I love to ride my bicycle. Not on LONG rides or races. But I enjoy a nice quick pace for about 45 minutes to an hour. It’s a wonderful workout.
Plus I am surrounded by nature, listen to music and have the wind in my face to keep me cool.
I’ve been riding regularly for about 20 years.
Some pretty interesting things have occurred to me while on a bike.
“God please give me protection”, is a prayer I say before taking off on two wheels.
A prayer that has been answered over and over again.
There have been inconveniences like flat tires, broken cables and even being chased and nipped at by a small dog.
{My apology to the owners for kicking at their dog as I sped along, but I didn’t know how else to keep the him off me.}
In the past I used to be able to convince my husband to join me on a ride. One summer afternoon we were out on a ride and off on the horizon we noticed dark clouds. A thunderstorm was brewing. He suggested that we head home right away, but I wanted to ride for a full hour. I thought we could beat the rain.
We were about ¼ mile from home when the wind became stronger. The storm had reached us and suddenly unleashed it’s fury on us. Instantly we were drenched by a torrential downpour. My husband quickly found shelter under a big tree. I was heading his way when a big gust of wind blew pelting me with rain and marble sized hail. I became disoriented. My husband saw my struggle, grabbed my handle bars and guided me to safety where we could wait out the storm.
After I got home I discovered the little red welts that the hail had left on my legs. Other than that and being soaking wet, we were no worse for the wear.
I’ve had about three accidents involving cars. The first one was because there was a large hedge blocking my view and the driver’s. I was traveling at a good pace and hit their car pretty hard. I flew off my bike and landed on the hood of the car. Can you imagine their shock? I was perfectly fine, but their car had a small dent and my bike’s front rim was bent beyond use. We decided to call it even and leave the insurance companies out of it.
The driver and her sister kindly gave me and my bike a ride home. They had several questions for me, one being why I wasn’t wearing a helmet. I went out to purchase one the next day.
Another time I saw the oncoming car but figured I had time to cross the street. Instead of staying in his lane, the driver fixated on me. He crossed the center line headed right toward me. I turned sharply, but couldn’t get my foot out of the cage quick enough and landed hard onto the pavement.
When I sat up, the bumper of the car was literally inches from my head! The driver was very kind and apologized profusely. I accepted his apologies.
My adrenaline was still pumping, so I got up, mounted the bike and took off for home.
On the way, I looked down and saw blood dripping from my wound.
Then and there it hit me.~ I could have died!!
I thanked God over and over as tears streamed down my cheeks.
The worse injury I had while on a bicycle did not involve a car. I was all alone.
It was an unusually warm day for the end of November. I was able to get off work early, so I decided to take the opportunity and get in one last bike ride before the year's end.
I took my usual route and was on a curvy part of a wooded trail. I was getting pretty confident and quick on the turns, trying to lean into them it a bit. I guess I leaned a little too far. My foot hit the pavement first and I fell. For the first few minutes all I did was roll around on the ground screaming. Honestly it was the worst pain I’d ever felt in my entire life. I wasn’t even sure what had happened. Finally I got the courage to look. What I saw shocked and sickened me. My foot had come out of its socket and was awkwardly facing the wrong direction!
Thankfully I always carry my cell phone, so I crawled back to the bike and grabbed it.
It took three calls before I got a hold of someone. My son-in-law of about 5 months was surprised to hear my broken voice asking him for help.
He left as soon as possible and came to my rescue.
What bothered me most about this injury was my upcoming trip to Australia with my daughter. It had been in the works for months and I was so looking forward to it.
I won’t go into all of the details, but we ended up going to Australia for 3 weeks. I was unable to walk and wore a cast the whole time.
That is a story in itself.
The weeks that followed the accident I prayed to God over and over. “I don’t want this trial to be a waste. I know you allowed this to happen for a reason. Please God, let good come from it.”
I still really don’t know why God allowed it, but I trust him and am confident that he used it, not only in my life; but in the lives of others as well.
Someday in eternity I hope that I will be able to hear the stories.
Time and time again my Dad in Heaven has protected me. Most times I understand that I need protection and ask for it. Many times though He protects without me even realizing it.
He loves me beyond comprehension and only allows trials in my life that He knows I can handle and will bring Him glory.
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