Yep, it was a long day…  82 miles,  3 mountain passes climbed, hours grinding uphill, awesome downhill coasting, great scenery, another flat tire and the last 10 miles in cold rain…

But here was the cool part… at the top of the first mountain pass I was taking a break and getting warm clothes back on (descents are cold going 25+ mph) and an old truck and beat up camper stopped. A guy hobbles out of the truck with his dog. She heads to me right away to say “hi” and get some petting before she does her business. I then meet JJ and realized he was quite a character. He is an 80 year old, former rancher, former logger, retired long haul truck driver and now a gold prospector. He has no family as it is just he and his dog. He has always been digging for gold but now this is what he mostly does. We got to chatting and he was telling stories of what he found. (Note.. it’s more of a hobby when a big haul is $140 of gold for an all week expedition, but he does find gold). I could see he had led a hard physical life by his hands, his walk, his back, he was mostly deaf, his knees, etc. I asked for a picture as I had never seen a prospector before. He said he needed to get his other hat, the one he digs for gold in, and he posed with his “best friend” Pretty Girl. I wanted to spend more time, but we had many miles, 2 more mountains and rain coming yet. I was being led to pray for him for his health and success before I left but before I could say the words, he says, “Can I pray for you and your journey?” He says, “I love Jesus”. I said, “So do I”. He then told me how he prays with the folks he meets. He prayed a beautiful prayer for safety for my trip. I prayed for peace and comfort as his body gives him lots of pain and that he could continue to share Jesus wherever he goes. So a prospector, his pup, and a cyclist had a prayer meeting along the side of the road at Dixie Mountain Pass. That made my day!