I fell down while riding my bike last night.
For as long as I can remember.....ever since I started cycling, Scotts Rd in the direction of Newton Circus has always been my private drag strip. Almost everytime, after stopping at the traffic lights outside Borders, I will crank up my pace and try to get past the traffic light just outside Goodwood Park Hotel before it turns red. Sometimes, I make it, sometimes I don't.
Last night was just like any other ride. I was with Desmond, and we had just finished our Pandan loops and were on the way home. As usual, once the light turned green at Borders, I picked up the pace. In fact, I was feeling so good that I thought that I would be able to make it past the light with plenty of time to spare. As I was nearing the bus stop outside the ex-Holiday Inn at close to 40km/h, my bike ran over something on the road........I think it must have been a stone. That sudden impact....... though slight, caused my bike to wobble. I tried to control it but the next thing I knew, I fell heavily on my right side and ended up on the road. As I lay on the road, my immediate instinct was to look out for the vehicle coming from behind. Thankfully, it stopped. I quickly got up and went to the side of the road. Des was there. He checked to make sure that I was ok, then made me make sure my bike was ok. I was fine except for some abrasions on my right elbow and knee. Although I landed heavily, the fleshier part of my right hip helped take the brunt of the hit.
Honestly, it could have been much worse.
This accident comes as a good wake-up call me. Training has been going on well this year; I am feeling much stronger and faster on the bike, the swim is coming along fine and my run legs have not given me any problems at all, plus I brave the heavy morning traffic along Bendemeer Rd to work every morning and have emerged unscathed. All these have given me this feeling of invincibility; that whatever I want my body to do, it will respond.
Last night's incident reminded me that I am not so invincible after all. And that the reason why I am still writing this blog is due to God's grace upon me. As a cyclist, I can be careful, but if someone else isn't, I can just as easily end up as a statistic on the road, through no fault of my own. Everytime, I ride, I am putting myself through an incredible amount of risk, and I want to thank God for protecting me all this while.
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"...because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope."
-Romans 5:3-5
-Romans 5:3-5
"The only limits we have are the ones we give ourselves"
"So we can suffer, and in suffering we know who we are."
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming; but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."
"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention to arrive safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming: Wow!! What a ride!!!"
"When a man says 'I cannot', he has made a suggestion to himself. He has weakened his power of accomplishing that which otherwise would have been accomplished."
"I realize many eyes are on me to see how I handle my situation and overcome. If I don’t give up, other people who may be tempted to give up won’t. They will have to keep trying because I am living proof of unwillingness to give up."
"Unless you test yourself, you stagnate. Unless you try to go way beyond what you've been able to do before, you won't develop and grow. When you go for it 100%, when you don't have the fear of "what if I fail," that's when you learn. That's when you're really living."
"Live your life so that when you wake up in the morning, Satan says, 'sh!t, he's awake'".
"Success or failure on race day isn't a function of one single ride or run. It's the result of the steady accomplishment of consistency, week after week, where everything fits together and lets you get done, week after week."
"The chief cause of failure and unhappiness is trading what we want most for what we want at the moment."
"Clarity of purpose comes when you are pursuing the highest expression of your talents, are motivated primarily by the love of your activity, and live a lifestyle congruent with your stated purpose. When you have clarity of purpose, you will do whatever it takes to achieve your goals and you will love every minute of it."
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