Everything is packed.  My superstar-helper-wife Mandi helped me check off a big spreadsheet of items grouped by container.  Just a handful of small items to throw in tonight and it will all be sealed.  Next step will be unpacking it all and I'm excited about it.  This is fun.  My first trip out of the country.  Other than being born outside of Chicago, IL, the boundaries of my travels are Columbus, IN; Pensacola, FL; Virginia Beach, VA; and Fort Worth, TX.  Most of the team has gone on multiple trips, but I'm not sure that they aren't more excited than me....which makes me even more excited that they must know something I don't!  Exciting!  My phone has been dinging all morning with the usually silliness, but also us quizzing each other about who slept and how much.  Turns out for most of us, not much.  Oh, the anticipation!  For some, odd sleep is normal, but I'm hopeful we can make up time on the plane.  There's one thing I'm not excited about.  I'm not a nervous flier; I'm not a nervous anything, I suppose.  But, being a rather energetic person, I dread the idea of being in a vessel for about twenty-four hours; maybe if I sleep a lot I won't be so stir crazy.  My wife says I'm like a caged animal when the weather keeps me indoors; I do tend to pace from door to door.  I'll get plenty of outdoor time soon, regardless of weather.  The forecast shows rain at some time every day as far forward as the forecast goes, but we're going to ride, regardless.  We've done rides in hot, cold, wet, dry, but mostly hot and humid.  If we were aiming for something easy and comfortable, we probably wouldn't be bicycling 485 miles.

Thinking about the goal helps on the rough days.  Some days you feel like a pro, but some days things just aren't right.  Taylor, Derek, and I were aiming for a sixty-miler that included "The Wall" one day about six weeks ago.  Derek had to turn around and go to work before we reached "The Wall"  "The Wall" is a steep hill (about 14% according to my bike computer) that goes from the delta seemingly straight up to the bluff.  Taylor and I rolled for a while in the flats with considerable headwinds, but we kept pushing.  Then, I hit "The Wall" literally and figuratively.  After that short and steep climb, I ran out of steam.  My neck, back, and feet were hurting and I just had no power left.  There's no shortcut back from where we were.  Just had to pedal it.  I kept spinning and Taylor kept encouraging me, reminding me that I could, sharing some advice his Marine brother gave, "it will come to an end" or something like that.  It was rough, but I made it.  We averaged more than 17mph for that last twenty miles.  I'm no super athlete, so I'll take that.  It's certainly better than I would've expected for how wiped I was that day.  All that to say that you can do so much more than you think.  SEALs say it's 90% mental and 10% physical.  There have been plenty of rides when one of us was having a tough time, but the motivation of what we're riding for kept us churning.

I've talked to several people that say they'd love to do what we're doing, but just can't.  For some, that's true due to physical limitations.  But for most, you haven't explored those limits.  I've seen some impressive physical transformations in our team.  These guys got the challenge/calling/whatever and answered it.  I think this parallels our spiritual lives.  We convince ourselves of limitations, usually based on our own comfort zones, and stagnate.  We approach the edge of where we're comfortable and don't push past it.  Pushing past the comfort zone regularly also expands the comfort zone and sometimes exposes a hidden gift or ability that wasn't expected.  Getting outside that comfort zone is refreshing, builds a confidence as well as a dissatisfaction with staying comfortable, and creates a desire to push more.  In short, don't say, "I can't" when you know in your heart you're really saying "I won't"  He called you for more than that.