onte Saxby, math teacher for Skagit Adventist Academy in Washington Conference, has always wanted to do a “big” bike ride.  This summer he will have the opportunity to do just that.  Having a decade birthday this year, he says he “needs” to do it.  So, he challenged himself to ride his bicycle to the 2018 Teachers’ Convention in Chicago, IL.  His wife agreed to help (driving the support vehicle), then his son, Craig, said he also wanted to do it and his wife would join in the support vehicle.

Monte is a math teacher and his planning for the big ride shows careful planning.  If all goes as planned the father-son duo will ride 2,296 miles in 19 days (plus three Sabbath rests).  That averages to more than a “century” per day of riding.  The planned northern route from Mount Vernon, WA, to Chicago, Illinois will take him from WA through ID, MT, ND, MN, WI and then IL.  The seven states scenery includes nearly ten miles in elevation gain (51,964 feet) and almost that much in exhilarating descents as Chicago, on the shores of Lake Michigan, in only about 400 feet higher in elevation than Mount Vernon, Washington, on the shores of Puget Sound and the Pacific Ocean.  Regardless, the miles of innumerable rotations of the bike pedals are Monte and Craig’s challenge.  Watch for the video diary to come and pray for Monte and Craig as they discover what they’re made of.