove

Share

Railroad Tracks

Assist

School Children

Teach

Wiggly

Connect

Broken

Commit

Solid

Celebrate

Marching Band

Endorse

Traffic

Believe

In The Concrete

Love

Checkout

The Road Les Traveled

My apologies to Robert Frost, but I have a friend named Les who had a singular view of life. Les loved bikes. He viewed life through the lens of biking. He loved biking as a child. He loved biking as an adult.

He loved long rides and short rides. He loved commuting to his job on his bike. Les loved weekend rides, riding to school, or just a quick spin around the block. He believed that no matter how or when or where or with whom he rode his bike, biking made him happy and was great for his health, his community and the environment we all share.

Les believed that bikes not only carry us from point A to point B, but they also help us avoid high gas prices, make our air cleaner and our roads less congested. Les believed that bikes fill our lives with adventure and excitement, relaxing our minds and energizing our souls.

Les loved to ride with friends and Les loved to ride by himself. When he rode by himself, he often tried to ride stronger, faster, better, smarter. Les knew that one man’s ceiling is another man’s floor. He knew there would always be stronger faster riders than he. But he also knew there would always be slower weaker riders than he. There would always be those with less experience and talent and those with more experience and talent.

Les always pushed the limits when he rode his bike. He tried to beat his previous times on routes that he often rode. Beating other people wasn’t important. Beating himself was what mattered. Improving his performance was what counted. Complacency was the enemy of progress in his mind.

The way Les felt about bikes, the way he loved bikes, was the way he felt about life and loved life. He believed God designed each of us to be brilliant. He wanted to use all the gifts and talents God had given him all the time. He believed that if he didn’t dream big, he was insulting God. He knew that even if it appeared to others that he was riding alone, he really wasn’t. Jesus was always with him.

His practiced passion for pedaling carried over into other areas of his life. He loved creating and accomplishing. He loved sharing and teaching. He loved leading but he was an excellent follower as well. He loved giving and knew that in giving he received so much more in return. Les believed in standing up for what he believed in, even if it meant he was unpopular.

Les knew in his heart of hearts that relationships were the most important things in his life. His relationship with his parents, his wife, his children, his colleagues, his friends and even with God sometimes took a backseat to the pursuit of his dreams. But Les knew in the end it was the relationships he had developed throughout his life that mattered most . . . especially his relationship with Jesus Christ.

Les is gone now . . .

. . . out on a ride.

Obstacles Attract

It all starts with a boy and his little red bike.

We're going to bump into all kinds of things in today's blog, folks.  So, "Obstacles Attract" huh well that's a fine howdy do. What in the world are we talking about?  Here's an example to get us started:

A bird flew into our family room window a few days ago. He left this imprint on our window.

When our Compassionate Samurai friend John saw the photo he was moved. "Wow! That is surreal, sad, and beautiful, all at the same time." 

Our friend Robert explained, "They make stickers that are barely visible to the human eye but birds can see to prevent this from happening. We need to use them because we have so many feeders in our yard. Typically its when a hawk comes by to eat one of the birds, they fly off in panic not really paying attention where they are going."

I said, "Seeing it in person makes even more of an 'impression'!  We never did find the bird, but he left tiny footprints on our hearts."

So what are we talking about today? The obstacles in our life and what we attract. Are we actually 'obstacle attractors' and what do we do with the obstacle when we attract it? Are there things that appear to be obstacles in one dimension but actually aren't when viewed through a different lens? How do we approach obstacles in the flow of our lives?

For instance, yesterday I was riding my bike. (Go figure!) It's a beautiful sunny blue, drop dead gorgeous, burn your drawers at a hundred yards, kind of a day. All right, a picture is worth a thousand descriptive words that I can come up with . . .

So I set out to ride my bike for 70 miles, training for next weekend's MS150 Bay To Bay Tour . . . Nope! You're not too late you can still help me help others by donating HERE! I'll do the riding from Irvine to San Diego. You do the donating! Deal? Did you know 200 people are diagnosed with MS in the U.S. each week? Talk about overcoming obstacles!  I'm trying to raise $2000 that will buy four lightweight wheelchairs for individuals who have MS. So far I've raised enough for three wheelchairs and maybe one footrest.

So I'm out doing this good thing. Being healthy. Being green. Being charitable. I'm in the bike lane approaching a corner and this guy comes up behind me and honks and yells. I look in my rearview helmet mirror (See above), and I don't recognize his 1971 "Anti-EstablishMint" Green Ford Maverick. So this isn't some buddy of mine honking to say 'Howdy".

