2012 VISTOSO CHALLENGE 48 CHARITY BIKE RIDE

 

ST. ANDREW’S PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

presents
 

VISTOSO CHALLENGE 48 CHARITY BIKE RIDE

benefiting
 

INTERFAITH COMMUNITY SERVICES

January 14, 2012, 8 AM

coordinate by IC3 Tucson

To sign up download the flyer and contact Todd Huff: 907-8019

Interfaith Community Services
We share a common belief that our diverse faiths call us to serve those in need. We are enriched through the diversity of beliefs of our volunteers and recipients. Our services and volunteer opportunities are open and welcoming to all regardless of faith tradition. We remain true to our founding value of helping those in need with "Love, Cooperation and Service."

Although our roots of support and services are in the northwest area of Tucson, our programs, volunteers, and supporters now extend to most of Pima County. Our partners represent the full community - individuals, agencies, corporations, foundations, City of Tucson, Pima County, and, of course, the faith communities. 

Our multiple services are often the "safety net" that help our recipients remain or become stabilized, enabling them to lead independent lives. We are providing services for thousands of people in need.

About the Charity Ride
Riders or teams of up to 6 riders will enjoy a supported fun ride, distances from 8 to 48 miles along an 8-mile loop through Rancho Vistoso beginning and ending at the Oro Valley Hospital. There will be food for participants & prizes for the largest fundraisers.

Start/Finish (A) is at the rear of the Oro Valley Hospital and begins traveling west on Tangerine Road to Rancho Vistoso Blvd. around the loop to Innovation Park Drive turning south back to the starting point.
Individual participants or team captains are responsible to deliver the donations at ride registration.

Donations are tax-deductable. For cash donations we need an address for donation receipts.

2011 Cochise County Cycling Classic

Praises be to our Heavenly Father for being able to participate and support the 2011 Cochise County Cycling Classic. This year must have been one of the coldest, if not the coldest race start ever. At around 40 degrees it was very cold. The good news, the race temperatures never got over 80 degrees, which made for perfect race conditions. As a Tucsonian, not expecting these temperatures, but being warned by Jim, I had just the right clothing. It was cold for the first 30 to 40 minutes, but just before we started the climb in Bisbee, I took of my arm warms and for the rest of the race (about 3 hours) it was perfect.

We setup at the start/finish line to hand out Recoverite and other goodies from our sponsor Hammer Nutrition. Thanks Hammer Nutrition for another great race support. Patsy, Todd and Michael took turns manning the canopy. Jim participated in the 45 mile race as bike patrol and after he finished the race manned a Hammradio station for the 92 mile event. Thanks for all you hard work and volunteering to make those events possible.

Bill and Michael participated in the 92 mile event. It was a successful race. Bill came in 7th and Michael 9th, only separated by seconds to the first place. WOOOHOOO !!! Praises be to Jesus !!! As always the group separated on the climb to Mule Pass in Bisbee. Usually the groups that are forming after the hill climb in Bisbee are around 6-10 riders. This time we had a group of 14 riders. We all organized into a pace line and stay ahead of all the other groups chasing us.

"Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling,
And to present you faultless
Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,
To God our Savior,
Who alone is wise,
Be glory and majesty,
Dominion and power,
Both now and forever.
Amen."

Jude 1:24

Night Time Charity Ride

Two spoke members, Todd Stuve and Todd Huff participated in a charity ride that supported Tupelo Children's Mansion, a Christian residential group home in Tupelo Mississippi serving families and children in crisis situations. Todd Stuve and his family raised almost $2,500. Praises be to our Lord and Savior Jesus for this accomplishments. This charity ride was a different kind of ride. It started at 11 PM. That's right. It was a night ride which was the culmination of the fund raising effort with a 65-mile ride from the north side of Tucson to Casa Grande, AZ.  Beginning at near-midnight most of the ride was along the I-10 frontage and there was vehicular support for the riders.  Other riders included youth group members from a local Tucson church group.  The weather was perfect and the cool night air made for an exhilarating and totally different riding experience!

