This is just a quick note to let everyone know that I survived my bike ride from Saint Louis to Omaha. Since then I have driven up to Bismarck for the ordination of now Father Justin Waltz. The ordination was amazing. Next, I drove back to Omaha and am now in the full swing of the Institute for Priestly Formation summer program.

In fact starting tonight I am on an 8-day, silent, Ignatian retreat. I won't be checking e-mail or answering the phone all week. So if I don't answer that doesn't mean I didn't survive my bike trip. It means I'm spending time alone with God.

-Jason

This is a snapshot of my new touring bike, a Novara Randonee. Unlike my Schwinn lightweight "racing" bike (yeah, like I'm fast enough to race) this is geared much lower for long rides, hills, and heavy hauling.

As I started to get a feel for my new set of wheels, I couldn't help but think of it as a truck. Sure, it can go fast. It just takes a while to get up to speed. And you'd better be in the right gear if you want to get it moving. But it's a smooooooth ride.

A few years back, a friend nicknamed my old Schwinn mountain bike the "Silver Streak." My black Schwinn "race" bike never got a nickname. Maybe I felt it was too cool for a nickname. But the new Randonee, while not cool, has 'personality.'

It reminds me of the good ol' Griswold Family Truckster.

Yeah, that fits. This bike is the Truckster. As Uncle Eddy would say, "Real nice, Clark. Real nice."

Why would I pick up a new bike? Well, for a new kind of bike ride. As I hinted in an earlier post, I was considering a solo bike ride on some rail trail, gravel, and highway from Saint Louis to Omaha. I've decided to go for it, beginning tomorrow.

If you want to see more closely what route I am following, check out this amazing little web-based Google Maps thing I wasted an hour playing with today. You can see where I'll be riding, plotted on a Google Map, along with map pins indicating services that are along my route. Check it out!

This Outlook alert just popped up on my screen. The semester is over. Thanks be to God! I had three final exams in three days, and I'm running a little low on sleep. But this morning we had a beautiful Mass, followed by my last exam of the semester.

It's a mix of sadness as we say goodbye to the guys who won't be returning or who will be ordained. But it's a pleasure to see the guys I know finishing up and beginning their priestly ministry. I myself, God willing, have THREE years left. But the way time is passing, I will be Father Jason in no time. Frightening.