A day on my bike.

My day was free of commitments and in a wondrous twist of magic, the weather turned out perfect. I simply had to go for a nice, long, meandering bike ride. My destination was chosen, a state park that I had never visited before, but I brought a paper map with me so I could go down roads at whim and still end up at the park.

I have only ever biked in my immediate local area, so the majority of the routes that I take, I know rather well. But today I was able to bike many miles of road that I have never seen before. It became a proper adventure.

As a Christian, I can’t help but see the beauty of the world as an extension of the glory of God. Today I saw His handiwork everywhere and it made me gasp in delight. Forests stretching as far as I could see, hawks soaring through the air, deer bounding through corn fields, the gurgle of happy streams, lazy cows chewing stalks of grass; so many lovely things! Is there a better way to explore the world than on a bicycle? If there is, please don’t tell me, I refuse to change my mind anyway!

Eventually, I arrived at the state park and found out it has only one attraction. But what a wonderful thing it is; a roaring waterfall of decent size and strength. (I have been to Niagara and Horseshoe Falls, they have spoiled me, I suppose.) I ate lunch by the waterfall, made friends with a toad, hid my bike so I could walk down a wooded trail and then packed up to head home.

There was a headwind to deal with on the way back but I was in no rush so I took my time. But after an hour I was hot and my body was starting to feel the strain of biking all day. I made an executive decision – it was time for an ice cream break. Mint chocolate chip in a waffle cone was just what I needed to boost my energy and cool me down. The power of ice cream got me home in no time.