Poco's And Moms - A Witness For Christ

We wanted to take the opportunity to thank the owners of a local restaurant here in Tucson, Poco's and Moms for their support of IC3 for the last 2 years. Poco's and Moms is owned by Kim (center photo) and her mother who are believers in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. They offer some of the best New Mexico style Mexican food. They are located on the East side of town on the northwest corner of 22nd and Kolb.

A while ago we presented Kim a thank you picture and she proudly displays near table 8. She especially liked the verse we have on our banner in the photo.

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." 1 Cor. 10:31

This picture and Kim's very uplifting spirit are a great witness for our Lord Jesus and his awesome love towards us. Kim says the photo is viewed by customers and has generated many comments expressing how refreshing it is to be reminded of eternal Christian truth. When Kim receives comments about the bible verse and photograph on the wall, she takes the opportunity to acknowledge that her life has been changed by her faith. She also mentioned that since incorporating Christian principals into her business, her business has been blessed immensely.

Visit Poco's and Mom, enjoy this wonderful small refreshing atmosphere. Praise, glory and honor be to the only One who can keep us from stumbling and presents us with exceeding joy. Praise be to Jesus !!!

Water (Bottle) Outreach & Goat Head Removal

About 50 riders stopped at our Water (Bottle) Outreach at Houghton and Old Spanish Trail. We refilled water bottles of bicyclists passing by and handed out some Hammer gels. Temperatures got hotter as they day went on, but it wasn't too super hot. We ended around 10am when riders usually end their rides due to the rising temperatures.

All riders who stopped, liked for us being out there and asked what we were doing. We shared our IC3  mission with them, which is to unite Christian cyclists for a worldwide testimony in lifestyle, training, and sportsmanship, and to expose each cyclist to the love and peace of Jesus Christ, so he/she may want to have a relationship with Him. I told some of the riders about Mark 9:41

For whoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because you belong to Christ, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.

During our outreach, Jim, one of our members, plugged some Goat Head weeds which are notorious to cause flat tires along side the bike path. These weeds look pretty when they bloom for a little while, but their seeds burst into many little thorns that many riders have experienced during their rides. So instead of fixing flat tires which can be dangerous during speedy training rides, we opted for flat tire prevention.



We all agreed and are praying to continue this outreach until El Tour de Tucson comes around. Riders are in need of water and of good fellowship as well. Praises be to our Heavenly Father for blessing us with such a ministry.

In The Clouds

Today we rode up Mt. Lemmon. We had a pretty decent group of about 7, for a Thursday morning. Everyone rode up to various points and then turned around. But the cool thing was the clouds hovering on the mountain. The more we climbed, the more we rode in the clouds. It was a cool site as well as a cool feeling, giving the August temperatures here in Tucson. Clouds all around. That reminded me of God's word, Psalm 97:2

"Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne."

What an awesome God we serve and can ride for. What an awesome creation and a wonderful site we saw this morning. I wanted to "mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." as it is written in Isaiah 40:31. I wanted to take a picture, but had none ready. Here is a link to a picture what it looked like.

May God Bless you and open your eyes to His wonderful Creation.

Breakfast Ride July 9, 2011

Thank you all for attending the IC3 Eastside Breakfast Ride today. You all looked great with the IC3 colors and other people definitely noticed us on the road. What a blessing it was to have such a great turnout and have new people checking out the group as well. I want to apologize for being a couple of minutes late - Michael did a great job pacing me into town on the "ride before the ride". But once on the road, we were able to travel on a few roads that we normally do not see and riders had options to go around the loop at SNPE and Pistol Hill. I went with the group that toured the loop drive at SNPE and everyone did a great job of riding. our group had about 1240ft of climbing on the way to breakfast - not a bad way to earn a pancake! Hee hee! Let us know what you thought of the Breakfast Ride and whether we should do it again sometime - I for one really looked forward to it and it did not disappoint - the fellowship of brothers and sisters in Christ is priceless! My family expressed a particular joy at being able to help as well. Praise to our Lord for helping us do this activity - may we always be mindful of our Lord and always joyful in His Blessing.

