No More Training Wheels: Riding the White Line

By Rita Humbert and Mick Humbert

Mick and Rita use bicycling related stories to introduce topics concerning their life and marriage for their family and future generations to enjoy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jul 18, 2013
• ISBN: 9781481773102

Rita Humbert

Mick and Rita currently live in Hastings, MN but look forward to semi-retirement at Dunn Lake near Spooner WI. Both are proud parents of two wonderful daughters, Katie and Teresa.

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2013 by Mick and Rita Humbert. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 07/12/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4817-7312-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4817-7311-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4817-7310-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013911757

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

CONTENTS

Introduction

Availability

Being…

Even Jesus had an Off Day

Everything is Not Possible

Everything That Goes Around Comes Around

Having it Their Way

It was not Supposed to be this Way

Others are Human

Pregnant Anticipation

Truth & Consequences; Inside or Outside

Wealth

WHEN IT IS CAESAR’S TURN

Who has the Right of THE WAY

You are Human

Your Mother and I dedicate this book to family;

that which we had with our parents and that which we cherish with the both of you.

There is nothing more grace filled, private,

and personal than family.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

To all those whose shoulders we have stood on that has made our appreciation of marriage and family possible; first and foremost Katie and Teresa—for while we were, the parents, we learned much from you as well. Finally for all future family members, if we are so fortunate, we acknowledge in advance how graced and blessed we will be to have you in our lives.

1 Corinthians 13:11

When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became an (adult), I did away with childish things.

INTRODUCTION

In the writing of the three books, Pedestrian Crossings, Traffic Tickets and Thunderstorms, and now No More Training Wheels, cycling serves as a starting point for bringing forth significant issues in life. While having a backdrop of bicycling, each book has become more personal with time. No More Training Wheels centers around life and living, family and otherwise. Your Mother and I can think of no more precious gift to give you, in the year after each of your weddings, than the memories and the insights we have learned while engaged in the magic, mystery, and sometimes the muck of matrimony and life.

This is not a road map to happiness or how to avoid the potholes in marriage or living, even though you may take such insights from our writing if you wish. You will travel through your own marriage and life generally, filled with their own situations and decisions to be made. We have frequently stated we only had each of you on loan for a period of time to nurture and guide. Eventually, we were destined to let you go so you could follow your own path; to pedal into and through your own journey. Now is the time for each of you to lean not only on your previous training, but most importantly on your tandem partner in going forward. Indeed it is the time of no more training wheels for each of you.

The subjects are organized alphabetically and therefore no special sequencing was applied. While each chapter begins with a passage from the New American translation of the Bible, a similar focus will be explored from one of the bicycling trips to set the stage for your Mother and I to reflect on our own lives in a situation with the same theme. Whether writing on the same events or not, our goal is to lay before you what happened, how we reacted, decisions that were made, and finally how we continued to roll along in life.

You have now chosen to complete your solo phase of life and with it, its training. We pray and wish you the best in what we consider the most magical and challenging journey of your life, matrimony. Most of the time it will seem like the sun is shining with a healthy tailwind. But there will be times when you will feel like you are lost, and even more challenging, feel like you would like to go back to the beginning and start over. But make no mistake, both your Mother and I feel the tandem ride of marriage and that of family with which we were blessed, to be worth every hill, flat, and pothole.

No more training wheels, Teresa and Katie. As you continue to choose your own path, may you find this book, as our family life together has been, a testimony to the cycle of life.

Matthew 9:35-37

Jesus went around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness. At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.

AVAILABILITY

A DOG GONE NICE THING TO DO

Early in the fall 2003 Lake Superior trip that I did with Scott Yoho, our first overnight was in Duluth. We left from Ashland, WI on my birthday after my Dad drove us up to Ashland from the Dunn Lake cabin. Although I had experienced overnight hospitality on a large scale during the Hab 500 rides and the NW MN treaty boundary ride with Teresa, this would be my first ride with no easy bailout plan. On the Hab500 rides of course, there was ride support at all times if necessary. On the NW treaty boundary ride, the folks from Red Lake would have bailed us out of a jam if really necessary. On this ride however, while having overnight stays established, there would be no one to come pick either of us up easily. So fully loaded short of tent and cooking equipment, each day brought not only the effort spent in riding, but the anticipation of whether overnight hospitality would work out as planned.

On the first day of riding, it was apparent Scott was a bit faster than I on his lighter bike, but both of us accommodated to the situation well. Going over a bridge from Superior WI to Duluth MN, two small bolts in my rear panniers loosened up on one bag and we had to rig a temporary fix that would get me to the overnight host. After doing a bit of sightseeing down by the harbor, we road our bikes on the board walk until we reached our last uphill climb of the day. Half way up the hill on the north side of Duluth was the small house of our first overnight stay and the introduction to our first overnight host. Lynda welcomed us warmly, and to Scott’s joy, her companion dog Beau. While Scott was enjoying the dog’s company, Lynda got her toolbox out so I had better tools with which to reattach the two bolts on my pannier. We had pleasant conversation about owning a dog, Habitat for Humanity, and the Duluth affiliate. Scott and I were raising money for Habitat affiliates around Lake Superior for which we asked for overnight hospitality. If there was no affiliate where we needed to stay, we tried church related hospitality and only asked that they use the money for housing related purposes.

Lynda had heard of our efforts through her affiliate, and graciously opened her home for our overnight stay. Being our first experience on the trip of overnight hospitality, Lynda made a strong impression on me. She opened her home to two strangers from a different area through a general appeal with little knowledge of us except a phone conversation or two. More importantly, she was a single female welcoming two male strangers into her home for an overnight stay. We comfortably slept on our air mattress sleeping bag combo while she slept upstairs with her dog. Scott and I gave our deepest thanks