WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN – INSTALLMENT TWO

My dear husband Bob has been working hard in our yard and it looks so beautiful.  Tomorrow, I'll take pictures of the yard and post it on the next post.  I can't take them now as it is the middle of the night. 

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN – INSTALLMENT TWO

         Exactly six months after the bike ride, a young woman invited me into her home and asked me, in the course of the conversation, how it was that I had come to have the strong faith that I now possessed.  How did I get that faith?  At first, I had to stop and think about it for a minute or so.  No one had ever asked me that and I had never consciously really thought about it.   What I remember telling her is that each time I have been through a trial or difficult time, and each time I have seen God at work in my life or the lives of others, I have grown closer to Him and my faith has increased.  In a Bible Study by Linda Dillow called the The Blessing Book, the author suggested that we write down all the blessings that God has given us and the times He has intervened in our lives.  In my computer I have a list of things and I add to the list as time goes by.  We have to remember that God is the same yesterday today, and tomorrow.  He doesn’t change.  If He has helped us in the past, He will continue to help us and grow us up.  Scripture: " because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,  being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:5-6

    

       There is a rock, a river rock, which I keep on my desk.  On the rock is taped a piece of paper with a Scripture verse written on it from 1 Samuel 7:12.  It reads, “Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen.  He named it Ebenezer, saying, ‘Thus far has the Lord helped us’.’’  This rock is to remind me always what the Lord has done in my life.  The writing of The Journey helps to remind me just how far the Lord has lead me in my life.  It shows me how far I have come spiritually and how far I have yet to travel.  It makes me appreciate each and every intervention by the Lord on my behalf in accomplishing His will for my life.  It shows me my weaknesses and my strengths, but most of all it shows me how much God loves me and how much God loves each and every one of us.  I believe that everyone can have these experiences such as I have had, if we focus on Him and if we truly watch, wait and listen for His leading.  Of course none of us have exactly the same experiences.  God know just what each of us needs and He is there with His perfect timing. He knew that it was time for me to get out of the high chair and learn to run, (or ride, as it were).  

 

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN – INSTALLMENT ONE

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN – INSTALLMENT ONE

         After all the drudgery of the training, the excitement of the bike ride and the trip and participation in Colorado, how does one get back to daily life?  Back to housework, taking care of a family, running a drapery shop and normal everyday events?  A song entered my mind as I typed this – How are you going to keep them down on the farm after they’ve seen Paree ? It was a World War I song about the troops returning home after seeing Paris and all the sights and sounds of a far-away land.  The excitement they had witnessed and participated in would make returning to a farm boring and uneventful to many of the returning soldiers.  So it could be after the excitement of the bike ride and trip to Colorado.

            I have thought often of the many things that God did for me so that I would complete the bike ride.  A Bible Study leader said in her lecture that God does not speak to us in an audible voice any more.  I believe that He did speak to me in that manner that one time.  Why?  I think that if he had not done so and spoken in the tone of voice that He did, I would not have responded to His call to sign up, train and participate in the bike ride. 

        Why choose such an unlikely person as myself to ride in the ride?  If He had chosen someone who had ridden many bike rides, owned many state-of-the-art bicycles and was fit, would His power and His miracles have been noticed?  I do not believe so.  Through my weakness as a person and my weakness of body, i.e. untrained and undisciplined,  the Lord was able to bring others alongside of me for assistance, encouragement, and training to complete the bike ride.  His supernatural power in giving me just what I needed, when I needed it showed me and others that it was not me, but the Lord working in me, that completed the training and bike ride.  For instance, how did I get up some of those hills especially ones where I began to ride again in the middle of the hill.  That is impossible for me.   How was it that in eighteen months of training, riding in the country where there were stickers, puncture vine, glass, nails and many other things that could puncture my tires and give me a flat tire, and yet I never experienced a flat tire.  A scary thought is that many times I was so far from civilization while riding that there were no cell towers around and I had absolutely no way to contact anyone if I had, had a flat tire.  Also, it was dangerous for a lone woman to be so far away from help.  I could have been accosted by someone. Cars never slowed down to go around me on a country road; they just swerved enough to avoid hitting me.  Rocks flew up and hit my helmet but never my skin, face or eyes.  Why was that?   Not only was I not injured, had a flat tire or anything bad happen, but I never thought about the possibility of it.  That, in itself was a source of peace instead of worry about what could possibly happen.  The Lord kept my mind from having those fears, otherwise, I might not have ridden out alone.  Scripture - That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:10 

