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Agony: 2006
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Riders' Quotes
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Students' Thoughts
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Agony Scoreboard
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Reflections by
Caryn Galeckas
Each year it just gets better!
24-Hour Agony Bicycle Ride coasts to success
Thirteen former CEM interns, five former
students, and five ex-staff members joined a
77-member bicycle force to show their
support for the young people currently at
Christian Encounter Ranch. Cyclists
traveled from North Carolina and Alabama and
many California locations to the lovely
Sierra Valley just north of Lake Tahoe to
participate-—each garnering support from
family, friends, and co-workers for their
miles ridden July 28-29. Pledges total
more than $122,000 as we go to press less
than two weeks after the event—with more
coming in daily! (The total announced at
the post-ride celebration was erroneously
announced at $129,000—but with God’s
blessing we may reach that.)
Roseville’s Mike Boon held onto his record
as the one who has ridden in the most Agonys—all
24 of them. He has also logged the most
cumulative miles—5,831, and has raised
$60,000+ over the years! Nevada City
resident David Hatch broke the long-standing
men’s record pedaling 371 miles. Rick and
Curt Wylie from Roseville and Sacramento set
the new tandem bicycle mark at 314. Suzanne
Hartley and Caryn Galeckas were the top
women cyclists going 335 miles, just nine
short of the women’s title set by Katie
Clement at 344 two years ago.
Suzanne Hartley said it well when she spoke
to the CEM students during the church
service after the event. “…There are two
kinds of riders: those who love to ride and
those who aren’t going to ride a bike again
until the Agony next year! Both groups do
the Agony because of you.”
Saggers are an indispensable lot!
Teamwork and purpose: that’s what sets the
Agony apart from many athletic events.
Cyclists ride in the wind, heat, and cold
for 24 hours while a mass of volunteers go
sleepless for much of the night to keep them
safe and pedaling. Bike mechanics, medics,
bag transporters, motorcycle rovers, cooks,
massage therapists, radio technicians,
computer operators, and dozens of other
folks are fully dedicated to their SAG
duties.
Beckwourth SAG co-leader, Charlene Moule,
said, “…Watching Papa John [Taylor] come in
was like ‘Chariots of Fire!’ Heaven’s going
to be a wonderful place, but it sure is nice
here. I look forward to Agony like
Christmas and any other holiday!”
Corporate sponsors cover many expenses of
Agony event
Extreme gratitude goes to the following
corporate sponsors of the event this year: B
& C True Value Home and Garden Center;
Economy Pest Control; The Blackwell
Group—Real Estate Appraisers; Volz Bros.
Automotive; and Caroline’s Coffee
Roasters—all of Grass Valley. Thanks also
to Moule’s Foothill Glass of Auburn, Trader
Joe’s in the Roseville Square, and Tour of
Nevada City Bicycle Shop.
Rider quotes:
“We plan vacations around it. Agony 2007
starts August 1, 2006 for me.” Rob
Chepernich
“I learned why I was doing it at every sag
as I met the students.” Ben Foster
“What we all have in common is Christ. We
can’t do it alone.” Alan Keeney
“Bob McKinney and Gary Clelan enveloped us;
they showed us God’s love and carried us
through. I loved my group and the cheers at
Beckworth—and Doug’s song, ‘Get outa my
sag…’’’ Lorri Eggink
“Psalm 41:1-3 is what happens at CEM. ‘How
blessed is he who considers the helpless;
the Lord will deliver him in a day of
trouble. The Lord will protect him and keep
him alive, and he shall be called blessed
upon the earth; and do not give him over to
the desire of his enemies. The Lord will
sustain him upon his sickbed; in his
illness, you restore him to health.’”
Former student Kelly Monck
“This
was the joy of grace—undeserved love and
caring from teammates and saggers.” Becky
Miller
Students’ post-Agony observations: “Agony
means love…”
“…This year, I decided that
instead of just doing Agony because I live
at the Ranch and they make me, I would be as
much of a servant as possible—which worked
until I was tired of serving. It just
didn’t end! On and on for a whole weekend.
I felt like I accomplished little without
grumbling. So I guess I found that at the
end of my comfort zone lies my gritty,
whining, sandpaper-attitude, old self—the
Flesh. I learned that my Flesh holds a
wider territory than I want to admit—and my
servanthood a shorter, smaller turf.”
