March 4, 2025 • 32 mins
On March 7, 2025, eleven men from Gamma Sigma Phi (Abilene Christian University, Abilene, Texas) will push off on a cycling relay that will take them 1,400 miles across deserts, mountains, unpaved trails and Death Valley. Riding day and night, they plan to reach Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, in just five days. They're riding to raise money for Greater Than Three and the Pepperdine Strong Fund. In this episode, Gamma Sigma Phi Jackson Kulp and Carter Young explain why they're doing this and how.
Link to the Bike to Pepperdine website. Click here to learn about the relay team and route, how they're preparing for the ride and their progress once they push off. You can also donate to their cause here. www.bikeridetopepperdine.org
Link to Greater Than Three, one of the causes that the bike ride supports.
Link to the Pepperdine Strong Fund, the other cause the bike ride supports.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Holly Linden (00:03):
Welcome to the Christian Chronicle Podcast.
We are bringing you the storyshaping Church of Christ
congregations and members aroundthe world.
Here is our host, BT.
BT Irwin (00:13):
Irwin, family and friends, neighbors and, most of
all, strangers.
Welcome to the ChristianChronicle Podcast.
May what you are about to hearbless you and honor God.
What kind of things do youimagine frat bros are up to
these days?
I'm talking about college dudeswho hang out on campus with
Greek letters across theirchests.
(00:34):
What kind of stuff do youimagine they do when they get
together to do you know collegedude stuff?
Well, today we bring you thestory of Gamma, sigma Phi, a
fraternity sorry, a social clubat Abilene Christian University
in Abilene, texas.
Acu has deep roots and strongties in our Church of Christ
community and tradition.
(00:55):
Well, let me tell you these brosare up to something, and it is
not college hijinks.
They're planning a 1,400milecycling relay across desert
mountains and even Death Valleyfor some important causes.
They push off on Friday, march7 from Abilene.
They'll ride all the way toPepperdine University in Malibu,
california, in just five days.
(01:17):
My legs and lungs hurt justthinking about it.
Here to tell us about their bigride is Jackson Culp and Carter
Young.
Jackson is a senior kinesiologymajor from Westchester,
pennsylvania.
Carter is a senior psychologymajor from Skipak, pennsylvania.
Guys, I think you picked theright majors for what you're
about to do kinesiology andpsychology.
(01:39):
Welcome to the show.
Thanks for having us.
Really glad to be here, okay.
So question right off the topwho is the masochist who came up
with the idea to pedal across1,400 miles of desert mountains,
unpaved roads and even DeathValley?
I mean, why not rent aconvertible and drive to Branson
, missouri, or something?
Jackson Kulp (01:58):
Yeah.
So that question is absolutelyone we've received a couple
times already.
I would say that it's reallythe inspiration is we're a bunch
of dumb college guys who wantto do our creative juices
flowing as the stage of lifewe're at.
In terms of the trip's origins,I would like to say that we are
(02:33):
the creative people that cameup with the concept, but it's
actually an old tradition thatGamma Sigma Phi did over 20
years ago, years ago, and thetrip originally started by uh.
We did a different charity in2001 called the run to arkansas,
where, in a similar fashion,you know, we, we ran all the way
(02:55):
to arkansas, relay style.
And so there were these guys uh, primarily chris brewer and
chris jaco Jacobs, and one otherguy that said hey, that's
really awesome, I just joinedthis club.
I want to replicate that.
They didn't want to copy them,but they wanted to do something
equally as cool, and so theywere like what if we did twice
the distance?
But we rode bicycles?
(03:16):
Um, so ACU is connected withPepperdine and uh, just from
there they were like hey, we'venever ridden bicycles before, we
don't even own any, but we'rejust going to give it a shot.
They ended up raising $5,000that year, they did the ride
again in 2006, and we're doingit again this year.
Too much of your own fun, ornot too much of just Abilene fun
(03:36):
, and so you're kind of forcedhere to make your own fun, and
we resort to things like thisand so how did you?
BT Irwin (03:53):
let me just back up here.
So it started with your club 20years ago.
It sounds like they made theride to Pepperdine two years in
a row and then it kind of fadedaway.
Has this been like a legendthat's been passed down through
the years that the two of youheard about and thought, man,
wouldn't it be cool to do whatthose guys did 20 years ago?
(04:13):
Um, and do you remember themoment where you made the
decision yeah, we're going to doit.
Jackson Kulp (04:20):
Yeah, I'm really glad you asked that too, because
it's certainly been a lot oftrial and error to reach the
organizational structure we havenow.
I'll tell you where we learnedabout the idea and I'll let
Carter take the origins of howit happened for this group, for
this group in our constitution,where, where we kind of take all
(04:44):
of our traditions from, thereis a small clause in the
philanthropy section that saysthere may be uh projects and
philanthropies organized bysenior leadership, like the 25
hour basketball game, the run toArkansas or the bike ride to
Pepperdine on a random year tofoster club pride.
(05:06):
Uh in charity and that was theonly thing we knew about it
until this last march wherecarter can can take it so I
actually have never, uh, readthat part in the constitution.
Carter Young (05:18):
But our um president, current president,
mason hale, who's going on thetrip, and then, kind of like,
our ring leader, uh, sam O'Quinnum, we're going to a Gregory
Allen Isaacov, I think is hisname uh concert down in Austin.
And they were just talkingduring the whole ride and they
were like you know, this bikeride, a Pepperdine thing, sounds
so cool, let's do it.
(05:39):
Um, that was last March and um,we were, um all together in a
house one day and there was likefive or six of us and they were
bringing it up to us and, um,we were all like that is super
cool.
And they text us in our seniorgroup chat and they're like who
would do this with us?
And we got like a 10 or 11, uhlikes on that message.
(06:04):
And so ever since that momentit kind of just came to fruition
and there's just been so muchplanning and like who is coming
and who's not?
It's kind of been a little iffyand there's just been so much
planning.
But a fall semester is reallywhen it started picking up, and
then spring semester is likewhen everything started really
coming together.
BT Irwin (06:30):
So that's kind of the origin of when it came to happen
is this your spring break.
Holly Linden (06:32):
Are you making the ride on?
Carter Young (06:32):
your spring break.
BT Irwin (06:33):
Yeah, okay, new year, final spring break good, good
use of a spring break.
So let's get down into a littlebit of details first, just so
we can, so our listeners canunderstand what it is exactly
you're going to do and how it'sgoing to work.
So it turns out you have 11 menwho are going to make the ride,
and it's a relay, so will eachman take something like 130
(06:54):
miles.
Carter Young (06:56):
Yeah.
So it's kind of it's kind oftricky.