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND EVERYONE - SEE YOU TUESDAY, AFTR MEMORIAL DAY. I KNOW THAT IT IS NOT A HOLIDAY FOR YOU, CAROLE, BUT I'M TAKING A BREAK TO GIVE MYSELF TIME TO TYPE UP MORE THOUGHTS.

 

After the bike ride – Installment Ten

After the bike ride – Installment Ten

    When I  arrived home in Hughson, there was a letter waiting for me from Dr. Dobson.  Remember, I had handed him a hand written note describing some of the high points of the ride in Northern California.   I will type the letter here for you to read.  It was dated July 31, 2002, two days after we left Colorado.

Dear Mrs. Fuller:

Warm greetings to you! John Fuller has passed along the letter and stories that you handed to him after our special broadcast taping on July7 26th.  It was great to have you with us for our 25th anniversary celebration - I hope you enjoyed your time in Colorado Springs!

I appreciate the time you took to share about your participation in the Northern California leg of the National Bike Ride for the Family.  The Bike Ride has been an exciting endeavor for all of us here at
Focus - and the enthusiastic involvement of people like you has formed the core of the entire event.  I'm pleased to know that the experience was a positive and enriching one for you.  The Ride team tells me that you pitched in on Saturday the 27th to help at one of the rest stops for the Silver Century Ride; I trust you were able to make it back to our campus for the finish line event.  Seeing more than 250 cyclists riding up the Focus driveway through that roaring crowd was an experience I'll not soon forget!

Thanks again for you supportive interest in Focus's ministry and for "everything" you do for us.  Come see us again!  God's richest blessing to you and your family.

Sincerely,

James C. Dobson, Ph.D.
President

P.S.  Shirley and I are especially gratified by your comments about Ryan - we're very proud of him.


Tomorrow, I will begin to put down in words what this entire journey meant.  Was it just a single bike ride to finish and forget?  Or was there more to it than that?

After the bike ride – Installment Nine

After the bike ride – Installment Nine

        First thing Monday morning, Terri and I left the green of Colorado and drove into the brown of Wyoming.  Sorry to anyone from Wyoming if that's not true, but that is exactly what I recollect.  It seemed to take forever to cross Wyoming and it was HOT!  How did we know it was hot?  Terri's car air conditioner which had been repaired before we left California, quit working in Wyoming.  Once again, Terri assumed the role of MacGyver as she pulled over along side the road, lifted the hood and tinkered a bit.  After returning to the driver's seat, she informed that we'd better roll down the windows because we now had no air conditioning.  The tedium of the ride was broken now and then by the sound of her mobile phone making a noise every time it came back into service when we were in range of a cell tower.   It's funny the things one remembers, really important ones like that.

        The one thing I do remember about the trip is that we crossed the Continental Divide.  The Continental Divide, also called the Great Divide, is a natural boundary line separating waters that flow into the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico from those that flow into the Pacific Ocean. It runs north-south from Alaska to northwestern South America. In the conterminous United States, it follows the crest of the Rocky Mountains.

There really was not much to see when we got to the Divide, just dirt and rocks and it was too hot and dry to stay there long.  We drove across Wyoming, into Utah, across Nevada and spent the night at the cabin at Lake Tahoe which was a welcom sight after all that dessert.

The driveway into our cabin at Lake Tahoe.

 

Two views from the cabin when we arrived.

Terri spent the night then left in the morning.  I stayed with my daughter Heather and her two children for a couple of days then rode back to Hughson with her.

