what a difference a bike ride makes...

I am sitting writing this...right now...and thinking how different my life was three short years ago about this time. Three years ago it was barely starting to sink in that I was getting ready to undertake a challenge of epic proportions. My mind reeled at the scope of riding a bike across the US...I dared not even look at a map. All I could do was focus on all the reasons why this was completely insane and not do-able. How different I was about a lot of things in my life including my willingness to take risks and step out of my comfort zone. My... how things can change...In 2007 I was diagnosed with Hepatitis C which was discovered during a routine physical. I knew I was feeling really tired a lot but I attributed it to working the 12 hour night shift. My doctor said I needed to be treated and that the treatment would be..."tough". I had no earthly clue what his tough meant...I ended up on an assortment of medications and injections which almost literally killed me. I was confined to bed for weeks because of extreme nausea and low blood counts. Days and weeks literally melted together and it felt sometimes like it would be better to be dead. Through the entirety of this experience, my wife sat on the bed at night and read me the bible as much of the time I was too nauseaous to open my eyes and read. I lost 29 pounds because I couldn't stand to smell food...let alone eat it. This is how I spent 8 months. And then...the treatment failed. Once off the medication the side effects abated...but the loss of energy and strength did not. I had lost a lot of ground and just getting back to baseline was a struggle. So, to even imagine the most far out...crazy...unlikely...seemingly impossible thing...like riding a bike across the US was beyond anyone's comprehension. But, you see... God likes really crazy stuff and picks some very ordinary people to do some extraordinary things that brings glory to Him...and not us. Apparently He had me in mind for a while for such a radical undertaking...there couldn't be any other explaination. I wasn't a cyclist...I wasn't physicially fit...I didn't even own a bike. The fact that God knew all this when I didn't I still find so amazing. If there was ever a clear cut case of being obedient despite all obstacles and reasons to question my sanity and Gods big idea...this was it. So...many of you know the story from there but perhaps you didn't know the backstory. I can assure you...if you had actually known how ill I was you would totally understand the improbability of this bike ride and how big it really was. I often accuse Venture of changing my life forever. The reality is they were chosen a long time ago to be a big part of a lot of peoples lives being "wrecked for the ordinary"...as I call it. I am glad I got wrecked...I had been waiting a long time...what a difference a bike ride makes...