Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well.

Romans 12:4-6

If I were to break down this “bike odyssey” into its component parts then this post would be something like “Stage Six.”

1. On a bike for the first time in 35 years (My First Bicycle Ride).
2. Immediately started daily rides.
3. Logged my first 20-mile road ride with “The Crew” (Pushing it…)
4. Participated in the Scotland Neck community ride.
5. Acquired my own bike.

6. – Stage Six comprises A) Steve’s garage for an inspection/evaluation and getting a sense of what this new bike is going to need. And B) First contact with Moore’s Bicycle Shop in Rocky Mount.

This is kind of a key principle with me. If I am going to do something, especially something new and designed to help me stay healthy during my 70’s, then I intend to do it right.

So the good folk over at Moore’s are currently a couple of days into taking care of some important repairs, and I am very much looking forward to my first real ride.

My friend Steve is a retired airline pilot who started his career in aviation maintenance. He still enjoys tinkering and his garage is kind of a triage center for all things bike.

So Steve kindly took my new bicycle to pieces so we could clean the components and evaluate the mechanisms and hook the gear drive up to a stationary system designed to… well I’m not quite sure what it was supposed to do but it was really cool… and we calibrated things like the distance from the saddle to the pedals, the alignment of the wheels, the tread on the tires, the amount of play in the links of the chain.

Historically (and probably in the future too) I do not have the best track record when it comes to staying on top of maintenance. When I was a kid my bike was often partially disassembled and out of action for just that reason.

So I guess I am going to have to make Steve’s garage a regular stop on my ongoing Tour de Tarboro.

This simple fact of “needing one another” is the bottom line point of this post.

Community

We all have stuff that we are good at, resources, gifts we can share. God’s intention from the get-go has always been community – or communion – both with God and with our fellow humans.

Real community is always about encouragement and mutual strengthening and equipping. We are stronger as individuals because we are stronger together.

This is what Jesus taught, this is what God intends. I like this phrase I wrote and have used in several of my books: “Christianity is best experienced as a team sport.”

I am so very grateful for the good folk who are on my team.

– DEREK