Revelation Day - Part I

Yesterday (Saturday April 21, 2012) was such an amazing day and I became aware of and leanred so much that I am going to split this day into several parts.

As a Saturday, yesterday was the end of my training week. I needed 35 miles to achieve my goal of 180 miles for the week but the miles were not the greatest struggle, it was the loneliness. I would describe myself as an introvert masquerading as an extrovert so usually a long bike ride by myself shows up as a time to reflect and relax, but four to six hour long bike rides 3-4 times in a week was wearing on me.  By Thursday evening, I was so lonely I was actually physically sick to my stomach. I wasn’t saddle sore, I was soul sore. 

 

I think that my physical reaction to the loneliness was because it reminds me of the intense loneliness I experienced seven years ago when I quit drinking and smoking.  All my close friends at that time were my drinking and smoking buddies.  I had to be more committed to a life free of addiction than I was to our friendship and subsequently, the friendships slipped away.  The new friends I made were committed to health and wellness but for the most part, they couldn’t relate to the monumental life change I had just engineered.

 

I think that whenever you set out to do something bigger than your self, like quitting your addictions or riding your bike across America, you will pass through a desert time of loneliness and trial. This difficult and often agonizing period serves to strengthen your commitment and demonstrate to you your own reslove and like all the hardships in our lives, the only way out of the desert is through it.

 

So that was my frame of mind as I set out for Saturday’s bike adventure. The plan was to meet Karen Z in Bellefontaine, OH and ride together in the PoOH Ride (Peak of Ohio Ride to benefit the Simon Kenton Trail). The ride offered routes of 15, 25, or 37 miles of hilly to very hilly terrain. I have virtually no hill experience so this ride was exactly what I needed.

I arrived in Bellefountaine and was immediately greeted by Jim and Jill and the rest of the gang sponsoring the ride. I immediately connected with them and we were laughing and joking together like old friends  by the time Karen arrived ten minutes later.

The weather was cold (39 degrees) and raining with a driving wind. As Karen readied her bike Jill looked at me and said, “That’s a true friend you have there.” Don’t I know it! I told Karen that if she chose not to ride in the miserable conditions, I would completely understand. Her reply was “I want to do this.”

I was committed to riding the 37 miles for maximum hill experience. Karen and I slogged along for about 5 miles and then the 15 mile route split off and Karen took that to head back to the cars. It took me about 3 hours to finish the rest of the route and Karen waited on me in her car that whole time. I was deeply moved when I pulled into the park and saw her there. She saw how cold I was and immediately started to help me rack my bike and stow my gear. It felt great to have someone there to fuss and care for me.

By the time I had completed 30 miles of the route, I was pretty much done physically and emotionally. The hills had been an extreme physical challenge and I just didn’t have much left in my legs. The unrelenting cold and rain had worn on my emotions and I just didn’t know how I was going to finish the last 7 miles. Just then a cyclist came out of no where and pulled up beside me. He was obviously very experienced and having no particular trouble with the weather or terrain. He could have easily blown by me but he slowed to my pace and started to chat. His name was Barry and he spent the next 7 miles teaching me a wealth of information about cycling in hills as well as asking me questions about myself and my trip. We were soon pulling into the park and I couldn’t believe how this angel Barry had carried me along those last seven miles.

Later Saturday evening when Dennis and I went to Mass, my heart was filled with gratitude for the people in my life. I had been shown so much kindness and genuine goodness by Karen, Jim, Jill, Barry, and of course Dennis, that my heart felt like popcorn about to burst with joy and turn inside out.

What a strange and wonderful journey this is. I went from desert loneliness to mountain top joy all in the same week. I have no doubt I will experience this same swing in the terrain again over the next several months but now I will hold to the promise of the mountain top as I plod through the desert. Every great, good goal requires the desert as part of its price but it also gives the mountain tops as a taste of the prize.