Interview with Group Leader Matt Lyons

Family: just me!
Local Church: Calvary Spokane
What I do for a living: EMS Helicopter Pilot
One thing people would be surprised to know about you: I can make a wicked cheesecake in a growing number of delicious variations

ABOUT BIKING:
Type of Bike/How long mountain biking: 6 years mountain biking, now with a Gary Fisher Cake 2 DLX
Favorite kind of riding: Long cross-country singletrack, both smooth and technical
Rate yourself (Beginner, intermediate, advanced, expert): Intermediate to advanced
Best epic ride: Monarch Crest/Rainbow Trail, Salida, CO
Best instate rides: Let me get back to you on that. Washington is a huge state!
Best out of state ride: Most anywhere in Fruita or Moab
Other interests/hobbies besides mountain biking: Road biking, hiking, skiing, photography, home improvement, writing
Toughest ride ever: “The Big Mountain” ride in Crimea (Ukraine) with that crazy Russian, Pastor Yuri “just one more big hill” Kyzmin. An all-day affair with lots of hike-a-bike and big elevation changes. Riding some kind of Czech-made hardtail with twist-grip shifting made it even more of a challenge. The company, and views of the Black Sea coast were well worth it though.
Best (worst) crash: Was actually a road bike (the flip side of my MTB passion) crash on a steep, twisting highway in the Jemez Mountains of northern NM. Going way too fast – lots of blood. I broke my clavicle (and still retain some extra hardware in my left shoulder now), tore open my side and had massive road rash. I met some really nice EMTs though. The bike (a Specialized Roubaix Elite) survived with only minor injuries.
What is your dream ride? Any multi-day tour somewhere I haven’t been: Canada, England, New Zealand perhaps. Or anywhere in the Rockies. The Durango area has some good ones.

ABOUT MINISTRY:
How did you come to know the Lord? I grew up with religion, but without God. Much later in life, after self-destructing through a series of bad relationships seeking to fill that void, I bottomed out – I knew my way was a dead-end path headed over a cliff, and religion had no answers. Then I discovered the difference between knowing about Jesus and actually knowing, and giving your life to Him. That happened at a critical time in my life and my career. As soon as I earnestly sought to change and asked God for help, He led me to a great church fellowship and the Word began to do its work. By the summer of 2001, I was on a new path, this one with a real abundant-life future to it – total surrender and a new baptism soon followed. The changes and adventures I’ve experienced since then have been phenomenal.
How did you hear about BOMB? In early 2003, I had just moved to Albuquerque with a hardly-used Diamondback MTB when someone at my church (Calvary) mentioned this Christian mountain biking group. I found out about their next ride and met Chris Stageman in the Sandia Mountain foothills early one winter morning. We were the only two riders that day – praise God for Chris’s faithfulness to his ministry! “The rest is history”

Why I want to be a BOMB leader: William Carey said, “Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God.” With each step in my Christian walk, I’m constantly asking, “OK Lord, what’s next?” Spokane has a dynamic and diverse Christian community. It’s also a gateway to some fantastic mountain biking, so there’s a perfect fit for a ministry like BOMB. My vision of this group is to be more than just an outreach biking fellowship; I’d also like to see upreach and inreach among those who already know Christ, glorifying God in all we do and maintaining vibrant, authentic relationships while growing to be more like Him. I envision an active, servant-minded ministry that will become a reflection of the presence of the living God to the community.
I found BOMB as a young Christian and a novice mountain biker, and it became the catalyst that propelled me along a path I never could have imagined in both areas. Over the next few years my biking skills grew in tandem with my faith, until one day I found myself swimming in a lake (after a new believer’s baptism) outside a small village in Crimea with a bunch of newfound friends in Christ, most of whom spoke only Russian. A passion for God, blended with a passion for mountain biking, had led me there. In that moment I really sensed that the things of God are a lot more exciting that things of this world. So in addition to this group being a witness to non-believers, if I can help motivate even one person toward that kind of revelation, I would consider the ministry a success.

My prayer requests for this BOMB chapter: That as we set out along this path, God would open the doors to unique opportunities and personal connections as only He can, bringing new friends together and using us to show non-believers that the Christian life is a lot more exciting than they’ve been led to believe. That we would exhibit and share the love of Christ with all we meet. I would also ask for the personal wisdom and guidance to lead effectively, keeping the focus on the “Believers” part first and “mountain bikes” second.