March Madness: FCBA Style

Hi, everyone. My name is Janette, and my husband Mike and I are two of the cyclists this week who are riding our bicycles from Nashville, TN to Jackson, MS on the Natchez Trace. We are from Lexington, KY, and we are having a great time making new friends, seeing new sights, and being involved with a great organization.

While much of the country is knee-deep in March Madness this month, we have our own little bit of madness going on here. I am going to tie basketball and bicycling together. There are usually twelve players on a basketball team, but only five of them can play at one time. And if the bench isn’t very deep, maybe only seven or eight will actually get regular playing time. However, the team is still made up of twelve. The players we see sitting on the bench during most games are a very important part of the team. They have to be there for practice to challenge the starters to play their best. They are there so that the coach can put together at least two teams during practice, and they are always ready to step in when the starters get injured.


We are a team, too. Even though many of us just met on Saturday, we are a team. We have the riders who are the fastest and strongest, and we have our second-team. In case you are wondering, I am definitely on the second string. (Let’s just say that if we were a real basketball team, I would be the player the coach puts in during the last minute of the last game of the season).

Our coaches, Allen and Ryan, have formed a game plan for us, and they have organized our time-outs. We couldn’t function as a team if we didn’t have all of the support from the folks we have met along the way. Unlike a basketball team, our team is growing every day. All of the church members who have let us use their facilities, eat their food, and bathe in their homes have become an important part of our March Madness. Like the players on the bench, they make it possible for us to play. And for them, we are all extremely thankful. Because of them, we are winners.

Before I close, I would like to give a shout-out to the sweeps who keep an eye on those of us in the back of the pack, and I would like to invite all of you reading this to stop by the blog that my daughter and I publish five days a week. We would love for you to become regular visitors at www.the2seasons.com.