This is the end of the bike ride journal as far as activity.  Tomorrow I will begin to write what I think the whole journey was about and what I learned.  For those of you who have been following along, I would appreciate it if you would jump in and add your views of what you see as the lessons learned or maybe even the lesson I should have learned,  over the eighteen months.  Just comment in the comment box.  I'd love to hear what you think.  

After the bike ride – Installment Eight

After the bike ride – Installment Eight

      I had been in contact with Rick, a man who had gone to high school with me.  He is the one who gave me encouragement by sharing the story about the cattle on a thousand hills and was the author of the song by the same name.  He mentioned that his church was having a song fest on Sunday night in Littleton where he lives and invited us to come along.  Terri and I drove there in time for the service that evening.

Egads!  I sure look younger and thinner than I do now, of course that was nine years ago.  Hard to believe that nine years makes that much difference.

We enjoyed the music and the singing and afterwards the church served refreshments in the courtyard outside.  Terri and I then headed toward a motel to spend the night so we could get a good start in the morning, rested and heading for home.

After the bike ride – Installment Seven

After the bike ride – Installment Seven

       On Sunday morning, Terri and I got up early enough to get to the Focus campus for the Sunday service at the chapel. It was not a very large room and so we were close to the people at the pulpit.   I had written up a letter to Dr. Dobson about my part of the ride and even told about my first impressions of Ryan and how wrong I had been about him and how important this ride had been for me.  I told him how important Focus on the Family had been to me over the years and thanked him for his ministry.  The worship service was very moving.  The guest speaker was author Bruce Wilkinson who wrote the book The  Prayer of Jabez .  He talked about that prayer which is found in:

 I Chronicles 4:9-10 Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from evil, that it not be to my sorrow! God granted him that which he requested

In the book, Wilkinson encourages Christians to invoke this prayer for themselves on a daily basis:

        After speaking, we had wonderful uplifting music performed byChristian singers Matthew Ward and Kim Hill.   Then, a very interesting thing happened which I know was not planned.  Dr. Dobson spoke.  I have no idea what he said except I'm sure he was thanking the Lord and everyone who participated in the eighteen months of bike rides.  He mentioned something that I had heard him say on his radio show.  He said that his dad had died at an early age and he didn't know how long he would be with us.   At that point, Bruce Wilkinson stood up and walked to the podium, interrupting Dr. Dobson.  I cannot quote exactly what he said, but it went something like this:

      Jim (Dobson), we have heard you say that so many times and we are sick and tired of hearing it.  You will be with us as long as the Lord has decided and we don't want to hear you say that any more."

        We were probably all a little shocked and wondering what Dr. Dobson's reaction would be.  I think that Dr. Dobson was quite shocked as well and there was a pause then he agreed with Bruce and said that he would not say it anymore.

         After the service, many people walked up on the stage and surrounded Dr. Dobson.  I could see that it would be a very long time before I could get close to him, so I gave the letter to John Fuller (no relation that I know of) and asked him to please give it to Dr. Dobson when things quieted down.  He agreed to give him the letter.

        We checked out of our room, bought lunch and toured the campus again.  We had a date in a small town outside of Denver for that evening.  I'll talk about it Tuesday.

After the bike ride – Installment Six

After the bike ride – Installment Six

       It was very exciting to watch the 250 cyclists cross the finish line to say the least and be part of the closing ceremonies.  Terri and I went to our hotel room after the conclusion of the ceremony and a tour of the campus and changed for the evening event.  We drove to Denver to the Pepsi Center, a huge concert hall for the evening program. 

        Because we had volunteered, we received free passes for the event.  If I recall, Terri and I had "nose-bleed seats" way up at the top.  The title of the service and concert was "Looking Back With Thanksgiving, Looking Forward With Hope."  The emcee for the evening was Dennis Swanberg, a Texas born minister who uses comedy to help preach the gospel.  The evening's event began with a short routine by Dennis who introduced Dr. & Mrs. Dobson who spoke by recorded message on a huge screen with a very moving message.  The keynote speaker for the evening was Chuck Colson, a former Nixon aide who spend time in prison for his participation in the Watergate  scandal  during President Nixon's term.  During his prison term, he became a born-again Christian and founded a Christian ministry called Prison Fellowship Ministries, which has become the world's largest outreach to prisoners, ex-prisoners, crime victims, and their families. Colson has visited prisons throughout the US and the world and has built a movement working with more than 40,000 prison ministry volunteers, with ministries in 100 countries. Colson became highly critical of the prison system and in 1983 he established Justice Fellowship, a faith-based criminal justice reform group.

