it was surreal. having traveled some 803 miles on our bicycles through 6 states over 11 days. climbing more than 31,000 feet in elevation. not sure if there was any metaphor in the fact that the 13 riders road in on level ground before a standing ovation by the crowd of 13,000 plus in attendance. humbling and so encouraging that the story of the need in Joplin and Tuscaloosa is being told and how Convoy of Hope will impact those who are rebuilding. it was fun to meet and talk with one of my mentors and heroes – Lanny Donho backstage, who then rode in with us and interviewed Pastor Aaron Brown and Hal Donaldson and then encouraged the audience to invest by texting PRESENT to 50555.
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Present:Hope Tour – Riding on stage at Catalyst 11
Song on Tuscaloosa – 5:13
for one of our morning conversations on the tour we were made aware of this song authored by 3 students at University of Alabama (Roll Tide!) the song was written just days after the tornadoes ripped through Tuscaloosa on April 27th @ 5:13 pm. thought is was so encouraging that these students would take their talents and leverage them to make a difference. From the The University of Alabama student newspaper : The Crimson White:
About a month after the April 27 tornado, citizens of Tuscaloosa are still finding ways to help uplift the community. One of these ways is through music. Three UA alumni, Ryan Davis, Andrew Cotten and Michael Battito, wrote a song called “5:13” to send a message of hope to the people of Tuscaloosa.
According to Davis, the song’s title was inspired by the moment that the tornado first touched down in the city. Davis, who also goes by his rap alter ego Kadesh, rapped on the song and described it as alternative hip-hop. full story
present, hopeful and spadex
that’s the 3 three things we wanted as a team to be sure of as we moved through this incredible adventure God invited us into called the Present:Hope Tour. a team of 13 men and women…ages 22 -65. the most craziest of adventures. so much more to tell. but yet simply we desired as a team to be present to all we walked with…each other and all we met. in our living life together was to be hopeful…again to each other…and to those we met…and final we wanted to be like our glamorous bike kits…spandex…completely flexible…again in our caring community of 13 men and women as we journeyed some 803 miles and in every situation to not miss what God is and was doing. so much more to say. grateful to convoy of hope, hello somebody and venture expeditions…and the team.
bama, georgia and a cool dip.
Ride day 8 - Tuscaloosa, AL to Birmingham, AL
ride day 9 - birmingham to heflin
we left out of tuscaloosa early monday morning and made the ride into birmingham…about 85 miles. once there we had the opportunity to run back into the city and visit the 16th st baptist church which was where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. served as a pastor. its an impressive building near the city’s downtown. we also visited a impressive local coffee bar called the urban standard.
on tuesday we set out on what would be another century ride, our 4th of this trip. it was a little crazy going on the front end, traffic wise. the last 40 miles was on The Chief Ladiga Trail. It is a 33 mile rail trail from Pedimont, Alabama to the Alabama-Georgia state. The trail is paved for 21 miles with the remaining 12 miles through Talladega National Forest
The trail environment is diverse with farmland, forest, streams and wetlands.connect with the Silver Comet Trail in Georgia creating a non-stop route of almost 100 miles. we’ll continue on this trail for part of today as we head into the Gwinnett Center in Duluth, GA on Atlanta’s north side. it will be about 85 miles.
one great memory from this trip was a random stop three of us made as we entered int talladega county, al. we passed over an amazing old truss bridge near a lake. it was so inviting we pulled over and asked a gentlemen if we could take a quick dip. so along with my sojourners, Josh Iniguez and Brad Godwin we took advantage for a cool dip. it was one of this spur of the moment things that just had to be done. Josh is with our organizers, venture expeditions and explained that early on in venture’s beginning years they would never quite know where they were staying each nite on their bike travels. So anytime the came close to a body of water they would jump in just to get refreshed and “clean”.
tuscaloosa – day of rest
Ride Day 7-Columbus, MS to Tuscaloosa, AL
We rolled into Tuscaloosa after a really enjoyable ride from columbus, ms. the weather was sunny but cool and for the most part the roads were easy to travel, although the traffic was busier that preferred for the last 10 miles or so. we arrived around 3:30pm and had a easy nite.
sabbath is important. and especially on a venture like the Present:Hope Tour. It was good to sleep in and have a leisurely morning before joining in the services at our church host in tuscaloosa- first wesleyan. pastor joel and his bride traci were incredibly gracious. the time of worship was refreshing and restoring. the worship team is large…a small orchestra…offering an encouraging time of worship…something that all of us on the team found a blessing…and a time of restoration and healing.
for lunch we were hosted at a picnic by Holy Cross Lutheran Church in a local park. lots of great food and fellowship and some fun games. played a version of corn hole (it had three holes in the board and used smalled bean bags), had an egg toss and tried to guess the number of buttons in a jar. after the picnic we met back up with pastor joel who then gave us tour of the area showing us the damage left by the tornado.
its amazing how much clean up is still needed. many buildings still covered with blue tarps. it was sobering to drive and see the destruction. we ended our time at the Pizza Palace. The Palace survived the tornado with only blown out windows. as we were leaving we drove just behind the store into an area that was a housing complex. possessions strewn about…many valuables just left on the ground. clothing still hanging in closets…but roofs and walls gone. again…its been more than 5 months.
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