So originally we were kind ofnaive going into this.
We were like we're only goingto have one van and we're going
to have two bikers going at atime and we didn't really know
how to attack this.
But then we called Chris Brewer, which Jackson mentioned
earlier, and he was like no, wehad two vans and one biker going
(07:18):
at a time and so we took thatinto account and so we're going
to have it's one rest van andone biker van.
So the rest van goes up aheadlike to a checkpoint 250 miles
ahead, and they can like rest,eat, do whatever they want,
while the biker van starts andgoes, one biker at a time goes
(07:39):
10 to 15 miles biking one personat a time, and then next biker
in that van goes.
They go 10, 15 miles.
It's like a sprint, your bodydoesn't get tired or anything.
And then there's like five tosix bikers in that biker van and
they just keep going until theyhit that checkpoint where that
other van is, and once they hitthat then they switch vans.
(08:01):
So then everybody who wasresting originally becomes the
bikers now and then everybodywho was originally biking goes
up to the next checkpoint andwe'll just keep doing that, you
know, until we hit Malibu Um.
And obviously we'll play by earcause we'll have elevation.
So not everybody's going to do10 to 15 miles, cause you know,
(08:21):
if we get elevation we mightonly be able to do eight miles.
Or, you know, some people mightget really tired or they might
be feeling it, so we might beable to do like 20, 30 miles.
BT Irwin (08:32):
So we just have to play it by ear, but you know
it'll probably be around 130miles per biker how much
experience does your team havewith cycling long distances like
this and through the kinds ofterrain and weather changes that
you're going to encounter alongthe way?
Jackson Kulp (08:49):
that one is uh different depending on which one
of us you're talking about.
Yeah, as a as a whole with thegroup.
We are not seasoned cyclists, Iwould say.
What we lack in skills andexperience we're going to make
(09:09):
up for in enthusiasm and rawathleticism.
But also, in our team we havemultiple marathon runners,
triathletes, lifelong athletes.
We're not talking about a groupof guys who, who are couch
potatoes and and we're just like, oh, hey, uh, let's do this,
it'd be fun.
(09:29):
Uh, we're talking about likesome pretty committed, uh in
terms of like physical specimensthat are going on the trip, and
so we're.
We're definitely not preparedfor this kind of ride in that
way, but in some abstract way, Iwould say, we've been preparing
for a long time and especiallyI don't know who's going to be
(09:53):
listening to this and has acertain concept of maybe what
our organization, being afraternity, would mean.
But it is really hard to getthrough the process that we have
to to become a part of our club.
Uh, it's very challengingphysically and mentally and
(10:13):
there's almost kind of aninspiration that we we have with
this where we're trying toreplicate that once in a
lifetime experience we had whenwe were being initiated into
Gamsing Phi, this impossiblething that seems like a huge
mountain you can't climb.
But when we're doing it witheach other and we're pushing
each other, that mental gamebecomes a little more manageable
(10:36):
and we really believe we can doanything with that.
BT Irwin (10:40):
And so, yeah, how many men are in Gam gamma Sigma fire
right now?
Carter Young (10:48):
Ooh good question Um, I think there's like a
hundred 120.
Wow, as far as seniors go,there's only like 20.
Jackson Kulp (10:56):
Yeah, we, we had, we just took a great pledge
class of 37 guys.
BT Irwin (11:01):
Um, our class of seniors, uh, when we joined and
we were freshmen, we were 22strong and we were one of the
smallest classes in a reallylong time, and so that's part of
the reason we are so close, oneof the things we probably not
(11:22):
allowed to talk about it, butI'll just say there was a lot of
teamwork and there was no manleft behind.
Everybody had to participate,and so 11 of you are going to be
riding no-transcript.
Jackson Kulp (11:43):
You want to take that one?
Yeah, certainly, spreading theword and reaching out to family
and friends to get people on thebike to Pepperdine train is the
biggest thing we've asked ofour members.
One thing that's been reallyinspiring to me, though, as
these guys have watched us planit and kind of rev up for what
(12:07):
we're going to be doing.
I have been so humbled with thefact that, like the younger
guys right, it's a senior trip,we're spending a lot of time
working on it.
There's a sort of distancethere.
Younger guys haven't looked atus and been resentful or felt
like man.
I wish I was doing that and notthem.
(12:28):
The encouragement and the love,the way they've come around us
to just encourage this traditionand to be like man.
I hope I can do something likethat when I'm in your shoes.
But, man, I'm really glad youguys are paving the way like
I've had that kind of feedbackmultiple times and it's hard for
(12:51):
them to get their feet on theground and be a full part of
this.
But that has changed everythingin terms of how we view this,
how we go about promoting it, um, the the just humble love that
the guys have shown towards usand I think, like I thought
(13:12):
there was going to be a lot ofresentment, of like people
saying, oh, why didn't theychoose me?
Carter Young (13:16):
But I think it's more of a mentality of, oh, I'm
going to do this next year and Ithink that's like.
This project that we're doingis really bringing our club
together, which is so great.
Now here's a here reallybringing our club together,
(13:37):
which is so great.
Holly Linden (13:38):
Now here's a here's an important detail that
I might have missed are all 11of the men who are riding
seniors.
Jackson Kulp (13:40):
Well, it's, they're all seniors, but there's
one junior.
Okay, you want to take that one, or me?
How did he get on?
BT Irwin (13:42):
the so he's the guy that knows how to ride up a
mountain right he was originallylike in that conversation that
I was alluding to earlier.
Carter Young (13:52):
He was in that room and so he was like this
sounds great.
He's also like he bikes a lotand um, so we add him on.
He's also an officer and he'slike our alumni officer and
we're like this is a big alumnievent.
All the alumni know about thisbecause they've done it in the
past.
So we're like it would be greatbig alumni event.
All the alumni know about thisbecause they've done it in the
past, so we're like it would begreat to add them on.
BT Irwin (14:14):
Are there people going along with y'all that are not
going to be in one of the twovans?
So you've got the biker van,the rest van.
Are you going to have any kindof a convoy?
Going to have any kind of aconvoy like what kind of um, you
know moral support and, uh, youknow medical personnel are
going to be going along with youon the trip uh, no, it's just
(14:38):
going to be us 11 guys.
Carter Young (14:40):
However, we have already had, uh, someone reach
out to us, um in like the tucsonarea, like I think he's a gsp
alumni and he was like I wouldlove to meet up with you guys
like 20 miles ahead and justbike with you guys, which I
think is so great.
That's, um, just just to bethere for more support, and that
would be great for whoever'sbiking that that span, because
(15:01):
we're all going to be bikingalone, especially like through
the night yeah it's going to beso hard, just biking on our own.
