Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. – Hebrews 12:1

It’s not my intention to create a new post about cycling every time I go for a long ride, but this week was significant for a variety of reasons. Not least of all that this was the first long outing for my new bike.

Steve mapped a 34.1-mile route that took us to Rocky Mount and back, traversing some beautiful scenic roads along the way. Not just my longest ride but also my first 50K.

The bike’s performance was nothing short of amazing. So smooth, and so very responsive. Over the past few weeks I have absolutely appreciated Steve’s loaner bike, but the difference now is remarkable. Until this week I was essentially strong-arming a machine that – even though it is a most excellent bicycle – felt much heavier. But with my Trek Domane SL-5 I feel more connected to the ride and the whole thing feels like an extension of my legs and my mind and my movements.

A fair analogy would be jumping into a pool to swim wearing jeans and a long-sleeved shirt… versus gliding through the water in a pair of Speedos (please understand that I would do neither!).

Speed versus Endurance

Another interesting, curious, fact is that – historically – I have been built for speed not endurance. As a teen I was one of the two fastest athletes in Southeast England – but I wasn’t much good over more than 400 meters. Cycling, however, is all about the long haul and Friday I still felt fresh and strong as we rolled down Main Street back into Tarboro.

At this time of my life there really is no need to get there first – just get there!

At this time of my life there really is no need to get there first – just get there!

I find this to be a compelling spiritual principle too. Following Jesus is all about the long haul, not the sprints but going the distance.

Jesus put it this way in his parable of the Sower (Matthew 13): “the worries of this life and the false appeal of wealth choke the word, and it bears no fruit…”

We can be so easily weighed down – encumbered, as some translations phrase the Hebrews 12 passage – by so many distractions and misplaced priorities that we focus not only our hope but our ambitions far away from the simple beauty of the Pilgrim Path.

Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us. – Hebrews 12:1 (Amplified Bible)

Yes, what he said – DEREK