Blogs - Ride:Well Tour

Family.

I am so excited about the Ride:Well Pacific Tour!! It's going to be an amazing experience like nothing I have ever done before. Its so beautiful to see how we are already coming together as a team/family. I love that we are all exchanging fears, excitements, fundraising ideas, bike suggestions and just praying for each other on a day to day basis. I am so thankful for my teammates already and I haven't even met them all, but I know its going to be an amazing tour full of love, encouragement, gro… Continue

Added by Stephanie Jones on February 7, 2010 at 7:27pm — No Comments

My Beginning.

Hey Ride:Well Bloggers, I am sooooo blessed, excited, honored, nervous and in complete awe to be a part of Ride:Well Tour this summer. I want to start out by telling you how I first heard about Ride:Well. Last summer, my older sister Kristina was moving out of her dorm and into an apartment and she needed some things from home. So my parents, two younger siblings, and I packed up our van full of her belongings and headed south to SAGU (her school) from Chicago. I was planning to visit my siste… Continue

Added by Kate Pilman on January 29, 2010 at 3:13pm — 4 Comments

ride:well 2010 is amazing me already.

hello, and welcome to a new ride:well year!!!! i cant believe we will be embarking on a third (and fourth) ride:well tour this year. so many lives have already been changed through this tour, and so much money has already been raised. i am so excited to be a part of the tour in yet another way; as a co-leader. so far ride:well pacific is lookin like an excellent team. sometimes when i really think about riding my bike up the west coast with y'all, i get so excited i cant even focus; i just star… Continue

Added by Erin McDermott on January 27, 2010 at 8:58pm — No Comments

It all begins.

Before I get started, I just wanted to jot down a bit of an introduction: Hi, my name is Ian. I am very excited to be selected to participate with Ride:Well this year. The month since I was accepted has been crazy! Writing letters, building my funding site, restructuring my financial life to allow me to be gone this summer, training, oh! and working. I feel like I have more to do then I have time to do it each and every week, but that's how I like it most: a full plate and a rigorous schedule.… Continue

Added by Ian Pietz on January 27, 2010 at 4:00pm — 5 Comments

Of Mileage and Major Miracles

When I launched my Facebook campaign last week, people were psyched! Two people asked, "Are you really going to bike across the country?" I told them, "Yes, that is the plan." This adventure is incredulous enough but I believe they express doubts others haven't spoken. I've asked myself the same question. It's a valid one. Why would I say that? Well, I'm a sedentary, frequent flake who sunburns easily and has no internal GPS. But, these points work just as well to prove that I have to do this.… Continue

Added by Chase Livingston on January 24, 2010 at 1:17pm — 5 Comments

Host Home Happiness

I went to Phoenix this weekend to visit some ride:well 09 friends and was able to go and have dinner with one of the families that hosted us while we were in Chandler last summer. It was wonderful to reconnect with them and see their continued excitement for what we are doing! They are already ready to host us again this summer! :) The family that had us for dinner are such amazing people who are outrageously hospitable. I continue to be overwhelmed by how giving the people were we met last summ… Continue

Added by Erin White on January 18, 2010 at 5:22pm — 1 Comment

Local bike shop experience

I knew when I purchased my novara touring bike a couple of years ago that I might actually use it someday. I just would have never guessed that it would be to ride it across the US. Until now it has been an amazing dust collector in my garage. After I was accepted to ride with southern tour I took my bike to a local shop to get "fit" for my bike. The day before I had bought some riding shoes, cleats and clip in pedals. That night I was only able to get one of the pedals on the bike and was not h… Continue

Added by Aaron Hines on January 11, 2010 at 7:30pm — 2 Comments

Fundraising Tips for all the New Riders!

The little lovely Anne Taylor (RWT Class of '10: Pacific Route) sent me a message asking for some fundraising ideas. I went a bit overboard and sent this as a response. I figured I could share it with everyone: Anyways, I definitely have a few fundraising ideas. First, I got another job (serving at Chili's) and picked up absolutely as many shifts as I could; I paid about $700 of the fundraising money myself. Second, at that time, I had over 2,000 friends on facebook and therefore had a pretty… Continue

Added by Jessica Abt on January 10, 2010 at 4:00pm — 4 Comments

Music Makes the Miles Move

I didn't think they'd say yes...or I would've started training sooner. As of November 6th, I was thinking about applying. I hesitated because of present financial concerns. By November 16th, I had sorted through my hesitation, toiled over application essays, and scheduled an interview. Already it seemed very real but I worried somehow it would fall through. On December 1st, I got the call. I was invited to be part of the 2010 Southern Tour. Yes, I was thrilled. I spent a few days acclimating my… Continue

Added by Chase Livingston on December 14, 2009 at 3:30am — 10 Comments

Six Months is a Long Way Off - But My Bike & I Still Have Great Conversations...

I grew up in really small towns. Circle Back, Texas: Population 4. McCamey, Texas: Population 2500. Veribest, Texas: Population 16 These west Texas towns are mere dots lost on the maps, off rural roads and an hour away from a supermarket. The schools I attended were respectively small, and all of us were bussed in from the farms. Miles separated us. Playdates were only on birthdays. The tumbleweeds were friends. So were the stray cats. I even had an invisible best friend for a while… Continue

Added by Anne Jackson on November 25, 2009 at 9:23am — 3 Comments

Rely on Me.

