Wandering Wheels - 20 January 1991

You know, in this journal writing, it would be extremely easy to just have every day sound like every other day. I mean, we bike, we stop, we bike some more. After a while, it all seems redundant. But each ride is different. I really wish that I could package each day up and put it away and then pull it out sometime later when I really need it. Today is one of those rides I'd like to pull out quite a lot, though I'm not sure why.

Right now I just feel great. God truly filled this day with a lot. We got a very early start from the First Methodist Church of Oceanside, basically because it was Sunday and all the members would be coming to church. Luckily I got an early start, 'cause they had let all the air in my tire (back) out. I thought it was a hole, so Randy and I looked 15 minutes for it. But we finally got on the road.

Today we officially left the coast of California (sniff, sob) and began our trek east toward Arizona. We rode through San Marcos and then headed toward Escondido. On the way up a hill, our group smelled doughnuts, so, being the hungry group we are, we stopped at Yum Yum Doughnuts and picked up 14 doughnuts for $3.88 and sat along the side of the building and munched doughnuts. The only bad things was we were on 4-5 miles from lunch! So when we reached Escondido, we stopped at a grocery and picked up some fruit to eat a little later. Then we began our ride again.

But we didn't get very far. Randy noticed a couple of pecan trees along the side of the road that he remembered from an earlier lunch stop years ago. So we pulled over and he began to knock pecans off the trees. At first only Dennis was helping, then Scott went over. After about 15 minutes my interest was piqued enough and we all began to rummage for pecans. We were shaking branches and throwing bottles and crouching over, searching for pecans. We stuck them in our lycra shorts for holding. Then Dennis climbed one of the trees and began a rain of pecans down on us (thank goodness we were wearing our helmets). We picked up about three large bags of pecans and stuffed them into our packs and began our trip.

We found a wonderful downhill, a nice change after the flat coast, and at the bottom was a fruit stand so, of course, we stopped. Then we began our ascent to Ramona. This hill was the toughest thing I've done on this trip. But it was also the most satisfying. Up and down the hill, our bikes were spread out and intermingled, no real groups to be found. Except for Team Bias. We stayed together as a group all the way up the hill, only losing Scott about halfway up. We were singing Zip-a-dee-do-dah at first, but no one said much. By the end, my legs were burning and my back tightened up on me. If I'd been alone, I probably would have stopped and walked. But being in a group gave me the incentive to go all the way up the hill.

At the top (four miles later) we waited for Scott and munched on some of our fruit. About a mile and a half later, we reached the Congregational Church. Dennis and I decided we'd skip showers and beat the rush to the laundromat. So we washed our clothes and threw a little football and then came back and took a nice ice cold hose shower, complete with showerhead. It was definitely an experience I'll never forget, it being a bit chilly outside and being completely open to everyone.

Then I went in and watched the Giants beat the 49ers and then went and called Stacy down the road (I'm going to hate my phone bill). When I came back, Shawn and Keith were trying to throw the football into a dumpster, so I thought I'd give it a try. Turns out I was the only one to get it in out of Shawn, Keith, Vern, Matt and I. And I am the worst passer!

Then we had yet another great dinner and then Dr. Cronk had class. It was a really neat time. He shared from the kindergarten book again and then shared about himself, which was really great. We talked about conflict and the class really opened up and shared a lot. Then we had a service and another wonderful time of singing and sharing. Ted had rented Silverado and bought some popcorn and some pop and a bunch of us watched it. I finished some postcards and left early, 'cause I really wasn't into the movie. Tomorrow's supposed to be the hardest day, so I'm going to go to sleep. Later, y'all. Æ

Tunes: U2 - new york