Team Up, Gear Up: B.A.H.T.

    Why is it that we have challenges in our lives?  Why is it that shit happens? (and to good people for that matter)  Why is there pain, suffering, and oppression in the world and seemingly no solution or end to it?  And outside of the question of why all of these things exist lies the question of what to do with all of it.  What are we as humans, religious or not, spiritual or not, faithful or not, supposed to do with all of these mind numbing enigmas.  Myself and three others thought that it would be a good idea to ride our bikes 450 miles and in the middle of that hike for 20 more.  And it was.  At least I think that it was.  The trip was good, successful, more than we thought it would be, and yet, in itself, a challenge.  While I feel that this trip did a lot of good especially in raising support and awareness about the issue of human trafficking, it obviously did not solve it and obviously did not solve any other issues of pain and confusion in the world.  In fact, in my case, or in my world, it simply added to a lot of the pain and confusion.  Because of this I realized that this trip was about much more than the issue of human trafficking.  

     One night on the trip we were sitting around the campfire just outside of Williams on our way to the grand canyon.  The sun had just gone down and the air was getting cold.  I enjoy this time of day, or night I suppose, because you can just begin to see your breath and I am always entertained by that.  While resting our bones and sipping some hot chocolate after the ride that day we began to discuss what exactly we were doing.  Why we were on this trip?  What it meant to us? What we wanted to see come of the trip?  Things like that.  And of course in the midst of this conversation we talked about trafficking and people that are caught in it.  And this topic was and is of course the main issue and drive behind this trip.  However, it is not the only motivator behind this trip.  That same night after it had cooled down much more, to the point where you could really see your breath well and I was becoming more entertained. Eric Hanson and I were talking about different types of suffering and oppression, you know, stuff besides the trafficking industry and the poverty around the world.  We began to discuss what suffering really is and how it can be judged.  Who can really judge how much pain someone is in? How can we as humans know the extent of someone else's sufferings and the amount of help that they need, or the type of help that they need for that matter?  I personally believe that it is not completely possible for us as humans to know these things.  Naturally, we can look at the outward appearance of someone and make judgment on the condition of their heart but we can never really know the full story.  And sadly I think many times we look at the outward appearance of situations and base our decisions on how to help solely on that.  Of course this is not all bad.  I myself only know the outward appearance of the people caught in this trafficking industry, and that I do not even know fully, however, I have still decided to do something about it.  This of course is not a bad thing.  Maybe more of what I am getting at is the people who do not receive help because of their outward appearance when they really need it. And also those who do receive help based on how they appear when they in fact do not need help at all.    There is no formula or concrete picture as to what this looks like, but I know it exists, and it exists because we as humans naturally act on what we see with our eyes and how it makes us feel.  So, when we experience something that makes us feel uncomfortable we automatically want to try and fix it, or simply run away from it.  And when we experience things that makes us feel comfortable we automatically try to embrace them.  Something I have learned is that many times...certainly not at all times, but at many times, this idea is completely backwards.  The fact is that pain, suffering, and discomfort all exist in all of our lives in many different forms.  Everywhere from the individuals with absolutely nothing caught in poverty and slavery to the individuals with everything they could ever dream of and for that they are enslaved.  What we need to be able to do as humans is embrace the uncomfortable moments instead of just trying to fix them or run away from them and we need to question the things that simply make us feel good.  Emotions are deceiving. 

    I don't know if I am right regarding any of this, I am just trying to write a portion of the thoughts that are currently passing through my mind after going on this trip...it is a difficult task.  If you have read this much I thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts.  And if nothing else I encourage you, whoever you are, to not be afraid of the challenges or the pain in your life or in the lives of the people around you.  Rather confront it head on with love, embrace it, and find God there.  Do this and you will grow as a human being.  However, soon you will most likely be faced with more challenges and more pain.  That is the beauty and the agony of it all.  

Much love.   

    Well I have made it.  After a long and beautiful drive through the mountains and desserts of New Mexico and Arizona I arrived in Phoenix around 5 pm on Saturday.  I made my way through the traffic of the big city and on to Eric's house where I was greeted with great hospitality from the Hanson family.  I also got to meet the other two riders making the trek with us, Erik Retterbush and Stephanie Fisk, two wonderful people of whom I am very excited to be spending the next week of my life with.  Since I have been here we have spent out time making a few plans for the trip, drinking some Fat Tires (the official drink of this adventure), throwing the frisbee, and enjoying some wonderful food (thanks to Mrs. Hanson). 

    Today we got up and went to a Easter service here in Scottsdale where we met up with a friend of Eric's who gave us some last minute tips for the trip.  This guy has done an Iron Man Triathlon.  And for those of you who do not know that is just over 2 miles of swimming, 112 miles of biking, and a full marathon (26 miles) of running to top it off.  He did it in 16 hours...crazy!  So, it was good to talk to him for a bit and get some advice and encouragement.  After the service we made our way back to the Hanson household where we relaxed for a bit and had a wonderful easter dinner and then relaxed some more.  After a while we began to do a final tune up on all of the bikes to make sure they were ready to go and then we made a stop at the grocery store to get all of our fuel for the week.  When we returned we had a big spaghetti dinner to get some carbs in our bodies and now we are packing the last of our bags and preparing to get some rest before we embark on a journey of a life time.  

     Our plan for tomorrow is leave the house by 7 am, drive to the west side of Phoenix, and attempt to get as close to Prescott as we can (about 80-90 miles) where we will be met by some friends who are bringing us dinner for the night and possibly camping out with us.  However, we have had a few minor setbacks.  The de-railer on Erik's bike broke yesterday so it is out of commission, and our plan to have someone drive our pace car also fell through due to scheduling conflicts.  So, now our plan is to rotate driving the car between the four of us.  We will all still be riding everyday, just not the whole distance of everyday.  And we now have a new bike for Erik (thanks to Mr. Hanson) and the driving situation is all worked out.  Now, we are just waiting in anticipation to get on our bikes.  

     So, that is that.  Thanks again to everyone for all of your support and encouragement.  I will doing my best to give you guys updates throughout the trip, so keep checking up on us and keep praying for us.  And please help us in trying to spread the word.  Happy Easter to everyone and thanks again.  Much love.