Seagull Century (100 miles) and Metric (62 miles) Ride

Ready to ride!!!

This past weekend, I traveled to Ocean City, Maryland to do the the Seagull Century Ride. While there, I was thinking that I wish that all of my friends would start biking so that this Seagull Ride can be our annual event to laugh, talk, and ride.....

When you ride for 100 miles, there is a lot of time to think. Here are a few of the things that I thought about on the ride....

1. People need other people! 

I was suppose to do the century ride with my friend, Nancy, but she decided that she would do the metric ride, and she was also staying at another hotel. Therefore, I did not see her the entire weekend. With over 8000 riders participating in this ride, I knew that I would find someone to ride with, and I did!

I ended up staying in the same hotel with riders from Atlanta, Philadelphia, New York, DC etc. Friday, I hung out on the beach with a few of the riders, went for a quick evening ride with some other riders, and went to check out some of the vendors and buy arm warmers with other riders.

At 4:50am, someone knocked on my door and stated that I had a few minutes to get dressed, because they were going to eat breakfast and start the ride. I scurried outside and lots of riders were filling their water bottles, drinking coffee, loading their bikes onto their cars, and I was part of this group. We rode in a caravan to eat breakfast and do this ride.

Breakfast of Champions!

Riders Eating Breakfast

It was so good to be on this course with people whom I was looking out for and people who were looking out for me. I needed these people, and I believe that they needed me also.

Joyce Meyer's stated that "When you shut others out, you also imprison yourself," and I could not agree more.

People need other people!!!!

2. If you take one step, God will open the doors WIDE.

The step that I took was to register for the ride, get a hotel, and expect everything to work out just fine, and it did. I met great people, got to really enjoy a weekend getaway that I plan to do as many times as I can, and I completed my first 100 mile ride that was completely liberating. For a slight moment, I thought, what am I going to do by myself, and people showed up.

I've learned not to worry, stress, or fret about how things are going to work out. I just make the first step, and things usually work out better than I could ever image.

Get to stepping!!!

3. God is literally everywhere.

One of the riders who knew that it was my first century ride, told me to make sure that I enjoy the ride, and I intentionally made sure that I enjoyed every moment. I took in every view, and God was literally everywhere: amongst the riders who all had joy on their faces, at the rest stops where people were talking and laughing and respectfully waiting their turn to use the bathroom and enjoy the snacks. (There was apple pie and ice cream at the last stop.)

We were riding along a stretch and there were riders as far as I could see, and on the side of the road, there were bright yellow soybean plants, and the sun was shining, in full view, directly in front of us. I said to one of the guys "This looks like a postcard."

 God was literally everywhere!

4. Spend time with people who like to do things that you like to do and see how much you will learn.

If you like to write, you may want to consider spending time with other writers to grow and learn right? Well, it's the same principal with biking, teaching or whatever you do often.

Spending the weekend with other riders, I got so many tips about riding. We talked about biking just about the entire time. I got pointers on how to become a faster rider, what gear to wear in the winter, why my elbows were getting stiff during the ride. I learned things that I could only learn by spending time with other bikers. I am Thankful for wisdom and knowledge and other riders who are willing to share.

Spend time with like minded people at least sometimes!

5. If you take your body to it's limit, the mind will follow. It just has too, right?

After riding for 6 hours and 30 minutes for 100 miles, I felt invincible. My mind started to say "There is no limit to what I can do." I feel now that I can do almost anything that I train for: start a revolution, blog full time, travel the world teaching literature etc.

Take your body to it's limit and see how your outlook will change.

I wonder what's my next adventure???

If you think that you would like to start biking, then you should. Start where you are and just ride. It can change your life forever.....

Still smiling after 100 miles with one of my new riding buddies!!!!