July 17th Biking

Last Saturday, the Prasetyas organized a biking trip at Monterey. The email calls for a casual biking, which Yanny defines as "no one left behind". They invited kids as well for the ride, so I thought it would be pretty safe for me to join.

I haven't been a sporty person my whole life. In my family, my sister and my brother are the sporty ones, not me. I'm always be the one who read books and stays indoor because I couldn't stand the heat in Indo. This year, I started doing aerobics up until Chinese New Year (Feb) and stopped exercising afterward. So, I should say I was not in a very good shape to do a long ride, but there's when grace enters the story.

With bike borrowed from Yanny and helmet borrowed from ko Chris, I bravely joined 6 experienced bikers: Marcel & Yanny, Ci Sukma, Ci Fenny, Ci Marlene, Ko Otis. God has been sooo good to us throughout the day.

Firstly we can't figure out how to load the bike I'm going to use to the bike rack, because there's no attachment from the bike to the rack. We ended up mounting ko Otis' bike to the rack instead so we can start going to Monterey. Yay for creative minds & flexibility!

Next, upon arrival, ko Otis' rear end tire was broken. The air kept on leaking out after pumping. We left the parking area and started to ride the on the trails while he went to bike shop to try to fix the tire. About an hour later, he texted Yanny telling that the tire is getting fixed and he's going to catch up with us. And catch up he did! Man, he's fast!

Third, upon arriving to the gate of 17-mile-drive, ci Sukma started to feel weak. We stopped and rest and had lunch at the site. Laughing at each other and having a good fellowship time. Ci Sukma seems to be fit for the rest of the trip. Thank God for taking care of each one of us during the trip!

As for myself, through this trip, I learned:

1. that God is way bigger than what I encounter daily. Being out in the nature simply reminds me of the great God who created universe. Monterey Bay never fails to leave me in awe of God's wonderful creation. Our God is an awesome God!
   
2. that God always takes care each one of us. Look at ko Otis' situation. Look at ci Sukma's. And there's me who rides super slow (thanks for being so patient, everyone! Especially Yanny who always watch over me from the back!) But we all manage to finish together and enjoy the trip by God's grace. He is a good God.
3. to be more caring for others. I'm in awe of how much patience these people are showing and the amount of grace they are showering me with. I bet that's one of the reason I did not get cranky during the trip ;) God, help me to learn from them.