Written by: Paul Herguth

Today is only day 4 of our Bicycle Adventure, but oh what an adventure it has already been. This trip has kicked into high gear and everyone involved seems to be having a truly wonderful experience.

We started our trip in Carlsbad, California at Faith Community Church where we were well received by the pastor and staff. Our hosts were gracious and kind. Thirty-six riders traveled by bicycle to Oceanside Pier the morning of June 6^th. There we took part in one the most exciting and joyous ceremonies I have ever been a part of. Everyone there was full of hope, unity of purpose, and faith that our experience would be a blessed one. While on the beach that morning we prayed Continue reading→

Written by: Ryan Iafigliola

Today’s number: 107. That’s degrees Fahrenheit. 107 degrees of what they call “dry heat,” which just means that it feels more like an oven than a swimming pool. Heat collects and billows off the pavement, making the air temperature for cyclists even hotter.

But it’s the painful, challenging experiences like this that break down our natural barriers and pull us together. It forces us to rely on each other and work together as a team to overcome a common obstacle. Without a sense of team, how else can you survive 3am beat-the-heat wake-ups like we had this morning?

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Written by: Laurence Foshee

On June 1^st at 6:00 p.m. I left my home city of Tulsa, Oklahoma on a Greyhound bus to head out to the 2015 Fuller Center Bike Adventure, which started out in Oceanside, California. I arrived in Oceanside at June 3^rd at 7:30 a.m., which got me in the area before Lydia Huelskamp the trip leader even arrived. I took the local busses to Carlsbad, CA and ended up walking two miles to get to the Faith Community Center, the church where we were all supposed to meet up for the ride. The youth pastor greeted me and let me watch a Dave Ramsey movie about how Christians can manage their finances. I had lunch at Pieology, which was awesome. Lydia and the group that came in the van with her arrived at 5:30 p.m.

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Written by: Diane Bies

Today was the start of the 2015 Summer Fuller Center Bicycle Adventure, at least the official riding part started today.  After a wonderful breakfast provided by our amazing host in Carlsbad, California, Faith Community Church, we started our adventure with a short ride up the coast to the Oceanside Pier where we dipped our rear wheels in the Pacific Ocean before we, the team, headed east off to Portland, Maine to dip their front wheels in the Atlantic Ocean in 10 weeks. (I am not a whole way rider and won’t be there in Portland.)

As we left the pier our day’s journey took us to Temecula and the Temecula United Methodist Church.  Our ride was only 50 miles today but it was a quite rolling 50 miles.  The scenery was beautiful, the wind was kind most of the time, the hills were not too bad, and the sun was not too awfully hot.  All the riders made it in safely as well which is a very important thing!  The showers were great and the dinner served by our hosts was both plentiful and delicious.  Another positive feature of the day was that all the riders bonded well and seemed to share the dayriding together in groups caring for each other and having fun.

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Written by: Lydia Huelskamp

Two months or 59 days or 1,416 hours until our first ride of 2015. To say that I’m excited would be a huge understatement. I moved down to Americus, GA in September with the sole responsibility of making sure the spring and summer rides are planned and go as smoothly as possible. As the riders continue to sign up and the funds from generous donors begin to come in it is easy to get bogged down with the planning and the logistics of the ride. For this reason I wanted to take a step back and remind myself and all of those involved the real reason we do this.

“If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” -1 John 3:17-18