But whoever is biking that 15-20mile span, whatever and he's
there with you he's going topush us, just to have someone by
your side.
Jackson Kulp (15:18):
BT, you touched on an important topic that we get
asked a lot of the inherent riskand physical challenges that
we're going to have to undergothroughout the ride, and we've,
I feel like, taken a lot ofprecaution in that area in terms
of just how we're structuringeach biker, like how much
(15:41):
they're going to ride, who has asay in whether you keep going
or who's going to be able tostop someone if they're
overexerting themselves.
We've done our due diligence ofmaking sure that we ride as
close to a hospital or urgentcare in the resident exercise
scientist of the team and we'vereally worked hard to make sure
(16:12):
that we are going to be doingproper recovery, fueling
ourselves the right way and juststaying healthy, because that's
most important obviously.
BT Irwin (16:25):
Well, I bet a lot of people are praying for you now
too.
They didn't know before, sothat's gonna help, okay.
So you have a great website.
We're gonna put a link to thatin the show notes.
Uh, kudos to whoever put thisthing together.
Uh, and you've got uh, you'vegot your route that you're gonna
follow from abilene to malibu,california, on your website and,
uh, if you look at the route,y'all are gonna going to ride
(16:46):
through desert.
You're going to ride throughmountains, you're going to ride
on unpaved surfaces at somepoints along the way, and I will
note that between miles 300 and360, there is a climb of about
2,800 feet, so this is not aflat ride.
You're going up and downmountains.
Plus, someone has to ride.
(17:08):
All of you, I guess, are goingto ride through Death Valley,
which is called Death Valley fora reason.
I've lived in Abilene myselfand there aren't many hills
around there or valleys aroundthere that will prepare you all
for the kind of elevationchanges that you're going to
have to make on your bikes.
How did you plan this route andhow is your team training for
(17:29):
what you're going to have tomake on your bikes?
How did you plan this route,and how is your team training
for what you're going toencounter?
Carter Young (17:35):
along the way.
Yeah, first thing shout out tobike ride leader Sam O'Quinn,
because he made the website andplanned the route and he did a
fantastic job.
But as far as training goes,you're right, abilene is so flat
so it's really hard to uh, youknow, replicate that elevation
gain.
Um, most of us have been doingstationary bikes because you can
(17:58):
like up the resistance andreally build up like those quads
.
So that's mostly what we'vebeen doing.
Um, but we also did like a testride, um to like a an outside
town from abilene called ansonand to try to like imitate the
bike ride of pepperdine with avan following a couple bikers at
(18:19):
a time, and it was.
It was actually super humbling.
That was like early on thissemester.
Um, we just did it on an accessroad and uh, yeah, it, granted
we didn't do it with nice bikeslike we have right now, but it
was super humbling.
It really motivated us to likereally want to do this trip uh,
really get going in our training.
(18:39):
Um, and I don't, I don't knowwhat else.
Jackson Kulp (18:44):
Yeah, I would say I'm I'm grateful for that
because we outlined a trainingplan around Christmas and up
until that ride we were kind ofnot doing super good and it
kicked our butt enough to reallyget us working on the bikes.
We've built our power outage onbicycles more to where there
(19:09):
were rides I was doing inNovember that were killing me in
a 30-minute span where they'recasual and seeing that
progression has been.
Honestly, I'm training for atriathlon right now but I'm more
inspired by just that portionof it because I feel like I can
take on these elevation changes.
You're training for an Ironmanby just that portion of it,
because I feel like I can takeon these elevation changes.
BT Irwin (19:29):
Yeah, are you training for an Ironman?
Jackson Kulp (19:32):
Well, we talked about doing an Ironman in the
future, but we're going to startwith an Olympic triathlon,
specifically myself, Carter andone of our other team members,
Tanner Hill.
We're going to do that in FortWorth in the middle of May, and
so this has also been helpfulfor that.
BT Irwin (19:48):
Yeah, I bet I didn't think to ask you about your
equipment before.
You mentioned that the bikesthat you took out on your trial
run in Anson are not the bikesyou're actually going to be
taking on this trip.
How did you?
Did each man have to get hisown equipment?
How did you get the equipmentfor this?
Jackson Kulp (20:10):
his own equipment?
How did you get the equipmentfor this?
So we, when carter mentions wewere riding, uh, not the bikes
we have now.
We are talking like bikes thatwe bought off facebook
marketplace for 40, so they were, they were just our own bikes
yeah, yes, and and that's whatwe spent a long time training on
.
Uh, we are so grateful forabilene's bike store called
(20:30):
Biketown.
It's owned by Jim McDonald andwe went and met with him months
ago to gauge his interest withthe trip and to see if he would
be interested in contributing atall, and he has provided us
bicycles, bicycle equipment anda lot of invaluable advice, and
so he's hooked us up withexactly what we need for this
(20:52):
trip, and I try and thank him asmuch as I can every time we
connect, but it will never beenough.
BT Irwin (20:59):
So I have to go backwards one second here.
You talked about riding throughthe night.
Are you just going to movenonstop for five straight days?
There's not going to be anypoint at which you're all
stationary and sleeping.
Carter Young (21:38):
Okay.
So it's actually kind of afunny situation.
Tanner, who Jackson justmentioned, actually has a
wedding, who he's a groomsmanfor, on Sunday night.
So we kind of had to buildaround that and he is kind of
he's kind of a critical part ofmonday morning.
So we were like, okay, we haveto pick him up at the airport.
So how do we time thiscorrectly?
So we're like we should spendthe night in tucson, so it gives
us a break and we could pickhim up at the airport on monday
morning.
So we're, uh, riding throughthe night on friday night,
(21:59):
riding through the nightsaturday, and then getting into
tucson on sunday night, spendingthe night, and then monday
morning that rest van is goingto pick them up in Phoenix and
then the biker van is just goingto catch up with them.
BT Irwin (22:13):
Wow, wow.
Holly Linden (22:15):
Yeah.
BT Irwin (22:17):
That's a lot of planning right there.
Holly Linden (22:18):
Yeah.
Carter Young (22:19):
It's going to be a lot.
I don't know if we're going tobe able to keep up with the plan
, but we're going to try ourbest.
BT Irwin (22:27):
Yeah, okay, so let's just get down to a couple of
causes that you're supporting bydoing this.
You mentioned that there aretwo that are really important to
you.
Could you tell us about thosecauses, what they do and how you
pick them?
What?
Jackson Kulp (22:46):
they do and how you pick them.
So this was, uh, I think, whatinspired us to actually make
this happen.
Um, obviously it was just anidea and something we talked a
lot about up until like October,and we're really excited to do
it.
