330 Miles on a Bike, Together

330 Miles on a Bike, Together

Just a few notes from the road/trail - Last week Tuesday four of us dipped our rear wheel in the Ohio River at Cincinatti and on Friday touched the water in Lake Erie at Cleveland. According to my Cateye@, 330 miles, which is a little longer than advertised, but not if you get lost once or twice. We came from Michigan, New York, North Carolina, and Illinois. We were friends a long time ago, graduating from Cedarville in 1980-81. We have crossed paths a bit, some more than others, and there has been a lot of life experience, each different than the other. 

In fact, the four of us are quite different from one another. Four different personalities handling the schedule and stress, but working quite well together. The others were prepared for this in a variety of ways more than me, so I think I benefited the most from what the others offered. I figured I was the oldest, but found out I was #2. I also found out I was second heaviest, but not second tallest. In fact, I may be the shortest. I need to work on that, and not the tall part.

This was not like a ladies’ shopping trip (though I’m no expert on ladies’ shopping trips). There was a lot of planning just to make it happen, which followed one of the guys having a deep desire to do this ride in the first place. There was the logistics of how to arrange transportation. There was the gear, and bike riders are big on gear. And then there was the training that needed to precede riding 80+ miles on average/day. I was short on the training, but on the other hand, everybody else on this trip seems to be retired. 

Our chosen task was to ride south to north through Ohio. Yes, Ohio. Now I don’t have anything against Ohio. I went to college there, and my grandkids and their parents live there. Taylor and Courtney got married there. But I wouldn’t want to live there. God has been merciful. But we did find Ohio to have at least a bit of variety. The first southern half was flat and rather colorless. Northeast of Columbus was a bit more hilly, more colorful, and in Amish country, the buggies on the road had us on the lookout for road apples.

The exercise of biking is a strange one, traveling that far on ribbons of air, though I guess wider tires are the rage now - I’m always a bit behind the curve. There’s the conversation and planning of stops along the way, but there is also the conversation in one’s own head and with one’s own body - what’s feeling tired; what hurts; how long; how far; can I keep up. There is also the impatience. Lady shoppers may leave closer to on time than this group.

But it worked. We all made it, together. We finished the course. Our bikes didn’t fail us, nor did our bodies. We didn’t give up, and we accomplished something significant, four of us at 66 and 65. And we talk about doing it again. But please, not in Ohio.

I wasn’t sure if I was up to it. After the first day, 82 miles, slight grade uphill from the Ohio River, I knew I could do it. The second day, over 100 miles, picking our way through Ohio, longer, but quite an accomplishment, and the first century ride for at least one of the guys. 

But I don’t think I could have done it alone. I’m sure I wouldn’t have done it, or even thougth of it, but I’m sure that I could not have done it alone. I would have missed some of the road signs. I wouldn’t have been able to hang on on someone’s wheel at times, or push and be pushed with the others. We all ride mostly alone, but this “together” thing is pretty valuable. It’s a good idea. Better things happen when we work together. That surely has many applications, and I believe that God thinks it’s a good idea.