Now in the state of California the Department Of Motor Vehicles says I have the same right to be in that bike lane that has become a right turn lane as he does. Some painter paid by the Golden State painted a wide stripe on the pavement for me to ride in that lane. It dawns on me that the guy behind me is honking and yelling for me to get out of his way. I'm thinking would he be doing this if I were in a car in that same turn lane/bike lane? I'm moving along at a pretty good clip toward the corner 50 feet away when a beer bottle sails past my head. Yeah, a beer bottle! I turn right at the corner. He turns right calls me a fag, shows me his gnarly middle finger, and continues yelling epithets as he goes on down the road. 

When I'm out riding my bike I try to be aware of everything around me in what I call "The Flow". The Flow has all kinds of elements of which I'm just a tiny part. There are cyclists, skaters, pedestrians, dogs, children, cars, trucks, buses, motorcycles, all moving in The Flow. Every now and then you get something in The Flow that is a disruption. An obstacle. Clearly I was an obstacle to this drunk driver. I'm thinking to myself. It really takes a much better person than me to not respond in anger to a disturbance in The Flow like that. Then I start extrapolating into what obstacles does he attract in his life? Sometimes I get very philosophical when I ride. Sometimes I get very angry. Okay, so I'm not Gandhi on a bike.

It's like we were in two totally different dimensions. A choir directing book writing friend of mine, (who knew there were two of us?), has written two books in a series he's doing exploring dimensions existing in the same place at the same time. At that moment in my bike ride, I felt like one of the characters in his first book, Dimensions: The Wheat Field

It's a good read that will get your mind percolating!  Once you're hooked on the idea, get Dave's second book, Dimensions II: The Plethora.  It's scheduled to be released in November of 2010. Check it out at this website!

Fast forward about three miles. If you're having trouble picturing where I am, I'll map it out for  ya! CLICK HERE! This is my famous "Tour De South Bay" route that I created for my Outspokin' For Jesus! Christian cycling club. Join us sometime! Its a really cool bunch of people!  So, I'm doing a twenty mile longer version that will take me all the way out to the tip of Coronado Island. But I digress. I'm up in the top center area of the route on the map, and there's this car coming up very slowly behind me. 

It's an old Datsun 240Z. I'm thinking "Does everybody drive cars from the 1970's in this neighborhood?"  It's black with blacked out windows and an engine that has a full-throated rumbling sound. He's coming up really slowly, like eerie ominous behind me. Now after my last experience, I'm thinking what is this guy doing? I feel like Dennis Weaver in the Steven Spielberg's first movie, Duel. Only I've got this creepy black 240Z behind me and not an ugly massive tanker truck!

So we get to top of this hill and he's still hovering, loitering behind me. I make a left hand turn and he follows me very slowly. There's no traffic in the oncoming lane, so he moves way over to his left and passes me very slowly giving me a very comfortable wide berth. Once he's safely past me, he takes off. He was simply existing in The Flow with me as a kind, courteous considerate driver. We're in the same dimension, existing peacefully. What a refreshing change from the first guy in the old Maverick.Two totally different ways for a person to deal with an obstacle in their path. To be honest, I'd say 98% of the drivers out there are very conscientious about those of us on two wheels.

Speaking of two wheels . . . It's an eerie experience to be dropped off on a bus in Irvine at Oh-Dark-Thirty in the morning and realize that the only way back home is two skinny wheels and a 4 inch seat over the next two days. Did I mention you can still donate to my charity ride for MS . . . HERE?

So I'm going along with The Flow, and get another three or four miles down the road. I ride through an intersection and this car on my right runs the red light and makes a right turn coming precariously close to my back wheel. I glance back quickly to see if I'm nuts or if I still had a green light. I did. I then look at the teenage girl talking on her cell phone driving the car that had almost hit me. She's oblivious. She's in a full metal jacket weighing maybe 4000 pounds and I'm in a jersey and my ever stylish spandex shorts. Clearly there's no contest here, if we collide I lose. She turns left at the next corner into the mall probably to hook up with her friends. I'm thinking she still doesn't know how close she came to hooking up with the back wheel of my bike! Two dimensions at the same time in the same place . . . again. Drunk driver or dialing driver either way it's the wrong place for me on my little red bike. Am I the obstacle or are they the obstacle? Sometimes dimensions and obstacles are nothing more than puzzles and shadows to be figured out.

