Join me as I bike Sea to Sea

I'm a month late, but I want to point out an important day: World AIDS Day.

I want to quote all the true and sad statistics about the increasing amount of people infected by HIV and all those dying from AIDS. But not today. Partially out of laziness but I don't want to push guilt on any readers

AIDS isn't a disease that just affects the person infected. It affects whole families. Parents die and leave children that need to be cared for by grandparents, taken in by other families or worse, they fend for themselves. Essentially it erasing a whole generation of adults. When a family is already struggling in poverty, this intensifies the struggle.

So, spend some time thinking along with me about the horrible effects that HIV and AIDS are bringing upon our world.

I am happy to announce that I've made a brochure explaining what I'm doing next summer and why. You should see one soon in the mail, if you don't check back here and download it.

Also I am officially taking a leave of absence from work next summer. I thought that they wouldn't go for it, but they did!

One of the pastors at Shawnee is going to be announcing their sponsorship of me on January 13th at the morning service. Please pray that the congregation is excited for me, but moreover that they will understand that plight of the poor.

Quick update:

I will be leaving in under two-hundred days. Actually, 199 days 8hours and 30 minutes. I'm so excited! 200 days is really a long time, but its exciting and overwhelming what can happen in that amount of time.

I have my plane ticket to get out there now also. So, I am continually taking the steps to make this tour happen for myself.

I want to share a website that I've found.

mdgmonitor.org

The Millennium Development Goals are eight goals that the United Nations adopted. Even though this goals encompasses almost aspect of life, they are specific and are to be completed by 2015. This is exciting to see such a large governance make development such a high goal. You should check it out.

Anyways, the website about (mdgmonitor.org) allows you to track the progress of these goals in many different ways. You can use maps to view each goal's (and each sub goal's) progress in each country or get written reports on each country. I love statistics and appreciate that I can track the progress this way.

Take a couple minutes to explore the website. But more importantly, I hope you will become more engaged and informed about the MDGs.

Since it's thanksgiving (I'm a couple of days late) I want to list what I'm thankful and tell you some of my thoughts about this time of year. I'm thankful for warm shelter as the weather cools, and thankful for the bountiful food. It's wonderful to have family to rely on and to help guide me in my decisions. I'm thankful for my Wii.

I feel so blessed to be able to express myself openly and without penalty, especially for my faith. I'm thankful for God's grace and mercy that allows me to be saved and in a relation to Him, without having to earn it. I'm so thankful that I can grow, struggle and learn, instead of having everything simply provided for me. I'm thankful for those fought and struggled to allow me to live in safety and freedom.

And, of course, I am thankful (and very excited) to be able to part of Sea to Sea with the CRC next summer as we bike from coast to coast. This is such an amazing opportunity and a wonderful chance to see that country while also raising awareness (and funds) to end the cycle of poverty throughout the world.

This summer I read Banker to the Poor by Muhammad Yunnus. I explored the thoughts he provoked on my other (general purpose) blog. In his book, Yunnus discusses in depth what he started to change Bangladesh's economic landscape from a very impoverished country to a land where individuals have the capacity to better their life.

Check it out!

Quickly, here is the route that I am guessing the tour will take right now. Mainly this just gives a overview of where we're heading. This is based just on where the tour will be each Sunday, indicated by the markers.

Take a look!

It's that time of the year. With less daylight and impending cold wet weather, it's time to move indoors. But I'm presented with new choices as I haven't actually been diligent enough in the past to exercise in the winter. The biggest decision is how. Well, I've decided upon rollers upon a recommendation from a friend and good reviews online. One of the advantages is better balance and smoother strokes. However it requires more concentration in order to avoid falling off

I tried it for the first time last night. It's difficult. Especially at first. After a few minutes I was a lot stable, but I was holding myself very stiff. With time, I know I will become very comfortable and will have incredible balance and very consistent strokes by the end of summer. (This picture isn't my place, but it is a similar roller setup as mine)

Another bonus is that my back stairwell has a landing that is the perfect size for my setup while allowing me to grasp a wall to start or steady myself.

(Image courtesy of Steven N Fettig)

This week is my Sea to Sea preparation week. So, one of the things that I finished planning tonight is my training goals and schedule for the 233 days until we start the tour.

I am posting my goals in order to have everyone keep me accountable as I have set some aggressive goals(at least it seems like it to me).

Training Goals:

I was excited when I heard the tour was going to have up to 500 cyclists. Since then I have become more doubtful that this would happen. However this week the number of registered cyclists bypassed 100! How encouraging and fun!

I would appreciate your prayers to soften my managers heart as I ask for a Leave of Absence this week. It would be amazing to not only have them allow me to leave for an extra 6 weeks (9 weeks total - 3 weeks vacation), but to have them support me! This is my prayer.

Not only is more information coming out about next summer but now I have a profile page allowing individuals to look me up and donate money to end the cycle of poverty.

Also, I would like to shout out to my fellow cyclist Sea to Sea bloggers. Here are the ones that are currently listed:

Tyler Buitenwerf

Gayle Harrison

Joshua Krabbe

Doug and Joy Lutke

Stephanie Webb

I'm still really pumped to be get to ride across the U.S. and raise support and awareness for poverty. But already the nervousness is starting to set in. I feel that I need to decide on what I am going to bring along quite soon, so that I have enough time to test out the things that I need to buy.

Also, I am nervous about how I am going to train over the winter. It won't be snowy and slippery for a couple months, but it is already getting dark early by the time I get out of work. Plus in a month daylights saving time starts (or ends, I'm never sure which it is), so it will be dark by the time I'm available.

There is a private forum that was setup recently that is allowing the cyclists and support staff a chance to dialogue. From the posts that I'm reading, I'm intimidated by some of the other cyclists skill.

Even though I'm nervous I know that I can do this, even though I will have to devote a lot of energy and time to this good cause.

I am now listed on the official list of cyclers for Sea to Sea! This is where it all begins. I have been anxiously checking to make sure that they received my application.

Needless to say is that I'm excited! Also, I keep checking the list to see who else is going and if I know them. The only person that I really know so far is my band director from high school, Mr. Doornbos.

Welcome to my new blog for Sea to Sea bicycle tour, in which I and many others will bike across America. This is going to be my record of my time on the Sea to Sea trip which is coordinated by the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) to help raise awareness and funds to make poverty history.

As I don't intend to use this blog much until the start of the tour, please read my general purpose blog found at: blog.teitsmafamily.com