Reflection
Two eagles are hanging out south of Dayton. It’s one of many beautiful scenes from my 2024 Century Ride.
The opening quote hangs on a bulletin board in my wife’s art studio.
I see it often, inspiring me to continue to grow and improve as I progress through my life journey.
Most of you know I’ve had a rather interesting 2024 as I’ve battled Atrial Fibrillation for most of the year. On September 19, I went through a successful heart ablation, and my heart has been good ever since.
A few days after the procedure, I circled a couple of dates on my calendar indicating when I would do my century ride for the year. For several years, I’ve done a hundred-mile bike ride during the autumn season, as my route, the Miami Riverway Bike Trail, is lined with vibrant colors and makes for a tiring yet beautiful experience.
Friday, October 25, was the date I circled to complete my 2024 century ride.
Any life worth living comes with challenges…
Challenge 1 – I thoroughly checked my bike a few days before my ride to ensure everything worked. Unfortunately, I had some issues with my gear shifters, and what usually takes me thirty minutes to diagnose and fix took me three hours.
Challenge 2 – Rain was predicted on the morning of my ride, and I thought I could beat it and get to the south before it let loose. Unfortunately, it began raining about fifteen minutes into my ride. Because it was a bit chilly, I thought it would be best to pull off the path and find cover until the rain subsided. It took about twenty minutes for the rain to pass, and I was back on the road.
Challenge 3 – The weather report initially showed the wind for the day coming out of the south and shifting from south to southwest and then to southeast. My route was down (south) and back (north), so thanks to the wind, I was anticipating a quick ride home in the second half. The direction of the wind shifted counter to the weather forecast, and I could never get into a good rhythm because of that. No problem; I just couldn’t ride as fast as usual.
Challenge 4—I hit a large bump on the path about seventy-five miles into the ride. This is usually not a big deal, but in this case, it was because I had one hand off of my handlebars, returning a water bottle to its cage after taking a sip. Before I knew it, my body, while whirling through the air contorted like a pretzel, was thrown directly on top of my crashed bicycle.
I lay on the path for a few moments to regain consciousness and moved each of my body parts to see if there were any breaks. Luckily, there were no breaks, just a lot of nasty scrapes and bruises down the entire right side of my body.
So, as any crazy biker would do, I climbed back on my bike and finished the final twenty-five miles, albeit at a much slower pace.
As luck would have it, my starting point for the ride was in a parking lot directly across the road from our local hospital. Upon climbing off my bike at the end of my ride, I felt strange pains throughout my body, so I thought I would drive to the emergency department to get checked out.
Three hours later, I was home, convalescing in pain with nothing broken but my pride.
I am grateful for knowing that my only limits are what I tell myself, and the same goes for the limits of my stupidity. 🙂
Psalm 37:4, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
P.E.A.C.E.
Jay@EagleLaunch.com
