faith

Day Before The Bikepacking Trip (from a Disciple of Dirt)

My heart was full today as I watched my daughter Rachel run the 3K steeplechase in the USA Track Championship in Eugene, Oregon. She placed 9th and ran a good race in hot conditions.

Rachel just finished her NCAA eligibility and has an agent to represent her as a professional runner. Rachel has plans to enter races in Europe this summer.

She is traveling back to Texas and I have made final preparations for the long-planned bikepacking trip in the Oregon Cascades.

Went down the final bikepacking checklist and made sure checklist items were packed. Got last-minute supplies at the local stores in Eugene, Oregon.

Prayed for good weather, a solid bike, equipment that holds up, for good health, and for protection. No matter what happens, the Lord will provide. I am ready.

Tomorrow I start in Oakridge, Oregon, a town about 45 miles southeast of Eugene. There I will pick up my mountain bike and begin a seven day bikepacking adventure in the Oregon Cascade mountain range.

This is a bikepacking trip for which I have been planning for months, and for which I have been training for months, and I can barely contain my excitement! I am entering a rugged, sparsely populated area Oregon back country with  diverse terrain – lush forests, volcanic mountains,  streams, and waterfalls. Mountain bikers in the area belong to organizations such as the GOATS (Greater Oakridge Trail Stewards) and the DoD (Disciples of Dirt).  I will always be a disciple of Jesus, but for the next week I will also become a “disciple of dirt”, following mountain trails like a mountain goat, navigating the heights on a mountain bike, and being blown away by God’s handiwork.

Here we go!!!

 

Day 1 – Oakridge Oregon to Indigo Springs

Mountain Biking Rocks! (And Here Is Why)

mtb-silouette

Mountain biking rocks – and here is why:

1) Good cardio workout and a great way to stay fit.
Why not experience the real hill workout on a mountain bike (versus a hill workout simulated on a treadmill or elliptical)? The scenery from a mountain bike changes your focus –  off the pain and on to the awesomeness!

2) Moves you outdoors (and who doesn’t love the outdoors?)
The trees, meadows, streams, and varied terrain create a feast for the eyes and for the mind. God created a great universe and you can experience it up-close. Mountain biking is all about fresh air and getting away from the concrete jungle. Get out there.

3) Provides a sense of accomplishment.
When you finish that climb to the top, finally nail that technical trail section you never could do, or finish an epic bikepacking trip, you know you have accomplished something. Celebration of an accomplishment is as personal as each individual. Mountain bikers celebrate well – having fun with a contagious exuberance.

4) Adventure calls!!!
Whether you are exploring a local trail, or taking that epic ride on a well-recognized trail, adventure awaits. Mountain biking allows you to “explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.”

5) It is therapeutic.
After a good ride you feel loose and rejuvenated. It is hard to wipe that grin off your face after a great ride 🙂

6) Provides community.
Mountain bikers are friendly and helpful. Stop along a trail and you will always hear a good word and an offer to help from mountain bikers.

7) Develops mental fitness.
Processing the terrain, sights, sounds, smells, pressure, and shakes while reacting instantly to the experience engages all the senses and stimulates neurons. Maintaining balance while powering through a roots and rocks technical section is a considerable neurological, physical miracle. Its a rush!!!

8) Generates great stories.
Mountain biking provides a wonderful way to start conversations and tell stories.

9) Makes you tough as nails.
Fixing a flat, learning to navigate, getting lost, riding in a storm, becoming exhausted, and other mountain biking challenges – these help you become self-reliant, and increase your fortitude. Some of my best rides have involved some mud, blood, sweat and (sometimes) tears. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger!

10) Increases your faith.
When I consider all that God created – the mountains, hills, streams, trees, weather, it blows my mind. And when I consider how I am intricately made (Psalm 139) to process it, experience it, enjoy it and to acknowledge the creator of it all, it is miracle to me. God gets the praise for all of it!

My Identity In Christ


I purchased a Road ID for my bikepacking trip. My sweet wife Susan is concerned about my safety on the trip, “What happens if you get hurt while bikepacking and are laying on the trail unconscious?” So I got a Road ID – a rubber wrist bracelet with a metal tag stamped with personal information – my name, year of birth, city, state, country, emergency contacts and listed allergies. I wear it when training, and I will wear it on my bikepacking trip.

When I told my friend Johnny Breitenfeld about getting a Road ID he said, “That will be good – at least they will know whose carcass they are pulling off the side of the trail.” Johnny always sees the humor in life – his quip got a grin from me.

While my Road ID paints a basic picture of me, there are other many other identities, or roles, that I play – mountain biker, adventurer, husband, father, son, brother, neighbor, co-worker, and friend. None of those identities can compare to the one identity that has made an indelible mark on me – that of Christ follower. It was at the age of 13 that I realized that I was separated from God by my sin and needed to  restore a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. I made a decision to follow Christ, to ask Jesus to mend my broken relationship with God, to forgive my sins, and to make me  right with God.

No other decision has had such a deep impact on my life. Jesus has shaped me, has changed my heart, and made me to be the person that God intended me to be. As I follow Jesus’ example, I hope to become more like him in character, in my communication, and in my dealings with others. I will never be completely like Jesus, but am growing more in his likeness. My relationship with God through Jesus has made me into the person I am, and is molding me into the person I will become. All my other identities will fade over time and the only one that will last is my identity in Christ.

Thank you Jesus.

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.”
1 John 3:1-2 (ESV)

Blessed and Thankful

The sun was setting yesterday and my 100 foot shadow made me seem gigantic.  I was riding to train for an upcoming mountain bikepacking adventure in the Oregon Cascades. And I was talking to God. I do that sometimes when riding. When I am out on the woods and see God’s creative handwork, I thank him for his creation. When I have completed a ride and am loose and relaxed, I thank him for the healthy body which he has given me. And when I am slogging out hill repeats, I ask him for endurance to get me to the top of that next hill. Whew!!!

I feel blessed that God chose to grant me health. I do not take a heathy body for granted, or view it as an entitlement. Many people my age (50+) have chronic, or debilitating issues that prevent them from riding a bike, traveling, or enjoying various forms of recreation.

So I thank God for my health, recognizing that I am “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139). Our bodies are intricately made and filled with complexity – ask any physician. I give God the thanks and praise for all he has done in my life. And I ride on, standing in God’s grace and affirming his blessing on me.