And we, up until like October,and we're really excited to do
(23:06):
it, and we, we kind of lost alittle bit of traction or
passion because I, we realized,you know, we don't have anything
that is meaningful to us, thatwe that we want to do this for,
um, for a long time, I, everyonce in a while, would go to the
(23:27):
parking lot of the rec centeron campus at ACU to help another
student named Heidi Wachtel outof her van, because Heidi is
paralyzed in the lower half ofher body.
And then, sophomore year, Iattended a chapel where Heidi
(23:47):
was the guest speaker and sheshared a story with us about why
she is in a wheelchair, whereshe had a trampoline accident
she before this, by the way, wasa ultra marathon runner, a
firefighter and one of the mostactive people you'll ever see
Wow and fell off of a trampoline, hit her neck and her spinal
(24:09):
cord flooded.
Oh my and she was paralyzed fromthe neck down for a long time
and, through physical therapyand just one of the most
miraculous recovery storiesyou'll ever see she has regained
motor control in much of herbody and you can go on her
Instagram HeidiGirls5, and seethe documentation of her as she
(24:31):
has regained motor control.
She's starting to move her legsagain.
This is one of the mostimmensely remarkable, I mean,
for someone who's going tobecome a physical therapist like
me.
This is the person I can lookat and be like.
My career can be meaningful,and so earlier this year I find
(24:52):
out that Heidi has started anonprofit called Greater Than
Three Outreach where sheprovides infrastructure,
rehabilitation and, mostimportantly, sports wheelchairs
for people in Abilene who are ina situation like hers, because
we're a small town in West Texaswe don't have infrastructure
(25:15):
for those kinds of things and itmade it really hard for Heidi
to come across that stuff.
And so Greater Than Three is anewer nonprofit, but it's run by
her.
Her husband, brayden Rob Allen,is who owns the field house
here in Abilene and one of mybiggest mentors.
Deanna Shake is a faculty ACU,is the treasurer of their board
(25:39):
and we're raising money for themand that's one of the greatest
blessings ever.
Additionally, we are, you know,we.
We started planning right andthen the palisade fires happened
, uh, in california, and kind ofthrew a wrench in a lot of what
was going on.
I mean, there was a time wherewe didn't even know if we'd be
able to actually go to malibu.
(26:01):
Um, and after talking with somePepperdine faculty and seeing
the kind of great work that thePepperdine community is doing
for their students who have losttheir homes and everything they
have in these fires, we thoughtit would be nothing but
appropriate to raise thefundraising efforts.
Right, not to just divide, butwe've maximized and multiplied
(26:27):
how much money we are trying toraise and have raised also, so
that we can give as much moneyto Greater Than Three Outreach,
as originally planned, whilealso giving the other half of
the money we raised toPepperdine Strong Fund, which is
for those students.
BT Irwin (26:43):
So how much money do you hope to raise and how can
people make donations?
Carter Young (26:48):
Yeah, so our original goal was only set at 10
K on our GoFundMe, but weactually hit that pretty fast,
which is such a blessing Um, andwe're actually right now at
almost like 22 K and counting,um, yeah, and so our, our set
goal right now is 50 K.
Um, yeah, no, it's, it's prettyawesome, um, and so you can go
(27:11):
to our go fund me um at I thinkit's like GSP bike to Pepperdine
for charity, um, and or you cango to our website, which I
think you said you'd link it'sbike ride to pepperdineorg, and
on our website it's superobvious you just go to the top
right corner and click donateand it'll go straight to our
gofundme.
Um, but it's, it's awesome.
(27:32):
I think jackson has a pull-up.
We're at 21 675, which is soamazing.
We have over 100 donations.
I I never would have guessedthat we would have gotten that
much money.
Um, we're just so blessed tohave that in that community to
have donated that much.
BT Irwin (27:47):
Well, to our Christian Chronicle audience, let's give
a little more to that.
We'll put a link in the shownotes.
So y'all are going to set outon March 7, and your plan is to
make the ride in five days.
Can people follow your progresssomewhere?
Jackson Kulp (28:05):
yeah, uh, pretty simply, we we have documented
pretty much everything on thetrip through our instagram, at
bike to pepperdine uh, we are.
We have a pretty intricatecontent plan, uh, for this week
leading up to the trip and thenthe trip itself.
You're gonna see me andcarter's face on there, as long
as the other nine guys.
A lot, just some professionalstuff, but also just a lot of
(28:30):
antics.
Right, I want to take a littlevideo of myself after I finish
my sprint and just talk aboutthe experience.
It's going to have the ins andouts of every single second of
our day.
We have two media people Sam,who's been running our website
and our Instagram and is prettymuch the guy behind everything,
and then Ben Lancaster is one ofour best friends we live with
(28:52):
him and a monster, the best,most skilled media person you
could ever see.
And so one of them is going tobe in each van at all times
documenting everything, andthat's going to be consistent
posts on that Instagram page andthat's mostly where you can
follow our progress, and thenwe'll be taking documentation
for that trip as well.
BT Irwin (29:15):
We'll link all of that in the show notes for our
audience to follow along.
I know I'll be following along.
I want to see this story.
It sounds like it's going to beepic.
Congratulations to y'all andyour brothers for putting that
together.
Jackson Culp and Carter Youngare members of Gamma Sigma Phi
at Abilene Christian Universityin Abilene, texas, and they are
(29:35):
about to push off on a1,400-mile cycling relay with
nine of their Gamma Sigma Phibrothers to raise money for
Greater Than Three andPepperdine Strong Fund.
If you'd like to follow theirprogress and support their
causes, go tobikeridetopepperdineorg.
We'll put a link in the shownotes.
Like I said, jackson Carter, gowith God.
Carter Young (29:56):
Thanks for having us.
Thank you.
Jackson Kulp (29:57):
BT.
Really appreciate you.
It's been a pleasure.
BT Irwin (30:00):
We hope that something you heard in this episode
encouraged, enlightened orenriched you in some way.
If it did, thanks be to God andplease pay it forward.
Subscribe to this podcast andshare it with a friend.
Recommend and review itwherever you listen to your
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Your subscription,recommendation and review help
us reach more people.
Please send your comments,ideas and suggestions to podcast
(30:24):
at christianchronicleorg.
We want to hear them.
And don't forget that ourministry to inform and inspire
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So if you like the show and youwant to keep it going and make
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Christian Chronicle atchristianchronicleorg.
(30:45):
Slash donate Until next time.
May grace and peace be yours inabundance.
Holly Linden (30:52):
The Christian Chronicle Podcast is a
production of the ChristianChronicle Inc.
Informing and inspiring Churchof Christ congregations, members
and ministries around the worldsince 1943.