        After the speaker, we were then entertained until 11 pm by two wonderful entertainers, Michael W. Smith and Steven Curtis Chapman with special music by Wintley Phipps and the Colorado Spring Symphony.  The entire evening was moving as well as entertaining.  By the time we got through the crowd and drove back to Colorado Springs it was well past 1 am.   It was not hard to get to sleep after such a long and exciting day and we were going to go to Focus chapel in the morning for Sunday services.

(Today I am fixing dinner for my youngest daughter Laurel's 31st birthday which was Wednesday.  We'll drive to her home, an hour and a half away and celebrate with her.  I will get my "Grandma fix" with little Samuel, now almost five weeks old.  I shouldn't say little because he is huge.  Laurel asked last night what the dinner menu would be but I told her it was a surprise.  I'll share with you all though:

Teriaki Marinated beef strips (1/8" thin) on bamboo skewers and barbecued
Asparagus Roll-ups
Homemade Applesauce
Twice Baked Potatoes with cheese and bacon
and for dessert
Strawberry Cake (Laurel's most requested birthday cake for her entire life)

It is now 7:00 am, Friday  and I have to get started on dinner since we will be leaving for Laurel's home by 1:30 this afternoon.  Have a great weekend everyone.  Monday I'll resume the story.

After the bike ride – Installment Five

We're back from Tahoe.  It was Mr.Toad's Wild Ride.  We finished cleaning the cabin just in time and left just as it started snowing.  The main road, Highway 50 has been closed because someone drove off the side of the road down a one thousand foot drop.  It has happened before - there is only a three-foot stone fence along the narrow edge.  Cal Trans has finally decided to put more protection up along the edge.  Therefore, the only road to Tahoe on our side of the lake, south shore, is Highway 88 which is steep and slow.  When we got to the avalanche area, the summit, the snow was bowing so hard it was getting impossible to see.  I could only see trees that were directly beside the road.  It was a white-out.  A little further, quite a few cars had skidded off the road into low areas and we passed one bad accident.  The highway patrol should have put up chain control much sooner than they did because all those cars involved had no chains or four-wheel drive.  We were in Bob's pickup with four-wheel drive so we went along okay, but very slow.  This in the middle of May.  Crazy.

Here's the lake the day before the snow started falling again.

This shows the total white-out across the lake.

Back to the Colorado story.

After the bike ride – Installment Five

     The bike riders started coming to the finish line.

They had a ceremony in front of the Focus main building after all the riders came in. 

Here's Brian who was on my ride.  He's the one who put his hand on my back and pushed me up the hill in Napa.



Tom and I.  Tom was the staff member who rode with Terri and I the first night into Napa when I wouldn't quit.



just before the ceremony began.



Money collected from eighteen months of bike riding -
$2, 140, 543.47.




Ryan Dobson





NOT DONE YET - FOUR MORE EVENTS UNTIL WE RETURN HOME.

After the bike ride – Installment Four

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY –

Just because it snowed 4 inches here at Lake Tahoe today, Wanda, doesn't mean it won't be nice on Saturday.  I'll bet there will be no more snow at lake level by then.

After the bike ride – Installment Four

     After the last rider came through the rest stop, we helped to clean up the church hall then hurried back to the the FOTF campus.  We parked and then walked across a huge grassy field where we stopped at the road running in front of the campus.  The bike ride was just about to end and it would be the culmination of the eighteen months of bike rides for the Focus on the Family ministry which began in January of 2011.  Focus on the Family was a ministry which had been founded 25 years before in Southern California by Dr. James Dobson. Their mission is to keep the family  a viable part of our nation and the world.  This weekend was the celebration of the Silver Anniversary of Focus on the Family. 

