Written by: Jonathan Falk
The road takes its toll. It’s the fourth straight day riding, and it’s 80 miles into the next town. The sun came up early and makes its presence known on your back. The sweat burning as it drips into your eyes, the ache in your back as you shift looking for a new position, the rattle in your hands and the pain in your legs as you crank the pedals just one more mile. The road takes its toll.
Riding your bike across the high mountains passes and scorching deserts, the rolling hills and streams, impossible many say. Impossible to whom though?
To a Fuller Center Cyclist, nothing is impossible.
Fuller Center Cyclists are ordinary men and women of all ages, creeds, nationalities and cultures. We come from every nook and cranny of this land and we took up a call to do the impossible to provide a hand up to others. We gave up the comforts of home to build others a comfortable place to raise families. With every crank of that wheel, we aren’t just carrying ourselves down the road but carrying the message of affordable housing on our lips with the stories of those we have helped in our hearts.
It’s been said what we do is amazing, the early mornings and the many miles. What they don’t know is that we are just ordinary people who what to do something extraordinary for the sake of others. We are teachers, airmen, students, entrepreneurs, athletes, farmers, dreamers and retirees that are here to help others have a place to call their own.
Yesterday we celebrated the freedom of the country that we call home by building a stronger community in Colorado Springs. On the same aching legs and tired arms we rode into town on, we climbed ladders and labored in the sun. We made a difference in the lives of people we have never met by giving children a place to be safe. We pushed the first domino in a chain that will continue to make a grand design long after we have pumped up the tires and ridden away. Yesterday’s build day in Colorado Springs will become a new story in our hearts that we must carry with us into the next town.
Tomorrow is a new riding day, we will get up early, strap our helmets and pray. The road will take its toll again and again. We will not be deterred, we will ride in faith and not in fear. Our handlebars do not just support our weight but support the communities we help along the way. We are Fuller Center Cyclists and we are on a mission to end poverty housing and make the impossible, possible.
Special thanks to Ascension Lutheran Church and all the wonderful people that have assisted our journey.