The Christian ChroniclesManaging Editor is Audrey
Jackson, editor-in-chief BobbyRoss Jr and President and CEO
(31:13):
Eric Trigestad.
The Christian Chronicle Podcastis written, directed, hosted
and edited by BT Irwin and isproduced by James Flanagan in
Detroit, michigan, usa.
Welcome to the Christian Chronicle Podcast.
We are bringing you the storyshaping Church of Christ
congregations and members aroundthe world.
Here is our host, BT.
BT Irwin (00:13):
Irwin, family and friends, neighbors and, most of
all, strangers.
Welcome to the ChristianChronicle Podcast.
May what you are about to hearbless you and honor God.
What kind of things do youimagine frat bros are up to
these days?
I'm talking about college dudeswho hang out on campus with
Greek letters across theirchests.
(00:34):
What kind of stuff do youimagine they do when they get
together to do you know collegedude stuff?
Well, today we bring you thestory of Gamma, sigma Phi, a
fraternity sorry, a social clubat Abilene Christian University
in Abilene, texas.
Acu has deep roots and strongties in our Church of Christ
community and tradition.
(00:55):
Well, let me tell you these brosare up to something, and it is
not college hijinks.
They're planning a 1,400milecycling relay across desert
mountains and even Death Valleyfor some important causes.
They push off on Friday, march7 from Abilene.
They'll ride all the way toPepperdine University in Malibu,
california, in just five days.
(01:17):
My legs and lungs hurt justthinking about it.
Here to tell us about their bigride is Jackson Culp and Carter
Young.
Jackson is a senior kinesiologymajor from Westchester,
pennsylvania.
Carter is a senior psychologymajor from Skipak, pennsylvania.
Guys, I think you picked theright majors for what you're
about to do kinesiology andpsychology.
(01:39):
Welcome to the show.
Thanks for having us.
Really glad to be here, okay.
So question right off the topwho is the masochist who came up
with the idea to pedal across1,400 miles of desert mountains,
unpaved roads and even DeathValley?
I mean, why not rent aconvertible and drive to Branson
, missouri, or something?
Jackson Kulp (01:58):
Yeah.
So that question is absolutelyone we've received a couple
times already.
I would say that it's reallythe inspiration is we're a bunch
of dumb college guys who wantto do our creative juices
flowing as the stage of lifewe're at.
In terms of the trip's origins,I would like to say that we are
(02:33):
the creative people that cameup with the concept, but it's
actually an old tradition thatGamma Sigma Phi did over 20
years ago, years ago, and thetrip originally started by uh.
We did a different charity in2001 called the run to arkansas,
where, in a similar fashion,you know, we, we ran all the way
(02:55):
to arkansas, relay style.
And so there were these guys uh, primarily chris brewer and
chris jaco Jacobs, and one otherguy that said hey, that's
really awesome, I just joinedthis club.
I want to replicate that.
They didn't want to copy them,but they wanted to do something
equally as cool, and so theywere like what if we did twice
the distance?
But we rode bicycles?
(03:16):
Um, so ACU is connected withPepperdine and uh, just from
there they were like hey, we'venever ridden bicycles before, we
don't even own any, but we'rejust going to give it a shot.
They ended up raising $5,000that year, they did the ride
again in 2006, and we're doingit again this year.
Too much of your own fun, ornot too much of just Abilene fun
(03:36):
, and so you're kind of forcedhere to make your own fun, and
we resort to things like thisand so how did you?
BT Irwin (03:53):
let me just back up here.
So it started with your club 20years ago.
It sounds like they made theride to Pepperdine two years in
a row and then it kind of fadedaway.
Has this been like a legendthat's been passed down through
the years that the two of youheard about and thought, man,
wouldn't it be cool to do whatthose guys did 20 years ago?
(04:13):
Um, and do you remember themoment where you made the
decision yeah, we're going to doit.
Jackson Kulp (04:20):
Yeah, I'm really glad you asked that too, because
it's certainly been a lot oftrial and error to reach the
organizational structure we havenow.
I'll tell you where we learnedabout the idea and I'll let
Carter take the origins of howit happened for this group, for
this group in our constitution,where, where we kind of take all
(04:44):
of our traditions from, thereis a small clause in the
philanthropy section that saysthere may be uh projects and
philanthropies organized bysenior leadership, like the 25
hour basketball game, the run toArkansas or the bike ride to
Pepperdine on a random year tofoster club pride.
(05:06):
Uh in charity and that was theonly thing we knew about it
until this last march wherecarter can can take it so I
actually have never, uh, readthat part in the constitution.
Carter Young (05:18):
But our um president, current president,
mason hale, who's going on thetrip, and then, kind of like,
our ring leader, uh, sam O'Quinnum, we're going to a Gregory
Allen Isaacov, I think is hisname uh concert down in Austin.
And they were just talkingduring the whole ride and they
were like you know, this bikeride, a Pepperdine thing, sounds
so cool, let's do it.
(05:39):
Um, that was last March and um,we were, um all together in a
house one day and there was likefive or six of us and they were
bringing it up to us and, um,we were all like that is super
cool.
And they text us in our seniorgroup chat and they're like who
would do this with us?
And we got like a 10 or 11, uhlikes on that message.
(06:04):
And so ever since that momentit kind of just came to fruition
and there's just been so muchplanning and like who is coming
and who's not?
It's kind of been a little iffyand there's just been so much
planning.
But a fall semester is reallywhen it started picking up, and
then spring semester is likewhen everything started really
coming together.
BT Irwin (06:30):
So that's kind of the origin of when it came to happen
is this your spring break.
Holly Linden (06:32):
Are you making the ride on?
Carter Young (06:32):
your spring break.
BT Irwin (06:33):
Yeah, okay, new year, final spring break good, good
use of a spring break.
So let's get down into a littlebit of details first, just so
we can, so our listeners canunderstand what it is exactly
you're going to do and how it'sgoing to work.
So it turns out you have 11 menwho are going to make the ride,
and it's a relay, so will eachman take something like 130
(06:54):
miles.
Carter Young (06:56):
Yeah.
So it's kind of it's kind oftricky.
So originally we were kind ofnaive going into this.
We were like we're only goingto have one van and we're going
to have two bikers going at atime and we didn't really know
how to attack this.
But then we called Chris Brewer, which Jackson mentioned
earlier, and he was like no, wehad two vans and one biker going
(07:18):
at a time and so we took thatinto account and so we're going
to have it's one rest van andone biker van.
So the rest van goes up aheadlike to a checkpoint 250 miles
ahead, and they can like rest,eat, do whatever they want,
while the biker van starts andgoes, one biker at a time goes
(07:39):
10 to 15 miles biking one personat a time, and then next biker
in that van goes.