        

 While we waited for the first riders to finish, a helicopter landed on the grassy area carrying Dr. Dobson and his wife. 

I just realized that all the rest of the pictures I was going to show are on my computer at home and I can't access them from my laptop.  I'll have to resume this next Thursday when I get home.

After the Bike Ride

I thought I lost the last blog but here it is back again.  I'm at Tahoe and I'll post on Monday.

After the bike ride – Installment Three

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY – "I have found that when one sets out to help and bless others, the blessings abound to the one who is doing the giving."  Barbie Jo

 

 

 

After the bike ride – Installment Three

The next morning, Terri and I left Las Vegas for Colorado Springs.  But first, Terri wanted to make a circle around the strip to see everything from the car.  This next part of the trip is not clear in my mind.   The bike ride was all so vivid in my memory, but many parts of this trip are hazy.  I don’t remember anything before we got to Colorado Springs except for stopping somewhere in Utah where we snapped the pictures below.

 



Here's Terri



It is 816 miles from Las Vegas to Colorado Springs, a long haul.  We found our hotel and settled in, glad to be out of the car.  The next morning we toured the campus of Focus on the Family and registered as volunteers.

 We were given the job of helping at one of the bike ride rest stops.  I think that it was the late afternoon rest stop and our job was to help set up the water and snacks.  The rest stop was on the top of a hill and after setting up, Terri and I were asked to stand on the sidewalk outside to make sure the bike riders knew where the rest stop was so they wouldn't miss it.  I was given a set of red pompoms to cheer on the riders.  I had never had the opportunity when growing up to be a cheerleader, but that day, a cheerleader I was.  We could see down the hill when the riders would start up that incline.  There was a huge tree at the bottom and from our vantage point, until the riders passed the tree, we couldn't see them.  When they got half way up, Terri and I would start cheering them on.  This was three-quarters of the ride and by then they were very tired. 



Barb and another volunteer outside the church




Terri on the left




We took this picture from the church looking down the street.  See the mountains in the background?  I wouldn't have wanted to ride those hills and all you readers know by now how much I love hills!  As the riders got close enough to hear us, we would start cheering them on and I would shake those pompoms.  As they approached the church driveway, we'd invite them in for a break and snacks.




Here comes Toni, the lady from Kansas.  She had five young girls and had ridden the Kansas ride, Northern California ride and now the Colorado Springs ride in the Rockies.  Her family had accompanied her to Colorado.

        Some of the riders chose not to turn into the church parking lot and take a break but decided to continue and just get finished.  But most did stop.  I remember that the morning and afternoon rest stops and lunch stop were vital to keeping me going on our bike ride.  One man was really struggling up that hill and I was standing on the edge of the road, having walked down the hill a ways,  cheering him on.  I said, "Come on, you can do it!  You're almost there. "  He said, "That's easy for you to say, you're not on a bike."  I replied to him that I had just ridden the Northern California ride a month before. He did a "thumbs up" and said, "right on!" It was amazing to see how that encouraged him and he was able to get the rest of the way up the hill to the rest stop.  I remember one lady crying as she reached us.  We helped her from her bike and hugged her and lead her over to the refreshments.  She was just tuckered out.  We even gave out several back rubs.  It was a great feeling to help others, just as we had been helped on our three-day ride.

After the bike ride – Installment Two

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY – 

Mother's Day - A day in which we celebrate mothers.  Every day should be Mother's Day because every day mothers are hard at work helping and caring for and upholding the family.  Mother's are the glue that hold families together.  God is the glue that hold mother's together. 

Mother's Day at our house in Lodi - four generations

Mom, Laurel with baby Samuel and Barb

Grandma Barb, Papa Bob with Laurel and baby Samuel

Proud Daddy Danny

My Mom, Samuel, my sister Cindy visiting from Virginia

Terri and I headed for Colorado Springs, Colorado in her car.  We got to Las Vegas the first night and found a hotel.  We went to the new Casino just to see what they were like.  I only remember one - New York, New York. 

