Saddle up!

I've been researching a new saddle for my bike, and I think I finally found one. No, of course this really isn't it...I just couldn't help taking this picture for the fun of it (although it DOES look pretty comfortable). Because I'm fairly tall (at least by NJ standards...I don't tower over many people in Michigan), the bike salesman had recommended I get a mens bike, and the frame really does fit me well. The seat, however, was also tailored for a man, and while it's been fine so far for my "under 20 mile" jaunts, it just seems a little narrow and hard for the kind of mileage that is looming in my future. After researching a bit online and reading a bunch of reviews, I decided on a Terry Butterfly saddle, made specifically for women...it has a gel filling, it's a little wider in the area of "anatomical contact points," and cut-out down the middle for, uh, well you know. And if you don't, I'm not going to explain it. I put it to a 17-mile test on Sunday during a ride with Suzie, and I think it's going to work out great.

It just so happens, that during this same week, while I was having some fun tweaking out my bike with a nice new Italian leather seat, and also getting some cool fingerless gloves with gel padding on the palms, an email from another Sea to Sea cyclist posed a very probing question to the rest of us: Someone had written this person a note that included a provocative query: "Do you think about the fact that the less fortunate in our society would never be able to afford a trip like this?" Wow. How encouraging. I read that and started to feel little pangs of...what? Guilt? Annoyance? The quick response to this is, "Of course, that's why we're doing it." Does someone really think this whole thing is just a stunt for people who can afford decent equipment and take time off from their jobs to buzz around the country on bikes for the fun of it?

Does a commitment to a tour like this involve expenses? You bet...not only money, but also time and convenience. In fact, part of the allure of this tour for me is that it DOES involve sacrifice, something I don't experience much in my service to God. In Galations 6, it says "A man reaps what he sows." You have to invest yourself to get results. And you know what? I think God smiles when we actually have fun doing something for His glory. (Yes, you Calvinists...we're allowed to have fun!)

Needless to say, this generated quite a bit of "email discussion" on the Sea to Sea forum. One response in particular, from someone who did the cross-Canada bike tour in 2005, was very moving and reinforced for me what this tour is all about. In fact, she emphasized an angle that I hadn't thought as much about...part of the benefit of the tour will simply be for my own personal and spiritual growth. I want to share what she wrote:

"This isn’t a new question. When we did the 2005 ride the same question was presented and having done the ride the answer (for me) became clear.

It is so much more than a bike ride. As riders we were depicted as a banner flowing from sea to sea spreading God’s love to all we met. In essence it is a fundraiser but even more so it is a tool for spiritual growth not only for the rider but also the people they encounter along the way and the church and community endorsing them from home.

It was a spiritual awakening for the riders. We witnessed relationships developing, saw others healing from recent brokeness, developed friendships, learned to depend on others, do with very little and share what we had. We helped each other along the way, experienced miracles and met God.

The community was able to see the Christian Reformed Church outside of the pews, walking their talk. We touched the lives of those that God set in our path. In Thessalon, ON a man named Jerry came up to our pump crew and asked "What’s going on?" We told him what we were up to and he said he needed God in his life, was there anyone he could talk to? (One of the pastors took him out for coffee and a chat). Everywhere we stop to use the restrooms or eat or rest, there is an opportunity to witness.

And we received blessings from complete strangers in return. In Neudorf SK, a very small town, the local women brought their baked goods to the small restaurant to share with the cyclists when the restaurant ran out of goodies. In Kashabowie, On after a numbing 60km of rain, hail and wind a lady opened up her motel to offer us a chance to warm up with hot coffee and huddle under blankets while our clothing dried in the dryers. All at no cost. I could go on and on.

1.5 million dollars is a drop in the bucket, but it is able to make a difference and the value of the souls touched while we journey sea to sea and even more importantly, country to country is worth far more than we can imagine.

God has blessed us each with different talents and gifts and we may not be able to compete in a chess tournament* or be missionaries in a far off land but we are able to cycle and so we will. We have been called, that’s enough for me."

I couldn't say it any better, because I haven't actually done it yet. But I feel I have been called to do this, and I'm going to do it to the best of my ability....new saddle and all.

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* This is a reference to a comment I had made that this tour is a way of God tapping into the energies of a couple of hundred crazy Christian bike people to do something good...if it were JUST a bike tour I wouldn't be doing it; on the other hand, a chess tournament to fight poverty wouldn't interest me either. The combination of biking AND doing something to fight poverty is what got me hooked...God does His work in mysterious ways!