“…Agony meant love and
family. It meant I had a place where I
belong. I had a job and responsibility to
care for people. People wanted me and
needed me…I felt like I wasn’t forgotten…”
“…It really touched my heart
to see people that don’t even know me riding
for me—their bodies tired and their minds
not clear. I’ve never had someone show
me they care. These riders used more than
words; they proved their sentences and
words. I saw people cry and hurt, but they
never gave up on the ride—they never gave up
on the students.”
“…It really gave me courage
because Fritz was not giving up. It showed
me that I could not give up either, even if
it’s hard and painful and seems like it will
never end. If the riders could push
through, so can I!”
“…The
most outstanding memory of this Agony was
the opportunity to serve Kevin. I look up
to Kevin a lot as a model of what the Ranch
can do for a student if he (or she) uses the
opportunities here. Seeing him give back to
the place that gave him back his life is
very encouraging.”
“…I was so touched when I saw the pain and
how tired the riders were and the love and
dedication they had for me as a student…I
just wish I could express my gratitude to
all the riders and how I am truly blessed.
May God bless them all…”
“The Agony was a wonderful experience…to
see all these people riding their bikes for
so long…It meant so much to me to experience
that—that’s unconditional love. It was
awesome!”
“…Agony! What can I say…That is love!”
“My
most memorable Agony moment was at about
5:00 a.m. I was tired and cold and really
upset. Jon-ai woke me up to watch the
ugliest sunrise I’d ever seen. I couldn’t
get away from the cold, so I grabbed my
sleeping bag, went to the road with my lucky
pom-poms in hand and sat with Blake, Jon-ai,
and Jacob. We saw a few riders coming, so I
unwillingly got up and started cheering. At
first I thought about how stupid this was,
but when the rider came near, Jon-ai and I
started our pump-it-up cheer. The biker
started jumping on her bike and her smile
grew 60 times in length. She told us how
much she appreciated our cheers and how much
she looked forward to returning. She left
and I suddenly realized, it’s not about me
or how cold I am.. It was about these 77
bikers who love us even though they don’t
know us!”
Agony Scoreboard
(Pledges as of August 8, 2006)
Name:
Miles:
Donations:
Jennifer Adams
150 $662.50
Pete Adams
150 $3,051.50
Cody Anderson
188 $535.00
David Anderson
238 $1,273.00
Mike Boon
201 $1,046.00
Lee Burrows
76 $1,370.00
Sandy Carder Sagger
$500.00
Melissa Chepernich
100 $860.00
Rob Chepernich
238 $1,519.10
Gary Clelan
226 $2,560.50
Amy Collins
238 $937.20
Harold Compton
100 $1,010.00
Gigi
Cox
174 $654.00
Haligan David
150 $300.00
Alex
Davis
162 $374.00
Carol Douglass
200 $2,532.00
Brook Drumm
214 $414.00
Corey Duren
175 $439.00
Justin Echternacht
76 $461.00
Carla Eckelbarger
88 $410.74
Dan Eckelbarger
284 $1,275.22
Lorri Eggink
238 $2,279.60
Michael Enlow
150 $1,997.50
Scott Fletcher
262 $1,914.50
Ben
Foster
201 $725.00
Caryn Galeckas
335 $7,537.38
Elise Gallagher
238 $3,043.90
Kevin Govan
238 $2,447.80
Alison Guiremand
238 $2,167.90
Scott Harms
275 $5,546.25
Suzanne Hartley
335 $6,986.88
David Hatch
371 $335.00
Rick Heerema
262 $2,428.80
Trevor Howe
138 $1,004.00
Larry Howe
95 $1,028.00
Geoffrey Hughes
307 $812.60
Bob Johnson
238 $1,104.86
Alan Keeny
262 $1,911.20
Pat
Kent
200 $2,050.00
Danny Kern
212 $1,432.20
Sarah Kern
238 $2,298.70
Connor Knapp
126 $1,083.30
Larry Krasky Sagger
$2,560.00
Holly LaChappell
175 $1,537.50
Lee Mansuetti
262 $1,175.00
Hannah McGowan
100 $250.00
Bob McKinney
226 $832.80
Dave Meyers
162 $901.00
Becky Miller
225 $906.25
Paul & Kim Miller
112 $697.00
Fritz Moga
185 $585.50
Kelly
Monck
33 $1,090.60
Rich Oliveira
283 $413.00
Jonathan Palmer
301 $1,084.44
Lex
Parker
262 $1,184.36
Janet Pearson
200 $3,255.00
James Peterlin
38 $353.00
Bryan Porter
200 $813.00
Carolee Ratzlaff
50 $710.00
Paul Ratzlaff
88 $444.00
Jaclyn Romero
