Day 6 – July
26, 2013 – Oskaloosa to Fairfield – 52
“Every
valley shall be filled in; every mountain and hill made low. The crooked ways shall become straight, the
rough ways smooth.” – Luke 3:5 from Isaiah 40
This was our
easiest day of the week. Straight flat
roads. The weather was great. We took a slow pace and Ernest, Tim, Joey and
I stayed together for the whole ride.
Rick rode with his parents as a part of celebrating Gene’s birthday;
sort of a family affair! We had a number
on intentional conversations. Ernest is
particularly adept at starting up conversations with fellow riders as we move
along the road.
We had
plenty of rain overnight in Oskaloosa and that may have put a damper on morning
greeters. But even as the day went on,
there weren’t as many folks out by the side of the road and we had fewer
opportunities for interviews with people.
Hardly any lemonade stands! All
that meant was that we had more time to talk with each other. We talked about RAGBRAI and we talked about
church growth. We talked about food and
we talked about little nagging physical symptoms of riding a bike for a week
straight. At the end of the day, we ate
together and enjoyed each other’s company.
And isn’t
that also a bit of life? Yesterday, we
experienced the joy and importance of taking time to talk to those “by the side
of the road.” Today, we could have
simply said that we had a boring ride.
It wasn’t physically challenging and nothing particularly interesting happened
in our interactions with others. But we
are stronger as friends and brothers.
Our ability to work together in common ministry at FBC was enhanced by
this “boring” ride. During our week at
RAGBRAI, we have seen how important it is to be a part of a common flow in
moving toward a difficult to achieve goal.
We have learned about riding together to support and encourage. We have learned about the importance of not
being so focused on our goals and motion that we miss opportunities to benefit
from the stories of those we meet. And
today we learned a bit about the boring times and importance of using those to
build relationship with each other. We
are probably less physically stressed than after any day this week. But we are also closer emotionally and
spiritually as a result of this flat, boring ride. That’s good stuff!
Tomorrow, we
will finish the race with 63 miles to Ft. Madison and the Mighty
Mississippi. We will dip our tires. We’ll get a quick shower – it’s a long way to
Dubuque in an RV with 7 sweaty bikers! – and we will go home. I expect some rich conversation in the RV on
the way home and not a few naps as well!
I also expect to see lingering effects of our shared RAGBRAI for weeks
and months to come.
Day 7 – June
27, 2013 – Fairfield to Ft. Madison the Mississippi River – 63 miles
“However, I
consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and
complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the
gospel of God’s grace.” – Paul in Acts 20:24
Before this
week began, the longest bike ride I had ever been on was one we took a couple
of weeks before RAGBRAI and we did 63 miles.
After that ride I remember thinking, “Maybe I can do this.” Today, we finished our RAGBRAI with a 63
mile ride to the river and it seemed like it was over before I realized we had
started! We have traveled 406 miles in
seven days putting more miles on my bike than it probably had on it in the four
years since we bought it. But it was
more than just a bike ride covering some number of miles.
Our night in
Fairfield was uneventful. We stayed at
the fairgrounds and seemed to have a perfect spot until the bands started
playing in the show barn around the corner from where the RV and our tents
were! They had good music downtown
about two miles from where we were.
Apparently the second acts got sent to the fairgrounds! But we survived and slept well as the
temperatures dipped into the 50s.
Our ride to
Ft. Madison started in the 50s and ended in the 70s. Blue skies dotted with beautiful pillow
clouds provided an awesome contrast with the green corn and beans that lined
our route. We stayed fairly close
together but committed to meeting in the final stopping town of West Point
which was 10 miles from Ft. Madison so that we could ride the final portion
together in our group of seven. We even
had Sam join us in Ft. Madison so that there were eight of us who dipped our
front tires in the Mississippi (after waiting about 45 minutes in line to do
so!). We went to the great spot that
Sam had found for the RV, completing a week of great spot finding by our
driver/support guy. We loaded up and
headed for Dubuque.
And so our
journey is over. Gene and Sandy have
made this trip many times. Rick has done
so a few times. Tim has been talking
about doing it for three or four years.
He kept talking and it finally happened.
Tim finished the full 406 miles surprising those who had wagered against
him! The rest of us were impressed. I got to do RAGBRAI with my son including
that one especially sweet day when we talked to so many people, just the two of
us. A portion of our Wednesday morning
men’s bible study (Tim, Rick, Sam, me) finally did something together! It encourages us to find other things to
do! And we created a deeper sense of
connection within a part of the church.
Perhaps we have learned some things and had some discussions that we can
apply productively within the larger FBC body.
There are
always mixed feelings at the end of an experience like RAGBRAI. There are always conversations that start,
“Next year, I’m going to . . .” and “Next year, let’s . . . .” I can’t say for sure that any of us will ever
do RAGBRAI again. As James points out,
our lives are but a mist and instead of focusing on next year we should be of a
mind that “If it is the Lord’s will we will live and do this or that.” (James
4:15) But I can say that this RAGBRAI
has been a valuable experience for me, my son and I, and my friends at
church. I have learned about making it
to the end of the race but also about not getting so focused on the end of the
race that I miss the people along the side of the race I am running. I suppose that when I reach the end days of
my life, I will have mixed feelings as well.
Part of me will know that it is time.
Part will want to do it one more day.
I pray that none of me will regret chances I missed to bless and be
blessed by others along the way.
Thanks for reading! Here is a picture of our crew with our front tires in the Mississippi River seven days after dipping the back ones in the Missouri!
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