The last couple of days have been a little ‘iffy’, containing some snags here-and-there I could have done without.
.
It all started on Sunday. Well, before that, the Cavalier decided it wasn’t going to start, and the Vibe’s engine light came on, leaving me without a vehicle. This is only a temporary, minor set-back given I’ve been commuting via bicycle. But on Sunday, Sarah had a bridal shower in Chatham and we all had a birthday party in Wooster… both at the same time! Between these two locales and Norton, it forms an almost perfect equilateral triangle. So how do we get Sarah to Chatham, the other 4 of us to Wooster, and Sarah eventually down to Wooster with one car? We decided to bring the bike along. In Chatham, Sarah took the kids in to the bridal shower while I took the 16-or-so-mile course to Wooster, expecting them to pass me at some point. The first snag… I missed a turn, and the ride ended up being 7-8 miles longer than expected. This would normally be fine except it was HOT on Sunday, there was little shade where I was travelling, and I hit a decent sized hill I would have missed had I just gotten the first right-hand turn correct off the shoot.
.
Snag #2 – as we roll in to CVS on our way home from party #2 to drop off the girls’ prescription for their ADHD, we realize they closed ½ hour ago… that means no meds for tomorrow, morning OR afternoon. So Snag #2 quickly became Snag #3 overnight. Sarah took the brunt of it since she’s home and I’m at work, but the girls were quite difficult yesterday. After I got home from work, everything I said needed repeated, and that’s no exaggeration! There were a couple more ‘major’ issues, but just in general, it was a crazy day. Needless to say, it was an early bed time at 7:30p for the twins!
.
It was hard to roll out of bed yesterday before the fiasco started. I was beat from my ride the day before, my leg muscles all ached severely, and the last thing I wanted to do was hop on a saddle. But it dawned on me during that short 8.8 mile trek to work… my legs feel fine as long as I’m pedaling. I put up my best morning commute average speed yesterday and averaged fairly well coming home (different route with more traffic) despite the tiredness and soreness. It made me think of missions and outreach – when you’re doing the Lord’s work, it’s fun, rewarding, exciting. But when you stop, you ache and need to keep pedaling spiritually.
.
Today’s Snag #5 was brought on by Snag #4 which I haven’t mentioned yet. Sarah went and had her hair done last night – poor thing was 15 minutes late due to a rough day frazzling anything she had planned. That meant I had to put the baby to bed; however, part of his bedtime routine is nursing, which I can’t help him with. And since we were all out of frozen pump-stuff, he went to bed without. Snag #4 came in that he went down well enough, but woke up a few hours later screaming for most of the night thereafter. In the middle of that, Alex woke us up crying pretty hard herself as she had a pretty bad headache. When Isaac wasn’t screaming and Alex was sleeping, I couldn’t fall back asleep myself, mind a-racing. When the alarm went off this morning, Sarah and Isaac heard it, but I didn’t. I turned it off in my sleep and woke up (somehow) about the time I needed to be leaving the house on my bike. So today was a drive-in day, as will tomorrow and Thursday be (eww – Snag #5) as my bike is out of commission for a much needed tune-up. I will be using the next three days to get ready for next week… and maybe let my legs recoup a little as I build up to “power commuter” status.
.
Here’s to a better day. A day with medication and patience. A day with sunshine and no exercise. A day of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. Against such things, there is no law – and where there is no law, there is freedom – and where there is freedom, there is happiness indeed.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Be Different - Beg the Question
Netflix didn’t work last night, so we gave up and went to bed at 9:30p. Despite the early departure from the night before, it still took me 15 minutes to exit bed this morning when the alarm went off at 5:15a. I could really feel a pull to drive to work today, to take a break and recoup… BUT Saturday’s coming! So I rode.
.
[Warning: the following paragraph may be graphic for some viewers.] As I sat on the toilet shortly before 6:00a this morning, I peered out the blinds by the nearby window. Why? I don’t know. But I saw a familiar bike and its rider sitting alongside my garage: Ken – no doubt waiting for me to mount my cycle and follow me in to Akron. I went out to greet him and asked for a second while I went back in to tell Sarah I was leaving for work.
.
I was delayed getting back outside shortly as Isaac was standing at the corner of his crib (yes, shortly after 6:00a) with a big smile that said “daddy, come pick me up”. How do you resist that? So I brought him over to mommy and said my ‘good mornings’ and ‘good byes’ then departed with Ken for Akron.
