Prayers for Frustration

Today I went down to our local military surplus and picked up a poncho. It was advertised is equivalent to the US government issue stuff, and it was all they had. It was not equivalent. It was a very cheap knock-off at too high a price; it’s not even close to full sized. It’s about right for a large child. If I search online, I see a lot of vendors assuring me I can get the government issue item, but then the pictures show the kind of cheap junk I bought today. I can’t trust any of them.

This represents what I’ve been running into a lot lately on things. Right now we have a windfall, but it’s almost as if forces of darkness are trying to consume all of it on junk. Not everything turns out sour, but something like half of it is just useless effort, chasing the wind. I’m not deterred, but I know that this isn’t going to get anywhere without some prayer support. Keep your money (unless you want to spring for that new bike); pray with me about how to use the money I already have.

I’m not going to replace my current bike until I can gather up something over $2k. That’s for something specifically designed for what I’m doing (Trek 920). What’s out there for sale at lower prices is no better than what I have, or it’s not at all designed for what I need. Unless my current bike simply breaks down completely, I’m going to keep riding it. So for now, I need to get two more things fixed, and both need special tools that I haven’t been able to find yet. There are still some bike stores I haven’t checked. Keep in mind that the tools have to be chosen for the bike, so it must be with me when I get them. The two issues are: the freehub and the bottom bracket bearings. Things will work okay for a while, but I want to get them fixed before I get out on the long trips.

I will have to build a front luggage rack, because apparently nobody makes a generic one that will work with my bike. I have a few ideas, and none of them are expensive, but they will require using materials I have little experience with. It has to be pretty lightweight. Since there’s no way I can get the right kind of aluminum tubing and bend it, and then weld it, I’ll have to use combinations of things like fiberglass rods and short pieces of curved steel tubing held together by epoxy — this is my current idea. Yes, I need a front rack. Long rides with all the load on the back are frankly dangerous. The load needs to be balanced between front and rear.

Camping gear is a little more flexible, so I’m not sweating that so much. I’ll have to order the sleeping bag; nothing available locally is suitable without being way too expensive. Same with the sleeping pad. They won’t stock the good stuff that costs less. My junk poncho will serve as a ground cover; I still need to identify a good tent that will be easy to carry and use. I’m pretty happy with my cameras for now. My emphasis will be telling the story of my experiences in writing, with pictures to breathe life into it. Right now, I don’t feel led to worry too much about video. I’ll do that in small doses for things like panoramas of terrain. I’m not even thinking about a camera drone; those cost way too much for too little gain.

Some of the things I’ll emphasize: advocacy of cycling itself, particularly here in Oklahoma. Not just recreational use, but to indicate what sort of things people could do with bikes. I’ll be putting pressure on the system to accommodate cyclists and tent camping, both of which are sorely lacking in Oklahoma, particularly in some of the most beautiful areas. Another emphasis is the communion with nature, not just the visual beauty. I haven’t forgotten the heart-led way by any means; I want to touch all of Creation with at least one experience of a heart-led human. I’m starting right here where I live, and I’ll be developing more writing on how that works. But not just the writing, the pictures and videos must arise from that communion, and should help to transmit that experience back to folks who see my work. I don’t want to compete with the YouTube guys and gals; this needs to be something different.

This needs prayer so that I don’t get sidetracked from the core issue. The current advocacy for bikepacking is not in tune with what God has called me to do. Some of it overlaps, but there’s plenty that completely misses the point, and won’t accommodate me trying to make that point until they embrace what we have.