My Latest Adventure

Here was my latest adventure today.

My Hand is Still Swollen (a little). . .

Well, the weekend is quickly coming to a close (that really stinks).  Even with an extra day off to add to my weekend it still seems to go by too quickly.  Yesterday (Friday), I escaped (what was a rough week), and headed to the hills with my buddy Ken on our bikes.

During the ride, as we were climbing a hill, I noticed that I had gained an unwanted visitor – a bee or wasp.  I gave it a good hard flick of the hand & it left behind a little present – a sting.  Boy do those things hurt.  That was my first ever bee sting.  Luckily, Ken had some numbing stuff & we proceeded without further incident along our 11 mile ride. 

A day later, my hand is still a little swollen but getting better – guess its a good thing, I’m not allergic!

Oh My Word: My Legs Hurt!

Last week was just horrible for anything related to exercise or eating – which is not good when you are putting in 60 hours, duh, I know.  This week was a little different.  Every other day week we get a Friday off which is great, because I usually can get so much done on Friday that I have Saturday and Sunday for just messing around. 

So that brings me back around to my week at a glance as far as exercising:

• Sunday – Mtn Bike – 11 miles
• Tuesday – Mtn Bike – 11 miles + rattlesnake scare
• Friday – Trail Run – 7 miles + Mtn Bike – 4 miles
• Saturday – Mtn Bike – 12 miles
• Sunday (tomorrow) – Mtn Bike – ??? miles

From the list above you can understand why my legs hurt.  As of today, 38 miles were logged on the bike & 7 miles on feet.  All in all, it was a great week of training.  I wonder what next week will bring??

Killer Ride

Killer ride today – hit it pretty hard despite the fact that I was feeling extremely lazy – the prize at the end of the ride – a fantastic meal at the Green household & a chance to talk to Jess who is in Australia.  I will try again for another ride on Tuesday.

Why I Love SoCal!!!!!

Yesterday, I hit the mtn biking trails with my good friend Ken.  We encountered 2 very unwanted friends with baby rattles at the end of their tails (no pics-I was pedaling and screaming).  Nothing beats a view like this when we get to the top, and even a little fun – check out the pose – its still a work in progress.

Fellowship Redefined

(Old post from 2007)

Written by: Dave and Bill

Its Sunday around 4pm, the sun beats its yellow warmth against our skin and squints our eyes. The air is bright and sharp with the smell of mesquite and field grass and the hills are full of summer color browns, tans and muted greens. The banter is light and greetings are exchanged along with ribbing about dirt and falls and new equipment. The start of our ride is always filled with anticipation, not only for the beauty and wonder of God’s creation passing beneath our rolling tires but for the powerful presence of God that always comes in our midst when we gather together.

The ride rolls up and down, but mostly up, through single-track and dirt fire road, walled with grass and summer flowers, sometimes shaded by ancient oaks showing fire scars of years gone by. Up we climb for 2.5 miles stopping briefly to gather the newbie’s and ensure all is well with our troupe as we press on to our favorite gathering spot known as “The Landing”. The Landing offers us a place far removed from the dark funk and sludge of every day life where we join together for exercise, fellowship, and a time of sharing and praying unlike any we have ever experienced. The Landing is where we go to meet with God and have His light shine upon our tired and broken souls. We find Him always ready and waiting, pleased that we have come to spend time with Him and longing to talk with us and hear what we have to share and heal what we confess.

The gathering of men, started by men from Agoura Bible Fellowship, would ride up to “The Landing” for exercise, casual life talk, and prayer before descending. The time together was blessed and soon we invited others who seemed to need more of God’s blessing and peace in their lives. The word spread and one day we realized that God had given us a ministry, a unique ministry that didn’t fit any of the easy definitions but a ministry none the less. Part men’s ministry, part outreach, part bible study, part accountability, part fellowship and all of it mixed with a healthy dose of fun, joy and sweat. I guess you could call it a life ride or believers on bikes, or a fellowship ride…whatever you call it, it works because God is at the center and we are intentional about seeking Him.

