Today I actually followed through on something I have been planning for almost a year. I rode my bike to work. I know that doesn't sound like such a big deal & why would I need to plan so much & so on. I bought a bike last summer with the intention of getting down to South Carolina at least one time to mountain bike with some friends down there. I was also planning on biking some & not running quite so much (especially in the really hot days of summer). I never made it to South Carolina but I did ride my bike a lot last summer. Over the winter I started thinking about parking the car & trying to bike more instead of drive. What all does that entail? I needed equipment (helmet, lock, lights). I got most of that for Christmas. I also needed to plan my route. The city completed a major bike path over the winter that takes me at least 1/3 of the way to work. I drove around a bit last week & came up with a route (the way there is different from the way home because of the traffic patterns). Autumn & I made a test run this past Saturday. It's about 9 miles round trip. We completed the run without any mishaps. So this morning I set out at 6:15 a.m. One good thing about having an early work schedule is the traffic is a lot lighter! I only had one snag. On the last leg of my route I have to cross Highway 41. It's 6 lanes in this particular spot but I didn't think it would be any problem because there is a traffic light. The only difficulty was that there was no traffic going my way; I had no way to trip the light. I sat there for a couple of minutes (long enough to get a bit antsy) & finally squeaked through on a turn arrow cycle. Tomorrow morning I'm going to go a bit out of the way to a different crossing that should have a little more cross traffic. We'll see how that goes.
I was blessed several different ways today on my ride. First of all, I was able to get up & out the door on time. For those of you who know me well, you understand that such a simple thing for most people is an act of God for me (I don't know what I'll do if I ever get married & have kids!). Then I didn't get railroaded on the way to work or the way home. That's practically unheard of in my town. Also, I noticed things that I've never noticed before. I drive these roads all the time - some of them literally every day, but since I had to take a slower pace I saw all kinds of things. It made me wonder, what else do I need to be slowing down to notice? I enjoy a busy schedule; hectic is my pace. But is that really how I should be? What is the Lord trying to show me or teach me that I'm missing because I have my head down, getting this thing done so I can move on to the next thing on the list? As I was enjoying the hot sunshine on the way home I couldn't help but mull these things over. I was also thinking about how easy it is to drown out the Lord's still small voice with the noise of my life. It's possible to never be quiet - & I don't just mean that I talk too much (which is probably true). I mean all kinds of noise from TV & music to conversations that are not glorifying to God.
All in all, I think it was a profitable ride; I think I'll do it again tomorrow!
2 comments:
We have bikes, toddler seats, and helmets for the kids, but we still need to break them all out.
My dad and I used to bike quite a bit when I was in high school b/c we lived near the Milwaukee park system which has an extensive bike path. It was neat riding so close to Lake Michigan.
My main hold-up now is riding with the kids. Spilling myself is one thing - spilling w/ a little one on the back is far more scary! Maybe I'll get brave one of these days.
I'm so glad that you enjoyed your ride! I walk to work every day. Does that count?
Post a Comment