I had the opportunity to ride (my bike) recently with my friend Josh (a 20 yr old newbie who's about to pass me) before starting the workday. You've heard me preach the benefits of morning exercise as well as the advantages of doing your thing outdoors. While an occasional gym workout (including a home gym) for cardio is OK and can contribute variety to your program, the outdoors is where you'll see the most miracles. And one of those miracles presented itself at Rotten Ralphs.
I have a number of rides based on my available time or who I'm with. There's the 13 mile river ride (along Riverview Blvd. in Bradenton), the 21 mile Rotten Ralph ride (my house to the restaurant at the northern tip of Anna Maria Island), the 30 mile AMI ride, the 42 mile St. Armands Circle ride (which often includes a stacked turkey sandwich at Madison Ave. deli), and once in a blue moon the 60 mile Siesta Key ride. Each ride has its unique features, and I find comfort in encountering the familiar especially when I'm pulling a newbie along. But just as you can't step into the same river twice, you can't experience an identicle ride either.
While some cyclists will pursue their thing with focused determination and planning to improve their performance, I'm more of the "just go out and ride" kinda guy. That's why I clipped an article from Cycling magazine about Charles Carlson, a 47 year old semi-retired bike store manager who rides up to 500 miles per week from his home in Boulder, CO. Though he's definitely fast enough to compete, he says that's not what's fun about cycling. "For me, cycling offers the opportunity to see 100 miles of Front Range Colorado, watch the coyotes milling around, get in touch with nature, and then come back" he says. So rather than center his training around intervals, power meters, or heart-rate monitors, Carlson just rides. I love that!
You may recall me writing about a Young Life trip that happened back in June where we had the opportunity to spend 24 hours on a "solo". This experience was one example of the disciplines we can practice as part of our "askesis". We learned this term from one of our group leaders, Dave Johnson, a guy who lives and understands abundance and who has spent considerable time studying theology.
An askesis is to your spiritual life what a wellness plan is to your physical life. And before this trip, I'd never truly considered my strengths and weaknesses from a spiritual standpoint, and how those could and should be cultivated in some form of action plan. What excited me most about our discussion of an askesis was that one of the ingredients can be physical exercise! Which brings us back to the ride to Rotten Ralphs.
Josh and I left my house just shortly after sunrise around 7am. The sky was an equal mix of white and blue, and the clouds were reflecting magnificent shades of pink and orange. It was the kind of sky that makes you just shake your head and acknowledge how amazing it is. This color quickly faded as we turned east on Manatee Ave. now heading due west for the Gulf of Mexico. But now we noticed just a glimpse of a rainbow, about an "hour's worth" from 10am to 11am (think clock) to the west.
As we crossed the bridges over Palma Sola Bay, the Perico Bayou, and then the intracoastal waterway the rainbow grew longer. Once to Gulf Blvd. we headed north to the end of the island and our ultimate destination of the Galati Yacht basin and the home of the Rotten Ralph's restaurant. Since this is the halfway point of the ride, we usually stop at a picnic table that's just by the seawall, and we drool over all the yachts docked in the marina in front of us.
This day the yachts didn't seem so impressive. Because by the time we arrived at our stop the rainbow had grown to a 180 degree half circle that completely framed the view of the marina. It was one of those moments, so perfectly timed, that leaves me speechless and humbled and grateful.
I truly can't understand how people can live their lives without this kind of stimulation. I'd be freakin' miserable if I had to go just a few days without the chance to frolic outside. Come to think of it, there's a lot of miserable people around aren't there? I wish I could say that my frolicking would completely insulate me from the disappointments of the day. It can't. Just this day, I encountered more than my usual supply of work challenges plus I met with a customer who told me he's going through chemo.
But it does provide a gift, a miracle really, that I can open during my day to return to that place. And I can be reminded of just how great life is. I guess you could say I discovered the joy of exercise at the end of that rainbow.
Hope you find it too.
