Forested pine lining crystal blue water, Michigan might just have the best summer scene around.
I started a bike trip yesterday in Traverse City, on my way north to meet my riding buddies for a Great Lakes tour that will end in Buffalo, NY. I live life with an almost religious theory that adventure, and life, are equally yoked in joy and struggle. Yesterday, my first day back on a tour in months, was 99% struggle. Just like that, my beliefs became a little less theoretical. My bike chain ruptured 30 miles from anywhere civilized, and while I pride myself on roadside mechanics, my chain breaker tool broke mid-fix. I walked to a Dollar General to buy pliers so I could rig a fixed gear chain system, but the pliers nearly snapped in half while attempting. Soon enough, my positivity left me and I was feeling the heavy, hopeless isolation guiding me nowhere other than the pit of fear and doubt. This can be the enemy of adventure. But also birthed out of this desperation comes creativity, resiliency and the willingness to ask for help. Unfolded after my plea for assistance, was a crowd of strangers, bike shop owners and more strangers, eager to go the extra mile for someone else’s concerns. After random rides and helpful bike services, I am back to the sunshine-in-face, breeze-in-my-hair kind of Katie that I know best. Tailwinds would be nice all of the time, but sometimes we’ve got to go straight into the wild wind of torment to get there.
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AuthorKatie Elizabeth: Writer, Wonderer, Wanderer. Archives
April 2022
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