Happy 4th of July

"Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
The people He has chosen as His own inheritance."
Psalm 33:12

Happy 4th of July. We had a great Freedom ride this morning. What a blessing, we started riding at 6am with a cloud cover. It was a prayer answered because we desperately need rain here in Tucson, AZ. But most of all we need the rain of the Holy Spirit to revive this nation and bring it back to it's roots. "If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." Chronicles 7:14 And it all starts with us, do we harbor sin in our lives and don't treat our neighbor right. Well today we join as a spoke together to ride together and lift up the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

May you have a blessed celebration of the freedom we have in this country. Be safe and God Bless You and God Bless America.

"Righteousness exalts a nation,
But sin is a reproach to any people."
Proverbs 14:34

GDOP Tucson Cross Walk

"If My people, who are called by My name,
will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wickedways,
then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

2 Chronicles 7: 14

The Global Day of Prayer Tucson (GDOP Tucson) Cross Walk was from June 2. - 11. Each day a cross was carried from a ministry to another ministry, to be finally delivered to the UfA Mall for the final event of the Global Day of Prayer.

We picked up the cross at EWOG (Eagles Wings of Grace) which is located at Pima near Swan Rd. We took turns carrying the cross shouldered, down Swan Rd to Broadway. Everyone who did not walk pushed their bike following the cross. Right before Broadway we met a cyclists named Joshua. He was shirtless and on his way to an appointment. He asked if he could join us to carry the cross. He shouldered it and carried it the fastest all the way to Broadway. We talk a little more, prayed and sent him on his way. From Broadway we went to Alvernoon, down on the bike path to 22nd and back to Columbus where we dropped off the cross at the Sober Project/Giving Tree church. We met Lesa who welcomed us when we dropped off the cross. We prayed together and rode our bikes back to EWOG. Thanks to everyone who participated and especially praises to our Heavenly Father enabling us short notice to participate in His event.

Ride For Hope in Phoenix

On Monday, Debbie from Fellowship Of Christian Athletes and I met some of the riders from the "Ride For Hope" about 45 miles west of Phoenix and rode quite a distance with them toward the host church in Tempe. The late afternoon temperature was above 100 F. We had a great time on the ride. As we neared Tempe it was obvious the time got away from us and we needed to be at the host church by 6pm for a dinner and ministry presentation. The SAG vehicles came to the rescue. The meal was great and the presentation was way cool. Got back to Tucson near 11:30pm.

Interestingly, one of the riders ran over a metal shard which punctured the tire tread and sidewall so badly that the "o'le dollar bill liner trick" would not work. Tire and tube replaced, we continued. Their progress was updated on the KLOVE radio network. There were some honks from motorists along the way. Those drivers must have been listening on their car radio to KLOVE. The honking certainly had nothing to do with my perfect cycling form. Tuesday's route takes them toward New Mexico and cooler temperatures. Hopefully the Arizona fires won't interfere with their travel. Jim Ulmer

Other Events Besides Cycling

Another passion of mine involving cycling are triathlons. Praises be to our Heavenly Father for blessing me with this gift. I starting doing triathlons in 1992 in Rostock, Germany. My last triathlon was in 1996 in Germany racing for SG Fiko Rostock in the Bundesliga. It was a fun race. Soooooo, after many years of not swimming and running, but only cycling, God enabled me to again participate in 2 events this sprint.

The first one was not a triathlon, but rather a duathlon (run, bike, run). It was the US National Championship which took place in Oro Valley at Innovation Dr. The run course had one challenge towards the end of the run leg. It was up the hill of Innovation Dr. The bike course were 2 loops around Rancho Vistoso Blvd. which were light rollers which we know from the El Tour de Tucson.

I participated with a few members from FCA-E (Fellowship of Christian Athletes). It was great to show unity with our yellow jerseys. May God be glorified in all we did leading up and during the race.