Those of you who know me know I love the arts. I see them as a bridge between heaven and earth. The emotional swelling in the throat, witnessing the fantasy of creation, experiencing the emotion and flow of a musical masterwork. I think they're all glimpses of heaven.

Along the ride there are lots of pieces of public art. Not necessarily things that make your soul leap with wonder, but more like things that make you say "cool". Like this sculpture piece, Banner Art by John Banks. I'm now miles away from the near misses I shared with you earlier. I'm out on the coast in Imperial Beach. So I ask you, is this art?

It may be an obstacle to you to see this as art. It may be up to debate until you see it from another angle. Dare I say another dimension?

Viewed from this angle, clearly it's "ART". Okay, so points for clever if not classic, but clearly, dimensions and angles can be hurdles or obstacles to our understanding. It reminds me of First Corinthians 1:18 (NCV)   The teaching about the cross is foolishness to those who are being lost, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.  Those who believe by faith they are saved, live life and view life through a different lens than those who are not believers. Again, living in the same space at the same time, but in different dimensions. 

Well, I'm ending this piece on a happier note than I started, huh! A metaphor for life? Our paths are always filled with ups and downs and boulders and borders, and dimensions and angles, obstacles, and moments of 'flow', artistry and amazement. Sometimes frozen on a piece of glass. Sometimes a fleeting sensation in our heart. There will always be obstacles in our lives. It's how we deal with them, that defines our life. 

I leave you with another of my favorite pieces of public art along my bike ride. This one is called My Bike by Amos Robinson.  
 

 Yep! It's a red bike. Just like mine. Ars Longa, Vita Brevis.

Ron’s Theory Of Relativity (Go ahead click on it, you know you’re curious!)

It’s said that Einstein thought of his theory of relativity while riding a bike. Guess what? I thought of my theory of relativity on a bike, too! How cool is that? Mine’s a lot simpler without all the mathematical formulas and stuff. Ready? Wait for it . . . Wait for it . . . Okay, here it is:

“The Longer You Ride, The Stronger You Ride”

That’s it. Complete. The whole nutshell. The whole Enchilada. Okay, Okay, Okay. Here’s how it works . . .  

In 1996 I was surprised to see the parent of one of my choir kids on a bike at a concert we did on the bay front. We were about six miles from his house and I asked incredulously, “Did you ride your bike down here?” I was a bit amazed. I looked down at my middle age spread that was slowly developing and asked Roger (the biking parent), all kinds of questions. The next week I went out and bought a bike. 

Fast forward 14 years and 27,000 miles later . . .

It’s all relative don’t you see? For cyclists reading this, you totally get it. The rest of you will just have to believe me. If I ride 12 miles and I’m exhausted, but the next time out I ride 15 miles, then the 12 miles doesn’t seem nearly so far. And if I ride 20 miles the next time, the 12 mile distance becomes even easier.

When I first ride out to Coronado Island from my house after not riding for a while, I get pretty tired. From my driveway to the tip of the island is 40.26 miles roundtrip. After I’ve done that a couple of times it gets easier and I lengthen the distance and ride to La Jolla. 50 miles roundtrip. Then I go from my home further up the coast to Del Mar. 70 miles roundtrip. Ultimately I ride along the coast to Carlsbad. 100 miles roundtrip. Now you’re either getting tired reading this, or incredulous, or you’re already starting to feel the effect of Ron’s Theory Of Relativity as your mind expands.

Each time I add distance, the old distance which seemed so far at the time, becomes easier. If I’m riding 100 miles its not unusual to think to myself, “Wow, that 50 miles just flew by!” But if I’m on a 50 mile ride. Then the mindset shifts and at the end of 50 miles I’m thinking, “Whew! That was a long way!” See your mind automatically works out Ron’s Theory Of Relativity each time you ride.

Or each time you do anything else in your life. Say you’re raising money for a bike ride. That first $500 may seem like a bunch to get together, but once that’s under your belt, the next $500 comes easier. And the next  . . . you get it. Remember Roger and the 12 mile bike trip? That seems easy now doesn’t it? That’s my theory of relativity and I’m stickin’ to it. I’ve applied it in so many areas of my life.