.
It was nice to have company, though the destination was work either way. The pause as we reached my building to take a quick “team” picture was a nice break before heading into the air conditioning. We parted ways with a “God Bless”, and Ken went on to buy some zucchini for his wife… I think…
.
I did take some time today to map out a new course home… well, tonight will be a course to the park in Barberton where we’ve been holding our small group for church... but it’s about the same as it’s not far from home. After last night’s hills with 4 usages of my granny gear, I’m desperate for a new route. The Tow Path is still closed due to flooding, but I’m still hoping I can find a new route without hills that are too difficult and that isn’t the Tow Path as my bike really isn’t made for that. Hopefully my tune-up next week at RD in Barberton will be just what the doctor ordered for my wobbly front tire and slightly off shifting… but I don’t know that will make the bike Tow Path worthy…
.
But my route home worked, winding it's way thru South Akron, Kenmore, and Barberton. With few real hills, it was a pleasant ride save the traffic. And when the thermostat says it feels like 104 with the wind at your face, it's a tough ride no matter how flat it is! I may be nuts, but it turns some heads...
.
Operation Barnabas visited the park tonight where we usually hold group. It was good time watching some teenagers hold a puppet show, dance, sing, and share the Gospel. It makes me wish I had known at their age what I know now... would I have done O.B.? I'd like to think I would... but then again, why can't we all do something crazy for God now? After all, when you do something out of the ordinary, people ask questions. Is your life begging the question (I Peter 3:15)?
.
[Warning: the following paragraph may be graphic for some viewers.] As I sat on the toilet shortly before 6:00a this morning, I peered out the blinds by the nearby window. Why? I don’t know. But I saw a familiar bike and its rider sitting alongside my garage: Ken – no doubt waiting for me to mount my cycle and follow me in to Akron. I went out to greet him and asked for a second while I went back in to tell Sarah I was leaving for work.
.
I was delayed getting back outside shortly as Isaac was standing at the corner of his crib (yes, shortly after 6:00a) with a big smile that said “daddy, come pick me up”. How do you resist that? So I brought him over to mommy and said my ‘good mornings’ and ‘good byes’ then departed with Ken for Akron.
.
It was nice to have company, though the destination was work either way. The pause as we reached my building to take a quick “team” picture was a nice break before heading into the air conditioning. We parted ways with a “God Bless”, and Ken went on to buy some zucchini for his wife… I think…
.
I did take some time today to map out a new course home… well, tonight will be a course to the park in Barberton where we’ve been holding our small group for church... but it’s about the same as it’s not far from home. After last night’s hills with 4 usages of my granny gear, I’m desperate for a new route. The Tow Path is still closed due to flooding, but I’m still hoping I can find a new route without hills that are too difficult and that isn’t the Tow Path as my bike really isn’t made for that. Hopefully my tune-up next week at RD in Barberton will be just what the doctor ordered for my wobbly front tire and slightly off shifting… but I don’t know that will make the bike Tow Path worthy…
.
But my route home worked, winding it's way thru South Akron, Kenmore, and Barberton. With few real hills, it was a pleasant ride save the traffic. And when the thermostat says it feels like 104 with the wind at your face, it's a tough ride no matter how flat it is! I may be nuts, but it turns some heads...
.
Operation Barnabas visited the park tonight where we usually hold group. It was good time watching some teenagers hold a puppet show, dance, sing, and share the Gospel. It makes me wish I had known at their age what I know now... would I have done O.B.? I'd like to think I would... but then again, why can't we all do something crazy for God now? After all, when you do something out of the ordinary, people ask questions. Is your life begging the question (I Peter 3:15)?
Uneventful... in an Eventful Sort of Way...
I think the last thing my legs wanted to do this past Saturday morning was pedal. After 112 miles since the prior Sunday, the Ice Cream Odyssey didn’t seem like a viable option for my body. But alas – I had already paid the $20 (actually $40 since Sarah was riding too, though I doubt I could have talked her out of it had I really wanted to), so it was off to Medina for more biking.
.
Sarah’s mom took the girls, and we dropped Isaac off with my mom before heading to the starting line. Dad followed me and Sarah over, and the three of us met up with my cousin (Krista) and her husband (Will), who were the original reason we had signed up for our 3rd Ice Cream Odyssey adventure. After signing in and taking our freebies back to our cars, we hit the road, two-wheel style.
.
