As I flop on the bed Hunter leans over and says, " Remember, what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger"! I'm not dead, although my tired body may differ with that evaluation, so I guess I'm stronger. Today's ride was a challenge, both physically and mentally for me. It all began a half hour into the ride, which was to be a loop starting from the agriturismo in the morning and returning there in the early afternoon via the town of Erice, which is a medieval town sitting on top of a mountain. Our plans were to ride to Erice, put our bike on the cable car, and enjoy the ascent. Then we would ride down the mountain after walking the streets and exploring the town. At the bottom of the mountain we would follow our directions back "home" and rest before dinner.
A mere 2 kilometers into the ride our directions failed us. We back tracked and started over thinking we had simply missed something. No. The directions were wrong. Our choice-give up and return to home base or forge on pulling out our hand held GPS and "breaking" our own trail, which is exactly what we did, but unfortunately we ended up on some pretty busy highways! If you have ridden with me before you know I get a bit flustered when I can't follow the intended directions, but we did locate the cable car in Erice so we were back on track. "What? The cable car is not running today due to high winds? You have got to be kidding!" These were my words to the attendant by the cable car station.
After all the work to get here we weren't even going to see the medieval town? "Just ride up on your bike", he said. "It is only 10 kilometers." Somehow 10k or around 8 miles doesn't sound bad on flat ground but up a mountain on switch-back roads? Hunter was in favor of trying it so why not. We can always turn around, right? The first couple of kilometers were tolerable but I knew I was wearing thin when I thought we had to at least be at kilometer 7 or 8 and I read a sign post that said we were at kilometer 4! We rode for 2 1/2 hours in "granny gear." Sometimes we even had to get off and walk because the grade was SO steep! When finally we reached the summit we had several Italian men cheer us on. I guess they knew I needed a little "reward"-ha! After all that effort we spent only about 1/2 hour or less taking a few photos and stopping to buy a regional pastry and then started down, since the wind had picked up and we didn't want to be out at dark. I had a tense time on the ride down since I am a bit afraid of heights. The wind was so strong that as we rounded the bends it swayed our bike and at times we felt as though we could barely move forward! I was gripping the handle bars with white knuckles!
Another problem was the return directions-wrong again! Our faithful GPS came in handy once more. It was worth it's "weight in gold" today! Thankfully we were back before dark and in enough time to shower, rest, and relax before dinner. Now my only concern is the direction sheet for tomorrow's ride.
Will it prove equally undependable? Time will tell...
As I think over the day and our adventure on the "big rock" which holds up the town of Erice, I am reminded that Jesus is our "rock". He is solid, always dependable and No winds of evil can sway Him.
I am so glad He is my "rock of ages" and I can always depend on Him!
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