If I’m rehearsing my choir and we’ve got 150 pages of music to learn, that seems insurmountable at that first rehearsal. But then five rehearsals later and we’re on page 108, and the insurmountable becomes surmountable. The unthinkable becomes thinkable. The undoable becomes doable. The unsingable becomes singable, ad infinitum. Ad infinitum  . . . see that’s my theory kicking in!

We used to travel a lot with our high school show choirs. We went to 17 countries on 4 continents over the years. We performed at all four Disney properties (at that time), around the world. I remember my 25^th year directing at that school. (Talk about Ron’s Theory Of Relativity. When you’re in year one. It seems like a really long year. But by year 25, you really have no idea where the time went!)  Anyway, it was the beginning of the school year and I went to the copy room to make some copies. A bright perky young teacher asked me what my goals and objectives were for the year. (Only a bright, perky, young teacher would use language like that!) I told her that my choir had performed at three of the four Disney properties around the world and this year we were going to perform at the fourth property in Japan. She looked at me with puzzled wide eyes. Her jaw gaped open. She sighed and looked back down at the copier and muttered something about her plan was to get her kids ready to pass the next chapter test.

My theory of choir directing was that the more performances we did, the higher the comfort level of the performers and consequently their excellence as performers would also rise. By the end of the first semester we had done more performances than most choirs did in a year. So when the choir festival competitions came around in the second semester, we had a tremendous advantage over other choirs. The more you perform the better you perform. The longer you ride the stronger you ride. It’s that simple. Yeah, that’s it folks . . . the secret to my choir’s success over the 25 years I spent directing choirs at one local high school. 444 awards later, not only my mind, but the minds of the kids, the parents, the school, the community, the other choirs, even the festival judges, had all reset themselves. The expectations were high. Ron’s Theory Of Relativity had kicked into high gear.

So let’s bring this full circle. Let’s get back to putting in the miles. With my choirs some years we went to great lengths, (see what I did there?), to make Ron’s Theory Of Relativity a reality for our students. We traveled. At first it was from San Diego to Los Angeles. Then we went to Reno, Nevada. Winning that competition set us up to go to the world’s largest festival in The Netherlands, and the world’s best known festival in Montreaux, Switzerland. See how the mind expands? You haven’t even been on the trips, but just reading about it you can see the possibilities. And when we returned from two weeks overseas, the choir was unbeatable!

The trips were always a highlight. The choir would bond together on a trip in ways that they never would by going to the elementary school down the street to do an assembly. We transcended being an ensemble, being a team, to being a family. Oh we still did those local elementary school and women’s club shows too, that’s what created the measuring stick for that theory of relativity thing. That’s what gave us perspective. But the longer trips, the longer measuring sticks, those were life changing. Those created the memories of a lifetime. Those put our show choir on the map. (See what I did there?) The doors that were opened to us through music were truly amazing. And we’re not just talking about “Magic Kingdom” doors here. Performing in all those Disney properties; performing in the Sydney Opera House; performing on the same stage as Duke Ellington; performing twice in the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.; being the first high school show choir from the United States to perform in the People’s Republic Of China. Seeing the Coliseum, Performing in the glowworm caves in New Zealand, Performing in the rain on the streets of Paris, Performing in the Montreaux Jazz Festival, Seeing the Great Wall Of China. We’re talking about Holland, Switzerland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, Austria, Hungary, Wales, Scotland, England, Italy, Japan, China, Australia, New Zealand and of course all over the U.S.A. Always huge memories . . . the longer the trip the stronger the troupe. The longer you ride, the stronger you ride.

I’m guessing you’ve experienced Ron’s Theory Of Relativity while reading this. Maybe just because of the length of this piece, or maybe your mind has expanded as the miles I’ve mentioned have expanded. Some miles on bikes, some on buses . . . it’s all relative.  

I believe our ultimate relativity experience is the time we spend on this mortal coil, versus the totality of our eternal life. The life we live on this side of eternity, however long it may seem, is infinitely small when compared to the limitless sky of an eternal life. How are you spending life on earth? Do you see your life as Teilhard De Chardin saw life . . . "We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience." Do you start each day asking how you can be the biggest blessing to someone else? Try that for a week. Your sense of relativity, importance, significance, purpose, and meaning will all expand. I guarantee it.

Abroad On A Bike With A Broad On A Bike

First things first. The disclaimer. My wife, Reina, came up with the title of this piece, and if she’s okay with it I think we can all be okay with it. Get it? Got it? Good!