It was somewhat slow going to start as all five of us had trained separately – other than one ride dad and I had done together, and one that Sarah and Krista had done together. Each of us wasn’t really sure what the other four could handle, so we all stayed relatively well in our comfort zone, pushing a little more every so often when we realized the other four could handle a bit more.
.
Just shy of the 10-mile mark, the paths split off – the 25-mile route went one way, while the 42-mile and 65-mile routes veered off together. We had signed up for the 25-mile ride, but our ambitions told us to go 42. Not long after the split (around the 10-11 mile marker), Will’s back pain had increased to the point of causing him to want to turn back. We convinced him rather than go back and hit the 25-mile route to just return the way we had come, which would save him a few miles in the long run. We’d later come to find out he got lost and probably ended up riding over 25 miles!
.
At the halfway point, we stopped to turn in our voucher for a free ice cream – okay, I’m sure it was part of your ride cost, but the ticket said “free”, so it felt free! As we walked back to our bikes, a loud “hssssss” spewed out from nearby. Krista’s bike decided it was time for the rear tire to pop – weird in that it didn’t pop on the road but blew after it had sat for 10-15 minutes while we enjoyed some ice cream; weirder in that she had just purchased the bike the day before! But she was prepared – kinda! Unfortunately, we didn’t have a spare tube; fortunately, it was an organized ride, so a “sag” volunteer came to our rescue. At the time, we didn’t have a spare tube, but a passing tandem saw our need and miraculously had the correct size for her back tire! After “sag guy #1” inserted the new tube into the tire and placed it back on the bike, “sag guy #2” brought over his handy floor pump – which promptly popped the new tire before hitting even 100 psi (while this isn’t very high for a road tire, hers were only made for 85 psi – oops!). So we waited for Century Cycles to show up with their extra tubes, tools, stands, know-how, and the like. After fixing her rims and giving us tube #3 for the day full of air, Don had us on our way… a little later than expected, but hey, Will was still out on the road somewhere…
.
The rest of the ride was relatively uneventful, and we were welcomed back with a cookout. The raffle tickets were had been given earlier in the day proved worthless to me and Sarah, though dad, Krista, and Will all won something!
.
For an 8:30a start, getting home after 4:00p seemed crazy. But we stopped and had a couple cups of coffee with mom in picking Isaac up first. By the time we got home, showered, and crashed, I was beat. The girls didn’t get dropped off by grandma until after 7:00p, so the remainder of the day was, thankfully, uneventful.
.
Sunday after church, the girls had their end-of-season softball banquet, which was more like a big picnic with a dip in the lake. But they got 3D medallions with their names on the back, of which they were very excited about. Then we hung out in the lake all afternoon – well, Sarah and the girls did. Isaac and I found some shade and played with the diaper bag all day (hey – if he’s going to be that easily entertained, I’ll take it). He did get in to the water at one point, though we took him out for fear of sunburn. He loved it! Splashing around constantly, you'd think he was a different child (mine) by how he screams when he takes a bath. Another long day out of doors ended uneventfully, thankfully again.
.
Dad brought me his bag and rack for my rear stand during work on Monday so I could carry more than just my wallet and keys for the commute. Then after work, Alex “helped” me pick out some new riding shorts and shoes and Eddy’s in Montrose. It was good time spent with a goofy girl. During our ride home, I asked her how she liked the bike store. She said her favorite part was the spinny chair she had sat in while I shopped. I told her I was surprised she didn’t get so dizzy that she threw up… but she affirmed me that, no, she wouldn’t throw up… she had already had her flu shot! After explaining that there are many things other than dizziness that can invoke vomiting, she asked: “dad – what would happen if you swallowed a cricket?” I don’t know where she gets these things…
.
Tuesday morning, the Akron area had a record rainfall: “A U.S. Geological Survey gauge in South Akron registered 6.81 inches in a 24-hour period, an amount that is likely to occur only once in a thousand years, said Ron Gray, a canal hydraulics operations manager with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.” As noted in my prior blog, I was facing trails of many kinds again, but I wasn’t going to let nature deter me from commuting since there was no more rain in the forecast for the day. But rather than take the Tow Path for fear of flooding, I went the higher… and I mean higher… route and rode in Route 261, which has a couple crazy hills. While there’s more traffic in the afternoon commute, I’ve avoided this route mainly due to the cars and the hills; however, it cut out about 5 miles and 25 minutes of biking, so it could become a regular morning commute. The hills are steeper coming home, and the number of cars at least quadruples, so I stick with my Tow Path route for the ride home. BUT… Tuesday, the waters were still flooded by the evening ride home. I had to get off my bike to walk around water standing on the Tow Path 3 times. Two other times, there was no way around, so I just slowed to a crawl and biked on thru. Other than the standing water, the ride home was uneventful… again. However, I did see an osprey searching for dinner as I headed just south of Main Street on the path. I think he saw me coming and circled back around to try his spot on the canal after I had gone by.
