The story begins while I was a child.  My brother Steve and I rode our bicycles quite a lot while we were growing up, but as the teenage years of freedom crouched ever closer my acclimation towards riding my bike waned towards the love of the auto mobile.  The day I turned 16 I put down the helmet and grabbed a set of keys, never to look back at the Prison that was my Metallic Green Roadmaster.  Time passed and I graduated high school, attended several years of college, and had nearly graduated college as well before I rediscovered my love of cycling. 

I was living at the Baptist Student Center as a host at the time of my rediscovery.  It was a hot summer day and, if memory serves me correctly, I had been mowing the grass at the request of Eddy Garner (BCM Minister) when I spotted a derelict road bike that someone had dropped of at the BCM for our annual yard sale.  It was a 74 Raleigh Record, yellow in color, and not at all in good shape.  The bike peaked my interest however, and I decided that I would rebuild it.  My affluence for antiques and vintage items had a lot to do with this decision I'm sure, because I probably could have saved money by buying a new bicycle, but I WANTED this one and I WOULD have it.  

So after about two weeks of cleaning, stripping, sanding, wrenching, and throwing out the dough, I was the proud owner of a very nice road racer.  I had never owned one before, and after only a few short miles I fell in love with road riding.  As a kid all the bikes that I had owned were mountain bikes.  (This style of bicycle use large, knobby tires and some type of suspension to compensate for the rough terrain that you SHOULD be riding them on.)  Of course, for any amount of road riding a mountain bike is not worth its salt as it is harder to pedal and takes quite a bit more effort to pedal than a road bike.

Soon after my rediscovery and good friend of mine named Leah started riding with me.  This only fanned the flames of my desire to ride even higher, and I began to ride further and further distances... usually by myself, which is not so bad, though it is certainly more fun to ride with someone else... AND it increases your drive to work at it harder.  Before long I was riding 30 miles, then 40 miles at a time.  A few months later I noticed a flier for an organized cycle ride in Tennessee.  I had never ridden in any type of organized ride excluding the Bike-A-Thons that we used to participate in to raise money for St. Jude Children's Hospital.  One lick was all it took.  I became addicted to riding with the Paleton.  Six month's later I am preparing to ride in a 100 mile ride in Birmingham. 

Of course 100 miles is no real feat of strength and endurance, but its a lot more riding then most people ever do at one time, and I anticipate that it will be the hardest thing that I have ever, physically, done in my life.  I very much enjoy riding, not only because of the way it makes me feel (I'm in the best shape of my life) but also because of the camaraderie that exists among riders and the opportunities that present themselves to meet new people and know that we have something great in common…The love of the ride. 

Cycling, unlike most exercises, is no impact.  There is very little stress on the joints which is great for my knees.  I’ve always had bad knees and sometimes, despite that cycling is no impact, my knees do flare up.  There is a real rush that comes from cycling.  Some people call it the “Runner’s High,” others call it an "Adrenaline Rush"… all I know is that no matter how hard your pumping those pedals up that hillside, no matter how much your legs are screaming at you to stop and rest, you just keep wanting to ride.  It may be 35 degrees in the mountains of North Carolina, it may be 95 degrees in the sweltering Alabama summer heat, it may even be raining or sleeting, but cycling is always enjoyable. 

Some people call me crazy for riding as much as I do.  Others just don’t understand why I bother.  Others, still, like to make fun of my outfit as I ride past them…or hit on me in the general store, but I’ll just keep on riding because I’ve never felt better about myself that I do right now.  God, in his wisdom, had used so many events in my life to fashion and mold me into the man that he wants me to be.  I can look back at my life and see how he had directed my path to the exact spot where I’m standing.  Cycling has been a tool that he has used to help me realize that as His vessel that I have to be fit for His service, and cycling has helped me be just that… Fit For Service.

Now, who has $3800 that I can borrow to buy my next bike?