Sometimes I’m riding a long and my brain is in hyperpercolation mode and the ideas for my Life Cycles blog just pile up on top of each other. It’s like there’s this Blog Angel whispering in my left ear, saying “You could write this . . . and this . . . and this  . . . and this . . . and this!  And then there’s my Novel Angel whispering in my right ear, “But what about me? You’ve got to give me some attention. You’ve got to finish restructuring so you can get that first rewrite underway. “You’ve got lots of ‘splainin’ to do, Lucy” (Sometimes my Novel Angel channels Ricky Ricardo.) So I guess I’m slipping into that tormented, conflicted writer thing. Hooray! Well, on with today’s blog. The novel will just have to wait, Ricky. But that's good news for those of you who have been asking where's my Life Cycles blog fix!

In the early 2000’s Reina and I were blessed to go on four biking trips abroad. We traveled with Vermont Bike Tours. This is an amazing company . . . totally ‘Top Drawer” in every respect. From the relationships with the other riders and the leaders, to the detailed work involved in hauling people and bikes around countries, to the selection of beautiful and unique lodging, to the locales for their tours our experience of this company was superb. Check them out at VERMONT BIKE TOURS

Our first tour in 2001 was the “Salzburg Sojourn”. You meet at the train station in Salzburg and they haul you up an alp and then for a week you ride down the alp. You start with a stunning short ride to the tallest waterfall in Europe, complete with cows standing around wearing cowbells. Then you follow a river down the mountain for days stopping at beautiful bed and breakfast inns. The Austrians have a respect and reverence for bikes that we don’t find in most places in the U.S. There were times when we were on a ten foot wide asphalt bike path traveling through pristine forests. There were many times when automobiles would pull off the road to let us go by. Reina and I had a rather rude reintroduction to cycling in America the next week when we were nearly run off the road at a major intersection by a crazed parent on the way to drop off a teenager at school!  The tour concluded with a delightful bike tour around the city of Salzburg including Mozart’s home, and various scenes used in the filming of the The Sound Of Music. 

In 2002 we toured Prince Edward Island off the coast of Nova Scotia. More beauty to be sure and a lovely places to stay on each overnight, but here’s a little heads up for you. Never ever go on a bike tour where the description in the catalog says something like “Revel in the beauty of the windswept shoreline!” The winds on PEI were relentless. It didn’t matter which way you went, you were headed into the wind. How could that be? It’s still baffles us today. The whole island was covered with wind, every hour of every day. On more than one occasion we were pedaling hard going downhill because the wind was blowing us back up the hill! One day we rode on a road that had trees on both sides. We sighed and said, “Finally, a wind break.” Oh no, by friends. It turned out to be a wind tunnel! Enough said.

In 2003 we traveled around the big island of Hawaii to celebrate Reina’s 50^th birthday in our 50^th state. Pretty fun most of the time. There was the day that they took us to a volcano. Here’s Reina’s account of that day . . .

“When I was on a cycling adventure in Hawaii, sweating and powering myself up that volcano-high hill, feeling the fire in my thighs and the burning of each and every one of my cell fibers, my mind reeling with every reason why I should quit, all of a sudden my best friend Jesus was cradled in behind me. Wow! He was so close I could feel Him. And then "whooooosh"! Something changed. His feet nudged under mine atop those pedals, providing a source of power that enabled me to gain renewed strength and energy. Then he just jumped off the bike and ran behind me, giving me that amazing push that propelled me up the steep incline. And then there he was again, sharing my seat, pressing, pushing, controlling those pedals.

But wait! We arrived. We had reached the top of that mountain peak. Would I be on my own now? Would I be left alone to simply coast down the hill at a leisurely pace?

As soon as the two of us reached the summit, the peak of that mighty hill that just a few minutes ago we just seemed to float up, Jesus was on the handle bars...no He was snuggled in behind me on that tiny little bike seat... either way, there we were, flying down the straightaway, legs extended side by side, almost perpendicular to the bike, toes pointed up, the breeze whipping under and around us, our mouths an open door to every tropical insect flying by, as together we squealed with joy and delight.

What a rush! What a ride!

Jesus was my strength that day. He was and is my power every day. He loves to share my journey, support my challenges, and soar with me in every fun and beautiful moment in every day.”

Yeah, I know Reina should be the writer in the family, huh!