They go 10, 15 miles.
It's like a sprint, your bodydoesn't get tired or anything.
And then there's like five tosix bikers in that biker van and
they just keep going until theyhit that checkpoint where that
other van is, and once they hitthat then they switch vans.
(08:01):
So then everybody who wasresting originally becomes the
bikers now and then everybodywho was originally biking goes
up to the next checkpoint andwe'll just keep doing that, you
know, until we hit Malibu Um.
And obviously we'll play by earcause we'll have elevation.
So not everybody's going to do10 to 15 miles, cause you know,
(08:21):
if we get elevation we mightonly be able to do eight miles.
Or, you know, some people mightget really tired or they might
be feeling it, so we might beable to do like 20, 30 miles.
BT Irwin (08:32):
So we just have to play it by ear, but you know
it'll probably be around 130miles per biker how much
experience does your team havewith cycling long distances like
this and through the kinds ofterrain and weather changes that
you're going to encounter alongthe way?
Jackson Kulp (08:49):
that one is uh different depending on which one
of us you're talking about.
Yeah, as a as a whole with thegroup.
We are not seasoned cyclists, Iwould say.
What we lack in skills andexperience we're going to make
(09:09):
up for in enthusiasm and rawathleticism.
But also, in our team we havemultiple marathon runners,
triathletes, lifelong athletes.
We're not talking about a groupof guys who, who are couch
potatoes and and we're just like, oh, hey, uh, let's do this,
it'd be fun.
(09:29):
Uh, we're talking about likesome pretty committed, uh in
terms of like physical specimensthat are going on the trip, and
so we're.
We're definitely not preparedfor this kind of ride in that
way, but in some abstract way, Iwould say, we've been preparing
for a long time and especiallyI don't know who's going to be
(09:53):
listening to this and has acertain concept of maybe what
our organization, being afraternity, would mean.
But it is really hard to getthrough the process that we have
to to become a part of our club.
Uh, it's very challengingphysically and mentally and
(10:13):
there's almost kind of aninspiration that we we have with
this where we're trying toreplicate that once in a
lifetime experience we had whenwe were being initiated into
Gamsing Phi, this impossiblething that seems like a huge
mountain you can't climb.
But when we're doing it witheach other and we're pushing
each other, that mental gamebecomes a little more manageable
(10:36):
and we really believe we can doanything with that.
BT Irwin (10:40):
And so, yeah, how many men are in Gam gamma Sigma fire
right now?
Carter Young (10:48):
Ooh good question Um, I think there's like a
hundred 120.
Wow, as far as seniors go,there's only like 20.
Jackson Kulp (10:56):
Yeah, we, we had, we just took a great pledge
class of 37 guys.
BT Irwin (11:01):
Um, our class of seniors, uh, when we joined and
we were freshmen, we were 22strong and we were one of the
smallest classes in a reallylong time, and so that's part of
the reason we are so close, oneof the things we probably not
(11:22):
allowed to talk about it, butI'll just say there was a lot of
teamwork and there was no manleft behind.
Everybody had to participate,and so 11 of you are going to be
riding no-transcript.
Jackson Kulp (11:43):
You want to take that one?
Yeah, certainly, spreading theword and reaching out to family
and friends to get people on thebike to Pepperdine train is the
biggest thing we've asked ofour members.
One thing that's been reallyinspiring to me, though, as
these guys have watched us planit and kind of rev up for what
(12:07):
we're going to be doing.
I have been so humbled with thefact that, like the younger
guys right, it's a senior trip,we're spending a lot of time
working on it.
There's a sort of distancethere.
Younger guys haven't looked atus and been resentful or felt
like man.
I wish I was doing that and notthem.
(12:28):
The encouragement and the love,the way they've come around us
to just encourage this traditionand to be like man.
I hope I can do something likethat when I'm in your shoes.
But, man, I'm really glad youguys are paving the way like
I've had that kind of feedbackmultiple times and it's hard for
(12:51):
them to get their feet on theground and be a full part of
this.
But that has changed everythingin terms of how we view this,
how we go about promoting it, um, the the just humble love that
the guys have shown towards usand I think, like I thought
(13:12):
there was going to be a lot ofresentment, of like people
saying, oh, why didn't theychoose me?
Carter Young (13:16):
But I think it's more of a mentality of, oh, I'm
going to do this next year and Ithink that's like.
This project that we're doingis really bringing our club
together, which is so great.
Now here's a here reallybringing our club together,
(13:37):
which is so great.
Holly Linden (13:38):
Now here's a here's an important detail that
I might have missed are all 11of the men who are riding
seniors.
Jackson Kulp (13:40):
Well, it's, they're all seniors, but there's
one junior.
Okay, you want to take that one, or me?
How did he get on?
BT Irwin (13:42):
the so he's the guy that knows how to ride up a
mountain right he was originallylike in that conversation that
I was alluding to earlier.
Carter Young (13:52):
He was in that room and so he was like this
sounds great.
He's also like he bikes a lotand um, so we add him on.
He's also an officer and he'slike our alumni officer and
we're like this is a big alumnievent.
All the alumni know about thisbecause they've done it in the
past.
So we're like it would be greatbig alumni event.
All the alumni know about thisbecause they've done it in the
past, so we're like it would begreat to add them on.
BT Irwin (14:14):
Are there people going along with y'all that are not
going to be in one of the twovans?
So you've got the biker van,the rest van.
Are you going to have any kindof a convoy?
Going to have any kind of aconvoy like what kind of um, you
know moral support and, uh, youknow medical personnel are
going to be going along with youon the trip uh, no, it's just
(14:38):
going to be us 11 guys.
Carter Young (14:40):
However, we have already had, uh, someone reach
out to us, um in like the tucsonarea, like I think he's a gsp
alumni and he was like I wouldlove to meet up with you guys
like 20 miles ahead and justbike with you guys, which I
think is so great.
That's, um, just just to bethere for more support, and that
would be great for whoever'sbiking that that span, because
(15:01):
we're all going to be bikingalone, especially like through
the night yeah it's going to beso hard, just biking on our own.
But whoever is biking that 15-20mile span, whatever and he's
there with you he's going topush us, just to have someone by
your side.
Jackson Kulp (15:18):
BT, you touched on an important topic that we get
asked a lot of the inherent riskand physical challenges that
we're going to have to undergothroughout the ride, and we've,
I feel like, taken a lot ofprecaution in that area in terms
of just how we're structuringeach biker, like how much
(15:41):
they're going to ride, who has asay in whether you keep going
or who's going to be able tostop someone if they're
overexerting themselves.
