Today I passed the 5000 mile mark on my “new” bicycle. It took me 357 days. Reflecting back over this last year of riding, there have been a lot of fantastic things that I experienced. Here are some highlights from the last 5000 miles:
- Seeing a mink cross the trail
- Discovering bicycle camping
- Seeing the most perfect rainbow I have ever seen at the end of a grueling 2 hour ride in pouring rain
- Riding through 4 states in 5 days
- ALMOST getting sprayed by a skunk (3 times)
- Riding through the forest preserves in the fall
- Being the only thing on the road at 10:30 at night riding through perfect snow in the moonlight
- Riding in fog so thick I could barely see the road under the bike
- Helping a Mom who was towing two kids fix a flat tire on their bicycle trailer.
- Taking my bicycle across Lake Michigan on the Muskegon-Milwaukee ferry
- Watching a REALLY fat raccoon try to outrun my bicycle
- Riding in rain, sun, hail, snow, wintery mix, 30+ mph wind, 102 degree heat, -24 degree wind chill, and everything in between
- Helping 4 baby turtles across the trail. Their shells were maybe an inch and a half around.
- Passing a pace line of spandex clad roadies on an uphill while riding my loaded touring bicycle (they never caught up with me)
- Riding through flooded streets in Chicago where the water was over my pedals
- Seeing a Screech Owl twice
- Critical Mass
- Laughing as a ridiculous number of acorns bounced off my helmet during a morning commute
- Riding eye to eye with a huge red tail hawk as it flew along side the trail
And amazingly… - Getting ZERO flat tires
I am truly amazed at how blessed I am. I have had no serious injuries or crashes in the past year, I have been able to spend many days riding my bicycle through God’s creation, experiencing wildlife, weather, the changing seasons, other people and more…all of which just continues to point me to His beauty and glory.
We live in an amazing world. Go out and see it!
Awesome. The laughing about the acorns bouncing off the helmet thing: those are sometimes my favorite moments. I rode past a golf course right as the sprinklers turned on. Two heads were broken (there were tire tracks, I think someone lost control and drove up on the curb) and the water hit me like two giant squirt guns. I laughed, and laughed, and laughed.
ReplyDeleteNice job with the baby turtles, too.