When you go to visit someone and they tell you that they are cursed, that something happens to everyone that visits them, make sure you have your insurance card…just sayin’..because inevitably it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

 I came to visit my friends Sean and Debra on my first stop on the part of my sabbatical trip in the U.S. this summer. I have known Sean for awhile as part of a internet cycling forum I belong to called the Lounge. I had never met him or his wife in person.  On the forum Sean has been incredibly supportive of my quest to become learn the intricacies of road cycling.  In person he and his lovely wife were even more supportive.  We had a great ride with about 2000 ft of climbing in 90 degree temperatures up to an altitude of over 7000 ft. As a low-lander from the Pacific Northwest where it is relatively cool most of the time, I had to stop a few times for water and to stand in the shade and reduce my core body temperature.

When they showed me where we were going and I looked up the hill, I didn’t think I could do, I really didn’t.  I could see failure looming on the horizon. Sean never gave me the opportunity to quit. I remember him telling me that I could totally do this. As the breath sawed in and out of my lungs the whole way up twisty switchbacks, sweat pouring down my face, legs just turning the crankset, I kept thinking about how I needed to make sure that I gave it my best effort for Sean and Debra who had taken the time to ride with me as well as my other Lounge friends who have encouraged my riding. I kept repeating wabi-sabi, my climbing mantra, over and over as I thought about Cooper, Mike, Eric, Stacy, Bill, Greg, Len, Terry, Jeff, Kurt, John, Janet, Jonathan, Marvin, Steve, Jason, Stephen and all the others who have given me countless hours of advice and encouragement and I realized, whether I made it to the top or not, as long as I gave it my best effort and stayed on this side of the ground, they would still be proud of me. And then…there it was…the summit. Thanks Sean and Debra…and all my other internet friends. Great ride. Then I realized…OMG I have to DESCEND back down that? Sean can’t you just go get the car and pick me up? Descending is way scarier than climbing.

Again, Sean totally normalized my apprehension and there we were, descending down switchbacks, cars whizzing by, sheer drops down thousands of feet if you were careless and fell, and some of the most beautiful scenery my eyes have ever seen. . I laughed the whole way down. It was like flying, totally free, unrestrained, AMAZING. The ground leveled out and we were down. It was the greatest ride ever. We went back to Sean and Debra’s and had an incredible steak dinner and sat on the patio just enjoying a beautiful high desert evening.

And then the curse struck. With the dry air and the wind from the ride, one of my contacts got stuck up under my eyelid, folded in half. I thought it had fallen out and that my eye was irritated from poking around my eyeball trying to find it. We left to go hiking the next day and there, in the middle of nowhere, it felt like a white hot poker was being driven into my eyeball…I had scratched my cornea. Sean and Debra again were totally supportive, we found a Ophthalmologist who was able to remove the contact. Our day of hiking was ruined, but on the good side, I didn’t go blind.

It was unrealistic to think that in a year of traveling that nothing bad was going to happen. So I have had my first blip. It happened when I had supportive friends around and was in a place where medical attention was reasonable easy to find. It was a good trial to have to go through to realize I can handle whatever problems arise. I was reminded of something John once said to me, “as long as you stay on this side of the ground, it will be okay”.

No matter what challenges we may face, what climbs we may have ahead of us, there is nothing that can’t be overcome if we have hope, move forward, and just keep turning the crankset. Never give up as long as you are on this side of the ground.