On Saturday, November 5th, the Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter of the Christian Sport Bike Association will be having it’s November Monthly Ride - The “Pounding the Poconos”. We will be meeting at the Starlight Diner in Fogelsville for breakfast around 8am and the ride plans to depart at 9:15am, so please be ready. Late comers might get left, so don't be late!

The “Pounding the Poconos“ will start with kickstands up @ 9:15am and will focus on the elevation changes, challenging curves and landscape of the Pocono Mountains. (for our friends up in the north - this ride ends up by you) Our lunch stop is Barley Creek Brewing Company in Tannersville. Come out and enjoy the roads with us. Remember all our riders are required to wear their protective gear and select their riding group (see below for details).

All bikes and beliefs are welcome, please let us know if you or any friends are coming (it's ok to forward them invites). Please ensure however that you and any friends both read and comply with our ride policy, www.pacsba.org/join/ride-policy. Also please come to the diner with a FULL TANK OF GAS. We will not be making additional stops during the rides - just the scheduled stops approximately every 80-100 miles. There are two gas stations on either side of route 100 near the diner, so please fuel up before the ride. Thanks!

Lastly, please if you decide to join us for the day, we ask that you select a pace and group in which you desire to ride (below on pinned post) to start the day out with - you can always change your group later - it’s just to help us assign you a ride leader and group to get the day started off right. Thanks again!

We hope you can make it... Lets Ride

The Facebook event is viewable here: www.facebook.com/events/1069630083097475/

We made some changes to this route to make it even better this year, get your warm gear on and let's ride!

I will be working the weekend of this ride and not be able to make it.
Hoping you all have great weather.

I will be going to this one! Weather permitting of course.

Hello all,

The day started dark but brightened as the morning wore on. Thankfully we had sunny clear skies and no rain today! I rode for about 35 minutes up to the Starlite, stopping for fuel along the way. Once I was there I met up with ANLR 21 and we chatted about family and riding. Soon, johnric42 showed up as well as Nick from NY. We all went in and sat down and eventually were joined by Rusty Bucket and Stephen, as well as others. All told there were seven of us on this ride and it was as big as you can get without breaking into two groups. After a delicious breakfast, a ride meeting held by yours truly, including the safety tip for the day and a prayer for safety, we were on our way. We consistently met up with traffic having breaks every few miles. Due to geography we alternated between twisty roads and straight main roads. Outside of Jim Thorpe we were buzzed by a low flying wild turkey, you don't see that every day! Once we got passed that a lively discussion ensued about the route. We pulled over and made adjustments, getting onto the route in question. We went passed a race track, avoided a detour, and then stopped for lunch. Lunch was fun, we had some yummy food at the Barley Creek Brewing company sitting at a bar that had an illuminated onyx surface. That was pretty cool. Afterwards, I shared the Scripture and bade some friends farewell as they had other plans for the afternoon. The rest of us moved on and had an enjoyable ride on some "new to us" roads. We made it safely back to Sheetz near the airport where we loitered for a while until heading home. It was fun to ride with old friends again, the Scripture I shared is below. I hope to see you all again in December.

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.” Matthew 13:1-9 the parable of the Sower, once that is familiar to most readers of the Scripture. Here is Jesus' explanation of this parable: 18 “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. 23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” Instead of doing a full explanation of this passage I will highlight two new things I have recently learned. One is that the seed is never an issue, its quality is never in doubt. It will always bring forth a bountiful harvest, depending on the soil. The seed is excellent and worthy. The next thing I learned has to do with the "thorny soil". Imagine you know a wealthy friend, and this person gives you a large sum of money to invest into "green" energy, it is something for which they have a passion. Once you have control of those funds you notice many opportunities over the year they have for you to invest. You see great gains in oil futures, commodities, currency exchange, and mutual funds. At years end you joyfully return the funds with a hefty return, but the investor is disappointed. You see, they didn't need more money, they wanted the renewable energy sector to grow in the economy. In this same way, God has invested in us His precious promises, His Word, resources and His Spirit. Why? Did he give us this to ensure we had a fat 401k? to raise great kids? to have a fulfilling career? No, not exactly. These are all good things and God doesn't mind that we have them. But He charges us to build the Kingdom of God and make disciples; to help the poor and edify other believers. Are we striving to be good soil, adding to the Kingdom of God? Or are we the soil of thorns, and the Kingdom of God gets ignored for something else? Let us remember Galatians 6:9 as a motivator and: 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. I don't know about you, but I got some thorns to pull! See you next month.

Thanks for the ride report Mark!