Countdown to Triathlon – 142 Days, 20.28 weeks to Race Day (See Installment 82 of "The Journey", 220 mile bike ride, below)

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.  ~Anne Bradstreet

        In California, spring is here.  Many of the fruit and flowering trees have already dropped their blooms and are leafing out.  For those of you back east (and I hear you're getting another storm this weekend) take heart.  Spring is on the way.  I remember the year I went to West Virginia in May. I had enjoyed the wonderful spring here with all the flowers, tulips, daffodills and flowering trees.  Then they were gone.  When I arrived in West Virginia, they were just having spring and I got a double dose of spring that year.  It was wonderful.  Below are the last of our spring flowers.  I post them not to be boasting but to give those of you who are still in the cold weather, hope.  Spring is coming.  Our spri;ng flowers are just about finished.  The camelias have only a few late blooms hanging on.

The Journey - Installment Eighty-Two




Come back on Monday to read about the next leg of the bike ride - Dixon to Napa.  Also, for those praying readers, please keep my daughter Laurel in prayer.  She is scheduled to have a C-Section at 1:30 on Monday.  She had wanted to deliver naturally, but the doctor is concerned about natural delivery because she thinks the baby is gong to be quite large.  Have a great weekend everybody.

GOD PROVIDES ME WITH ANOTHER GIFT

       

        A turning point for me for the entire bike ride occurred several miles from the first rest stop. My knees hurt so much by this time that tears were running down my face.  As people passed me they would ask, “Are you all right?”  I answered each one that I was fine, although they could probably see the tears.  I silently called out to God and cried, “Lord, how am I going to ride to San Francisco when I’m in so much pain now and haven’t even gotten to Dixon?” Just then, Terri rode up beside me and asked me if I was okay.  I broke down and told her that I hurt so badly that I didn’t know if I could continue.  She had me pull over across the road and we stopped under the shade of a large tree. She said, “You know, I used to ride with a friend who had trouble with her knees.  We raised her seat and she had no more problems.”  I was very skeptical because I had knee trouble before I ever started riding the bike so the initial pain was not due to bike riding.  In fact, bike riding is supposed to be good for knees.  Terri again pulled out her tools and raised my seat.  It really was a gift from God and Terri because I was able to finish the ride.  Of course my knees still hurt but as we pulled into the church parking lot we had arrived at our first rest stop.  One of the riders or volunteers there at the rest stop there gave me an 800 mg. Tylenol which cut the pain in my knees so that I could bear it.  At this time, my husband Bob was riding in his pickup as he would throughout the three day ride either behind us or passing us, driving up ahead then pulling off the road, waiting for us. 

            Churches along our route were kind enough to offer us their facilities to use the rest room and set up tables for snacks and drinks.  We would take a short break and then get back on our bikes for the next leg of the journey.  Our next stop would be in about twenty miles at Fairfield and would be our lunch stop.

Here I am pulling into a rest stop out in the farming community of Dixon at the Dixon Community Church, about 25 miles from our starting point.

     








At the rest stops we would use the restrooms, get a snack and drinks and some would use the time to tweak their bikes or make any adjustments. 




My recollection of parts of the ride when we rode in the countryside was that I just kept pedaling.  Quitting was not an option.  I just kept pedaling – pushing the one pedal, pulling up on the other as my son Hollen had taught me to do. Making circles with my feet, again and again and again.  At least half of the time I would be riding alone and at this writing cannot remember what sort of thoughts went through my mind as mile after mile past behind me.  






Come back Monday to read about the next leg of the bike ride - Dixon to Napa.  For those of my readers who pray, please pray for our daughter Laurel.  She is now scheduled for a C-Section on Monday at 1:30.  Her due date is April 12th but the doctor is concerned because babies add a half to one pound per week in the last couple of weeks and the doctor already thinks the baby is going to be large.  Her doctor doesn't want to risk Laurel going through natural child birth as Laurel would like to do.  We would appreciate prayers.

Have a great weekend everyone.  And for Laurel and Danny, after this weekend their lives will never be the same again, as those of us with children know.  Blessings to all of you.