Freedom Reigns - July 2003

Every July life at my house changes. Our normal lives of work, church, time with our family, friends and our animals all still continue, but there is a 90 minute block ever evening that is special. That is the time we spend watching that day’s coverage of the Tour De France.

Before Lance Armstrong was a household name, and while Greg Lemond was trying to win his first tour, I was following the daily exploits of Alex Steida, Ron Keifel, Davis Phinney, Bob Roll, Andy Hampston, Eric Heiden, Alexi Grewal, and Raul Alcala (all members of the first American cycling team in Europe - Team 7/11 - later Motorola). Cycling is the only sport that I have ever even dreamed of excelling at. It is the only sport that I really follow and the only sport that my wonderful wife had to learn to love while she was learning to love me. While dating she never was worried about me loving another woman, or cheating on her, but she always worried if she was third in my life behind God, and my Cannondale. Now that we are married she is defiantly a close second, just kidding hon you know I love you more then the bike, because the bike has flat tires right now. Anyway, we are now the neighborhood couple that scares the local kids with tales of 80kmh(50mph) crashes on descents, 21 switch back climbs, dual echelon time trialing tatics, aerobars, broken collarbones and road rash.

The thing that makes cycling so special to me is that it is one of the few sports that is contended in the elements. There is no prepared field, no clean pool, no orderly stadiums, and no ticketed fans. In fact, the Tour De France is the largest annual sporting event in the world, even bigger then the soccer world cup. For 21 days every July a average of 600,000 people a day watch the Tour pass by on the side of the road. On one mountain alone this year there were 500,000 people watching the race pass by. No one pays for a ticket, and cycling at it’s simplest form is just a bunch of people on open public roads riding possibly the most ildesigned means of human convenence ever. Yet, their fans are rabid, their detractors are crazy, and both groups are 6" from their face yelling for/at them while they climb up grades that a sane person would drive up.

You may ask yourself why this occurs, let me see if I can give you a bit of guidance in this area. Within France there is a term for professional cyclist - "Les Forççats de la Route" - The Convicts of the Road -, and that is what they are. Most of the riders in the pro peloton ride 25,000+ kilometers (15,000+ miles) annually. A lot of people do not drive that much in a year. Pro riders do this because they love the sport, they love the competition and they love the challenge. A great day can become terrible with a slight brush of wheels, a flat, a crash, or even a bee sting. High risk, high adrenaline, and a small chance at glory is enough to push them on. Most of these riders are not wealthy, they are just dedicated and they want to spend their lives peddling. The challenge of the next stage, the next sprint, the next climb and the next descent is their call.

The lifestyle, dedication and devotion of a professional cyclist can be a model for how a Christian should live. We routinely spend our daily lives 6"from our friends and our foes, both are yelling at us, both are challenging us, but only we can decide what we are going to do. We contend for Christ not in a protected venue with well tended grounds, but in the raw and rough real world that exist everywhere we go. Many times it is only ourselves and the encouragement of the Holy Spirit that pulls us up the challenging grades that appear in our lives. Every day of we run the risk of one small mistake, or minor incident, damaging our walk with Christ and our impact within the body for a long period of time. Like professional cyclists, few among us will ever be famous, but that does not mean that we should not contend for the prize, seek out the victory. The God that directs the smooth flat stages of our life is also the God that holds us upright on the 20 mile 12% degree climbs of our life ,and guides us safely during our lighting fast descents. He calls us to persevere and fight to survive to do battle the next day.

An additional parallel between walking with Christ and professional cycling is that the person that was broken and that barely survived one stage, can often rise to become the champion of the next day. We are never out of the race, we are never alone in our challenges. God is there telling us to go further, harder, and longer then we ever have. Knowing that we are capable of more then we have ever accomplished, not because of our skill, but because of His presence and His direction. We simply have to go out and do what is needed, if we do that we will be victors.

I hope you have something that you enjoy as much as I enjoy cycling, but honestly my prayer is that you know Christ and that you learn that God is more then a occasional visitor, but He is a constant presence and He is constantly calling and challenging you up the next hill. Don’t let a few bad days destroy the rest of your eternity. He is victorious and He is just. Remain in Him and you will win the greatest race of all and you will receive the greatest reward possible, salvation and eternity with Him in heaven. I pray that you find the dedication to go on and ride the good race, and be declared the victor.

