Worst Retirement Ever

It doesn't look like it, but I love riding bikes.
You could always tell where Gen X kids were--look for the pile of bikes. I started riding long distances in my tweens in Germany... we used to ride to a large town bc they had hamburgers there. It was a simpler time...
I know why I am thinking about this. The Giro d'Italia is going on. The Tour de France coming soon. The Tour is a remarkably French thing. It was meant to be absurd, ridiculously hard, portending suffering. No one would ever enter such a race. A few hardy sheepherders in the mountains heard about it and said, "hold my Perrier and watch this."
Look up Gino Bartali, you'll thank me. He won his first tour on a bike with 4 gears, which is better than the first tours with no gears, no team, no support vans.
I used to think it would be great to be in the Tour. Greg Lemond gave a 13 yr old American hope it could be done... until... one day on a long ride I was heading home down a very long, straight stretch of De Zavala Rd in San Antonio. I was flying. I had a clunky Huffy 12 speed. I hit close to 25 mph at one point... but that was all out effort for a few seconds...tour pros on De Zavala Rd would have kept that pace for hours. A boy can dream, can't he?
Fast forward. There is an American former Tour rider, Phil Gaimon. He kind of accidentally realized he could be a pro bike rider and he went for it and had a commendable career. After his riding days were over, he started a new thing, going after riders who are doping by taking their "King of the Mountain" records on the fitness app, Strava. He really, really, really doesn't like people using performance enhancing drugs. He has a youtube channel called Worst Retirement Ever. Bc only a sicko would ever think, "hey, I'll punish riders who dope by punishing myself riding this mountain." And yet, Phil Gaimon is having a great time! The time of his life, it looks like to me! I want a Worst Retirement Ever, too!!
What follows is some thinking out loud I have been doing. It may be pointless. Or irrational. Unworkable. Help me see where I should stop wasting my time on something as ill-conceived as this is right now. Or help me push through so it will make sense. Some of you know how I am. I can dream, but need someone to help me figure out how to make it work. I am surrounded by a lot of cheerleaders and supporters who encourage my crazy ideas and then do the hard work of figuring out how to make it happen. Yes, Mattea, I DO know that when I say "we'll figure it out," I mean you, Calisa, Jason, Ben, Ted, Dale, and Jessie.
Anyway, I think it could be a dirtbag challenge:
What would be the Worst Retirement Ever for Dirtbag Preachers? For new subscribers, check out these dirtbag posts for context here, here, and here
A dirtbag looks around and realizes that retirement is coming and he can kick back and take on a high potential multiplying disciple-making challenge and devote everything to it. It is one thing, like now, to devote a portion of my "work schedule" and most of my margin to multiplication of disciples, leaders, and churches. What if I get to the point where that's all I did? What would The Worst Retirement Ever be? Is it a place? Is it a group? Is it some people who are hungry and ready and just need a cheerleader behind them? I mean, I'm going to fish a lot, but I will be able to give even more time to fishing for people!
You say, "but Dirtbag, this is a long time off." Sure, but it's closer than it was when I started. I had a word from the Lord that the second half was going to be better than the first half of ministry, and I was stoked, because in spite of my best efforts, the first half was good! And yes, the second half has been better, way better. Like He said. I can't help but think that it will get even better with the time and effort of experience. Maybe I can help people keep from paying the idiot tax I had to? That would be enough.
There's still a lot of idiot tax left to pay—this week has already taught me that, and it’s just Tuesday morning, but it will all be helpful in my Worst Retirement Ever!