Aslan Newsletter of July 5, 1996
As is always the case, our Aslan summer activities have us burning the candle at both ends. Following this letter you will find an interesting article just published about our annual Cheesequake Challenge cycling event. It takes weeks of intensive planning to map out the training routes & actual ride, prepare the food, contact the parents, shuttle bicycles to the repair shop, pack the van, etc. We have seven weeks of progressively longer and harder training rides before the two-day main event. On the first day of the Challenge itself, the cyclists wind through 7 towns. Bathroom breaks, long hills, multiple stops to repair broken down bicycles, and special procedures for crossing major intersections cause us to only average about 4 miles per hour. After seven hours of cycling over hill and dale, the children and adults set up tents at beautiful Cheesequake State Park. While the kids go for a swim in a lake, some of the adults prepare supper. Next morning, everyone rises at 7:00 AM to have breakfast, repack the tents, and head home.

Believe it or not, dealing with the above problems is the easy part. The truly hard part is working through the serious emotional problems most of our Aslan kids have. Discipline is almost non-existent in their lives. Learning to safely stay in line, call commands to other bikers to avoid road obstacles, and keep a generally good attitude are difficult tasks. The staff and adult volunteers continually deal with fighting and bad attitudes. This year we dropped several kids from the ride and took away privileges from two boys who kept spitting in people's mail boxes. Another boy, Marcus, went on the training rides but dropped out the day before the main event! Marcus is at least 125 pounds overweight, so it was a real accomplishment for him to make it as far as he did. At one point, the cheap bicycle he was riding literally bent under his weight and we were forced to scrap it for parts. How disheartening it was to have him quit at the last minute. However, with all the broken bicycles and setbacks the overall event was a wonderful success. At our awards banquet several days later, we presented 3 trophies for mileage champions (166 miles total), and trophies for leadership, spirit and character. Each child also received a special commemorative medal.

Very special thanks go to Aslan volunteers Rick Lawler, Steve Douglas, Beverly Harris, Joe Eccles and Carlos and Victoria Perez for their patience, love and hard work in helping make this ride possible! We also thank you for your gifts and prayers. Our Aslan children are continually told, "You can't!", by almost everyone they encounter. We tell them, "You can!" With discipline, perseverance and God's love, the sky is the limit.

Most sincerely,