Pedal Day 11 - Cooperation!

"The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up only one body. So it is with the body of Christ."

-1 Corinthians 12:12

"Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part."

-1 Corinthians 12:14

"But God made our bodies with many parts, and he has each part just where he wants it."

1 Corinthians 12:18

"In fact, some of the parts that seem weakest and least important are really the most necessary."

-1 Corinthians 12:22

"Now all of you together are Christ's body, and each one of you is a separate and necessary part of it."

-1 Corinthians 12:27

No flats today!

We now have a Wyoming license plate and two Montana plates.

Okay, I know you want to know about the knees! Right? I'll tell you about them later.

We left mile marker 19 on Montana Route 200 East around eight o'clock this morning. It was a little chilly but with a climb before us we quickly warmed up, even in the rain. Traffic was light and truckers were very courteous. We rode a total of 67.2 miles as we climbed toward our goal, Rogers Pass. This has not been difficult because the climb is not very steep, just long. Most of the day the weather was nice with some rain and a little sunshine. 

Around 11 A.M. Jonathan and I were riding near Ovando when we spotted Trixi's Family Dining. Margaret was already in Lincoln, where we are spending the evening, and said she would just eat at a place there. So Jonathan and I gave Trixi's Family Dining a try. It didn't look like much but talk about a neat and fun place! We were the only people there, except for the cook and her dog, so we had a good time talking to her (the cook, not the dog) about the place and it's history. There really was a Trixi and she was sort of a folk legend when it came to riding and all that cowgirl stuff. She started this eating establishment years ago and it's still crankin' out some really good food. Jonathan and I ate till we were more than full and headed up the road to Lincoln and Margaret.

We had a great tailwind much of the day and there were times when we were going twelve to fourteen mph without even pedaling. Of course when the wind changed it seemed like we were going the same speed backwards! We blew through Lincoln looking for Margaret and didn't see her anywhere. Almost outside of town she pulled over in front of us and asked, "What do you want to do?" It was 2:20 then so Jonathan and I decided to ride until about 4:00. We figured that any miles we pedaled today would be miles we would not have to pedal tomorrow. We got seventeen miles out of town, up the climb, and met Margaret at a pull-off on the mountain. With twenty miles to go to the top and with rain coming down, we put the bikes on the racks and decided to go up the rest of the mountain in the morning. Once in the car we decided to drive up to Rogers Pass just to get a preview of how far and how hard the remaining climb would be tomorrow. Were we ever surprised! We only have five miles to go, not twenty as we thought. That's encouraging! And . . . the rest of the climb won't be much steeper than we've been doing all day. All three of us are excited since this is our last climb in the Rockies and it's not as long as we thought. Tomorrow at 6:30 we will head to the pass, park at the pull-off, unload the bikes, get our stuff together, and make the ride to the top.

We are not the least bit discouraged that we did not make it today. Tomorrow's ride will begin with five hard miles and then, according to the owner of the Historic Hotel Lincoln where we're staying tonight, it's down hill all the way to Great Falls, seventy miles away! (Car drivers usually think everything is quick and downhill!) 

We are slowly making our way across this long, long state. Once we get to Havre, we will again be on the Adventure Cycling Northern Tier Route.

How did the knees do? Well let me tell you! Today was the best day since Washington Pass for the knees. They pedaled the 67.2 miles today with not one complaint. I believe they are looking forward to tomorrow because they know that they will be in vacation mode in the Montana plains compared to their time in the mountains! The achilles tendon is still a little swollen but not giving me any pain while pedaling. So . . . parts is parts and they are all working together!

That makes each of us a walking example of the body of Christ, doesn't it? If all the parts are in the proper places then the body will operate as it was designed. If you happen to have an ear where an elbow should be or a knee where a nose should be, you're going to be a dysfunctional mess. Kinda freaky too! That's what happens when Christ's body parts get bent out of shape, try to be what they are not, or just disappear. People see a mess where a church should be, a distortion where direction should be, a freak instead of a friend. If we'll find our places in the body and be what God designed us to be, we'll all be making molehills out of mountains instead of the other way around! Knees are important! In their places! Doing what they're supposed to do.