Be Prepared

On Tuesday of Spring Break, I biked the Delta Heritage Trail for the first time. Started the ride in Lexa, Arkansas, located near Helena, not far from the Mississippi River. The plan was to ride to Elaine, AR and back to Lexa for a total riding distance of 41 miles. This was supposed to be another of my many fun and carefree rides. I actually came up with the idea of making this ride the night before, and wanted it to be a great day of riding. How quickly I discovered that I was not prepared at all for this ride.

Unlike the trails I have been riding such as the Greenline and Gulf State Park, this was a gravel trail with lots of rocks and sand. There is a paved section of this trail, but that section is a short one. The trail blew out both my tires, but not until I was 18 miles into the ride. That's when the rear tire started leaking. Somehow, my patch kit wasn’t in my bike pouch. I have no idea where I had placed the kit. I decided to continue the ride to Elaine to see if maybe there was a store there where I could get some help to repair the tire. No such luck.

I had to pump up the rear tire every 2 miles. At the 28-mile mark, had to now pump up the rear tire every mile. Extremely difficult to pedal through gravel, sand, and rocks on deflated tires. At about the 39-mile mark of my ride, the rear tire finally gave out completely and the front tire started leaking air. Had to walk the bike the last mile and a half. There was no more riding and my ride became a walk.

I have a hybrid bike. It is a cross between a road and touring bike with thinner, smoother tires. The tires are not meant for rough trails. I needed better trail tires to make this ride. It is also a lighter bike than a trail bike. So, the bike gets beat up riding a rocky trail as does the rider.

Because this went from a 3-hour bike ride to an over 5-hour bike ride, I didn’t have enough water to make it to the end. The temperature was 85 degrees, which required even more water. I rode 41 miles, saw no one on the trail, and there was nowhere to stop for help. My one choice was to suck it up and ride. That's what I did.

What did I learn from this ride? Be prepared! I need to be better prepared especially in dealing with the unknown.

I should have learned from our planning for the reopening of the school during this pandemic. We were so ready and so prepared for the unknown that nothing was going to go wrong. Nothing! And, nothing did go wrong. Everything went better than expected. 

I am so proud of everyone who helped plan for the 2020-21 school year. They were all a Godsend with positive, problem-solving attitudes. No one sat back and waited for others to plan. Everyone stepping up and joined-in to make this school year happen. Because of these forward thinking and acting folks, we were ready and prepared. This has turned out to be a fantastic school year. When you think of all that has taken place, I think this has been the best school year of my 31-years as an educator.

In the words of Paul Harvey: "Now for the rest of the story." If you are too young to know Paul Harvey, look him up. He was one of the greatest news personalities this country has ever seen.

At the 12-mile mark is the city of Lake View. There is a nice trail rest stop in Lake View. That's where I was when I received a text from Andrew Post, Layla Post's husband, notifying me of the birth of their son, Andrew Cyrus Post. I took a short break from riding to forward his text to the St. Ann staff members because we had all been awaiting the news. The birth announcement was one of the highlights of the ride.

The other highlight happened just before the 18-mile mark. That's when I started my prayers. I like to pray when I ride. I apologized to God for not praying as often as I should. That's when I felt the rear tire starting to go flat. If you pray, this next part makes sense. In feeling the rear tire going flat, I didn't question, I didn't complain. I just said, "I get it." For the rest of the long and painful bike ride, I thanked God for giving us this opportunity and extra time to spend together in prayer. So, instead of being upset about not preparing properly for this ride, I recognized my need to spend more time in prayer. So, I used this time to pray. What turned out to be one of the most physically demanding and painful things I have ever done also turned out to be a blessing in allowing me time to pray.

My lack of preparation turned into something good and great. On that ride, I learned about the arrival of the newest member to our St. Ann family, and I spent several hours of uninterrupted prayer time. Even though it took me several days to recover physically, I'm glad my Delta Heritage Trail ride took place. On the ride, God used that time to remind me the importance of and the need to appreciate both life and prayer.

Congratulations to Andrew and Layla Post on the arrival of their son. And, thank you God for your many blessings.

God bless you,

Didier Aur, Principal

St. Ann Catholic School

Previous Blog: https://didieraur.blogspot.com/2021/03/is-that-light-we-are-seeing.html