Month: June 2017

June 10

One of my good friends was ordained today in the Indiana Conference of the United Methodist Church.  I was thinking of her soon after I awoke, and sorry to miss her big day.  The ceremony was already started by the time I remembered to send a Congratulations her way.

South Lake Tahoe is practically in Nevada already.  Just 2.7 miles into our ride we crossed our first state line.  We had a mountain pass to navigate and then a steep downhill.  I am not good at bicycling up mountains, and going down is both exhilarating and scary.   I kept my speed fairly low, stopped a few times for photos, and my hands were worn out from applying the brakes on the way down!

On the other side of the mountains, the scenery is vastly different.  It’s windy like Kansas but much chillier.  We rode a total of 82 miles into Fernley, Nevada which is not too far from Reno.  A few of our riders left us and we’re not picking up anyone new today.

One of the towns we went through was Genoa, a Mormon settlement founded in 1851, the first in the Nevada Territory.  We went through Carson City, where our rest stop was at the Humane Society.  I felt like I was running out of gas from Genoa to Carson City, but then my energy picked up again.  Just out of Carson City, we headed east on Hwy 50 with a wonderful tailwind.  It felt like flying!

When we turned a corner, that became a crosswind.  At times I was afraid, going up a hill, that I was going to be blown off the road.  I stopped at the top to cry for a bit, and then I was ok to go again.

We stayed overnight in Fernley at the St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic Church.  And I am catching up on stuff here.  I never knew how much work went into these websites!

June 9

In South Lake Tahoe, I didn’t ride my bike at all, but I ended up walking around town for about 11 miles (That estimate is from my pedometer reading of over 22,000 steps.  According to someone on Google, there are about 2000 steps per mile).  My first outing was to the dentist!  My back tooth, which was cracked and just got a crown on it on May 22, was bothering me enough that I found myself noticing it and thinking about it all the time.  The dentist in Lake Tahoe made me an appointment for 11:15.  Next was a trip down to the Lake, itself.

The day was cloudy and it rained off and on all day.  At 6000 ft, Lake Tahoe was also pretty chilly, especially when the wind was blowing.  Out on the lake, though, I saw a couple of people on paddle boards.  I managed to get one good picture of the Lake while the sun was shining. I stopped at a coffee and wine bar for a cappuccino.  They had a sign inside, “Lord, give me coffee to change the things I can change, and wine to accept the things I can’t.”  It’s a cute saying, but may not be the best way to live.

Even the dentist had a good view from the chair!  (My tooth turned out to be infected and I was prescribed some antibiotics, which I think are helping.  I hope this tooth doesn’t need to be pulled.  It might need a root canal.)

When I got back to the church from the dentist’s office, I was invited to lunch at the Riva Grill.  One of our number was already down there.  She had ridden her bike.  For us who were walking, if we had known how far it was, we may not have agreed to meet her there.  Nonetheless, it was a great restaurant with a wonderful view of the lake.  I stopped on the way back at the Safeway, where I discovered that I had left my credit card behind…so back to the restaurant I went.  I got a lot of exercise for a day off, which was just as well, since the previous day I rode in the van and walked around in a parking lot for exercise!

June 8.

Riding into South Lake Tahoe was not as hard as it sounds, because most of us took the van.  Henry, our trip leader, offered us the chance to shuttle ahead to one of the rest stops.  Based on my performance the previous day, I thought it would be wise to do that.  Several of us loaded our bikes on to the Fuller Center van, and went to the first rest stop.  We set up a table of snacks and drinks, and we waited for all the cyclists to arrive.  Two people are assigned as “sweeps” each day, and their job is to sweep everyone in.  Once they arrive, we know that everyone has been accounted for.

Another crew was responsible for actually manning the second rest stop at Silver Lake.  When our van of riders arrived, it was very cold and windy, and we were not thrilled at the prospect of getting out to ride.  No one got out.

On to the third rest stop, where we set up our snacks again atop Carson’s pass, elevation of 8573 ft.  The sun shone, then it rained, then it snowed, then it sleeted, then it was clear again.  It was windy the entire time.  No one was willing to get out and ride, even downhill.  Too wet, cold, and windy.  Riding downhill can be chilly even in better conditions.

When one of our most intrepid riders started down the hill and walked back up a few minutes later, we van riders were confirmed in our decision!  We had no phone service and the phone batteries were all dying.  We had no communication with either the riders who had managed to ride ahead, nor with those behind.  It was somewhat stressful, because we had to decide on a course of action without adequate information.  The van was full and the bike rack was full, so we couldn’t accommodate anyone else who wanted to bail out.  Eventually we decided to leave two people up top with the snacks in case any riders were still on the road.  The van went down to the final destination in South Lake Tahoe to empty out and come back for more people.

Both support vehicles arrived at Carson’s Pass at about the same time.  We were overjoyed to find everyone safe and sound.  We loaded up and drove down into South Lake Tahoe, to St. Theresa’s Catholic Church where we are staying in their gym.  We went to the Community Center for showers which really helped us warm up.

Today was a lesson in making decisions with limited information, taking authority when needed, and trusting God to take care of the parts we couldn’t personally take care of.

We left St. John’s Armenian Apostolic Church in San Francisco with the pastor’s blessing in our ears and a steep downhill.  Our first stop was about eight miles away, where we dipped our back tires into the Pacific Ocean.  Since I was smiling for my photo, I didn’t notice that the ocean was coming nearer and nearer.  I got  my feet wet and carried some sand with me the rest of the day.  I know because it was in my socks at the end of the day!

We also did group photos and Facebook live video, (Fuller Center Bike Adventure Facebook) the whole group gathered up there.  We have some media interns traveling with us also who, besides doing our publicity and media outreach, are also helping the rest of us learn how to do these things ourselves.  One of our photographers, Kian, is willing to go to any length to get the right angle on a photo.  Here he is perched on top of a dumpster–an angle that would not have occurred to me at all.

June 2 began a whole new life!  I said goodbye to my little dog, Dancer and Mom took me to the Wichita airport.  We laughed while we took some old people selfies (the kind where you squint because you’re not sure what you’re doing!):

We’re better at regular pictures:

I had two books with me, and chose The Last Missionary by Bob Walters to read on the plane.

This was the perfect book to make me think about asking the right questions as I go.