So whats next?
Ahh decisions decisions. Well the last week or so has been eventful to say the least. For those of you who have been following the trip for some time you know how much my fathers bike meant to me so we don’t need to go over that again.
I would however like to give you a key piece of information that I have not shared thus far. Sort of a backstory to the evolving story of this trip.
Many of you have known me for sometime and you will recall that I did youth work at a few different congregations in my 20´s. I have always enjoyed working at a local congregation. However the past few years as I lived in Ohio i took time off from that and went to grad school. As I finished I felt the desire to be involved with that again. I have always enjoyed working with a good group of people for a common goal.
So I left Ohio with a dream to ride a bike around the world, but underneath was a growing desire to serve with a great group of people at a local congregation. I wouldn’t call them competing passions as much as they existed simultaneously.
In September some 3 weeks after I left Hudson, Ohio I received a phone call in Omaha, Nebraska on a Sunday afternoon from a long time friend who called to ask if I would be interested in being a part of their church staff. This was not a job offer but it was a call to see how much I would be interested. My heart jumped but the timing didn’t feel right. Momentum was gathering for our trip. People were excited about it. I checked with my wolfpack and the conscensus was to keep riding. My friends at the church understood and told me that whenever I was done I should come and be apart of their church family. The seed had been planted. For the last few months that seed has grown and I have felt very peaceful about that being the next step for me. I also laid the groundwork for beginning my Doctorate if and when I made that decision. I have prayed everyday that I could do my best and just keep moving forward in life.
This past week with my bike getting stolen I revisited this idea again. I began to wonder if this might be the appropriate time to make this transition. At first I thought I couldn’t end this trip on such a negative note. But is it really negative? I have had the privilege, NO the blessing to have been able to ride my bicycle 6000 miles across Canada. Another 2400 miles from Ohio to San Diego. And another 2600 miles from San Diego to the Panama Canal. I have seen and experienced so many things that people typically never get a chance to. There is nothing to feel negative about. I have made many friends and have tried to share this experience with as many people as possible through the ride4water blog, twitter, and facebook. I try to be an objective person and the truth is I have a great life and future full of even better possibilities. Sometimes life is messy. Things happen that we don’t want to happen. Our plans don’t workout. The vision we have gets altered. This is the hardest time to figure out what's next.
My next thought was what happens to ride4water? Well the answer is the ride4water will continue. Dane is going to keep riding and is currently looking for a new riding partner. If you are interested at all in riding with Dane in South America for 1 week, 1 month, or 4 months please email him at danehorak@gmail.com. From the beginning ride4waters purpose was to help bring clean water to people in Fiji through raising awareness and funds. This PURPOSE continues. Dane will be blogging, tweeting, and facebooking each day just as I have been. HOPEFULLY some fellow free spirit out there will quit their job and meet up with Dane! Come on live the Dream people! Or if you are interested in riding another section of the trip say Europe or Africa etc. myself and Give Clean Water will do whatever we can to help you with this! I can tell you from experience it has been a blast mixing my love of cycling and adventure with trying to serve and help others. For the next 3-4 weeks Dane will be traveling with our friend Pablo around Venezuela, Brazil, and Ecuador and plans to continue riding in about 1 month when some friends of our arrive to Columbia, but if you are interested get ahold of Dane. The more the merrier as Dane and I prefer to ride with at least 1 other person.
So I will be moving to San Diego, beginning my Doctorate, and serving in any way I can at a congregation that I think is great. Those are my goals. If these don't pan out for me I can always ride again. Its all good. Thank you for following and commenting and being involved. You don’t know how many times it made my day to hear from people. Dane will continue the daily stories and I'm sure there will be much more adventure ahead.
6 of you have asked if you could help me get a new bike. I worked with my bike shop sponsor La Habra Cyclery to get a new bike. I have it and I'm loving it. I paid fir it with my own money because I didn't feel comfortable soliciting funds for that when I didn't know if I would be continuing the ride. Thank you to those who offered to help. I would ask to consider taking that money and buying a water filter for $100 to help get a family of 4 water for a lifetime in Fiji.
Thanks for your friendship and support,
Ryan Delamater
Ride4water via Iphone4