Frank Sharp
fsharptn@bellsouth.net

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	Every July life at my house changes. Our normal lives of work, church, time with our family, friends and our animals all still continue, but there is a 90 minute block ever evening that is special. That is the time we spend watching that day’s coverage of the Tour De France. Before Lance Armstrong was a household name, and while Greg Lemond was trying to win his first tour, I was following the daily exploits of Alex Steida, Ron Keifel, Davis Phinney, Bob Roll, Andy Hampston, Eric Heiden, Alexi Grewal, and Raul Alcala (all members of the first American cycling team in Europe - Team 7/11 - later Motorola). Cycling is the only sport that I have ever even dreamed of excelling at. It is the only sport that I really follow and the only sport that my wonderful wife had to learn to love while she was learning to love me. While dating she never was worried about me loving another woman, or cheating on her, but she always worried if she was third in my life behind God, and my Cannondale. Now that we are married she is defiantly a close second, just kidding hon you know I love you more then the bike, because the bike has flat tires right now. Anyway, we are now the neighborhood couple that scares the local kids with tales of 80kmh(50mph) crashes on descents, 21 switch back climbs, dual echelon time trialing tatics, aerobars, broken collarbones and road rash. The thing that makes cycling so special to me is that it is one of the few sports that is contended in the elements. There is no prepared field, no clean pool, no orderly stadiums, and no ticketed fans. In fact, the Tour De France is the largest annual sporting event in the world, even bigger then the soccer world cup. For 21 days every July a average of 600,000 people a day watch the Tour pass by on the side of the road. On one mountain alone this year there were 500,000 people watching the race pass by. No one pays for a ticket, and cycling at it’s simplest form is just a bunch of people on open public roads riding possibly the most ildesigned means of human convenence ever. Yet, their fans are rabid, their detractors are crazy, and both groups are 6" from their face yelling for/at them while they climb up grades that a sane person would drive up. You may ask yourself why this occurs, let me see if I can give you a bit of guidance in this area. Within France there is a term for professional cyclist - "Les Forççats de la Route" - The Convicts of the Road -, and that is what they are. Most of the riders in the pro peloton ride 25,000+ kilometers (15,000+ miles) annually. A lot of people do not drive that much in a year. Pro riders do this because they love the sport, they love the competition and they love the challenge. A great day can become terrible with a slight brush of wheels, a flat, a crash, or even a bee sting. High risk, high adrenaline, and a small chance at glory is enough to push them on. Most of these riders are not wealthy, they are just dedicated and they want to spend their lives peddling. The challenge of the next stage, the next sprint, the next climb and the next descent is their call. The lifestyle, dedication and devotion of a professional cyclist can be a model for how a Christian should live. We routinely spend our daily lives 6"from our friends and our foes, both are yelling at us, both are challenging us, but only we can decide what we are going to do. We contend for Christ not in a protected venue with well tended grounds, but in the raw and rough real world that exist everywhere we go. Many times it is only ourselves and the encouragement of the Holy Spirit that pulls us up the challenging grades that appear in our lives. Every day of we run the risk of one small mistake, or minor incident, damaging our walk with Christ and our impact within the body for a long period of time. Like professional cyclists, few among us will ever be famous, but that does not mean that we should not contend for the prize, seek out the victory. The God that directs the smooth flat stages of our life is also the God that holds us upright on the 20 mile 12% degree climbs of our life ,and guides us safely during our lighting fast descents. He calls us to persevere and fight to survive to do battle the next day. An additional parallel between walking with Christ and professional cycling is that the person that was broken and that barely survived one stage, can often rise to become the champion of the next day. We are never out of the race, we are never alone in our challenges. God is there telling us to go further, harder, and longer then we ever have. Knowing that we are capable of more then we have ever accomplished, not because of our skill, but because of His presence and His direction. We simply have to go out and do what is needed, if we do that we will be victors. I hope you have something that you enjoy as much as I enjoy cycling, but honestly my prayer is that you know Christ and that you learn that God is more then a occasional visitor, but He is a constant presence and He is constantly calling and challenging you up the next hill. Don’t let a few bad days destroy the rest of your eternity. He is victorious and He is just. Remain in Him and you will win the greatest race of all and you will receive the greatest reward possible, salvation and eternity with Him in heaven. I pray that you find the dedication to go on and ride the good race, and be declared the victor. Frank Sharp fsharptn@bellsouth.net