We've done our due diligence ofmaking sure that we ride as
close to a hospital or urgentcare in the resident exercise
scientist of the team and we'vereally worked hard to make sure
(16:12):
that we are going to be doingproper recovery, fueling
ourselves the right way and juststaying healthy, because that's
most important obviously.
BT Irwin (16:25):
Well, I bet a lot of people are praying for you now
too.
They didn't know before, sothat's gonna help, okay.
So you have a great website.
We're gonna put a link to thatin the show notes.
Uh, kudos to whoever put thisthing together.
Uh, and you've got uh, you'vegot your route that you're gonna
follow from abilene to malibu,california, on your website and,
uh, if you look at the route,y'all are gonna going to ride
(16:46):
through desert.
You're going to ride throughmountains, you're going to ride
on unpaved surfaces at somepoints along the way, and I will
note that between miles 300 and360, there is a climb of about
2,800 feet, so this is not aflat ride.
You're going up and downmountains.
Plus, someone has to ride.
(17:08):
All of you, I guess, are goingto ride through Death Valley,
which is called Death Valley fora reason.
I've lived in Abilene myselfand there aren't many hills
around there or valleys aroundthere that will prepare you all
for the kind of elevationchanges that you're going to
have to make on your bikes.
How did you plan this route andhow is your team training for
(17:29):
what you're going to have tomake on your bikes?
How did you plan this route,and how is your team training
for what you're going toencounter?
Carter Young (17:35):
along the way.
Yeah, first thing shout out tobike ride leader Sam O'Quinn,
because he made the website andplanned the route and he did a
fantastic job.
But as far as training goes,you're right, abilene is so flat
so it's really hard to uh, youknow, replicate that elevation
gain.
Um, most of us have been doingstationary bikes because you can
(17:58):
like up the resistance andreally build up like those quads
.
So that's mostly what we'vebeen doing.
Um, but we also did like a testride, um to like a an outside
town from abilene called ansonand to try to like imitate the
bike ride of pepperdine with avan following a couple bikers at
(18:19):
a time, and it was.
It was actually super humbling.
That was like early on thissemester.
Um, we just did it on an accessroad and uh, yeah, it, granted
we didn't do it with nice bikeslike we have right now, but it
was super humbling.
It really motivated us to likereally want to do this trip uh,
really get going in our training.
(18:39):
Um, and I don't, I don't knowwhat else.
Jackson Kulp (18:44):
Yeah, I would say I'm I'm grateful for that
because we outlined a trainingplan around Christmas and up
until that ride we were kind ofnot doing super good and it
kicked our butt enough to reallyget us working on the bikes.
We've built our power outage onbicycles more to where there
(19:09):
were rides I was doing inNovember that were killing me in
a 30-minute span where they'recasual and seeing that
progression has been.
Honestly, I'm training for atriathlon right now but I'm more
inspired by just that portionof it because I feel like I can
take on these elevation changes.
You're training for an Ironmanby just that portion of it,
because I feel like I can takeon these elevation changes.
BT Irwin (19:29):
Yeah, are you training for an Ironman?
Jackson Kulp (19:32):
Well, we talked about doing an Ironman in the
future, but we're going to startwith an Olympic triathlon,
specifically myself, Carter andone of our other team members,
Tanner Hill.
We're going to do that in FortWorth in the middle of May, and
so this has also been helpfulfor that.
BT Irwin (19:48):
Yeah, I bet I didn't think to ask you about your
equipment before.
You mentioned that the bikesthat you took out on your trial
run in Anson are not the bikesyou're actually going to be
taking on this trip.
How did you?
Did each man have to get hisown equipment?
How did you get the equipmentfor this?
Jackson Kulp (20:10):
his own equipment?
How did you get the equipmentfor this?
So we, when carter mentions wewere riding, uh, not the bikes
we have now.
We are talking like bikes thatwe bought off facebook
marketplace for 40, so they were, they were just our own bikes
yeah, yes, and and that's whatwe spent a long time training on
.
Uh, we are so grateful forabilene's bike store called
(20:30):
Biketown.
It's owned by Jim McDonald andwe went and met with him months
ago to gauge his interest withthe trip and to see if he would
be interested in contributing atall, and he has provided us
bicycles, bicycle equipment anda lot of invaluable advice, and
so he's hooked us up withexactly what we need for this
(20:52):
trip, and I try and thank him asmuch as I can every time we
connect, but it will never beenough.
BT Irwin (20:59):
So I have to go backwards one second here.
You talked about riding throughthe night.
Are you just going to movenonstop for five straight days?
There's not going to be anypoint at which you're all
stationary and sleeping.
Carter Young (21:38):
Okay.
So it's actually kind of afunny situation.
Tanner, who Jackson justmentioned, actually has a
wedding, who he's a groomsmanfor, on Sunday night.
So we kind of had to buildaround that and he is kind of
he's kind of a critical part ofmonday morning.
So we were like, okay, we haveto pick him up at the airport.
So how do we time thiscorrectly?
So we're like we should spendthe night in tucson, so it gives
us a break and we could pickhim up at the airport on monday
morning.
So we're, uh, riding throughthe night on friday night,
(21:59):
riding through the nightsaturday, and then getting into
tucson on sunday night, spendingthe night, and then monday
morning that rest van is goingto pick them up in Phoenix and
then the biker van is just goingto catch up with them.
BT Irwin (22:13):
Wow, wow.
Holly Linden (22:15):
Yeah.
BT Irwin (22:17):
That's a lot of planning right there.
Holly Linden (22:18):
Yeah.
Carter Young (22:19):
It's going to be a lot.
I don't know if we're going tobe able to keep up with the plan
, but we're going to try ourbest.
BT Irwin (22:27):
Yeah, okay, so let's just get down to a couple of
causes that you're supporting bydoing this.
You mentioned that there aretwo that are really important to
you.
Could you tell us about thosecauses, what they do and how you
pick them?
What?
Jackson Kulp (22:46):
they do and how you pick them.
So this was, uh, I think, whatinspired us to actually make
this happen.
Um, obviously it was just anidea and something we talked a
lot about up until like October,and we're really excited to do
it.
And we, up until like October,and we're really excited to do
(23:06):
it, and we, we kind of lost alittle bit of traction or
passion because I, we realized,you know, we don't have anything
that is meaningful to us, thatwe that we want to do this for,
um, for a long time, I, everyonce in a while, would go to the
(23:27):
parking lot of the rec centeron campus at ACU to help another
student named Heidi Wachtel outof her van, because Heidi is
paralyzed in the lower half ofher body.