.
After a church picnic and a late night, it was hard rolling out of bed Wednesday, so I took the shorter, higher route again this morning, losing (that means I was a bit slower) about 1 minute from my prior morning’s commute. The ride home was awful - the Tow Path was closed, as were several familiar streets. Unfortunately, the only option I could come up with was take my morning commute the opposite direction, which meant some killer hills. I'm not a hill guy, but I used my granny gear 4 times on that trip home yesterday - all within a whopping 8.84 miles!!! With the crazy heat wave rolling through this week, temperatures were about 100 degrees, and I looked like I had just gotten out of a swimming pool by the time I got in the house. Thankfully, Sarah and the kids weren't quite home from the pool, so I jumped in the shower to cool off. After that, nothing really happened... except we went to be early (9:30p) due to sheer exhaustion for us both.
.
I hope there's a better route open for travel on the way home today...
.
Sarah’s mom took the girls, and we dropped Isaac off with my mom before heading to the starting line. Dad followed me and Sarah over, and the three of us met up with my cousin (Krista) and her husband (Will), who were the original reason we had signed up for our 3rd Ice Cream Odyssey adventure. After signing in and taking our freebies back to our cars, we hit the road, two-wheel style.
.
It was somewhat slow going to start as all five of us had trained separately – other than one ride dad and I had done together, and one that Sarah and Krista had done together. Each of us wasn’t really sure what the other four could handle, so we all stayed relatively well in our comfort zone, pushing a little more every so often when we realized the other four could handle a bit more.
.
Just shy of the 10-mile mark, the paths split off – the 25-mile route went one way, while the 42-mile and 65-mile routes veered off together. We had signed up for the 25-mile ride, but our ambitions told us to go 42. Not long after the split (around the 10-11 mile marker), Will’s back pain had increased to the point of causing him to want to turn back. We convinced him rather than go back and hit the 25-mile route to just return the way we had come, which would save him a few miles in the long run. We’d later come to find out he got lost and probably ended up riding over 25 miles!
.
At the halfway point, we stopped to turn in our voucher for a free ice cream – okay, I’m sure it was part of your ride cost, but the ticket said “free”, so it felt free! As we walked back to our bikes, a loud “hssssss” spewed out from nearby. Krista’s bike decided it was time for the rear tire to pop – weird in that it didn’t pop on the road but blew after it had sat for 10-15 minutes while we enjoyed some ice cream; weirder in that she had just purchased the bike the day before! But she was prepared – kinda! Unfortunately, we didn’t have a spare tube; fortunately, it was an organized ride, so a “sag” volunteer came to our rescue. At the time, we didn’t have a spare tube, but a passing tandem saw our need and miraculously had the correct size for her back tire! After “sag guy #1” inserted the new tube into the tire and placed it back on the bike, “sag guy #2” brought over his handy floor pump – which promptly popped the new tire before hitting even 100 psi (while this isn’t very high for a road tire, hers were only made for 85 psi – oops!). So we waited for Century Cycles to show up with their extra tubes, tools, stands, know-how, and the like. After fixing her rims and giving us tube #3 for the day full of air, Don had us on our way… a little later than expected, but hey, Will was still out on the road somewhere…
.
The rest of the ride was relatively uneventful, and we were welcomed back with a cookout. The raffle tickets were had been given earlier in the day proved worthless to me and Sarah, though dad, Krista, and Will all won something!
.
For an 8:30a start, getting home after 4:00p seemed crazy. But we stopped and had a couple cups of coffee with mom in picking Isaac up first. By the time we got home, showered, and crashed, I was beat. The girls didn’t get dropped off by grandma until after 7:00p, so the remainder of the day was, thankfully, uneventful.
.
