WHY THE BIKE?

When I began brainstorming with my wife and three boys on the best way to reach out to men and families about my new book, The Expeditionary Man, we decided that it had to be something in line with the spirit and energy of the book itself.

"How about climbing Mount Everest as a family?", I asked. With more than a little understatement, they responded, "No, Everest is probably not too 'family friendly'. "Ok, what about a multi-city author tour?", I suggested. "No, too solo. Too expected, dad," they said.

"Hey, what about a cross-country bike tour?"

The Expeditionary Man focuses on how a man discovers his true adventure and purpose, not out in the world, but by becoming the hands-on leader of his family. As a result, a transcontinental, family-oriented bike tour seemed like the right combo. It symbolized a true adventure, a unified family, and a common biblical purpose.

Everyone signed on.

Our family's motto for the tour became ad alta simul, which is Latin for "to the summit together." We would go as one team, one family. Jared (my middle son) and I would ride the whole distance. Jordan and Justus (my oldest and youngest sons) would ride part of each day, and my wife would drive the support vehicle. Along the way, I would talk with men and families in churches across the country about the core messages of the book.

...And that's exactly how it worked out...We are now back at home now after an amazing adventure that you can read all about on our daily tour blog. (Hint: You can start from the bottom and work your way through each day of the tour.) However, the most exciting part of the bike tour was having the chance to live out our motto — ad alta simul — as we suffered, conqueured, and persevered together from coast-to-coast.