We were not your good customers to a casino.  We walked and walked and I had to keep reminding myself we were in a Casino.  The interior was so much like the street of New York that I kept forgetting why people went there - to gamble.  We didn't drop a penny other than at a restaurant.  We walked all the way back to our hotel and discovered that it really wasn't a safe thing to do.  The temperature at midnight was 101 degrees. 

        The next morning we set out for Colorado again, but took one more swing through Las Vegas by car to see some of the buildings.

After the Bike Ride - Installment One

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY –

So, what happens after an experience like this? After you get the job, have the baby, launch the global initiative, publish the book, or finish the house renovations? (Or finish 18 months of training and a 224 mile bike ride?) As your life gradually returns to "normal," you assimilate the new experience into your sense of yourself. You let it in. You acclimate to the new altitude, look around, see what's different, what's the same. But mostly, you're exhausted and depleted. You need a period of recovery.

Achievers forget this so easily. You are groomed to be industrious and effective, but not to allow for recovery or transition between projects.

I found this quote, but it didn't say who said it but it is really is quite true.   

        At the beginning of the week, as I tried to get back to work in the drapery shop and catch up on household chores, I received a letter from Focus on the Family.  It was an invitation to attend their 25th Silver Anniversary in Colorado Springs, Colorado in July.  It would be a week-long celebration, culminating with a bike ride in the Rockies.   All I could think of was, "You've got to be kidding!  Me, riding in the Rockies when the California coastal range just about did me in.  No Thank you!"  In fact, I threw the letter away.  Several days later when speaking with Terri on the phone, she asked me to go with her.  The reason she gave for going to Colorado was that she wanted to participate, not as a rider but as a volunteer.  The volunteers and the staff of Focus had given so much to us that she wanted to be able to pay them back in some small way.  I wish I could have thought of it myself, but after considering for a few day, and speaking with Bob about it, he agreed that I could go.

         We called and gave told Focus we would be coming and told them we would assist in any way we could but that we would not be participating in the bike ride.  Terri and I made plans.  She would be driving her car and we would share gas, rooms and other expenses.  I was amazed at that time that the bike ride journey was not over as I had previously thought upon returning home after the last day of the ride on Sunday of Father's Day weekend.  I wondered what adventure was awaiting us and what plans God had in store for us.  Other than the actual driving there, we had left open the door for whatever was to come.

Installment 102 of "The Journey", 220 mile bike ride, below

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

IT IS FINISHED!  OR IS IT?

 My daughter Laurel showing me the sign that the grandchildren made.  

My Dad presenting me with bicycle pendant while Ryan Dobson looks on.

Barb and Ryan Dobson

       My Dad and Mom presented me with a 14k gold bicycle charm as a necklace.  Laurel showed me the sign the grandkids had made. We took pictures again, said our goodbyes to all knowing that we would probably never see most of these fellow riders or Focus staff members again.  But we were thankful for the blessing of the three days of camaraderie, companionship, encouragement and maximum effort in the face of adversity.  We knew we had accomplished a great thing by this ride and we had been part of a large effort for making the country aware of the Focus on the Family ministry and for helping to raise a huge amount of money for the ministry - $2,140,543.47. 

            Laurel left for home in her car and Bob and I and my folks went back over the bridge to Sausalito where we had dinner together on at a restaurant overlooking San Francisco Bay.  I remember very distinctly that everyone was dressed nicely but me.  I was still in my riding suit and bicycle shoes.  I must have been quite a sight with no makeup, dirt on my face and hair blown completely out of place.  We had nice dinner.  It was hard to believe that after all that riding I was back on solid ground.  The team had ridden a total of 224.1 miles in three days.   Whoopee!  Bob and I then drove home in his pickup and I was shocked to see that route home took us over that first “Ska-wy” bridge again and I kept saying to Bob, “Look at this bridge; look how high it is.  It’s even scary in the pickup!” 

            Once home, the riding over, I thought that the episode with Focus on the Family was over, but God had other plans. 

COME BACK ON MONDAY AND STAY TUNED TO SEE WHAT ADDITIONAL PLANS GOD HAD FOR ME WHICH I WAS TOTALLY UNAWARE OF AT THE TIME.

