Plod

Day 33: 77 miles. TTT 1977. 1900 feet elevation. Weather helpful

This was my view shortly after leaving the motel. It would continue to be my view for about 48 km. Then I took an exciting left hand turn.

See the thrilling difference. Once I made that left-hand turn, this was my new view for the next 76 km. Breathtaking. Actually the expanse is beautiful and I love to see the crops for some reason.

There’s nothing like hundreds of miles of prairie to pedal across and make you think. There isn’t anyone to distract. Even the drivers pull way out around you in Canada. While I use my phone, I’m focused on riding, so no social media or YouTube videos. You just sit, pedal, look, think. It’s a particularly powerful thing to do in our modern society that is built around endless 3 second, sound bites and tick tock stupidity.

In particular, I’ve been wondering about pedaling for 8 or 9,000 miles. I know that in and of itself, there’s very little meaning or value to this endless pedaling. While my three goals — trying to make someone smile each day, engaging with someone, and looking for someone to serve — are worthwhile, I could be doing that without pedaling across Canada and should be doing that. Hopefully, these four months will get me in the habit so that I’ll do it regardless as I return to normal life.

One of the things that I’ve thought about is my talents. Specifically, do I have any talents. I’ve done things like marriage, parenting, doctoring, and participating in church and community programs. Yet, they were more things I chose to do and then worked at like a skill with or without a talent.

As for things we typically consider to be talents: Music? I can play a song or two on the piano, but that’s pretty limited. I love to sing, but it’s probably best that I only sing as I’m pedaling through empty fields. Even then, I notice the birds very often fly perpendicular to me into the field as I bellow out my Mick Jagger impersonation. Sports? I was cut from the 7th grade basketball team and dropped from the 11th grade soccer team. Do I have any talents?

As I look closely at my life, I realize that the one talent, if it can be called a talent, is the ability to plod. It isn’t a very sexy talent. Yet, I find it to be one of the most beneficial talents and not just for riding a bike thousands of miles. I stayed married for 44 years and would have stayed married longer if Gloria hadn’t died. All of you who know Gloria undoubtedly credit her for sticking with me, but I take just a little bit of credit for sticking with marriage. I plodded onward. When I decided to go back to medical school at age 28 with three children, it was a daunting 8-year process, and yes, Gloria bore the greatest burden. But I plodded through it. Later, in raising children, things didn’t always go as hope or planned. I plodded forward without giving up on kids even through very difficult situations like addiction.

No way am I trying to pat myself on the back. For one thing, I’d crash my bike while trying to do it. I’m just grateful for being blessed with the ability to put one foot in  front of the other or, in my case, turn the pedal again. I feel very fortunate that when I look across miles of prairie, I don’t melt down or freak out. I just keep pedaling. It is a blessing that has given me longstanding love, wonderful connections with family and friends, and, of course, the incredible opportunity to see the world under my own power. Maybe it’s the only talent I have, but if that’s true, then I’m grateful it’s mine.