Today I was introduced to mountain biking in the Bay Area, by a friend, Jonathon Evans. Jonathon and I met when I visited SFTS 2 1/2 years ago. He's since graduated and working as a chaplain at a local elementary school in San Jose, CA.
The view overlooking Santa Cruz and towards Monterrey Bay.
I began the day down at Valley Presbyterian Church in Portola Valley outside of San Jose. Former PC(USA) GA Moderator and current moderator of Prebyterian Peace Fellowship, Rick Ufford-Chase, spoke about the future of the church. He sees mission as vital to the livelihood and strength of the church, getting people involved in mission work that moves the heart and soul... quite inspiring to listen to! He also only 'lasted' one semester at seminary - we'll see how I do!
About to bring down the hammer
In the afternoon, we headed out towards Santa Cruz, and about half-way through the mountains turned off onto Summit Road to do some serious trail-riding. We climbed for about 45 minutes, pausing to take these pictures before turning our wheels downhill for an exhilerating blast down the mountain on intense single-track.
Two Studs, Ready to Gid 'er Dun
At times it felt like I was skipping down the hill, so fast I was going and how many stair-drops there were on the trail. (However, I was never
too out of control, Mom!) At the end of the day, I could not deny what a beautiful place this is, especially for the adventurous, and how fortunate I am to have friends to show me around!
Barbara Evans, who kindly opted not to come and show us up, was more than happy to join us for dinner back at the ranch... and introduce me to another exhilerating experience, but one I couldn't quite handle: olive oil and black pepper on vanilla ice cream!
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