The Gurrs: Conquer the Coast 2010

2 of my firends and I decided we needed one more race to end the 2010 season, so we decided for a 65 mile bike ride around the coast of Corpus Christi, Port Aransas, and Mustang Island. It was a blast. Besides the obstacles--switching to a new thyroid medicine and having my dose incredibly too low so my body was functioning on minimal power; missing the cutoff of the race start by seconds because we got there late--which ended up making me the official last person to begin; getting stuck behind a million people on the steep part of the bridge and almost falling off my bike into traffic because I couldn't even pedal forward; finding a small gap in the crowd and zooming past to get around, only to not see the hige block of wood I was unable to avoid; realizing 2 minutes later that my tire was flat; then realizing that I had not idea how to change a tire; finally getting back into the race only to find the road left desolate--everyone was long gone after the 25 minute delay and we had no idea where we were supposed to go for the next 63 miles.

But it was a great way to realize my blessings. To know that Heavenly Father always answers prayers--just not always the way we intended. Like when I prayed that my bike would work fine and that I wouldn't have a flat tire. Instead he sent me along with two wonderful friends: Jennifer who is always prepared and immediately gave me her spare tube, not even thinking about how she might need one later; and Aubrey who was not one bit worried about shouting at all the people who past by, pleading for anyone who could help us change the tire; and finally, a very sweet older couple who graciously stopped and took lots of time out of their race day to change my tire. I saw these sweet people further ahead that day stopping to help another poor soul with his bike. I want to be more like all these wonderful people! Heavenly Father didn't make everything perfect, he showed me how aware He is of me by placing little angels all along my way!

I also realized again how much I love my Peter and what a great husband he is and how much he does for me. With all those hard things happening during the race I was really wanting him with me. Now I just need to help him build up endurance so he can come with me on the next one.

We did end up finishing--and not last--hooray! It was a great experience. Hard work is really worth it. You feel so good when it took so much to accomplish what you did. Hopefully the next big one will be 100 miles!