Then in 2004 we rode the Tuscan Coast. Nice enough ride with more extraordinary experiences and scenery, but the real revelation to us was two weeks after we returned a friend asked us to join him on a ride from Bonita to La Jolla. A 50 mile round trip from the inland area in the South County of San Diego to the North Coastal area of San Diego. Absolutely beautiful sunny blue day. Riding along the La Jolla coast and later sitting on the veranda of a restaurant overlooking one of the most scenic coastlines God has ever created, it dawned on us that we had spent thousands of dollars a few weeks before to travel to Italy and we had an even more enjoyable experience right in our own backyard. Sometimes you can go home again.

                   

When Passions Collide!

I love it when I can put together several things I love and wrap them into one big project. This blog is an example . . . writing about my life as seen through the lens of my cycling glasses and making connections to God at the same time.  

Five years ago I combined two of my passions, riding a bike and living a Christ-centered life. The result is San Diego’s Charitable Christian Cycling Group, Outspokin’ For Jesus!  (aka O4J)  This blog takes it a step further as I combine another passion of mine, writing.

San Diego had been named the best large city in the U.S. for cycling by BICYCLING magazine! (March, 2006) Indeed, San Diego County is the perfect place to enjoy cycling as a year round activity. It only rains 10 inches per year and 80% of that is between December and March. Average daytime temperature is 70 degrees throughout the year. Rides along the coast are among the most beautiful in the world! San Diego's terrain allows for all kinds of riding from very flat and easy to hilly and challenging. There are over two dozen national and international bicycle industry companies located in San Diego County. There are over 1400 miles of designated bike routes, paths, and trails in San Diego County. Einstein came up with the “theory of relativity” while riding a bike! What will you come up with?

Our charitable Christian cycling club engages in various activities enabling us to share our joy of biking and the spirit of Jesus Christ with others. Our club is open to all! We are Bible Believing Cyclists from across the San Diego County. There are no fees or dues, but you will need a bike! Our goal is making the world a better place on two wheels!

 

Here are some of our favorite club sayings. They kind of sum up what we’re all about!

Through our spokes . . . God speaks

Making The World A Better Place On Two Wheels

Ride To Eat . . . Eat To Ride

God is definitely at work in our midst! Take a look at some of the charity work we’ve done since January 7, 2006:

o   Created Outspokin’ For Jesus! teams to ride in the MS 150 Bay To Bay Bike Tours!  Our O4J teams raised $71,000 in the fight against Multiple Sclerosis over the past 3 years!

o   Sponsored our own charitable "Bikin' 4 Blankets" project, raising $4,645 for blankets. That's 660 life-saving blankets distributed to our mission in Tijuana, Mexico! (If you double-click on the filmstrip, the photos can be seen more easily!)
O4Jbikin4blankets.shutterfly.com

o   Donated 27 refurbished bikes to Family Resource Centers in Chula Vista and Rosarito!

o   Designed our own custom jerseys!

o   Participated as a team in Tour De Palm Springs, Tour De Poway, Rosarito-Ensenada, Midnight Madness, Southbay Expressway Grand Opening, and Four MS150 Bay To Bay Bike Tours!

o   Created our own ministry tract Keep Rolling With God!

o   Created booth display and materials to distribute at Cycle Eastlake & Bonitafest!

o   Adopted logo design for Outspokin’ For Jesus!

o   Completed trademark process for name and logo of Outspokin’ For Jesus!

o   Informed Public Works Department of mis-aligned grate on the Bayshore Bikeway.  Cyclists were in “grate danger” of getting a wheel caught!  The grate was replaced!

o   Conducted several mini-workshops and clinics on biking equipment, clothing, and accessories!

o   Created training accountability and training tips for MS Bay to Bay Bike Tour!

o   Promoted our ministry with Bike To Church Day!

o   Over 50 people have shared fun times and fellowship on the road!

You can learn a whole lot more about the fun we have at our website:

http://www.outspokin4jesus.com 

Like I said before, I love it when I can mix it up with a couple of things I love and the greater good is served as a result. I’m thinking that’s part of the plan He has for me. Very cool!

Things I've Seen While Riding A Bike!

Gimme That Stat!  (To the music of the "Batman Theme" but with the word "Statman" playing in your head where "Batman" should be!)

In its first two weeks of publication online, this Life Cycles blog has had over 1125 pageviews!  It’s been seen in 7 countries including, Uganda, Ghana, Australia, United Kingdom, Mexico, Canada, and the USA!