The Tucson Triathlon was 3 weeks later. It was a sprint distance triathlon, 825 yards swim, 12 mile bike and a 3 mile run. The swim and the bike distances were great and felt easy. However the run was a different story. After exhausting myself on the bike, there was little left for the run. That's why I am a cyclists. Or maybe I just got to run a lot more. Well I placed 8th overall and 4th in my age group. WOW, 40-44 is a tough age group to compete in. It was fun nonetheless, all those 40 year old showing the young once how to do it :-). It was fun, even after all those years. WOOOHOOO !!!

2011 Ride of Silence

2011 Tour de Mesa

We headed down (or up) to Mesa to participate in the Tour de Mesa (formerly known as Tour de Phoenix). This was the first year of the same race under the new name. The name change only reflected that the majority of the race took and takes place in Mesa. I think at it's closest point it comes within 15 miles of Phoenix and does not even pass through Phoenix. So it only makes sense after so many years to change the name.

God blessed us with the ability to promote IC3 in the Greater Phoenix area at the expo which took place at the Mesa expo center. We handed out Hammer gels, Hammer Fizz, sampled some of their HEED and even handed out some Daily Devotional Bibles. Thanks to Hammer Nutrition for providing all these goodies over the years. We talked to many riders, some interested in the club, some interested in just riding with Christians and others just interested in the free Hammer goodies. It is always a pleasure to give away free things at these expos. And because this expo is small in comparison to the one at the El Tour de Tucson, you got to interact with the riders on a more personal level.

Giving away free things also reminded me of Jesus, to Him and His Father be all glory and honor, now and forever. Free things are not free, and so is our live in Christ. Jesus had to die so that we might live. It's not cheap grace, it cost the Father everything.

On race day, Todd, Harry and I participated in the race. The race starts out with almost all riders heading down University Blvd. at 27 miles/hour in a decent sized group (500 people or more ?!?). We usually take up 3 lanes escorted by police motorcycles. And at 6:15 in the morning we don't upset too many motorists that have to stop at the intersections we are racing through. We even tripped a few red light and speeding cameras. I guess they got confused with all those cyclists riding over the induction loops. All that training payed off and I was able to improve my time from 2009 and finished in under 3 hours (platinum time). Todd finished in shy of 4 hours and Harry finished right around 5 hours. We had a great time at the race, no injuries to report, even though there were a few crashes. We established new relationships with riders from Tucson, that have been part of our training rides. Racing gave it a special bond.

We are looking forward to the Tour of the Tucson Mountains (TTM) and next years Tour de Mesa.

Training Hard And Being A Witness For Christ

In preparation of the 2011 spring races we rode hard and used the God provided opportunities to share. We participated in the Early Shootout which is a well known local training ride, leaving on Saturday mornings at the UfA. There are 2 Shootout groups, the Early group (the older more relaxed riders, yeah right) and the adrenaline filled youth :-) Both rides start at the UfA, go on Mission Rd to Helmet Peak, to Green Valley and back Old Nogales Highway. It's about a 60 mile loop which averages about 22-23 miles/hour (that's the Early group).

Anyhow, it is the usual crowd of riders, some you know by name, some you know by jersey and helmet :-) After some good efforts up Mission Rd and after the first sprinting point, a rider pulls up to me and said, "Hi Mike, you don't know me, but you are an inspiration.". WOW, riders that don't even know me are watching. Well, praises be to our Heavenly Father, because me being in my IC3 jersey and with references to christiancycling.com, what a witness for Christ. I hope and pray that they saw HIM in me and not me.

Along the same lines, one of our older IC3 members did his Saturday ride a little later in the day. He rode 51 miles and after about 45 miles "slugging up Rancho Vistoso" as he put it, a rider pulled up next to him and said, "keep going, I'm tired too, I'm with you brother and God is good, HE's the only way" pointing to the sky and yelling "God is GOOOD !!!". Keeping riders focused on HIM, mission fulfilled, at least that day.

And posting all those wonderful little God encounters on our ArizonaIC3-Rides Yahoo! email list, got the entire list fired up for another week, looking forward to more God encounters.