Au revoir, Le Tour. 你好Olympics.

The Tour de France ended yesterday morning. A Spaniard won for the second year in a row. Carlos Sastre put on a great performance in the Alps to take the yellow jersey and then really performed above himself in the final time trial stage to hold onto it. I really enjoyed the tour this year. There were several players who had a great chance to win it all. There were also 3 outstanding teams that have advertized themselves as being devoted to clean athletes. It was great to see that these 3 teams dominated the tour and that the only 2 American teams were 2 of these three teams.

The Olympics are now 2 weeks away. I really enjoy them. (Since my boss reads my blog, I won't say that now I have to wait 2 weeks for the Olympics to begin so I can have something else to watch during the day!) I know I'm a strange breed but I like the long multi-week international sporting events. Of course this year's Olympics comes with its share of controversy. When I did a Google image search for the Olympics to get an image of their emblem, I came across this one.

From the moment it was announced, I was disappointed to hear that the games will be played in Beijing. As the games have gotten closer, the reasons for this disappointment are even more apparent. First and foremost are the political and social issues that come with the Chinese governmental oppression. Second has been the environmental issues. It's crazy to hear that athletes are worried about breathing conditions. I would imagine we won't see many records broken in the outdoor events this year.

The flip side of this issue is that maybe with all the world gazing at China for 16 days, international pressure will force changes - changes that remove the human oppression going on in many areas of the nation and changes that improve our global environment when the most populous nation is forced to clean up. One can only hope. I believe these changes have already begun in some ways. Time will tell how far they will go. Another benefit is the relaxation of travel into China which is allowing more Christians in to spread the gospel if only for a window of time. I've heard many things of the church in China thriving in the midst of oppression. Historically, that seems to have always been the case for Christianity. I hope this window of time helps - if only in bringing encouragement to our existing Chinese brothers and sisters.

Tour de France

The biggest bicycle race of the year started a couple of days ago. Today was the 3rd stage. A Frenchman has taken the yellow jersey today away from a Spaniard who held it for the first two days. While there are some U.S. riders in the running, I don't see their chances being so dominant as in the days of Lance. However, after today's exciting race where 4 riders broke away at the beginning and stayed away from the rest of the pack for over 200 km - finishing more than 2 minutes ahead of the next group - an American has taken 3rd place overall. His name is William Frischkorn. I've never heard of him, but I'm sure I'll hear more now.

I like watching the race unfold. It's a great international event, and the strategy of it all is very interesting to me. As I don't think I have too many cycling fans in my reader pool, I'll leave my comments at this for now. If anyone is interested, please comment. I'd love to discuss.

Here's a link to the official site for those interested:
http://www.letour.com/us/

blood:water mission

Tonight my city hosted a free concert by Christian artist Sara Groves. She was joined by Christian author Donald Miller and a team of cyclists that are on a fund raising coast-to-coast journey from the Pacific Ocean (L.A.) to the Atlantic (D.C.). The cycling tour is called Ride: Well Tour. It is a sister non-profit to Blood:Water Mission founded by the members of another Christian group Jars of Clay and to which the funds they raise on their ride are going. Confused yet? The bottom line is that all of these people and many others are coming together to bring a cold cup of water in Jesus' name to those in need. Here's an excerpt from the blood:water mission website:

Blood:Water Mission exists to promote clean blood and clean water efforts in Africa, tangibly reducing the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic while addressing the underlying issues of poverty, injustice and oppression. Blood:Water Mission is building clean water wells, supporting medical facilities, and focusing on community and worldview transformation, both here in America and in Africa.

Sara Groves was interviewed on the local radio today and had an interesting comment. She said that many of us as Christians spend a whole lot of time grooming our faith, but to what end? It's like the person who buys a sports car and then only washes and waxes it but never drives it. God has called us to make a difference in this world while we are on it. Spending every moment in church that the doors are open, listening to Christian music, going to small group Bible studies are all nice, but if we're just grooming our faith without going out and getting dirty once in a while for God, what's the point? When she made this realization, she starting looking for what to do. She found this mission and has given to it. It's a good cause. Take a look. If it's something that moves you, I'd encourage you to give as well. And then go out and find a way to give from yourself above just giving from your wallet.

By the way, I'm excited to say that the little rally here in Tyler had set a goal to raise $40,000 tonight. At the end of the evening, they were up to $72,800 and still counting.

Speed. I am speed!

Well, at least at 25 mph.

If you've been bored and looked around my blog recently, you may have noticed a link to the tyler bike club on the interweb and wondered to yourself "what's this here for?" It's actually become a high-traffic link for me lately. You see, my latest passion has become cycling these days. Well, actually call it a renewed interest that has turned into a passion. In high school, I had an old 10 speed that I rode 3 or 4 nights a week with my dad. When I went away to college, the 10 speed road bike got traded for a mountain bike, which was good for campus commuting. Now that I live in Tyler, there aren't mountain biking trails to speak of without driving a ways, but there are plenty of roads. So, I've turned to the road again and really love it. For a while I was riding my old bike and searching for a new racing style road bike -- you know, the kind with the curvy handlebars? I shopped on the internet, went to the local bike shops, and even spent 1/2 a day at bike shops in Dallas one weekend. My problem was that I wanted a high dollar bike for not a high price. These bikes can reach a few Gs very quickly. I finally found a nice used one through a friend of a friend and bought it about 3 weeks ago. Here's a stock photo of the bike. I'll try to post a real pic when I take the time to shoot one.

It's a nice ride - especially for the price. If you're not into biking, please bear with some tech speak for a moment: full carbon fiber frame, shimano 105 complete set (derailleurs, shifters, brakes, crankset, pedals), mavic ksyrium wheels, airborn fizik wing flex saddle, 2 carbon bottle cages, cateye wireless computer, front & rear lights and about 12oo miles on it. Anyway, it makes me happy.

The Tyler Bike Club has group rides throughout the week in the evenings and a large group ride every Saturday morning at 8 am. For the past 2 Saturday mornings I've been hitting the pavement with about 20 other folk leaving Faulkner Park and heading south through the back roads to Bullard. Once we get there, most folks stop for a breather at a little greasy spoon. Some have a quick breakfast. Then small groups start splitting off - some continuing on to Jacksonville, some riding around the Bullard area, and some heading back. Being a newbie, I've been content to ride back home from there. But even taking that "short" ride, I put 32 miles behind me this morning. It really felt great, too. I've been sitting around for far too long lately slowly putting on the pounds and getting out of shape. So, I'm ready to start feeling better physically, and I've found a fun way to do it.

Another plus about the group rides is that since I work from home, I don't get a lot of interaction with people in town outside of church. This has opened a door to a whole new set of guys in town. That has been great. I've prayed about having that opportunity and so I'm excited that this has come.

One of the best feelings, though, is when I'm riding in the middle of the pack and cruising with relatively little effort and I look down at my speedometer to see that I'm going 30 mph. It may not sound fast, but on a bike (at least at my fitness level) that's smokin'! If you ever watch the Tour De France, you hear about the force of the peloton - how riders will try to break away but the group just draws them back in with it's speed. It's real, and it feels really cool when you experience it. Inside the pack, you're shielded so all of your energy is going directly to the road and not fighting that wind. There are a few big guys in the group. I could draft all day behind them.