Introduction

In the summer of 2005 one hundred plus cyclists were riding across Canada to raise money for the future of the Christian Reformed Church. Meanwhile, I was stuck in bumper to bumper traffic on I-80/94 wishing there was something better I could be doing with my time, oblivious to the amazing journey going on a few hundred miles north of me.


Fast forward one year. I am now a college graduate just starting my first full-time job at the Field Museum in Chicago. I am beginning to discover the difference between attending a Christian college devoted to observing how God works in every aspect of my life and working for an institution devoted to observing the scientific processes at work all around us. Global Warming is now the main focus of everyone around me, instead of Global Poverty. Many of my co-workers are avid bike riders because it is both environmentally and economically savvy to do so. Being amongst so many bikers I, naturally, decided that it was about time to upgrade from the mountain bike that I had been riding since I was in fourth grade. About this same time I moved into the city and reduced my hour and a half commute via train to a ten minute bike ride. No matter what the weather, I became committed to saving the planet.

Fast forward one more year. I am taking part in the first bicycle race of my life on my new road bike. The national 24-hour challenge, where the object is to ride as many miles as you can muster in one day's time, confirms for me that I was born a cyclist, it just took me 23 years to realize. The next time I stopped at my parents' house after the race I noticed a promotional postcard for a sea to sea bike tour. With the memory of my 221 miles still fresh my interest was immediately piqued. Upon researching further I discovered that this tour would synthesise both my religious and scientific views; I wouldn't be burning gas in my car at all for two months, but at the same time I would be helping to end the cycle of poverty. I decided that I was in.

Fast forward again...

Only time will tell. All I know is this time I will be one of the one hundred plus, and I can't think of a thing in this world that I could better spend my time doing. There are still 7 months before the tour starts. There is no way to know what God has in store. I have $10,000 dollars to raise and probably a couple thousand miles of training to do. There are people that I barely know or don't know at all that will become very important to me in this stretch of time. As long as I can keep my focus on the task at hand I won't go crazy trying to comprehend the vastness of this undertaking. There is only one certainty: God will provide.