174 $1,933.20
Lloyd
Rupp
88 $368.54
Tim
Salter
100 $1,300.00
Ed Schaefer
212 $7,067.94
Thom Smith
50 $3,146.00
Ken Sorensen
262 $1,159.70
Kelly Stevenson
200 $1,625.00
Mark Sylvester
176 $898.00
John
Taylor
25 $653.25
Mike Tippett
214 $5,053.90
Aaron Tonissen
50 $273.50
Jennifer Turner
100 $275.00
Joel
Turner
88 $275.00
Paul Tygart
212 $669.00
Tim Walz
200 $1,160.00
Terry Welch
337 $1,043.80
Curt & Rick Wylie
314 $1,300.00
Corporate
Sponsors
$2,100.00
Totals 14,517 $121,960.34
Agony 2006 reflections
By Caryn Galeckas
Suzanne and I had set a crazy goal—350
miles! Our training and fitness was such
that we believed it was possible—just. If
everything went right, maybe we could do
it. We started off with a large group
riding fast and strong. Each leg of the
ride found us a little more ahead of
schedule. As the ride wore on, our group
shrank, our fatigue level increased, and
time began slipping away. Hope dwindled,
but was not lost. On two or three
occasions, one of us thought the math
through again and said out loud, “There’s
still hope!” That hope drove us on. In the
morning, another rider joined us. Good
conversation and another strong pair of legs
refreshed us, and hope was still alive.
Our paced slowed when he left, though, and
hope dwindled again. We found the strength
to skip a SAG station—hope was reborn.
Finally, we knew we had to let it go. 344
(the women’s record) was still possible, so
we pressed on. With 2 1/2 hours to go, we
didn’t have even a minute to spare when
Suzanne’s water bottle cage fell halfway
off. It took ten minutes to get it the rest
of the way off. The women’s record was now
truly impossible. Not being folks to easily
give up, we latched onto the next round
number—340. There was also 335 for second
place on the top ten list, or 334 to tie
second. So on we went. We left the next
SAG station at 11:32 with 340 still alive.
But the wind was getting stronger, and we
knew the chance was slim. We were so
fatigued we couldn’t even take full
advantage of the tailwind to Vinton. We
spun around at Vinton and then realized the
full ferocity of the wind we faced. Never
mind 340. 335 is still there, though. We
crept along, and I counted off each of the
nine miles we needed. The time between each
mile was interminable. We turned the corner
onto Dyson lane straight into the teeth of a
gale-force wind. Suzanne said, “Oh, Lord!”
I leaned into it and said, “We can do
this!” We turned the corner, where the side
wind was a bit easier to deal with. The
miles crept by. We had 51/2 minutes for the
last mile. We made it with 30 seconds to
spare.
Each year I pick a Scripture to put on my
bike to keep me going throughout the ride.
Usually it’s something fairly obvious like,
“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with
all your might,” or “Let us run the race
with perseverance.” This year’s was
different. “We have this hope as an anchor
for the soul, firm and secure.” This hope
is not “I hope we have ice cream for dessert
tonight,” or even “I hope I can ride 350
miles in the Agony.” This hope is a sure
thing. For those of us who have accepted
Christ as our Savior, it is the certain
knowledge of our relationship with Him, that
we stand redeemed by Him, that we have all
of eternity with Him, that nothing can ever
separate us from His love. That hope—that
certain knowledge—gives us the confidence
and the strength to do whatever God calls us
to do, and to face whatever gale-force winds
blow our way. Throughout the Agony, hope
dwindled and was restored, dwindled and was
restored, over and over again. In Christ,
our hope never dwindles or fades. It is a
sure thing, an anchor to hold solid in the
storm. That hope allowed me to do something
so crazy as this Agony ride. More
importantly, it has carried me through all
the “head winds” of life—all the really hard
stuff. The hope I have in Christ is,
indeed, an anchor for my soul, firm and
secure.
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