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.

Three days to go...

It's Monday and we leave Thursday morning; it's getting very real.  We had our commissioning yesterday during church.  That certainly adds to the anticipation and to the reality that next Sunday, we'll be on the opposite side of the planet pedaling.  We did a last minute push to make some t-shirts because there are no afternoons left to do so.  Most of the guys started packing up their bikes Sunday afternoon and evening and there were several texts showing the bikes disassembled in their shipping cases and expressions of frustration in trying to get the bikes to fit in their cases; capaciousness is not a luxury afforded in a bike travel case.  The texts!!  Oh the text messages!  If we were charged a penny per text, we would've burned through enough money this past year to charter a private jet to Thailand.  Our wives and girlfriends tell us we're like a bunch of twelve-year-old girls.  It's team building, although some aren't as concerned with team unity as they are with sleeping when the texts keep on coming throughout the night or when they're at their "jobs".  We are silly and although we don't take ourselves seriously, we do take this mission very seriously.

During our commissioning Pastor mentioned that we had been doing physical training regularly for the past year.  I think we're all physically ready.  Most of us, ranging in age from late twenties to late forties, are in the best shape we've ever been in.  There's little concern in the team of being unable to meet the physical challenge, but my prayer is that we're ready for those divine appointments, that even in our physical exhaustion, we won't slack in our roles as ambassadors for Christ.  If you will, pray for that.  Pray for our families; they've sacrificed a lot leading up to that and are left holding down the fort in our absence.  Pray that we keep our focus in spite of the distractions that come up at the last minute....there have been plenty so far!  Pray for continued unity amongst us; unity isn't so hard after a full night's sleep as it is after riding a bike or riding in the back of a truck for days on end on a compromised sleep schedule.  Pray for us to have influence wherever we go and that we'll utilize that influence for His kingdom.

Getting ready

I thought a blog would probably be a useful tool to keep our friends updated as to the goings-on with the ride and the mission trip.  This is my first mission trip and I suppose I'll be doing most of the typing and hopefully with it being a new experience for me, it won't be an insufferably boring account of things.  Stay tuned...