Took a wrong turn in Fly

This past Saturday I set out on an ambitious 50-mile solo training ride. I had ridden 45 miles two weeks ago so it wasn’t the distance that concerned me. Well it did have me a little worried – I had some severe leg cramps in the last two miles of that ride. But what really concerned me was my back. After six weeks of relief from my bulging disc, I had really messed my back up last weekend and was still trying get over that. I took three days off from training this week and had eased back into it with a swim and ride on Thursday and a run on Friday and thought that I would at least try to ride on Saturday. I thought if my back starts hurting I’ll just turn around.

I left a little after 7am knowing that I needed to be back home for Witt’s baseball game at noon. It was really nice out that morning with clear sunny skies. For the first hour and a half I pretty much had the beautiful Natchez Trace Parkway to myself. I only saw two other cyclists and a couple cars. As I often do I when I ride solo I passed the time praying and talking to God – thanking him for what he was doing in my life and praying for some friends that had lost loved ones that week. Those first 23 miles went by pretty fast and before I knew it I was exiting the parkway on Highway 7 just outside Fly. I could have just turned around and gone back the way I came but that’s boring and I really wanted to try riding home on Leipers Creek Road.

Not long after exiting the parkway I came upon Leipers Creek Road and I was a little puzzled. I had thought I would be turning left but Leipers Creek veered off to the right. I stopped for a few minutes to look at Google Maps on my phone and get my bearings. I thought I had it figured out and headed out Leipers Creek Road. Over the next 30 minutes I questioned my sense of direction and even stopped a couple times to look at Google Maps and each time I convinced myself I was heading in the right direction.

But when I pulled into the town of Williamsport I knew I had messed up – messed up big time. I got my phone out again, looked at Google Maps, and figured out that I had turned onto the WRONG section of Leipers Creek Road – a costly 13-mile detour from my planned route. Over the next few minutes panic took my mind in every direction. How do I get back to my planned route? How was I going to make it home in time for Witt’s baseball game? Did I have enough water and gatorade for the ride back? Would my legs have the strength to get me back home? What if my legs cramped up again? What if my back started hurting?

A few minutes later I calmed down and realized that I really didn’t have much choice at that point. I turned my bike around and started heading back the way I came – heading back to Highway 7. I knew that I was about 28 miles from home and I needed to make good time if I was going to make it home in time for Witt’s baseball game. I settled into a good cadence, kept an eye on my heart rate, and began to pray for the strength and endurance that it would take to get me home quickly and safely. I knew that I was getting low on fluids so I started to slow down on my intake hoping that I was taking in enough to avoid cramps and dehydration but not so much that I would run out before I got home.

Thirty minutes later I was back to Highway 7, where I had made the wrong turn, and happy to have my mistake behind me and feel like I was making progress towards home again. I made the turn onto the northbound section of Leipers Creek Road and while the road was beautiful I found myself fighting a headwind. For about 11 miles I fought the headwind – feeling like my legs were on the verge of cramping. I just kept pedaling and praying and finally reached Leipers Fork. I pulled over in Leipers Fork and drank the last of my water. While I was stopped I called Alison to let her know that I was about 20 minutes away and would make it home in time for Witt’s game. I got home with just enough time to change clothes and grab a protein shake before heading to Witt’s game.

That afternoon was pretty busy and it wasn’t until that evening when I had a chance to reflect on my ride that day. I began to think about how we all at some point begin to make plans for our lives. We map out the college we want to go to, the career we want to have, the person we want to marry, the places we want to go, and the children we want to have. We begin to think we have it all figured out and that we just need to follow the plan. And then the plan falls apart and we begin to panic. We let fear and doubt take over. We start questioning everything we’ve ever done and every decision we are faced with. We wonder if we’ll ever be able to get back to the “plan”.

But what we need to remember is that God has a greater plan for each of us. HIS plan may look nothing like ours. HIS plan might not always be easy. We might not understand HIS plan. We might even question HIS plan. But he can handle that.

Six years ago when Witt was in the hospital waiting on a heart transplant I couldn’t understand God’s plan for Witt or his plan for me. I couldn’t see how HIS plan would prosper me or lead to a hope and a future for Witt. But looking back now I see it. I see how God used “a little detour” from “my plan” to change my life – to give me an everlasting hope. I see how Witt has a hope and a future when he once had neither. I see how God was glorified through the miracle that saved Witt’s life. I see how HIS plan has touched many lives and grown God’s kingdom. I’ve learned to lean into him when “my plan” seems to fall apart and to pray for HIS will to be done.