In the past 24 months I’ve climbed 214,813 feet on my bike.  That’s the equivalent of climbing the highest mountain in the world, Mt. Everest, over 7 times!

From 2001 to 2010 I have ridden over 25,000 miles on my bikes.  That’s the equivalent of riding around the globe at the equator!

And yet I begin and end most rides in my driveway. Some might say I’ve really gone nowhere. Others might say I’ve been everywhere. Here’s a partial list of the things I’ve seen while riding my bike on the road . . .

·       A beached whale

·       Lizards

·       Rabbits

·       Squirrels

·       A herd of deer

·       A pod of dolphins swimming in the surf

·       Hawks (one dropped a rat on the pavement right next to me.  Seriously, the rat went splat right next to me! What was that all about?)

·       A big spider dangling from my leg. (I got off the bike and did a spastic arachnoleptic dance at a major intersection.  Must have been a sight to see!)

·       A Kestrel

·       Thousands of screeching crows at sunrise

·       Sparrows

·       Pelicans

·       An owl flying silently alongside me (Very cool and Harry Potterish!)

·       A hive of bees on the road

·       Spider webs across the road

·       Dogs

·       Toddlers (Maybe the most dangerous and unpredictable animal to have in front of you!)

·       Pigeons

·       Seagulls

·       A Wolf (In the fog on a hill . . . I think we were both wondering who was faster!)

·       Coyotes

·       Terns

·       Herons

·       Cranes (God made and man made)

·       Pipe Organ Concerts

·       Three lanes of cars parked in traffic for a mile while I zoomed by in the bike lane

·       Lawn Bowling

·       Frisbee Golf

·       Olympian Archers, Rowers, Soccer Players, Track & Field athletes, etc.

·       BMX Competition in half huge halfpipes

·       Elizabethan Pageants

·       Musicians

·       Magicians

·       Art Shows

·       Farmer's Markets

·       Flea Markets

·       Sand Castle Competitions

·       Cinco de Mayo street fairs

·       An evangelism crusade with 40,000 people attending 

·       Portable toilet being dangled 25 floors above the street . . . See Is There A Toilet Over Your Head?

·       Wind in my face for 85 miles of a 107 mile ride!

·       25 mph winds in my face going uphill in the desert

·       Hobos in their homes

·       The asphalt up close and personal at 18 mph . . . See In The Blink Of An Eye

·       The side of a minivan up close and personal when the driver decided to turn in front of me into a driveway without signaling

·       The rear wheel of my bike passing my front wheel when I slammed on the brakes to avoid a driver turning across the lane in front of me. We didn’t collide but my heart pounded hard for the first two hours at work that day!

·       Hundreds of cyclists dismounting their bikes and walking past a life flight helicopter parked in the middle of the road picking up a rider who had suffered a heart attack on a strenuous hill

·       Shards of glass and metal in my tires

·       Illegal aliens running through a valley

·       A helicopter overhead looking for the illegal aliens running through a valley

·       Children yelling for candy from the cyclists in a road trip in Mexico

·       Acres of beautiful flowers planted by people

·       Acres of beautiful flowers planted by God

·       A real salt mine.  It’s been there since 1870.  Second oldest business in San Diego County still doing business the way they did 140 years ago!

·       Thick wet blinding fog

·       Relentless punishing wind

·       Soaking to the bone rain

·       Blistering wavy line heat

·       People in the desert riding cruisers with sandals and no water bottles or tire tools

·       Car parts

·       CD’s

·       Cell phone parts

·       Paraplegic Olympic cyclists with hand cycles going much faster than me

·       Waterfalls in Austria

·       The gazebo used in the movie The Sound Of Music

·       Volcanoes on the big island of Hawaii

·       Promising sunrises

·       Beautiful tranquil sunsets

·       The “House Of Green Gables” on Prince Edward Island

·       The Tuscan coast

·       The Southern California coast

·       The house where L. Frank Baum wrote The Wizard Of Oz

·       Victorian hotels and homes

·       Oldest pedestrian suspension bridge in San Diego

·       Bloodied riders climbing out of a ravine on a curve they had taken too fast

·       Old road kill

·       New road kill

·       Litter

·       Unparalleled views on sunny blue days

·       Amazing inline skaters who easily beat me to a checkpoint 25 miles into the hills!

·       Absolutely drop dead gorgeous days

·       God’s creation laid out before me