At the early service this morning, I heard the Word of the Lord from Psalm 121:
"The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this day on even forevermore."
I thought that was a good word for my trip which involves REALLY going out and HOPEFULLY coming in.
Plus I heard a profound sermon on Love from John 3:16. Now there is a verse that is oh so familiar but not easy to preach from without being trite. This morning's sermon was profound. Just what I needed anyway.
So I rode the back roads (not the freeways) from Lexington to Fayetteville, Tennessee. It was about 8 hours of making the little 200 cc engine huff and puff as fast as it could, which is about 55 mph. Everybody passes me, which I don't mind. But I was shocked, just SHOCKED, when I actually passed someone just outside of Cookeville! That guy was on a Sunday afternoon ride!
It's Fayetteville because that is where I left off my trip in May, so I have to pick back up at that exact spot naturally. Tomorrow will be off road on the TAT (TransAmerica Trail). This path from Andrews, North Carolina to Port Orford, Oregon is probably 90% off road using gravel roads and forest roads. Sam Correro is an off road motorcycle rider, and he was the one who poured over the topographical maps and personally explored the whole route and thus "invented" the TAT.
I first heard about it at a gas station in Asheville, North Carolina last October when a motorcycle buddy and I were riding the Blue Ridge Parkway. We stopped to get gas, and some guys were there filling up a fire truck. They immediately came over and started enthusiastically telling us about the TAT. Well! That was it for me! I HAD to do it. I didn't know when or how, but I'm the kind of guy who can't resist when I hear about a great adventure like that.
When I returned from that trip, I began researching off road motorcycles and finally decided that the Yamaha TW200 was tame enough for an old guy like me. I found a used one, and started learning about off road adventure riding. It has not been an easy process for me, and I admit that I am a rank amateur at this. But I did manage the section from Andrews, North Carolina to here in May, and that was some of the toughest riding. From here through Mississippi, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, I expect to be mostly just riding on gravel roads. But I don't know for sure. I DO plan to take the easy options rather than the hard options. That's because I am a rank beginner; I am an old guy; I am riding alone; and I am a coward. If you ever watch youtube videos of those guys riding on the sheer edges of cliffs out West, it will scare you too. I don't plan to take unnecessary risks. I just want to get there alive. I might be more brave if I had someone riding with me, but I don't. So it will be adventure enough if I complete it, even on the easy paths.
But I don't have to worry too much because a dear sweet member of the church in Danville is on her back porch praying for me (and worrying about me). Henrietta is probably 93 so she couldn't come with me, but if she had been younger maybe!
Oh! The map. If you have an interest in following geographically, you can do that thanks to Garmin. I have a Garmin GPS which sends track marks by satellite every 10 minutes while I am moving. My friends and family can see exactly where I have been and where I am by going to this web site:
https://share.garmin.com/CHESTERANDERS
Yeah, I registered by my first name Chester, but that's me. You can open that web site while I am traveling and refresh it every 10 minutes or so and actually see me moving toward Oregon! Is that cool or what?
Well, that is if I remember to turn on the tracking. Today, I didn't figure that out until I got to Liberty, so the track of this day shows me starting there. Oops.
It's going to be a grand adventure. I just have to remember: The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this day on even forevermore! Oh, and that Henrietta is praying for me. I hope you do too.
"The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this day on even forevermore."
I thought that was a good word for my trip which involves REALLY going out and HOPEFULLY coming in.
Plus I heard a profound sermon on Love from John 3:16. Now there is a verse that is oh so familiar but not easy to preach from without being trite. This morning's sermon was profound. Just what I needed anyway.
So I rode the back roads (not the freeways) from Lexington to Fayetteville, Tennessee. It was about 8 hours of making the little 200 cc engine huff and puff as fast as it could, which is about 55 mph. Everybody passes me, which I don't mind. But I was shocked, just SHOCKED, when I actually passed someone just outside of Cookeville! That guy was on a Sunday afternoon ride!
It's Fayetteville because that is where I left off my trip in May, so I have to pick back up at that exact spot naturally. Tomorrow will be off road on the TAT (TransAmerica Trail). This path from Andrews, North Carolina to Port Orford, Oregon is probably 90% off road using gravel roads and forest roads. Sam Correro is an off road motorcycle rider, and he was the one who poured over the topographical maps and personally explored the whole route and thus "invented" the TAT.
I first heard about it at a gas station in Asheville, North Carolina last October when a motorcycle buddy and I were riding the Blue Ridge Parkway. We stopped to get gas, and some guys were there filling up a fire truck. They immediately came over and started enthusiastically telling us about the TAT. Well! That was it for me! I HAD to do it. I didn't know when or how, but I'm the kind of guy who can't resist when I hear about a great adventure like that.
When I returned from that trip, I began researching off road motorcycles and finally decided that the Yamaha TW200 was tame enough for an old guy like me. I found a used one, and started learning about off road adventure riding. It has not been an easy process for me, and I admit that I am a rank amateur at this. But I did manage the section from Andrews, North Carolina to here in May, and that was some of the toughest riding. From here through Mississippi, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, I expect to be mostly just riding on gravel roads. But I don't know for sure. I DO plan to take the easy options rather than the hard options. That's because I am a rank beginner; I am an old guy; I am riding alone; and I am a coward. If you ever watch youtube videos of those guys riding on the sheer edges of cliffs out West, it will scare you too. I don't plan to take unnecessary risks. I just want to get there alive. I might be more brave if I had someone riding with me, but I don't. So it will be adventure enough if I complete it, even on the easy paths.
But I don't have to worry too much because a dear sweet member of the church in Danville is on her back porch praying for me (and worrying about me). Henrietta is probably 93 so she couldn't come with me, but if she had been younger maybe!
Oh! The map. If you have an interest in following geographically, you can do that thanks to Garmin. I have a Garmin GPS which sends track marks by satellite every 10 minutes while I am moving. My friends and family can see exactly where I have been and where I am by going to this web site:
https://share.garmin.com/CHESTERANDERS
Yeah, I registered by my first name Chester, but that's me. You can open that web site while I am traveling and refresh it every 10 minutes or so and actually see me moving toward Oregon! Is that cool or what?
Well, that is if I remember to turn on the tracking. Today, I didn't figure that out until I got to Liberty, so the track of this day shows me starting there. Oops.
It's going to be a grand adventure. I just have to remember: The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this day on even forevermore! Oh, and that Henrietta is praying for me. I hope you do too.
x
Praying indeed! Enjoy the adventure, and remember the Lord neither slumbers or sleeps. Godspeed, Mickey!
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