The Bike Trip Report

Chance's brother made it!  He biked 314+ miles, starting at our driveway, and ending up with the front tire of his bike literally in Lake Powell at the end.

He experienced everything he was supposed to on this trip.  He strengthened his friendships with the boys in his troop as they all realized that they needed each other to finish.  The boys each took turns riding up front and creating a "draft" for the boys behind to ride in to ease their burden for a bit.  Then, when the boy in front got too tired to continue to lead, he would swing out, and come back in behind and another boy would help to create a draft.

The heat was intense out there on the asphalt and at times, boys were registering temperatures of 112 on their bike thermometers.   The water they had was instantly hot as soon as they had it on the bike for 5 minutes so it was hard to want to drink enough of it.

The boys learned that they could do hard things and push themselves to limits they did not know they possessed.

The boys had nightly "firesides" (a cultural term meaning something long the lines of evening devotionals) that made them think and grow spiritually, or perhaps helped them to identify personal and spiritual growth they had made.

The boys learned to rely on God to help them through.  After the last day of riding, during their evening fireside, one of the leaders asked the boys how many of them had been praying at least every couple of hours for aid to help them through.  Almost every boy raised their hands.

One of my favorite parts was when Chance's brother told us how he had a lot of time to think while out there riding for hours on his bike.  He looked around and marveled at all of the beautiful creations he passed (you notice a lot more working on a bike than in a car), and thought about how much God loved us all and how many wonderful things he had created for us to enjoy.  He passed gorgeous rocks in Capitol Reef National Park, dead zones of no discernible life in stretches and colonies of abounding prairie dogs in others.   

The boys all got to play in Lake Powell for a day-and-a-half after arriving and went boating and tubing.

It was an exhilarated and proud (and exhausted) group of boys that pulled up in a maroon suburban yesterday afternoon.  My son was practically glowing.  He had made it.


Interestingly enough,  even though the boys all had at least two biking shirts for the trip, the morning of the second day one of the leaders told them all just to wear the yellow Cochlear jerseys.  The bright color made it easy to spot each other when the boys fanned out to ride.  Some stretches had boys a few miles apart...the faster riders moving up front, and the second group cruising along behind.  A support vehicle was near each group in case  of a problem,  but the shirts helped the boys see each other and keep tabs on where everyone was, as well as making them much more visible to passing cars, and the many many passing 18-wheelers.  My son said sometimes you could see riders ahead or behind you for miles in those Cochlear shirts.

The ride was everything is was supposed to be.  Chance's brother pushed himself and found he could accomplish great things.  He also rode for Chance and cochlear implant awareness.

Way to go!  We are proud of him!