Time Is Tickin' Away

Tuesday, 17 March 2009 - St. Patrick's Day

"I thought of that while riding my bike."

-Albert Einstein, on the theory of relativity

"The only regret I have in my life is never learning to ride a bike."

-Helen Hayes

It won't be long! Margaret and I will head to Anacortes, Washington on Thursday, April 23rd.  We are taking our time going west and stopping along the way.  In fact, to fit in with the tourists, I will take a few of my flowery shirts, khaki shorts, black socks, and a pair of wingtips! I'll wear a fanny-pack too.  NOT!

At our house we now have a collection of Visitor Guides and Travel Guides from Missouri, Kansas, South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Montana, Idaho, Wisconsin, Washington, Wyoming, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania (The Holy Land), New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and some states I've never heard of!  We have road maps, city maps, bike maps, route elevation profiles, riding conditions, climate charts, and the locations of all the bad dogs in every state!

We will go through places named Concrete, Twisp, Kettle Falls, Priest River, Hope, Libby, Eureka, Stryker, Whitefish, Hungry Horse, Zurich, Harlem, Wolf Point, Rugby, Colgate, Pelican Rapids, White Earth, Buffalo Prairie, Defiance, Napoleon, Clyde, Middleport, Brockport, Gasport, Lockport, Spencerport, Sheffield Lake, Eastlake, Timberlake, Avon Lake, Mentor-On-The-Lake, Madison-On-The-Lake, Geneva-On-The-Lake to name a few! 

Rugby, North Dakota, by the way, is the Geographical Center of North America, not to be confused with the Geographical Center of the United States which is located in South Dakota near Castle Rock.

I've gone to lunch with Jimmy Marbut, owner of Sunshine Cycles, and he's told me what to take with me, how to ride, how to stay hydrated, what to wear, how to stay warm, what to use against dogs, and what to put in my first aid kit.

Margaret and I have also read books!  We've read "Wandering Wheels" by Jack Houston, "The Heart of America" by Mike Trout (Focus on the Family), "Bicycle Across America" by Barbara Siegert, "Just the Two of Us - A Cycling Journey Across America" by Melissa Norton, "Just Keep Pedaling" by T. E. Trimbath, and "The Lance Armstrong Performance Program" by Lance Armstrong and Chris Charmichael.  Yep, we've done some homework.  But all that stuff doesn't mean anything until I hop on my bike and put all that information to work.  Why do all the homework if there won't be any tests?

That's kind of like we are with Bible study.  We always want more.  Just one more conference!  Just one more Bible study!  Just one more speaker!  Just one more workbook! Why do all the studies if we're never going to take the tests?  Most Christians know more Bible than they will ever use!  Maybe we should all be Nike Christians: Just Do It!  James 1:22 says, "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." (NKJV)  

"And remember, it is a message to obey, not just to listen to. If you don't obey, you are only fooling yourself." (NLT)

The Bible says it! Just Do It!