samgamgee

rode the longest training ride yet. 46.6 miles total. several fun things from the course of today’s adventure. beyond the craziest hills i’ve attempted yet had several really crazy encounters.  i’ll be honest i had to get off the bike a couple of times and grab a quick recovery  time.  the first one around the 10 mile mark(just before a second huge hill) i pulled off the side and sat on the edge of the road.  a car drove by and then quickly return.  a pulled over….rolled down their window.  “are you ok?” the woman asked in the passenger seat…”do you need a tube or something?” i explained i was just getting my wind for this second hill of my trek out of Loudonville…(Pastor Rob chased me up the first hill…was grateful for his companionship).  She asked where i was heading and I quickly offered that i was training for a 766 mile adventure…she said…”just a second…opened her purse and handed me a $20 bill.  crazy.

it probably was a couple hours later i pulled again at the top of hill closer to mt vernon and was laying on my back…again a i heard a vehicle pass by, this time a white church van and then turn around.  they pulled into the driveway next to me…again the driver asked “are you okay?”  again..i replied, yep…an then as i looked i recognized the driver, a fellow youth pastor, Matt Ellington (a nick carnes look alike)  he had a van full of students headed to Sonfest @ MVNU.   Again i took the opportunity to chat briefly about this crazy adventure with Matt and his charges.  It was a great conversation.

So two sort of random encounters, both focused on offering me kindness.  very cool  and yeah…learned a long time ago…no such thing as coincidences…just saying….instead, huge blessings and encouragement.