Installment 101 of "The Journey", 220 mile bike ride, below

             

The Journey - Installment One Hundred-One

         When we all got to the San Francisco side of the bridge, we all gathered again and the other riders made me go ahead of them.  I was so unsure of the route and I think I lead them the wrong direction before they got me heading the right way.  We rode into the area called Marina Green which is a large expanse of grass situated between Marina Boulevard and the boat harbor in San Francisco.  It is a little triangle of green which is a favorite area of runners, skaters, dog walkers, etc.  

This aerial view shows the road on which we finished the ride.

 

        About ten feet from the finish line, with me leading the way and about to cross the finish line first, I saw my Mom and Dad and daughter Laurel (holding up a sign made by the grandkids) so I pulled the bike over by them, and got off the bike while the rest of the riders streamed past me and over the finish line.   Someone came up to me and said, “Barbara, you need to cross the finish line.”  I got back on my bike and rode the ten feet or so crossing the finish line,  LAST.  I could have been first, but I was last.  At the end of the second day of the ride, when I commented that I was last again Lisa had replied to me, “Remember what the Lord said, ‘The first shall be last and the last shall be first.’”  She had no idea when she said that how true it was to be for the end of our ride.  I believe that God has a great sense of humor and that He must have been smiling.  He gave me the privilege of crossing the finish line first; me, the most unworthy and the most unlikely.  Did I take advantage of that honor?   People have asked me why I got off my bike so soon.  I think my answer would be that I never thought of the ride as having a finish line – just a finish.  When I got to Marina Green which was the goal all along, I felt I had finished.  What does a stupid little line mean anyway?   

(Don't quit now, there's more.) 

Installment 100 of "The Journey", 220 mile bike ride, below

The Journey - Installment One Hundred

     

ANOTHER "SKA-WY" BRIDGE

         When we all were gathered together at the parking lot and entrance to the Golden Gate Bridge, another mind-blowing incident occurred.  After having group photos taken, the leader of the Focus staff said, “We always give the honor to someone on this ride to cross the finish line first.  Who shall it be?”  In unison, all of the riders yelled out, “Barbara, Barbara, Barbara.”  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.  At that moment I remember thinking that there was no way that they had decided this ahead of time and I knew it my heart that it was spontaneous.  I think they all knew what a struggle this ride had been for me.  I was the oldest, the most overweight and the one with the most knee trouble.  What an honor that was. 

        The leader then said, “Barbara, lead the way to Marina Green.”  I was horrified because there was no way I was going to be the first one across the Golden Gate Bridge.  Now that was a really  “Ska-wy” bridge and the wind was blowing unmercifully.   Two of the “Hammerheads” volunteered to go ahead of me until we crossed over. 

(These pictures do not capture exactly what I remember.  I remember a high chain link fence along side of the bridge and I don't see it in these photos.  I did not take these pictures.  I imagine the fence has been added to prevent "jumpers from the bridge" or as windy as it was, I suppose a person could even be blown off the bridge.)

     












        As we came to the first tower that is part of the bridge suspension, we turned right to go around the tower.  The sidewalk on which we were riding went at right angles completely around the tower until it became a straight sidewalk again which paralleled the chain link fence on the edge of the bridge.  When we made that turn, the wind was so strong that the three of us were actually blown backwards while riding our bikes.  We had to jump off and lean into the wind, forcing  ourselves around the tower.  The rest of the group came to the same spot and were bottlenecked at that location. It was a few minutes before the group all got around the tower.    I could not believe how strong the wind was there.  It reminded me of the Pali on the Island of Oahu where the wind also howls as it pushes against you. (As newlyweds, Bob and I stood on the Pali and the wind whipped off my headband and blew it to parts unknown.)  After proceeding around the two towers by dismounting and pushing against the wind we rode along the fence line.  We were up so high and the view, I’m sure was spectacular, but I just couldn’t force myself to turn my head and look.  I am terrified of heights and of course the thought that the wind might blow me where I didn’t want to go if I wasn’t paying strict attention to getting to the other side of the bridge crossed my mind.