Tour De Revs

This last weekend I happened to be in Flagstaff visiting with my parents when three Lutheran Pastors came through town on a triplet bamboo road bike! They are on a 100-day bike tour titled, "Tour de Revs," and they had a stop at my parents church up here so of course I had to go check it out. As it turns out the "Three Revs" had felt lead to organize this tour for the last 7 years by the weight of scripture that talks about poverty, injustice and hunger. Throughout the Bible we are called to eradicate poverty and hunger (e.g. Old Testament Law in Deut 15 and in New Testament Church in Acts 2:37-47). The Rev's talked about how today our society produces enough food for the entire population, but due to unbalanced distribution of that food and wealth, over 80% of it goes to the ~20% of the population in developed countries. Obviously us here in the U.S. are part of the 20% that has much more than we need. I know that even through we all hear about world hunger all the time, sometimes I disconnect from how I can be a part of the solution.

The amazing thing is, through Christian churches, some of the most efficient poverty fighting charities exist. In chatting with Pastor David, one of the Tour De Revs, we were talking about the Lutheran ELCA World Hunger charity they are raising money for, and the point was raised that on charity rating sights, Christian-based charities of all denominations are always rated very well with generally >90% of donated funds going directly to those in need. We should all be encouraged and inspired by this as it is our role as the church to eliminate poverty, and what churches already do is some of the best charity work out there. However, their is still much more need to be met, much more seed to be sown, and ultimately many more to be added to the kingdom through the demonstration of God's love and character through our inspired generosity in each of our individual church communities and in IC3.

Check out the Tour De Revs if you get a chance: http://www.tourderevs.org

The Good Samaritan

"And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

Philippians 4:19

Hello All,

My name is Yolanda and I signed up with IC3 (Arizona) for mailings at the bike expo last year (2008) before El Tour de Tucson. I have been reading the correspondence and like a lot

Picture: Another flat repair, Todd helping Patsy

the group's dynamic, enthusiasm, faithfulness, and camaraderie, but have not felt confident enough to join your group to ride. I thought that my level of riding was too low to be with a group like yours. So I was riding (and praying!) all by my self this morning and unfortunately got a flat and was totally not prepared for that. I decided to walk as much as I could before I would call my husband to come and pick me up. As I was walking a very nice biker stopped to see if I needed help! I mentioned my problem and he said he had an extra tube and volunteered to change it for me! As we were talking he told me He is part of the IC3 (Arizona) group and that I should join the group some time to ride. I told him I was already on the mailing list, but did not think I could keep up with the group bike riding but he said that there were a lot of new people and that I should just come and be a part of it. I recognized his name from this and other emails and realized that this was not a coincidence and know exactly who sent Fernando! He was really a blessing to me this morning.

Thank you Fernando!

God willing, I will be joining the SE group next Saturday @ Harrison and Old Spanish Trail.

See you then! :)

Many Blessings,

Yolanda

--- IC3 Arizona Spoke Note ---

Indeed what a blessing. Praise Jesus !!!

Updated Post: 4th of July Celebration Ride

Happy Independence Day !!!

"Grace unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Thes 1:2

(left to right: Jimmy, Patsy, Michael, Ron, Todd and Ray)

We had a great ride this morning. We missed all of you Tucson IC3'ers that could not make it. Starting at 6:00am we were blessed with a nice overcast which kept the temperatures down to the 70's. Afterward as promised we went to AJ's for a well deserved breakfast and some wonderful time of fellowship.

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Come join us celebrating the early morning of the 4th of July with an early morning road ride. We are planning to meet at 6am with the anticipation to be done by 8am so that we can enjoy some time of fellowship by having breakfast at AJ's at the La Encantada Mall. Yes, AJ's is open and has a delicious selection of breakfast items.


Let's celebrate our freedom in this country and remember what sacrifice was need for us to enjoy this time of fellowship. And let us also remember that all this was inspired by the grace our Heavenly Father shows us and the sacrifice our LORD Jesus Christ gave to us so that we can be reconciled to our Heavenly Father.


Celebrate the Freedom He gave us.


