Helmets Up!  Our morning prayer and send off for each of our daily Freedom Tour rides started off with “Helmets Up!”

A simple gesture – raising helmets in the air, bringing the team together, reminding us of our purpose, setting a course for the day, choosing a “word” for the day, lifting up prayer.

My sixth year on the Tour was different – no helmet for me this year. Injuries earlier in the year prevented me from riding all but one leg of the Front Range Tour. Oh, how I wanted to be riding. It wasn’t meant to be. There’s always next year.

Even though I couldn’t ride, I was part of the support team for the Tour. I will always remember watching everyone cruise through the hills south of Castle Rock (and surviving the awful roads leading to Palmer Lake). I will remember watching everyone climb from Aspen to the top of Independence Pass. I marvel how such a mix of age, ability and life experiences in the riders came together to form a group who rode for the children - encouraging each other, helping each other, and pulling each other to the top. Amazing!

I hope to ride the Mountain Tour next year. I welcome and need the challenge. The Home of Hope needs our help.  I look forward to more great experiences and more memories:  rainstorms, detours, big climbs, swift descents, wiffle ball, ice cream, show and tell, old friends, new friends, mountain tops…2020!

The main reason I ride with the Freedom Tour family is the people! Yes, I love bikes, but I especially enjoy the people who ride them.

We ride to bring hope to each other and to the children at the Home of Hope in New Delhi, India. The theme of the Freedom Tour is “Hope changes what is possible”. I like that but more importantly, I believe that.

In 2017 I rode the Mountain Tour with my son who had recently moved into our home after a series of struggles resulted in the loss of his job and ending of his marriage. It had been 30 years since we rode regularly during his High School years. Hope was desperately needed if a new beginning was to take place. The first evening of the tour each person shared some of their story. I heard stories of personal challenges and how they were faced with the help of faith and friendships. Hope was in the room. We listened to and encouraged each other. A bond of friendship was born that night and the days of riding in the occasional cold and rain could not dampen our spirits.

Each time I have ridden with the Freedom Tour, I have enjoyed the fellowship of some incredible people. We arrive as individuals from different places and with unique stories. When we depart we say farewell to fellow riders who have become brothers and sisters on the journey of hope.