Learning how to never give up from a bicycle

As I sit here on my couch nursing a knee injury from last week, I can’t wait to hit the streets on my bicycle again.

I bought my first bike since I was a teenager back in the summer of 2021. It’s a heavy, fat-tire Mongoose bike with a very uncomfortable seat but it looks cool and will ride over almost everything so I love it, even though it’s not the easiest to ride.

I rode it for the first time as soon as I bought it. I rode it 6 miles to my house and while it was tough, it was fun and brought me back to when I was a kid when I would ride my bike everywhere.

I was around 200 pounds at this point and very out of shape. I was going back and forth between smoking and vaping and dealing with a lot of stress at home due to my wife’s medical issues that have since cleared up.

I couldn’t believe that I made it 6 miles on this giant heavy contraption though. It was time to see if I could make it further.

So, I rode down to the Kerrville River Trail which is about 2 miles from my house and rode it from one end to the other and then back and cut through the new addition through Schreiner University and back to the house. The entire ride is about 11.5 miles. I was beat but I did it.

I rode the trail a handful of other times, huffing and puffing along the way and felt a sense of accomplishment and confidence boost every time I would complete the route.

This year I started riding the bike again in May and instantly fell back in love with it. I started riding almost every day and would complete the 11.5 miles in about an hour and a half.

One day toward the end of June, I decided to see if I could pull off a 20 mile haul. I would ride from Kerrville to Center Point, along River Road, then come back on 173. For some reason, I chose the hottest part of the day for my trek and was done by the time I got to Center Point.

I called my wife and told her how far I’d made it and she offered to come get me but I wasn’t going to stop without finishing the route.

This is where determination comes into play and can be used in any situation, not just bike riding. No matter how tired, worn-out, exhausted and how much I wanted to quit, I just kept pedaling, and pedaling, and pedaling.

Finally, about an hour later, I made it back to my house. I realized then that no matter how tough a situation might be, as long as we power through it and refuse to quit, we can make it through.

I couldn’t believe it. I made it 20 miles on a bicycle. What’s next? 40? That’s right.

A few days later I popped open Google Maps and mapped out a 38 mile ride. I would leave as soon as daylight hit on a weekend morning, ride Cypress Creed Road into Comfort and then take Highway 27 back to the house.

Between these long rides I was still hitting 11.5 miles per night on the Kerrville River Trail 3-4 nights a week.

On a Sunday morning, I woke up at 3:30 AM like usual and said, “Today is the day.” I will complete this ride or I will die trying.

At 6:40 AM, I set out for a 38 mile trek and before I made it to the end of my street my legs were burning from the night before. The 20 mile ride had taught me something though, determination. No matter how tough things get, if you have determination, you can make it through.

The first 6 miles were almost completely uphill. I went from 1600 feet elevation to over 2000 feet elevation during the first hour of my ride and was exhausted by the time I made it to the top of the hill.

That’s when the ride took a turn and became rewarding. What goes up, must come down, right?

I cracked open my jug of Alkaline Water from the The Watertree in Kerrville and hydrated up.

The next several miles of the ride were downhill. At one point, I got up to 38 miles per hour going down the hill. There is nothing like riding through the Texas Hills on a bicycle at a high rate of speed. I’ve done it several times on a motorcycle, but this was different.

I made it Comfort about an hour later and refreshed with a protein drink, banana, and more Alkaline water and took about a 20 minute break. Then it was time for the second half of the ride.

About 15 minutes into the my ride between Comfort and Center Point on Highway 27, my friend Gil Ramirez called me after seeing my post that I was on a long bike ride.

By this time, I was done, but I was nowhere near giving up. No matter what, I was going to make it home. My legs were done and were sore from the uncomfortable seat on the fat-tire bike.

The next thing I know, I see a truck pull up and it’s Gil with a bicycle made for long treks. It had a comfortable seat and shocks and was made for long distance.

I jumped on this bike and just kept pedaling. I was still dead but determined to make it home. I really enjoyed this bike though.

About 45 minutes later, I made it to Kerrville and noticed that I was at like 37 miles. I thought to myself, even after going this far, I could make it to 40 miles. Maybe it was time to visit my old friend, the Kerrville River Trail.

I had the choice to go home after 38 miles and celebrate or push a little harder for 40. “I’ve made it this far,” I thought. “I can make it a few more miles.”

So, down on the river trail I went and finished strong at over 40 miles, exhausted and tired, but I made it.

This proved to me that as human beings, we don’t really know what we are capable of until we go for whatever it is that we want and have a determination to never quit and never give up.

If there’s something that you really want, go for it and make it happen no matter what. We are capable of so much more than we know. The only way to find out is to push past the limits and break through all resistance!

My next long ride will be 100 miles and it will be done by the end of summer. Now, if this knee would just heal up a little faster.

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