When: Sat. July 4th
Where: AJ's at 6am
What are we doing? Ride for about 2 hours (or 20-36 miles) and have breakfast afterwards at AJ's

Ride Schedule Changes

In the picture you see Gabe, Louie, and Derek who rode with Fernando (took picture) about 41 miles including 10 miles up Catalina Highway 5/19/09.

WOOOHOOO !!! Praises be to our Heavenly Father. We had out first Mid-town Saturday morning ride. What a blessing to be able to bring the SE and NW riders together to one ride. We rode a hilly course along the foothills.

On Tuesdays at 6:00am Derek and Fernando are going to lead a ride starting 6/2/2009. They are going to meet at the Starbucks on Broadway and Kolb. Derek had the following information about the ride: "The ride will be 30 to 35 miles with C+/B pace. One of our goals is to make it to the top of Mt Lemmon. We are working on that by going a little farther up each time. When we don't climb that mountain, we will shoot Northwest toward Vistoso or Southeast to Colossal Cave."

Just to be sure, check out our calendar for any changes or updates on ride information or for any other ride or event information.

Ride of Silence Follow Up

Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.
James 5:15-17 NASU

Indeed our prayers are effective and draw people closer to our Father in heaven, and our presence at the Ride of Silence and other community events facilitates this. We had a good club turnout for the Ride of Silence yesterday and were able to hang out and talk with participants after the ride. It was great to talk with people whom the Lord is touching and changing. There were at least a couple hundred people riding in the event. The group took up a good 1/4 to 1/2 mile of roadway taking up the bike lane plus one to two traffic lanes (with sheriff escorts of course) . Besides a couple of small wrecks; the ride went smoothly along the 9 mile course.

It is exciting that our group can encourage and build the faith of others as we grow and are able to spread the influence of the love of God amongst the biking community of Tucson. The key to all this is prayer and thanksgiving for all the Lord has done for us so that we can be led by Him to touch others. So, I pray that we all would draw near to the Lord and hear from Him how we can be used this year to draw others into a relationship with Jesus.

First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
1 Tim 2:1-4 NASU

Ride of Silence

Matthew 5:4 "Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted."

DATE: May 20, 2009
TIME: 5:45 pm
WHERE: Hundreds of locations world wide
(Hi Corbett Field Tucson Arizona (Ramada #31))

Join cyclists worldwide in a silent slow-paced ride (max. 12 mph/20 kph) in honor of those who have been injured or killed while cycling on public roadways. We are using this as a ministry opportunity to reach those who have been insured or family and friends who mourn the loss of a loved one that never returned from their ride. Check out the Ride of Silence web site.

Honor

The purpose of this ride is to honor bicyclists who have been injured or killed on our roads.

Awareness

We are working to raise awareness that cyclists are here and have the legal right to the road.

Share the Road

We ask that everyone share the road with respect for the law and each other.

Romans 12:15 "Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion."

Psalm 56:8 "You number my wanderings; Put my tears into Your bottle; Are they not in Your book?"

Updated Post: Tour of the Tucson Mountains

WOOOHOOO !!! Praises be to our Heavenly Father, who provides and guides and blesses time and time again.

Well, the Tour of the Tucson Mountain came and went and we participated successfully in it. Travis, Larry and Michael participated for IC3 Tucson. Travis and Michael rode in the platinum group to a platinum finish. Larry had a Gold finish with 3:29. That was close :-) See the complete results here. In the platinum finish, places 2-67 came in seconds apart and Travis and Michael were part of it. It was a mass sprint to the finish. No crashes, so everything went orderly. It was a fun race, similar to El Tour de Phoenix, where there was a big group of riders from the start all the way to Ajo Way. The first split happened there, but over 60 riders could stay together, which is still a big group. The riders who won broke away on Sandario Rd. and even though we saw them in the distance, we never could catch them.

This was the first time ever, we raced on I-10, yes you heard right, I-10. I guess the police escort had one mishap directing the group to the frontage road. Once the frontage road was passed, there was only I-10 left. It was fun. Everyone kept cool and I don't think anything happened on I-10. Well you missed it, a once in a life time experience. Or will it be part of next years route :-) We'll see.

I hope to post some information about our help at the Aid Station.