What I learned on Freewheel Oklahoma

 This is kind of a follow up to my series on Everything I know about Life I learned training for the Freewheel.

Anyone who has been on a long journey, will tell you that you do learn a lot about yourself on the way.
I was out on my bike for 30+ hours over 8 days as we wound 504 miles across the state of Oklahoma. That's a lot of time, mostly on your own, though I did ride with a few folks for stretches of the road. It's a lot of time to think, and also a good time to pray - keep your eyes open! - and sing, depending on the amount of breath available.

So here is what I learned on the Freewheel: 
1. You really CAN ride 60, 75 or even 86.5 miles in one day.When I set out on this I had only ever done about 50 miles at a time on my own, and so I wondered about those longer days. Would I make it? Would I be out on the bike for 8 hours, rolling in at dark?? I found that it really WAS quite doable. 

"The road is often merciful, hiding the hard places from us at times when we are weak. All that we are required to do is to put one foot in front of the other. And then do it again". (Charles Foster, the Sacred Journey, p. 67)

The trick is to break it up into smaller chunks. The next rest stop is in 10 miles, you focus on that, and then the after that, the next one. When the hills come, you focus on the one in front of you and at times, the pedal strokes - count off 10, then another 10, and then another until you are at the top. Life is like that, too. Break it up in to measurable chunks.

2. Always look at the map they give you and plan out in advance where you are going to rest and get more water. The Freewheel people organized 2 fruit stops each day with gatorade, pickles, apples, bananas, watermelons, peaches and PBJ. There were only two, so they marked convenience stores and towns on our map, and spaced them 10-12 miles apart. But if you didn't pay attention, you could easily pass up a convenience store and be stuck then for 20-25 miles with no water. I learned that it was really important to take advantage of all these stops, even if you felt great and might want to just ride on by. In life, we need to plan in advance the rest stops, be they daily times with God, weekly Sabbath, vacations and retreats, or conferences.

3. The road surface and wind can change from mile to mile and they can really influence everything, including how you feel out on the road. I learned that chipseal paving is THE ENEMY.  Very bouncy on a bike and likely to wear you out like that. I guess the lesson is that even when the road ahead looks to be fairly normal, there can be little things that totally sap you. Be prepared for them and save enough energy to deal with them. And for little dogs that will run out chase you. Gotta have enough in the tank to outrun a dog even on a hill.

4. Don't grasp the handlebars too tightly. This is a biggy. I found that I was getting really sore hands and shoulders and it was from holding the handlebars on the main cross-bar, with my thumbs tucked under the bar - a tight grip that twisted my shoulders inward and while it provided for the most control and stability, it also wore me out. and caused shooting pain.
The trick was to relax that grip, and alternate my position so that my hands were down on the drop down bars, the little hooks at the front, or even out on the aerobars. I had practiced riding this way and so was comfortable.
The Aerobars are especially challenging as you lean way forward and have the entire forearm resting there. Your hand is not holding ANYTHING. The brake and gear shifting are not accessible. This was terrifying when I first got the aerobar. You are leaning forward and the center of gravity shifts making you a lot more wobbly on the bike. If it had not been so hard to get the aerobars on the bike, I would likely have removed them in the first week.

Loosening your grip and then leaning forward in faith, in a position that gives you much less control - well, that is very scary, but also very freeing. My speed would go up by about 2 MPH instantly when I got in that position. It was great for riding into the wind, but required you to give up control.

I think this is a major life lesson for me with regards to work. Holding on with two hands, tightly grasped, may provide a semblance of control, but also a lot of stress that leads to pain and fatigue.
Loosen control and lean forward in faith!

I think I shared the three hand position illustration from Ecclesiastes 4:5, 6 before:

4: 5 “Fools fold their idle hands,
leading them to ruin.”

(Hand position 1 - Hands folded doing nothing.)

4:6 And yet,
“Better to have one handful with quietness

(Position 2 the desired one. Hand is open, able to receive from God and have things removed as well). 

than two handfuls with hard work
and chasing the wind.”

(Position 3: The hands are clenched tight, only able to hold whatever they are clasped around. Hard work and chasing the wind).

6. There is one more thing I learned on the Freewheel and this was something about myself, a bit hard to learn and it deserves a separate post.