Friday, February 13, 2009

A New Door is Opened


Our new doorway/window in the new tech. booth

An antique fuse box we found in the crawlspace under the church...
This week’s blog is about doors. Not the kind in your house, or the one to the new tech. booth at Aldersgate, but the ones that are opened to you when you least expect it. Last week while working a graveyard shift, I found the time to browse Bentrideronline.com. I usually check there on the mids as I can sometimes find my friend, Pete from Canberra. Since Pete wasn’t around (I found out later that BROL had crashed on him) I decided to browse a bit and see what was new in the world of ‘bent cycling. I read a post from my friend, Denny who was recruiting for volunteers to be crew/race support for RAAM, The Race Across America.

Now, a few folks had responded to the general post with the generic response of ”Well, I sure would like to, but I can’t!” And then something clicked in my head that said: “Well, I will be retired, I can!!” (This is a not too subtle hint to note the retirement counter to the right). So, not to inundate you with all the details, I enjoyed two phone interviews with Denny, and then Dave Eldridge, the team leader, and just like that, I am on the team! We are TeamType2; an eight-man racing team made up of cyclists from around the country who are type-two diabetics.


3025 miles, 7 days, only 50 miles on interstate...
Now that you have come this far, what is RAAM anyway? RAAM is a 3025-mile cycling race, from Oceanside, CA to Annapolis, MD. The race proceeds around the clock, and is made up of solo racers, two man, four man, and eight man teams. The teams all have support crews in the form of volunteers riding in vans and motor homes whose only goal is to shepherd the racers across the country. Did I mention we ride around the clock? It is going to be an exciting week. Yes, I said an exciting WEEK. Our goal for TeamType2 is to start on Sunday, June20th, and be in Annapolis on June27th.
Ok, how hot was it in Adelaide?
I don’t know what drove me to open the “Events” section of BROL, it isn’t a usual browsing place for me. But, there was the doorway, and I looked inside. The upshot of this new adventure in my life is that as I edge closer to retirement from 33 years of air traffic control, is that I am learning about all the new horizons in my life. I don’t know where this new adventure called “retirement” will take me;
Rest assured, I will not be spending my retirement like this fella...
I am not sure if I will take on a new job, torment high school students as a substitute, mow fairways in Arizona, ride a brevet super-series, or just finally fix everything in my house! But I do know that I will be most aware of the doorways around me, and that I will be ready at a moments notice to open a few of them and peek inside!
14 inches of snow this week, spinning in the garage until it warms up!
Jim

8 comments:

Lynn said...

Wow! I'm not sure I can say anything more than Wow!!! Scot is sitting behind me right now calculating how this whole race thing works. I say - good for you! According to the math genius (ie. Scot), you will need to average 432.5 miles per day with a speed of 18 miles per hour. He's freaking out for you. LOL
As for the "doors" comment, we regularly thank God for doors when we pray in our family. He's always got interesting things for us to see and do when we are open to the opportunity and step through the door.

Jim said...

I am jsut the motorhome driver! The list of logistics and things I get to help with would make your head spin!

My head has been spinning for 5 days!

Anonymous said...

Good luck with the race! And if I were you, I'd join the Lemur in your retirement :-P

It was stupid hot in Adelaide, we were only an idiot away from the same sort of bushfires that Victoria got. I see you have one of the "person giving water to a koala" picture that have become so prevalent this last week. I'm sure that the Victorians would appreciate any prayers you can throw their way.

Anonymous said...

Jim,
Is it a setting thing or are all the image links broken on this post?????

Jim said...

Nope, they all seem to work, must be a setting thing...

Unknown said...

hey jim,

I really like your blog and was wondering what your email is? Ive got a question to ask you.

Kris
knivesinfinity@gmail.com

jake and erin said...

Wow Jim, that's cool!
erin

Jim said...

Kris, Ask away, here.