I love to ride bikes. I remember buying my first road bike when I was a kid. I used to race all the neighbourhood kids and we had some killer races.
I also love speed. Even to this day, when I am riding it is always ‘peddle to the metal’. Calgary has great bike paths and when I am doing one of my 30-40 kilometre bike rides, I am always working on passing the person ahead of me as fast as I can.
I have also learned that riding at top speed has its hazards! I have had two major crashes in the last six years. My first crash was on my road bike (think Tour De France.. ultra light bike with super skinny tires). It was a beautiful day, near the end of the riding season. I was feeling great and I was a bit overconfident. I decided that I was going to go as fast as I could.
I was going down a hill, standing up and going for it. The next thing I remember, I was sitting by the side of the bike path with blood flowing freely from various parts of my body. To this day, I don’t know what happened. The crash knocked me out. My guess is that I skipped a gear change and that caused me to wobble at high speed and lose my balance.
When I came to, a lady, who was walking her dog, asked me if I was OK. I responded that as soon as my head started spinning, I would get back on the bike and ride home. She gave me some wise advice and said that I should phone my wife and get her to take me home. Thankfully, I took her advice, phoned Anna and got a ride home.
When you are going for the gusto, sometimes you will crash. Here are some of the things that I have learned from my crashes.
- It is OK to ask for help after you crash.
- After a crash, take time to recuperate.
- Try to figure out what caused the crash and do not do that again!
- Learn to watch for things ahead that will cause you to crash!
- Do not be afraid to get back on the bike and ride hard again.
You do not have to be a high speed bike rider to have a crash. If you are going for the gusto, life gives us many opportunities to crash and fail. I love the quote from Michael Jordan (arguably the greatest basketball player of all times) “I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
Solomon said: “A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions.The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.” (Proverbs 22:3 NLT)
Rick Warren wrote: “We are products of our past, but we don’t have to be prisoners of it.”
Winston Churchill said: “Never, never, never give up.”
So my prayer is: “Lord help me to grow in wisdom and learn from my crashes. Help me to get keep getting better and never let a fear of a crash hold me back from doing my best. My desire is to live boldly for You!”
Question: Have you ever crashed? What did you learn from the experience?
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although I ride a road bike myself, I haven’t had a significant crash.
on my motorcycle-well that is another story…
I was riding my Harley and making a left hand turn-long story short; it was my fault and I was T-boned and thrown through the air and my bike was nearly totalled. my son was on the back too; we both simply walked away.
I walked away with a slight scrape on my arm. that was ten years ago and I realize I could have been badly hurt if not killed. I saw the hand of God in that scenario. I was given another chance. praise God.
it never occurred to me to stop riding; I enjoyed it so much. that would have been the biggest tragedy if I allowed fear to rule.
You’re right…Fear can keep us from so many good things!