By Christal Haner - Ends Cycling Crew
Happy New Year! What a great year we have to look forward to here at Ends of the Earth Cycling! Five domestic tours scattered across the USA and one international project in the beautiful country of Belize. We can’t wait to #PrayPedalRepeat with you for the youth of the world!
As you think and pray about joining us on one of our upcoming tours, I thought it would be fun to share one of my diary entries with you from my first tour as a cyclist. It may help you know what you need to do to train and it may help you realize that I am a crazy person (perhaps both) but really, I hope it encourages you to dream big and do what seems impossible.
Christal’s Diary Entry - Day One of the Key West Bike Ride 2018
Ever watch someone do something and think to yourself, "I could do that." Well today was the day that the notion that I could totally be a cyclist overnight went out the door. It is hard! I trained on my trainer in my basement through the whole winter and I felt like I had made some good progress with leg strength and stamina but here are some things seriously missing from solely training inside.
1. I have no need to build my core on a trainer; it holds me up without any effort on my part. But let me tell you, when you are on the road, you don't have a trainer to keep you upright...you have to do that yourself!
2. There are no cars gettin’ all up in your grits. When you’re riding in your basement you don't have to think about what other vehicles are doing around you cause you’re all alone but that's kind of an important life skill if you want to survive cycling on the actual road!
3. You don't hone your skills of looking behind your back or paying attention to your surroundings. This is a particularly important skill that I am dangerously lacking in right now!
4. You aren't riding with other people that you could endanger or who could endanger you. Today I learned that I have some serious trust issues. I don't trust myself to not hit the person in front of me and I don't trust the person in front of me to not slam on their brakes and cause me to flip my bike. Just sayin’, there is an art to riding in a group and I am totally not vibin’ on it yet.
5. The elements. It feels amazing to feel the wind in your face and the sun shining down on you. For those of you up north I can attest that the sun does still exist, it just moves south with all the Snowbirds for the winter. But that same wind and sun can quickly become your enemy if it comes at you in the wrong way.
So today I learned that not everything can come naturally (yes, it took me this long to figure that out). Some things take time, practice and determination in order to succeed. But just because I am not good at it now does not mean that I am a failure. I am a student and I have many people to teach me and help me to grow in my weakness. This is what makes an Ends of the Earth Cycling tour so unique and amazing. It doesn't matter how you ride or how long you ride, it matters that you are there and you are investing in the lives of global youth through blood, sweat, and tears. So tomorrow I will get back on the bike and do it all again because at the end of the day this is not about me, it’s about the youth that we ride for and it’s about bringing Jesus to them as we #PrayPedalRepeat.
Comments