Sunday after church, the girls had their end-of-season softball banquet, which was more like a big picnic with a dip in the lake. But they got 3D medallions with their names on the back, of which they were very excited about. Then we hung out in the lake all afternoon – well, Sarah and the girls did. Isaac and I found some shade and played with the diaper bag all day (hey – if he’s going to be that easily entertained, I’ll take it). He did get in to the water at one point, though we took him out for fear of sunburn. He loved it! Splashing around constantly, you'd think he was a different child (mine) by how he screams when he takes a bath. Another long day out of doors ended uneventfully, thankfully again.
.
Dad brought me his bag and rack for my rear stand during work on Monday so I could carry more than just my wallet and keys for the commute. Then after work, Alex “helped” me pick out some new riding shorts and shoes and Eddy’s in Montrose. It was good time spent with a goofy girl. During our ride home, I asked her how she liked the bike store. She said her favorite part was the spinny chair she had sat in while I shopped. I told her I was surprised she didn’t get so dizzy that she threw up… but she affirmed me that, no, she wouldn’t throw up… she had already had her flu shot! After explaining that there are many things other than dizziness that can invoke vomiting, she asked: “dad – what would happen if you swallowed a cricket?” I don’t know where she gets these things…
.
Tuesday morning, the Akron area had a record rainfall: “A U.S. Geological Survey gauge in South Akron registered 6.81 inches in a 24-hour period, an amount that is likely to occur only once in a thousand years, said Ron Gray, a canal hydraulics operations manager with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.” As noted in my prior blog, I was facing trails of many kinds again, but I wasn’t going to let nature deter me from commuting since there was no more rain in the forecast for the day. But rather than take the Tow Path for fear of flooding, I went the higher… and I mean higher… route and rode in Route 261, which has a couple crazy hills. While there’s more traffic in the afternoon commute, I’ve avoided this route mainly due to the cars and the hills; however, it cut out about 5 miles and 25 minutes of biking, so it could become a regular morning commute. The hills are steeper coming home, and the number of cars at least quadruples, so I stick with my Tow Path route for the ride home. BUT… Tuesday, the waters were still flooded by the evening ride home. I had to get off my bike to walk around water standing on the Tow Path 3 times. Two other times, there was no way around, so I just slowed to a crawl and biked on thru. Other than the standing water, the ride home was uneventful… again. However, I did see an osprey searching for dinner as I headed just south of Main Street on the path. I think he saw me coming and circled back around to try his spot on the canal after I had gone by.
.
After a church picnic and a late night, it was hard rolling out of bed Wednesday, so I took the shorter, higher route again this morning, losing (that means I was a bit slower) about 1 minute from my prior morning’s commute. The ride home was awful - the Tow Path was closed, as were several familiar streets. Unfortunately, the only option I could come up with was take my morning commute the opposite direction, which meant some killer hills. I'm not a hill guy, but I used my granny gear 4 times on that trip home yesterday - all within a whopping 8.84 miles!!! With the crazy heat wave rolling through this week, temperatures were about 100 degrees, and I looked like I had just gotten out of a swimming pool by the time I got in the house. Thankfully, Sarah and the kids weren't quite home from the pool, so I jumped in the shower to cool off. After that, nothing really happened... except we went to be early (9:30p) due to sheer exhaustion for us both.
.
I hope there's a better route open for travel on the way home today...
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Pure Joy
Once again, life’s a whirlwind. This blogging thing is near impossible with a full schedule and three children! James 1:2 says to “consider it pure joy… whenever you face trials of many kinds”, so I guess a full schedule and three children would qualify as a trial or two. The hard part is considering it pure joy, and I know I fail miserably at this in many ways multiple times each day. For some reason, I haven’t really been able to enjoy the girls lately, which is sad in many respects. They’re not even teenagers yet, and I already feel like they couldn’t care less about my rules or what I have to say. So right there, I think I take it too personally since I’m a “words of encouragement” kind of guy when it comes to the Love Languages. And there’s probably some element of them not being biological. Isaac’s still too young (9 months as of yesterday) to really try me in terms of relationship goes (though sleepless nights and stinky diapers are each their own trial), I love being around him. In a way, I hope once he’s old enough to deliberately disobey me and hate my guts, that he does – that way I’ll know my relationship with the girls is “normal” for me. I’d hate to treat them differently than him, so I’m hoping it’s just the age thing rather than biological.
.
