I started out in "Dave mode" this afternoon. It was a lovely Sunday afternoon and I needed to get out and enjoy life beyond my four walls. I started out in my car, heading toward...well, I wasn't quite sure where. It seemed like there were a half dozen competing motivations waging war within me - drive through the Lake Minnetonka area and look for some picture taking opportunities, go look for that house flag I've been wanting, or drive out to Mound Minnesota and join Carl and his brother-in-law on the shooting range. But as healthy and good as all three prospects were, none of them seemed to be what my soul really wanted.
I started driving out to the Minnetonka area, but stopped off near Ridgedale to consider if there might be a store nearby where I could find that flag for the house. But I found myself pulling over in a parking lot to stop and think about my conflicting goals. There in my car I prayed a simple prayer:
Lord Jesus, would you please give me some amazing grace today? I'm feeling pretty conflicted and could just as easily waste the day as do something I feel good about. Would you please lead me in a path that's healthy and restoring? AmenWith that, I continued my drive to Minnetonka, and I actually did get as far as Wayzata Bay, before I decided to chuck the drive around the lake and go look for that flag after all. I drove out to Hoigaards in St. Louis Park and took a little time browsing through the store. No flags. But on the way out I noticed and picked up a couple of free magazines at the door - "Minnesota Cyclist" and "Minnesota State Parks Traveler."
After leaving Hoigaards, I decided to drive over to the city lakes, Lake Calhoun and Lake Harriet. I picked up Calhoun on the southern end, and the traffic was busy enough to cause me to bail out after about a quarter mile drive in bumper-to-bumper. I picked up some side streets and escaped over to Lake Harriet. I began my drive at the Lake Harriet band shell and drove around the lake at a leisurely pace. That done, I headed back to Maple Gove.
Home again, I relaxed in a lounge chair on my deck while reading the two free publications I'd picked up earlier. The State Parks publication was loaded with good information about the many outdoor activities that are available in Minnesota. "I'm going to have to plan a couple of photography trips this summer to some state parks!" I thought to myself. Next, I picked up the bicycling magazine and began browsing. All those pictures of people enjoying cycling, whole families and people of all ages, it made me think about how much fun I've had cycling over the years (but truth be told, I haven’t seriously biked for quite a long time). "Hey, it's still early in the evening. Why don't I top off the tires with some air and take a little ride around the neighborhood!"
The garage door opening, I brought my Schwin Woodlands (1990 vintage) out into the sunlight. I found the Schwin tire pump and brought both front and rear tires up to a firm poundage. And since the bike hasn't been ridden in quite a while, I pulled out a can of Triflow and dowsed the chain, gear assembly and derailer. I closed the garage door and mounted the bike and was off.
Now, here's the rub. I'm almost 50 years old, and at 275 lbs, I am also well overweight. So, I'm not gonna be breaking any land speed records here! "Just taking a nice easy ride tonight," I told myself as I rode away from my house. Uh huh.
Riding down Hemlock Avenue, I remembered there was a side road that goes over to Eagle Lake. I had put my mini-binoculars in the rack-bag and thought I might enjoy looking for birds and such. After missing my turn, I got sorted out and started riding east on 63rd Ave. Not more than a block later I found myself picking up speed and enjoying a brisk downhill ride ("I'm going to regret this when I have to come back this way"). Less than a quarter mile later the road changed from blacktop to gravel.
Up ahead there was something my eyes couldn't quite make out. "Its either a large gravel hill, or a brown house at the end of the road." It was a hill. On the small chainring already, I downshifted to my lowest gear, pushed my body back in the saddle and powered up the hill, seemingly inch by inch. When I got to the top I was huffing and puffing and my heart was beating at a nice aerobic pace (I felt like I was dying;-). Then, I enjoyed another downhill ride to the bottom of the other side of the hill ("Oh man, another hill to have to go up on the way back home!"). On a well-worn gravel road, you'd be a fool to swish it without any braking, and I was not about to be that foolish tonight, so it was a slow, controlled descent.
Not long after the road leveled out again I found the small parking area I knew about. A path leads from the parking lot to a dock on the southern end of Eagle Lake. It's a very nice floating doc that the city has built. It extends probably 50 yards from the shore, and there's lots of room for folks to fish from it. I walked my bike out to the end and leaned it against a section of doc, and pulled out my binoculars and began investigating the lake.
There was a guy at the other side of the doc fishing. Looked pretty comfortable in his camp chair. Boats of all kinds were out on the lake, and one or two water skis. People were clearly enjoying being on the water. Some were fishing, others were socializing, and still others were burning off energy. It was a relaxing scene. A father and his daughter joined us on the doc. Dad was giving the little girl some basic instruction on fishing. She no sooner put the bobber in the water and was getting hits (likely perch, or small sunnies).
I made a mental note that I'll have to come back to the doc again, by car, with my own camp chair and binoculars, to do some serious relaxing. I enjoyed a good 20 minutes or so, and then decided I better start heading home before the sun starts setting. Well, right off I had that large gravel hill to conquer. Same strategy, huffing and puffing all the way to the top. Then a controlled descent to the bottom of the flip-side. Ah! But there was still one last hill before the plateau that would take me home. I folded. Got off the bike and walked up to the top, huffing and puffing. As I rode back into my driveway a few blocks later, I felt just a little like a cyclist again. Not bad, all in all.
Home again, again, I fell into the living room couch, exhausted. But it was a good exhaustion. And I had gotten my heart beating in a healthy way. And I had enjoyed "still waters" close up. I surveyed the events of the afternoon in my mind, and I was aware that grace had been my companion today.
