My dinner date

The ride today was hot! At mile 45 I came into the big climbs leading into Dahlonega. It hit right in the heat of the day and I truly did look like a mentally unstable turtle. My highlight was seeing the expression on 2 teenagers faces as I passed them while they were walking their bikes up the climb!! I must have made one feel bad cuz he got on his bike and started pedaling. LOL

When I arrived at Puravida, I learned that I had a dinner date, Margaret Nemac. She is the lovely 60 year old inn keeper who came to make me a pasta dinner so I wouldn't go hungry. I am pretty sure she did that just for me since I am the only one staying on this 72 acre retreat. We enjoyed a quiet dinner together while she explained about the different birds flying around the garden. We then enjoyed cake on the porch and watched an amazing sunset over the mountains.

Margaret illustrates a great God point in her servant's heart tonight.........what makes a random act of kindness special is not the size of the task. It is the size of the suprising randomness.

Off to bed. Tomorrow will be a full day of big climbs. Thank you for support and prayers.
g
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Bigger than Life

Ever noticed how God is bigger than life? You think you have the perfect plan and then under stress from it not working out right, He blows you away? Sure we all have had the experience of things working out far better than anticipated.

Let's get real.....do we really want to give God the credit?

When we acknowlege our desire to live a Godly life, we implicitedly acknowledge there is always hope for a better outcome than anticipated. Yet we are still suprised when it happens.

Such are my current circumstances on this trip. I hoped it would be good. Because of some unforeseen opportunities it has been better than ever expected. More on the specifics tonight.....

I'm in the mountains now. Here is picture of me going up hill..........
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Brutal

Today was a hard day! First we dropped Meredith off at camp for 2 weeks. I know......I can hear you out there saying you better get used to it. I will never get used to missing her when she is gone. And if you are honest, you miss your kids too! LOL I am attaching a picture at Winshape I shot before leaving Rome.

Because I did not leave Rome until 3pm, I had to pedal like mad to get to Jasper before nightfall. Truly my arrival before dark was a God thing and answer to all of you out there praying for me. I arrived at 8:20pm! Tomorrow should be an easier day.

Cool story.....the place where I am staying is owned by Pam Martin of WSB fame, and her husband Larry Butler, an attorney no less. Cool way to end a day of hard riding.

I close with this thought......I challenge each of you in your own lives to embrace a BHAG......Big Hairy Audacious Goal. You may just find God is their waiting to meet you.

Goodnight from Jasper.

g
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I'm Off!

From Rome:

Well so much for first day jitters. That's a thing of the past. The day started with a poor weather forecast.....storms rolling in from the west. Karen and I waited for an hour, and after prayerful consideration, the decision was made to go for it. So we loaded up the bike and headed for Smyrna, where the silver comet trail begins.

The Silver Comet trail is an amazing project which has converted old railroad tracks into bike trails. The scenery is quite lovely for the entire stretch between Smyrna and Rockmart, 38 miles one way.

I teamed up with a lovely couple, Rich and Martha, until mile 15. They were kind enough to let me ride with them. It certainly made that section go a lot faster. I have attached their picture on the trail.

Rich told me about a great stop in Rockmart called "Frankie's.". He didn't miss the mark. The food was AWESOME, but the best part was getting to know Frankie. Frankie moved to Rockmart after her husband unexpectedly died of a heart attack. Total life change.......She now runs this Italian Restaurant in quiet little town catering to cyclist coming off the trail......talk about a niche! Getting know her was the highlight of the day.

In her story is a God moment. God challenges us to do things outside of comfort zone. But sometimes it takes a real shake up for us to muster the courage. It is because when are comfortable, we care too much about the outcome. When we are broken, the world opens with possibilties that look better than where we are.

What if we lived everyday as if God offers unfathomable possibilties in our lives? Maybe the room of unfulfilled dreams might be a little less crowded......

Until tomorrow from Jasper.

Love to all,
g
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Stuff

In case you are wondering, and you are probably not, a self supported tour requires you to carry a lot of stuff. The picture posted is just food, hydration, supplements and bike tools and spare parts that will fill one front bag. Tomorrow I will begin to pack the other bags.

My fitness tonight left me confident. I am certainly not back to my glory days but I managed to hold on in a very serious group ride.

The weather has mercifully cooled off. Praise God! God has already begun to really speak to me in this quest and I have not even hit the road yet. I mentioned in my last the subject of "details.". My mind races so much it is scary to think of how much of God I miss. I bet that applies to you too. I hear Him saying slow down........your life is not a race for quanity; it is a collection of quality. That's a new thought for me..........
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It's Hot!

I pulled out yesterday at 4:00pm to ride til dark. I under estimated the heat. I realized how important it is going to be to hit the road early in the am on my trip. Heat is like sin.....It sucks the life out of you over time. The new bike goes much slower than my road bike, especially loaded down. But I enjoyed the more leisurely pace. I noticed details that I normally miss. More on that to follow......without giving anything away......I believe that is the theme of what God is calling me to discover. The picture is from a field I passed 25 miles south of home. A cute rabbit cause me to stop. You might say I was chasing a rabbit trail! LOL
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Meredith's "Kit"

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