And then, sophomore year, Iattended a chapel where Heidi
(23:47):
was the guest speaker and sheshared a story with us about why
she is in a wheelchair, whereshe had a trampoline accident
she before this, by the way, wasa ultra marathon runner, a
firefighter and one of the mostactive people you'll ever see
Wow and fell off of a trampoline, hit her neck and her spinal
(24:09):
cord flooded.
Oh my and she was paralyzed fromthe neck down for a long time
and, through physical therapyand just one of the most
miraculous recovery storiesyou'll ever see she has regained
motor control in much of herbody and you can go on her
Instagram HeidiGirls5, and seethe documentation of her as she
(24:31):
has regained motor control.
She's starting to move her legsagain.
This is one of the mostimmensely remarkable, I mean,
for someone who's going tobecome a physical therapist like
me.
This is the person I can lookat and be like.
My career can be meaningful,and so earlier this year I find
(24:52):
out that Heidi has started anonprofit called Greater Than
Three Outreach where sheprovides infrastructure,
rehabilitation and, mostimportantly, sports wheelchairs
for people in Abilene who are ina situation like hers, because
we're a small town in West Texaswe don't have infrastructure
(25:15):
for those kinds of things and itmade it really hard for Heidi
to come across that stuff.
And so Greater Than Three is anewer nonprofit, but it's run by
her.
Her husband, brayden Rob Allen,is who owns the field house
here in Abilene and one of mybiggest mentors.
Deanna Shake is a faculty ACU,is the treasurer of their board
(25:39):
and we're raising money for themand that's one of the greatest
blessings ever.
Additionally, we are, you know,we.
We started planning right andthen the palisade fires happened
, uh, in california, and kind ofthrew a wrench in a lot of what
was going on.
I mean, there was a time wherewe didn't even know if we'd be
able to actually go to malibu.
(26:01):
Um, and after talking with somePepperdine faculty and seeing
the kind of great work that thePepperdine community is doing
for their students who have losttheir homes and everything they
have in these fires, we thoughtit would be nothing but
appropriate to raise thefundraising efforts.
Right, not to just divide, butwe've maximized and multiplied
(26:27):
how much money we are trying toraise and have raised also, so
that we can give as much moneyto Greater Than Three Outreach,
as originally planned, whilealso giving the other half of
the money we raised toPepperdine Strong Fund, which is
for those students.
BT Irwin (26:43):
So how much money do you hope to raise and how can
people make donations?
Carter Young (26:48):
Yeah, so our original goal was only set at 10
K on our GoFundMe, but weactually hit that pretty fast,
which is such a blessing Um, andwe're actually right now at
almost like 22 K and counting,um, yeah, and so our, our set
goal right now is 50 K.
Um, yeah, no, it's, it's prettyawesome, um, and so you can go
(27:11):
to our go fund me um at I thinkit's like GSP bike to Pepperdine
for charity, um, and or you cango to our website, which I
think you said you'd link it'sbike ride to pepperdineorg, and
on our website it's superobvious you just go to the top
right corner and click donateand it'll go straight to our
gofundme.
Um, but it's, it's awesome.
(27:32):
I think jackson has a pull-up.
We're at 21 675, which is soamazing.
We have over 100 donations.
I I never would have guessedthat we would have gotten that
much money.
Um, we're just so blessed tohave that in that community to
have donated that much.
BT Irwin (27:47):
Well, to our Christian Chronicle audience, let's give
a little more to that.
We'll put a link in the shownotes.
So y'all are going to set outon March 7, and your plan is to
make the ride in five days.
Can people follow your progresssomewhere?
Jackson Kulp (28:05):
yeah, uh, pretty simply, we we have documented
pretty much everything on thetrip through our instagram, at
bike to pepperdine uh, we are.
We have a pretty intricatecontent plan, uh, for this week
leading up to the trip and thenthe trip itself.
You're gonna see me andcarter's face on there, as long
as the other nine guys.
A lot, just some professionalstuff, but also just a lot of
(28:30):
antics.
Right, I want to take a littlevideo of myself after I finish
my sprint and just talk aboutthe experience.
It's going to have the ins andouts of every single second of
our day.
We have two media people Sam,who's been running our website
and our Instagram and is prettymuch the guy behind everything,
and then Ben Lancaster is one ofour best friends we live with
(28:52):
him and a monster, the best,most skilled media person you
could ever see.
And so one of them is going tobe in each van at all times
documenting everything, andthat's going to be consistent
posts on that Instagram page andthat's mostly where you can
follow our progress, and thenwe'll be taking documentation
for that trip as well.
BT Irwin (29:15):
We'll link all of that in the show notes for our
audience to follow along.
I know I'll be following along.
I want to see this story.
It sounds like it's going to beepic.
Congratulations to y'all andyour brothers for putting that
together.
Jackson Culp and Carter Youngare members of Gamma Sigma Phi
at Abilene Christian Universityin Abilene, texas, and they are
(29:35):
about to push off on a1,400-mile cycling relay with
nine of their Gamma Sigma Phibrothers to raise money for
Greater Than Three andPepperdine Strong Fund.
If you'd like to follow theirprogress and support their
causes, go tobikeridetopepperdineorg.
We'll put a link in the shownotes.
Like I said, jackson Carter, gowith God.
Carter Young (29:56):
Thanks for having us.
Thank you.
Jackson Kulp (29:57):
BT.
Really appreciate you.
It's been a pleasure.
BT Irwin (30:00):
We hope that something you heard in this episode
encouraged, enlightened orenriched you in some way.
If it did, thanks be to God andplease pay it forward.
Subscribe to this podcast andshare it with a friend.
Recommend and review itwherever you listen to your
favorite podcasts.
Your subscription,recommendation and review help
us reach more people.
Please send your comments,ideas and suggestions to podcast
(30:24):
at christianchronicleorg.
We want to hear them.
And don't forget that ourministry to inform and inspire
Christians and congregationsaround the world is a nonprofit
ministry that relies on yourgenerosity.
So if you like the show and youwant to keep it going and make
it better, please make atax-deductible gift to the
Christian Chronicle atchristianchronicleorg.
(30:45):
Slash donate Until next time.
May grace and peace be yours inabundance.
Holly Linden (30:52):
The Christian Chronicle Podcast is a
production of the ChristianChronicle Inc.
Informing and inspiring Churchof Christ congregations, members
and ministries around the worldsince 1943.
The Christian ChroniclesManaging Editor is Audrey
Jackson, editor-in-chief BobbyRoss Jr and President and CEO
(31:13):
Eric Trigestad.
The Christian Chronicle Podcastis written, directed, hosted
and edited by BT Irwin and isproduced by James Flanagan in
Detroit, michigan, usa.
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