The End of the Road?

The road we started on, way back in June on a beach in San Diego, came to a joyous and bittersweet end on a beach in Virginia.  For the rest of my life I will remember the shear joy and exhilaration of riding down a street with 14 of my dearest friends screaming “Take the lane!”.  We were crying, slow clapping for ourselves and generally losing our minds over the stretch of sand waiting in front of us.  I seriously doubt I will ever be able to carry my bike over my shoulder and run through sand as fast as I did that afternoon with my Ride:Well teammates. 

So we finished our journey.  Along the way this group of people who had two things in common when we started, cycling and clean water for our neighbors in Africa, became a family.  We became closer perhaps than many families.  We accomplished something very few have done.  We rode our bikes from one side of America to another.  We became part of an incredible story, members of the Ride:Well community.  Changing lives in Africa with each pedal stroke. 

But here is what makes this story even more beautiful.  The money raised through our efforts is already helping our neighbors in Africa.  The work that Blood:Water Mission is doing in Marsabit, Kenya is making a difference and changing lives. 

As one of my teammates said towards the end of the tour “At some point this stopped being about riding our bikes across the country.  It became about the cause.” 

So the bike riding part of the tour is over.  But this adventure we began when we were accepted to ride this tour continues.  I couldn’t have done this without support from my family, my church and my friends.  I couldn’t have done this without my team, who I will love for the rest of my life.  Most of all, none of this would have happened without God. 

“Who did this? Who made it happen?

Who always gets things started?

I did.  God.  I’m first on the scene.

I’m also the last to leave.

Isaiah 41:4

 Ride:Well.  Well done.