Just beyond my limits...

By now the regular readers of my blog would know that I am somewhat committed to cycling!  Yes, yes, I know that is an understatement!

It is a passion that brings me great joy and blessing! 

I enjoy riding on the road - particularly when I can do a nice long, quiet, ride.  I find it therapeutic. 

However, what I really love is getting onto 'the beast' (my Mongoose mountainbike) and heading up into the mountains - we have more than a few of those in Somerset West! 

Offroad riding takes a lot more energy and skill to safely make your way up the hills.  Sometimes there are wide dirt tracks where you can spin large circles with your feet, feeling the soil passing under your wheels at a smooth and rapid rate.  I love the climbs since I find that I have more strength than courage!  So, I tend to pass my cycling friends on the way up the hills, whereas they pass me on the way down. 

Since my motorcycle accident I have worked hard to build strength in my legs, and it has paid off to a great measure.  In fact, I would venture that I ride a lot better than I walk!

When the wide trails end and the single track starts it is even more fun!  It is exhilarating to navigate the narrow ruts between the trees and rocks, your legs are burning, your lungs feel like they're going to explode, but you can't stop pedaling, because if you do, you'll slow down and fall over... 

It is even more challenging when you're riding on the side of a fairly steep drop-off.  If your wheel slips you could tumble down the side of the hill (I've done this once with fairly disastrous results!  I ended up in the emergency room with cracked ribs and a few nasty scrapes and bumps!)  But, the risk is part of the fun!  So, I have learned how to keep control of my bike in order to get to the top of the hill safely and fairly quickly.  The basic principles I've learned are:

• Choose your line in advance, it is easy to get stuck in the wrong rut and find that you cannot get out of it, or that you ride along a path that takes you straight into an obstacle that you can't get over or around.  My friend Phil ended up careering straight into a 'river bed' with large round stones on the one side and trees on the other.  He and his bike took a serious pounding when he hit the dirt!  When I came around the corner his bike was in a tree and he was lying flat on his back about 30 meters further down the track.  Choosing your line is crucial!
  
• You'll go over whatever your attention is focused on!  I learned this the hard way when I first started mountain-biking!  If there is a large loose rock in the path and you focus on it you will ride straight for it! Tried as I may, I realised that I would always navigate for the obstacle that my attention was focused on.  So, the lesson I have learned is that I need to be aware of obstacles, but I should always look beyond them (so don't be dumb and not look at the tree you're riding towards!  Ha ha!  No rather find the line around, or beyond, your obstacle and focus your attention on that.  Amazingly, it works!)
  
• Attack obstacles; hesitation most often has disastrous consequences.  One Saturday morning while riding at Oak Valley in Grabouw a friend, who is a much better cyclist than I am, had quite a serious fall while riding over a log bridge (it was extremely steep on the back end, and a large rut had been washed out below the end of the bridge.  When he was riding over the bridge he saw the ditch and hesitated, touching his front brakes for just a split second, and with that his front wheel dug in and he went over the handlebars spraining his thumb and injuring his arm, shoulder and leg).  I watched others ride the bridge, attacking the obstacle at speed and incredibly riders with much less skill made it across the bridge without a single incident!  It seemed that the courage to go off the end of the bridge with a little bit of speed gave them enough inertia to push their back wheel down the bridge and through the ditch.  Courage does help with most things in life!  The converse is also true though, stupidity is not all that helpful!  But, I'll say more about that below.
• Learn from your mistakes and know your real limits.  I have come to understand that there are certain things that I cannot do as well as some of my riding companions.  I am not all that good at jumping large obstacles, so I choose to ride around them when I have a choice.  I'm not that good at directions (as many a lost friend will tell you!) so I am willing to ask others to point out the correct route.  At the end of the day I have had to learn from my mistakes so that I can make the most of the few precious hours I can find between 4.30 and 8.00 when I cycle!  Now, you'll notice that I put the word real in italics... That is because I have also come to realise that I need to push myself a little beyond my perceived limits most often in order to discover my real limits.  I tend toward safety and comfort, but I find it so much more rewarding when I have acquired a new skill, overcome a fear, or conquered a new obstacle.
• Have fun!  Life's too short not to enjoy it!  This final one is common sense!  Some people think that I am eccentric and strange because of my penchant for fun.  Sure, we're all 'wired' differently, but the truth is that life is just too short to spend it doing things that you don't enjoy or want to do.  So, I do my best to enjoy the people, the places and the opportunities I have within my reach, and I try not to get too hung up on the places I'll never go or the opportunities I'll never have.  Make the most of what you do have!  It makes a difference.

This year has been a lot like my riding - I have constantly found myself stretched beyond my limits (what Paul calls epekteinomai in Phil 3:12-14 - to strain).   It is for a clear goal and purpose, yet it requires some measure of courage and discomfort to achieve it. 

• I do my best to choose my line in advance (I do this on a macro scale, working for what I believe I am called to do, but also on a micro scale, by praying through my appointments, meetings and tasks for each week on a Sunday evening).  
• I do my best to keep my focus on the correct things (my family, my faith relationship, and within my faith relationship on issues of grace, justice, mercy, loving inclusivity and the hospitality of Christ.  It is easy to become disheartened, down and bitter when I look at the many things that are wrong with the world.  I do my best to try and find opportunities for God's grace to operate through me (and in spite of me) in every situation!)  
• Then, my friends will know that I have always attacked the obstacles!  Where I currently serve there are a lot theological and spiritual issues that I have to deal with, and sometimes with very powerful and influential people.  I have found that a firm and clear engagement is most often the best remedy for challenge and conflict.  Of course I ask God for wisdom, courage (and necessary restraint), but I have found that I can engage most people and tasks well enough to edge them forward (even if just by a millimeter each time!)  I have particularly found this approach helpful when facing daunting challenges (I am currently working on a new book with a prestigious South African Christian publisher - it is the first time that I am attempting to write something 'popular', it is a challenge, but I am enjoying it and tackling the task head-on!)
• Well, learning from my mistakes and knowing my real limits are both areas in which I still have some growing to do.  I do tend to be somewhat head-strong - but the knowledge of this character trait has at least helped me to understand some of my disappointments and struggles!
• Finally, I am learning to find opportunities to fall in love with life in every situation!  How can I not love life?  I am blessed with a wonderful family, I get to serve God (and survive with my financial and practical needs met), I live in a beautiful place and meet incredible people...  Plus there is still so much that needs to be done in the world, and God trusts me enough to tackle of few of those tasks... I have much to give thanks for!

So, tomorrow morning I'll rise at 4.30 am again and enjoy my bike.  I am thankful to be just beyond my limits of comfort!