.......a skill once learned, is not soon forgotten. A phrase we hear people say about not losing the ability to do something we have done before and did fairly well when we did do it. Thirty five years ago I was a pretty good bicycle rider/racer. I never kept a log of the miles I rode and raced, but in 1983, I would estimate that I was on a bicycle more than 10,000 miles.
Yesterday, I decided to borrow a mountain bike and helmet and ride the off-road trails which have been constructed earlier this year on the Passion Play property. I tested out the shifting mechanism, brakes and handling characteristics on as level a place as I could find and then started off through the woods on the five mile Genesis trail. I was not an off-road cyclist in "the day", so I was very content to ride slowly in a moderate gear with my hands firmly attached to the front and rear brakes. The trail was well constructed and fairly wide, but it was soon apparent that there were a lot of whooptie-dos with some steep ups and downs, as well as a severe drop-off on the left side of the trail and the trail became progressively narrower as it went along.
I was able to keep on the trail, shift to the proper gear for the uphills, but also realized that this was a lot different than my competitive riding in the '80's and that the extra 35 years and 35 pounds I have gained since then, were not assets in my present situation. About three miles into the ride I felt like something wasn't right, and realized that my rear tire had gone flat. With a sigh of relief, I dismounted in a place where I could get on a paved road and made my way back to the starting point.
My curiosity about the trail had been satisfied. I was sweating profusely with an elevated heart rate, glad my experience had not been" like falling off a bicycle" and was thrilled to wake up this morning with no bruises, road rash, broken bones or other damage like I had in 1987 when I last rode a bike and came out on the losing side of an encounter with an automobile.
Karen, just shook her head when I told her what I had been up to. In all my miles of riding, this might have been the first time I was ever grateful for a flat tire. No telling what might have happened if I had ridden those last two miles.
As always........Thank You, Lord.
Sent from my iPad
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