So, we call it “The Landing” and we dream about a day when the whole Landing would be filled with men seeking God together even if they would never set foot in a church. We envision a time when every man in our church is part of a group like this, not limited to mountain biking, but golfing, surfing, road biking, hiking, auto repairing, painting, photographing or whatever they love to do, and take that cherished activity and make a time and place to seek God and get to know Him more.

Our rides take place during the week and on Sunday, and it’s grown from just two guys to over twenty men, who have joined us when they can, in two months. A website entitled “Life’s Road” (http://www.lifesroad.org) was created to inform men of the rides as well as provide valuable resources for encouraging men to stay the course.

So if you happen to be riding up Palo Comado fire road on Sunday afternoon on the way up to China Flats and you happen to see a group of men standing in a circle sharing or in a circle, hands on each other’s shoulders, praying God’s best for each other, then come on over and join us. The spirit of the Lord meets us and we have experienced God’s answer to great prayers, which leads us to ask even bigger things of God.

The Landing

Here’s a post from our “Life’s Road” blog from early 2007:

I call it “The Landing” because it’s where I go up to meet God and where He comes down to meet with me. The journey up is the preparation that I must undertake to cleanse my heart, mind and body for meeting with Him, to open my soul to His loving hand. I pray as I ride, each stroke of the pedal keeping time with the beating of my heart as I draw nearer my destination. I pray for forgiveness for my sins, strength for my journey and blessing upon my family, friends and enemies. Sometimes I am so caught up in the prayer that I’m up the mountain before I know it. Kind of like when you auto-pilot home without really being aware but very different because I was with God and I am totally aware. The sweat rolls off as I sing sweet hymn’s to the God I love and when the wind blows on the landing I can feel His Spirit rushing through my soul. I am never the same person coming down from the Landing. He has changed me, transformed me, it scares me but I trust Him, its always good, I wish I could stay there forever. I’ll be back again, even if I have to make my friends carry me but for now He lifts my weak knees one after the other drawing me ever closer and He blesses me more and more with moments off the mountain that feel just like “The Landing”.

Pain=Good

So. . .this past week I made a resurgence to begin exercising and eating better. When you haven’t done something for a long time you realize how atrophied your muscles really are and the only cure is to get back in the game as quickly as possible. I did 5 rides in 7 days and hit the road this morning for a little run. Guess who’s legs hurt today?

The same is in our spiritual life. If we allow our muscles to become atrophied from not exercising, then we lose that precious communion time with God. Crack open the Bible today and see what God wants to say to you!

Oh Boy, This Hurts!

Well, its been about 8 weeks since I have been out running or gotten aboard my two-wheeled pedal machine and boy does it hurt. I finally jumped on my mountain bike and headed for an afternoon ride with two of my closest friends to the “Landing“. I quickly realized that taking 8 weeks off of anything is not a good idea and about halfway up, I was rethinking this whole riding thing. The great thing is that when you get to the top, you look out over the canyon and you realize that the hard work is worth it with a view like this. So. . .I think its time I headed for the hills and got back on the bike – perhaps that would be a good thing considering I have a 4 mile trail race on Saturday, where the goal is to just finish. Tomorrow, is another day and tomorrow I will be on the trails with a little bit of pain and a smile on my face.

Up One Side and Down The Other

As a follow up to yesterday’s post “Off the Beaten Path. . .“, today I escaped the freeways and busyness of everyday life and hit the trails aboard my two-wheel pedal machine with my roommate and a friend. We took off from the Cheseebro Trailhead in the heart of the Santa Monica Mountains and headed north towards Sulfur Springs. The trail lined with hoof prints and trees blowing in the wind and runners agonize over every step as the sun beats down on their bodies. As we roll along, we dodge rocks and tree ruts, and speed along the trail trying to miss the beehive of angry bees. I have never seen so many rocks and single track trails in all of my riding history – one short year. I mostly ride fire roads with a little single track action and I love hauling downhill (within reason). As we crested the Lookout area, we stopped to appreciate the canyon trails which were so beautiful and take the time to appreciate God’s beauty. We stopped briefly to pray and share what was happening in our lives. After we finished we took a quick single-track to the fire road and headed for home. Ten miles and 3 hours later (I had to stop often because I was winded) – we packed up and headed home. Mountain biking is all about the fun and fellowship and hanging and trying not to get beat by any girls walking! See you on the trails.