I wanted to mention one more thing about headwind, and that is going through it with others. Over the weekend I went out to do a group ride with some guys at a local bike shop called "Bike Beat." The ride started off with three of us and grew to around nine after the first few miles. It was on this ride that I realized just how much more conditioning I need. This group rides at an A to A+ pace (21-25 mph) and will go almost 50 miles every Saturday morning. I was doing fine up until mile 17.5 and we started to go up a relatively small hill. At this point I was leading and had to pull off and drop back into the line to rest up. Unfortunately, I slowed down too much and could not muster enough strength to get back into the draft. My mind was yelling, "Go, Go, Go!" but my legs were replying, "No thanks, I've had enough for this week." As I was struggling to get back in line the group just slowly began creeping away. Eventually they went around a corner and by the time I came around the corner they were completely out of sight. So, for the next 32.5 miles I rode alone and analyzed what went wrong.
On the bright side, this is when I thought about going through headwind with others. Clinging to your brothers and sisters in Christ when you are facing trials is a lot easier than trying to face things on your own. Sometimes you will lead and take on the brunt of the wind and sometimes you will put your trust in someone else to lead you while you rest up. The first 17.5 miles with the group went much easier than the next 32.5 miles all by myself. You can bet the rest of my Christian journey I will seek community with fellow believers to not only encourage others, but to receive encouragement from them as well.
Next weeks goal: Stay with the group longer than 17.5 miles!
so are you ready for this Saturday?
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