Speaking of trials – dad and I started conversation 2.5 months ago around riding our bikes to work for both exercise and saving money on gas for the cars. This quickly faded in my realm as I was too busy to find time to train and prepare for the 11-14 mile ride one way. Subsequent to these conversations was an invite from my cousin to ride a local bike ride called the Ice Cream Odyssey. So I slowly got back on my bike, riding only 1-2 miles here and there. On one such ride - slightly longer at 7 miles – I passed a trail head for the Ohio Erie Canal Tow Path and thought I needed to check this out, especially now that the girls are starting to ride their bikes more. As I dwelled on the roads in my area along with the
Tow Path, commuting to work slowly seeped back into my head. Was this possible after all?
.
So last week, I made up my mind to test the waters of power commuting. But before I made the commitment to commute, I wanted to test my route to see what I would be up against. And since I’m such a pansy when it comes to going it alone, I attempted to recruit a riding buddy. But since I caught everyone at a busy time in life, nothing happened all last week, and I barely got out on my bike, except for one 12-mile ride to the girls’ softball game (which did end up utilizing a part of my planned bike-to-work path). Finally, Sunday morning, I decided if I was going to do this, I just needed to go. So I got up at 6:00am with the intent on riding into downtown Akron and then back to get a shower before church. It was a rough ride (for me), but I made it, only getting lost once at a spot where the path was under construction just south of downtown. With my good buddy Ken riding in to town that night from Apple Creek to stay the night, I was beginning to get more excited about the upcoming bike week.
Ken rolled in on two wheels mid-afternoon Sunday, and we spent a good portion of the afternoon/evening listening to his stories, some of which you can read on his blog. He had many tips and encouraging words for my hopeful adventure – and some physical fine-tuning to the bike as it stood. Not only were his hands-on help, tutelage, and heartening presence beneficial to me, but he left me with a gift: a bright yellow riding jersey. While I had other things to purchase and plan for, my heart was ready. But were my legs?
.
Monday morning, I woke up around 5:15am to say good-bye to Ken and listen to a few more of his stories while I ate breakfast. Then it was packing all of my clothes, “shower” supplies, and food for the week. I drove all of this to work Monday with hopes of commuting Tuesday thru the end of the week.
.
Monday afternoon – storms rolled through. My thought was that this was testing my resolve. It made me think back to James 1:2… if I was going to do this thing, I wouldn’t only be facing a trial, but I’d be facing trails of many kinds as the Tow Path could potentially be muddy the next morning from all the rain that came down the night before. For my first commute, what was I going to see? I stopped at RD Bike Shop in Barberton to talk tires and other gear before heading to the girls’ softball game, which was still on despite the rain.
.
I made it! No muddy trail, not a lot of pedestrian traffic, and no accidents! I did look up some commuting tips later in the day, which confirmed Ken’s look the day before when he told me to stay off sidewalks – while it was less of a “bikes have a right to the road” arrogance, he seemed deeply concerned. And in researching, I found that statistics for accidents are significantly higher if a bike is on the sidewalk rather than on the street in rush hour traffic. Check some of the tips, including this one, at this site.
.
The ride in took 58 minutes and 1 second; the ride home took 58 minutes and 22 seconds - not bad for me, though I hope it improves as the summer wears on. The sun rising in the morning as well as the fog off the canal made for a beautiful first commuting experience – wish I had taken my camera! I would have taken my new mode of transportation to my softball game that night too, but I had to run a diaper to Sarah’s stinky baby friend at the girls’ softball game since they would be there for around 4 hours. Then it was straight to my game, where I found out quickly that I was glad I hadn’t taken the bike this time – my legs were like rubber, which made my usual swiftness around the base paths a big more sluggish. But we won, so we’re at 10-0 going into the final championship tournament next week.
.
I didn’t ride in this morning since I had a 6:30am meeting at the church building and there was a bit of rain. My hope is to eventually turn into a “power commuter”, but I’ll need a poncho and some other gear for that type of thing. Not to mention a lot of conditioning of my person.
Life’s still busy with things ranging from softball, biking, church groups, and picnics, to more biking, more church groups, and more picnics (among other things). Thankfully, softball is essentially over (one more evening for me), but I hope and long for a break in the action before death. I want a vacation, but I want it to be full of nothing. I need time to focus on something outside of the busyness I’ve noted. I need time to pray, time to read, time to proactively pour Christ into my children and wife. If God wants to use me somewhere, someday for something significantly greater than I am, I need to be working now… and it starts with my family.
.
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters…”
.
