Skip to main content

Riding

My new normal includes a 9 mile bike ride to work, and another 9 mile back, Monday to Friday. For cyclists, that’s hardly a workout. For those who drive everywhere, that’s unfathomable. For me, it’s a conviction, a choice, and a gift. Aside from some apparent benefits, like saving money and the environment, biking early in the morning and at the end of a work day mean having quiet down times with myself and God. I can’t think of a better way to start as well as to end a day.

Biking isn’t always easy, especially the steady climb-up on the way home. Head wind and rude drivers are not my friends. I had cars brushed up against me, or honk at me because I was riding on a bike-lane-turned-right-turn-lane. But still, I have nothing to complain about. I’ve seen women and children needing to hike half a day up a mountain to get clean water every single day. I’ve seen people sleeping on dirt at our gate over night. What is a 45-minute bike ride compare to these? If it is anything at all, it’d be a reminder of their determination to survive and a way to share a wee bit of their hardship. I’ve been thinking about them a lot this week. I pray that God is putting as much joy in their hearts as He puts in mine.

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

WV Trilogy - Part 2

(If you haven't read Part 1, it's here .) (Sat) Oct 13 -  Sunrise at Spruce Knob 6 a.m. start in the dark. My legs surprised me by being happier than yesterday. My heart is in better place as well. The first 6.7 mile goes up to Spruce Knob, the highest point in West Virginia. Part of this section was on fire road and I welcomed the faster miles. Steady progress was made in the first 20 miles or so until the long, long descent into Aid Station 3. As I have decided yesterday, I'd start the race, go from aid station to aid station, and re-evaluate my condition at each. I left Aid station 2 feeling good but then the long descent once again put doubts in my mind. Running reduced to little steps on jello-legs. Compression socks helped to contain the injury and pain, but the strength to support the pounding was still lacking. Soon, my knees started to hurt as well. At aid station 3, they told me I had 2:45 to make it to the next aid station before the cut-off. At the pace I...
7 comments
more >>

New Year's resolution

Nine days into 2012 and a day before entering into a new age group is an opportune time to nail down some New Year's resolutions. 2011 was a good year, one that filled with transitions and norming --  be it moving from California to Charlotte, from being a student back to an architect, or starting fresh in a new territory to establishing roots and relationships. My new running and swimming communities had made the transition easy and welcoming, and partly because of that, much of my attention in the past year was on either sports, like running my first 50k and participating in my first swim meet. Having just graduated from seminary was probably the other half of the reason why I had been keeping a distance from structured studies / reading in 2011. With that said, my 2012 focus will be on balanced growth. While I still have a long list of goals in swimming and running, I need to make sure I allocate enough time and attention to spiritual and intellectual grow...
2 comments
more >>

Georgia Jewel Weekend

My last-minute decision to run the Georgia Jewel 35-miler last weekend turns out to be a good one. A group of friends had made plans and arrangements to go, running all distances: 35, 50, and 100! Everything was in place, I couldn't pass up the fun to run with old friends and meet new ones, and see Sully running a difficult 100! A storm was passing through on Saturday and it was torrential downpour from the start at 5 a.m.! The first 10 miles through the "rock garden" was difficult for me. It was hard to see through the heavy rain and fog in the dark with my glasses and crappy headlamp (Lesson learned: I'm investing in a better headlamp - it's worth it). Sky lightened up after the first 10 miles and we also got to run on smoother single-tracks. I was able to pick up my pace a bit and caught up with a few that passed me during the Rock Garden. Unlike the point-to-point 50-miler, the 35-miler was an out-and-back. During the return trip, some sections of the tra...
3 comments
more >>