I road my bike across the country this summer. That still sounds weird. Before I left I knew I wanted to spend the summer trusting God. This happened. I also wanted God to let me know what I was supposed to do with my life. That did not happen. Is that too much to ask for? What did happen? “Rely on Me” – God That’s all I heard. That’s all I learned. That’s all I did. That is all I have. That’s it. There were days that were hotter then I ever thought possible. Some days were never ending. Th… Continue

Added by Lisa on November 6, 2009 at 7:29pm — 2 Comments

Friends, I write to you today from South Africa, my new home and placement as a United Methodist Mis…

Friends, I write to you today from South Africa, my new home and placement as a United Methodist Missionary. Its been a while since I've visited here, but I wanted to share with you a story with a joyful about how I got here - which Ride:Well played an unexpected role in. I am here for 18months with two other young women from the US. We had several struggles getting our long-term visas to South Africa, as many last-minute requests were made by the Consulate before granting them. While these cha… Continue

Added by Jen Tyler on October 20, 2009 at 7:15am — 2 Comments

Reflections on a bike ride... Just a tad bit late.

(I wrote this in August 2008. I just now found it on my computer.) Life is always so much more than we expect it to be; of this, I am completely sure. I did not expect to be riding my bicycle three thousand, one hundred miles across the United States this summer. And when I did finally myself on the phone with my mother, over lunch with my best friend Tranica, and updating my Facebook profile with that incredible announcement, something inside of me twinged in disbelief: "Really, Jess? You actu… Continue

Added by Jessica Abt on August 22, 2009 at 3:02pm — 3 Comments

One-liners and Robert Frost

Almost two weeks after the fact I finally sat down to clunk out some reflections. I guess it's more of a sampling of things that I've learned, that have convicted me, resounded with me, etc., all in cute, compact one-liner form. Some are from sermons, others from the mouths of the Ride:Well family. Some are obvious, others profound. But simple as some may be, I think there's a little more to be taken from each one than first meets the eye. One dollar provides clean water for one African for one… Continue

Added by Deb Go on August 21, 2009 at 4:42pm — 2 Comments

Coming Home

This summer, as it turns out, flew by. I cannot begin to describe it. I have only begun to process it. There are a few things I know for sure, a lot of questions that remain heavy in the air, and even more things that I will surely continue to learn as I process over the next weeks, months, perhaps even years. This is a pattern I have been blessed with in my life. A pattern of incredible opportunities and experiences I have seized, to return from them a changed and more whole person, yet also b… Continue

Added by Jen Tyler on August 19, 2009 at 10:00am — 4 Comments

The 12 Days of Ride:Well Tour

Lyzz, Jen, and I started singing this one rainy day in VA and I thought I would share it with you all. "On the first day of Ride:Well Tour my bike gave to me: A flat tube in a tire." "On the second day of Ride:Well Tour my bike gave to me: Two "Car Backs!!!" and a flat tube in a tire." "On the third day of Ride:Well Tour my bike gave to me: Three scratched knees......" "On the 4th day of Ride:Well Tour my bike gave to me: Four Broken Spokes....." "On the 5th day of Ride:Well Tour my bike gave t… Continue

Added by Brian Elliott on August 14, 2009 at 4:51pm — 1 Comment

The Journey is More Important Than the Destination

After 2 months and 250 hours of riding my bicycle beginning in Long Beach, CA and finishing the trip with a 143 mile ride starting in Baltimore, MD, I finally arrived at the Atlantic Ocean in Cape Henlopen, DE where we took our bikes into the ocean for a fantastic celebration! I rode 3,573 miles across 10 states, by beautiful beaces in CA, through 115 degree deserts in AZ, over 8,000+ ft high mountains, around dead mountain lions, possums, squirrels, moles, and other various roadkill, across loo… Continue

Added by Brian Elliott on August 14, 2009 at 1:30pm — 3 Comments

All The Same...But Different

I arrived back in Texas yesterday and everything seemed the same as I left it...busy and chaotic. I sure do miss the simplicity of living on the road. I went on a bike ride with my dad as soon as we got to the house. I rode my mountain bike, which had a flat before I even started. We rode to a restaurant to eat sushi (which I have been craving for the last 2 months). It was chopstick Tuesday (a tradition Lyzz and I started this summer that we encourage everyone to partake in....use chopsticks fo… Continue

Added by Brian Elliott on August 12, 2009 at 11:14pm — 1 Comment

What I tried to Tweet

As you may know, Twitter experienced technical difficulties last week which prohibited status updates sent via text message from showing up online. As a result, my coverage of the final leg of the Ride:Well Tour suffered. With this post, I would like to complete my reporting by showing you what I tried to Tweet and what I would have told you if I could. Enjoy! Last night I had dinner with my cousins from Leesburg: Steve, Anne, Molly and Frank. It was so fun to see them. 1:33 PM August 6th Limp… Continue

Added by Seth D. Willard on August 12, 2009 at 12:00pm — 3 Comments

About The End.

When I look back at this trip later in my life, I think I'll say it ended at a certain point about ten miles out from Cape Henlopen. Cody and I were sweep, just like we were on the first day out of Long Beach, making sure our little peleton got in without mishap. We had left the amazing fruit stand that gave us all free, delicious fruit. I was riding along on Erik's bike (mine had developed a fatal crack earlier) when it hit me: I don't have to worry anymore. The Tour is over, and we have comple… Continue

Added by Tyler H. Sevlie on August 10, 2009 at 10:08pm — 3 Comments

< Previous Post

All Trip Journals (412)