Day 51: Joy in the Wind

I steeled myself for the day. Katrina, our weather reporter, said the winds would be strong and from the east. She apologized for being the bearer of bad news. I called Cindy and told her the day looked hard. "Pray for stamina, moments of joy, and other people to ride with," I asked her.

Those blessings rained down on me in buckets. I got up early, ate breakfast, and prepared to ride. Just before leaving I bumped into a familiar riding partner, Anne M. "I'm looking for somebody to ride with into this wind. Are you free?" "Come and join us," she replied. She already had a group of 4, but they hospitably welcomed me to the group.

Anne, Jess, Ed, Wally, and I began our assault on Richmond, the day's destination. The ride felt like a mountain climb. Like so many of the rides up mountain passes, this ride was both difficult and invigorating.

We worked well together, alternating the lead every 3 kilometers. The Canadians on our team outnumbered the Americans, so we had to measure our distances in "klicks" rather than miles. Because it was a straight headwind, there was real relief in tucking behind the person in front of you. Each of us worked hard for 3 kilometers and then moved to the back of the line and let the others pull us along. Except for Ralph. He joined us on the road. When it was his turn to lead, he broke the wind (that's "broke the wind," not "broke wind") for 10 kilometers. Nobody had told him about our informal 3 kilometer rule. Oops; our bad.

We stopped for coffee at 11:45 and completed the ride by 2:30. 95 miles into a 15 mph wind and we averaged over 15 mph (I'm not sure what that is in kilometers). The roads were often terrible, befitting Michigan's budget crisis, but we took that in stride and made the best of it.

There weren't just moments of joy on this ride; I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing. I rode well, felt strong, and delighted in the people with whom I was riding.

Thank you, Cindy, for your prayers. Thank you, Jesus, for your delightful answer.