Top 10 reasons Ride:Well is awesome

I have loved almost every minute of the trip so far, so it has been really hard to narrow down 10 reasons that have made this time so great. Moreover, it would be too difficult to actually rank them, so instead, I’ll just do a couple at a time, in no particular order:

Getting to drink Starbucks VIA every day

It seems fitting to start with this because as I write this post I am drinking some VIA instant coffee. I’m not a huge fan of coffee, but I like this stuff much more than the Starbucks coffee at work, and it’s nice to have a cup when I wake up or at the end of a long cold day (for some reason the coast of California can be unbelievably cold during the summer). Apparently one of the new guys on staff at Blood:Water mission was previously working at Starbucks, and so he got them to donate a bunch of coffee to each of the Ride:Well teams. It has been a been a blessing for sure, but I’m almost positive I’ll be addicted by the time the trip is over =/

Seeing God provide for us through other people

Throughout the tour God has blessed us again and again through different people, and every time it is completely unexpected. The first example I can think of was a man who came to San Diego before the two teams split to teach us some basic bike maintenance. He ended us fixing dozens issues on different bikes, and then did bike fits for about half the team! Later in the trip a family bought some clipless pedals and bike shoes for my teammate Stephanie after they found out that she was having knee pain, and had just been riding in her tennis shoes. Another family donated lots of gluten free groceries for Heather since we hadn’t had much luck finding a variety of food for her to eat. And whenever we stop by bike shops to pick up supplies or get something fixed, everyone is super helpful and we usually end up getting some great deals. All of these situations have been huge encouragements to myself and the rest of the team, reminding us that God will provide for us:

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him! – Matthew 7:11