Speaking of trials – dad and I started conversation 2.5 months ago around riding our bikes to work for both exercise and saving money on gas for the cars. This quickly faded in my realm as I was too busy to find time to train and prepare for the 11-14 mile ride one way. Subsequent to these conversations was an invite from my cousin to ride a local bike ride called the Ice Cream Odyssey. So I slowly got back on my bike, riding only 1-2 miles here and there. On one such ride - slightly longer at 7 miles – I passed a trail head for the Ohio Erie Canal Tow Path and thought I needed to check this out, especially now that the girls are starting to ride their bikes more. As I dwelled on the roads in my area along with the
Tow Path, commuting to work slowly seeped back into my head. Was this possible after all?
.
So last week, I made up my mind to test the waters of power commuting. But before I made the commitment to commute, I wanted to test my route to see what I would be up against. And since I’m such a pansy when it comes to going it alone, I attempted to recruit a riding buddy. But since I caught everyone at a busy time in life, nothing happened all last week, and I barely got out on my bike, except for one 12-mile ride to the girls’ softball game (which did end up utilizing a part of my planned bike-to-work path). Finally, Sunday morning, I decided if I was going to do this, I just needed to go. So I got up at 6:00am with the intent on riding into downtown Akron and then back to get a shower before church. It was a rough ride (for me), but I made it, only getting lost once at a spot where the path was under construction just south of downtown. With my good buddy Ken riding in to town that night from Apple Creek to stay the night, I was beginning to get more excited about the upcoming bike week.
Ken rolled in on two wheels mid-afternoon Sunday, and we spent a good portion of the afternoon/evening listening to his stories, some of which you can read on his blog. He had many tips and encouraging words for my hopeful adventure – and some physical fine-tuning to the bike as it stood. Not only were his hands-on help, tutelage, and heartening presence beneficial to me, but he left me with a gift: a bright yellow riding jersey. While I had other things to purchase and plan for, my heart was ready. But were my legs?
.
Monday morning, I woke up around 5:15am to say good-bye to Ken and listen to a few more of his stories while I ate breakfast. Then it was packing all of my clothes, “shower” supplies, and food for the week. I drove all of this to work Monday with hopes of commuting Tuesday thru the end of the week.
.
Monday afternoon – storms rolled through. My thought was that this was testing my resolve. It made me think back to James 1:2… if I was going to do this thing, I wouldn’t only be facing a trial, but I’d be facing trails of many kinds as the Tow Path could potentially be muddy the next morning from all the rain that came down the night before. For my first commute, what was I going to see? I stopped at RD Bike Shop in Barberton to talk tires and other gear before heading to the girls’ softball game, which was still on despite the rain.
.
I made it! No muddy trail, not a lot of pedestrian traffic, and no accidents! I did look up some commuting tips later in the day, which confirmed Ken’s look the day before when he told me to stay off sidewalks – while it was less of a “bikes have a right to the road” arrogance, he seemed deeply concerned. And in researching, I found that statistics for accidents are significantly higher if a bike is on the sidewalk rather than on the street in rush hour traffic. Check some of the tips, including this one, at this site.
.
The ride in took 58 minutes and 1 second; the ride home took 58 minutes and 22 seconds - not bad for me, though I hope it improves as the summer wears on. The sun rising in the morning as well as the fog off the canal made for a beautiful first commuting experience – wish I had taken my camera! I would have taken my new mode of transportation to my softball game that night too, but I had to run a diaper to Sarah’s stinky baby friend at the girls’ softball game since they would be there for around 4 hours. Then it was straight to my game, where I found out quickly that I was glad I hadn’t taken the bike this time – my legs were like rubber, which made my usual swiftness around the base paths a big more sluggish. But we won, so we’re at 10-0 going into the final championship tournament next week.
.
I didn’t ride in this morning since I had a 6:30am meeting at the church building and there was a bit of rain. My hope is to eventually turn into a “power commuter”, but I’ll need a poncho and some other gear for that type of thing. Not to mention a lot of conditioning of my person.
Life’s still busy with things ranging from softball, biking, church groups, and picnics, to more biking, more church groups, and more picnics (among other things). Thankfully, softball is essentially over (one more evening for me), but I hope and long for a break in the action before death. I want a vacation, but I want it to be full of nothing. I need time to focus on something outside of the busyness I’ve noted. I need time to pray, time to read, time to proactively pour Christ into my children and wife. If God wants to use me somewhere, someday for something significantly greater than I am, I need to be working now… and it starts with my family.
.
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters…”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
