Every Monday, I try and spend at least an hour or two out at a park riding my bike. I may not always make it out there but I try to go out and ride. It is a great time for me to decompress after a busy Sunday. It is a great time for prayer. It is always cool to ride up on some deer and just stop and watch them. It is a great workout and a great opportunity to think. I was riding the other day when I had an epiphany about riding. It can be seen as a great metaphor for leadership. Lot’s of great metaphors for leadership can be seen in riding.
I see them all the time. Good riders don’t look right in front of themselves. Good riders will look about 30 yards ahead so they can prepare for the things that are coming on the trail. Good leaders are in the same boat. You have the vision to prepare for the upcoming trail. Last Summer, I had the privilege of dedicating my nephew to the Lord. I decided to go ride the Saturday morning before everyone arrived in town for the Sunday event. I was meeting a buddy at a park and was running late so, I got my bike ready jumped on and didn’t think about putting my helmet on (1st mistake). We took off riding and I thought, “This is a familiar trail and I will take it easy”. Famous last words right? We got to riding and I ran across this spot that really didn’t have any danger. It wasn’t a hill. It wasn’t a jump. It was a cactus. I got completely focussed on missing the cactus that was coming and didn’t even see the tree branch that was overhead. I focussed on just one thing and as it got closer I missed something that was important. I ran into the tree overhead. Putting a 6 inch scratch across my forehead. Then, I still ran into the cactus. Leaders have to look ahead. Leaders have to see everything going on, the big picture. They don’t want to get popped in the head by something they didn’t see coming because they were so focused on something 5 feet in front of them.
Riding with people gives some leadership examples too. When you are leading a group, you pace the group. You determine how fast everyone goes. You decide when to stop for water. If you get out to far in front, then you may lose the entire group. If you follow it gives even more examples. If you ride to far behind you get separated. You may come up to a fork and head the wrong way. If you ride to close you may not be able to get stopped in enough time causing you to run up on someone. It is an important balance to have just like following a leader. Guys that get separated lose track of the leaders vision many times. Making it hard to follow. Many times people will try and overtake a leader with they push to hard causing friction with the leader in life. Riding with someone though may not always be the best workout but it is usually the best experience cause you can take time and spend it with someone. I think God intended us to be in situations where that is the case. He didn’t intend for us to take off on our own all the time.
If you ride by yourself, it can be a great experience still. Like I said before, it is a great time to pray. It is a great workout. It is time with nature. It can also be dangerous. I have to make sure and tell someone where I am going before I go. I was riding a couple of months ago on a trail I have never rode before. I saw a massive bolder that I needed to go over. It is common in San Antonio to see this. The whole town, I think, is on a big chunk of limestone. There were multiple step ups on this rock. I hopped up on the first 4 without problem. Then, the 5th came and I was a little late getting my tire over it. It stopped my bike where it was at. I went over the handlebars onto my head. I somehow managed to stab my arm with the little teeth on the crank. It was an epic wreck that I wished I could have put on youtube. It certainly would have been my double rainbow. I immediately texted my wife and one of my buddies because I knew I was hurt. I was going to ride out but you never know when you fall on your head how anything is going to work in 10 minutes. I still knew even though I fell that I had to get up and keep going. That is what we all have to do, get up and keep going. Many times we have epic crashes but we can’t let them keep us down. We have to keep going and get back to our car so we can go home.
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