Just went on first bike ride since August 1, 2021, when I rode with a small team from NJ into NYC, including Dan, who met up with us for the last day of the x-country trip. Went just 25km today to see how it would feel. Hoped to do 50km but, ye ‘ol flat tire tradition from 2021 returned. Finished with a flat the last day of that trip and started with one today (grrrrr).
But as Deb is coaching me, “Let’s try something new. Let’s try expecting flats, misdirections, wrong turns, and see if this might lighten the path and the spirits.” To which I say two things — “hummph” and “Okayyy, I’ll give this new outlook a try.”
So, tomorrow, I’ll have a goal of 50km (and one or two flats since my biking partner, Hamilton, a 34-year old father of two, who is going into his second year at the Seminary, is going to not just train with me but bike the country with me in July).
There is something else I am going to expect — when I go to Lilongwe this coming Monday for media interviews, I am going to search diligently for a GEL seat!
So, we’re off to the races, and I am encouraged by how good it felt to get back on a bike after two years, and in such a beautiful country, and with both kids and adults yelling, “Hey, mzungu!” (“Hey, white guy!) A month until we head North to get to Kaporo, at the Northwest corner of Lake Malawi, to begin biking South!
Here’s to expecting flats!
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