Healthy Living

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“My Burden Is Light”


Food, clothing and shelter; those are the only things a human being needs to survive...or so I was taught as a Boy Scout. So, those were the things I was carrying in my pack as I set out to bicycle 120 miles on the Blue Ridge Parkway over the Fourth of July Weekend.
My continuing effort to emulate my friend, Harold, who rode the entire parkway at the age of 72 years, continued on this weekend. He had done the ride solo, carrying all his gear for cooking, camping, and riding along with him. No more than a day or two's worth at a time due to the weight involved, but a pack of 30 lbs. or so is not unusual. I estimate that is about what my pack weighed as I set out. Harold covered the 480 mile Parkway distance in 12 riding days – not all consecutive, but still! I have done it in bits and pieces over the last several years, and have done most of it in both directions in North Carolina, but I still haven't done any of it in Virginia, which is almost half of it's distance.


A hurricane had just blown up the East coast and it's counter-clockwise rotation brought in a northern flow of very cool air to the mountains of North Carolina. I left with my camper on Friday and got up to Julian Price Park and into the cool afternoon air. I got my camp set up and tested out my hammock – the sleeping setup I planned to use on my ride. As I relaxed and dosed, I was awakened by the coolness of the air. It would continue through the night and I did not bring enough blankets! I had extra in the van, but didn't get up during the night to mess with it – my thoughts were on the next night, and how I was going to stay warm out in a hammock, and with only a thin, light sleeping bag. My plan was to carry everything I needed to ride 60 miles north on the Parkway to Doughton Park, camp overnight there, then ride back the next day. I couldn't just carry extra, heavy blankets, so, I stuck to my plan and only carried my small sleeping bag, rated at 50 degrees F. Surely it won't be colder than that – even at the 3200 ft. elevation. At least, that was my hope!


Saturday morning was less than 50 degrees and did not warm up quickly. My plan to accomplish the approximately 6 hour ride between 9AM and 3PM was not looking promising. It was just too cold to get started with the clothing and gear I had brought. At 11:30 I finally did set out.
The climbs were long and tough with the extra weight I was carrying, but my pack was comfortable and it seemed this was doable! The downhills were chilly and I really preferred the slower, warmer climbs on this day! At about 30 miles in, I was feeling the deep fatigue that I have come to know on much longer rides; like the feeling at 80 or 90 miles of a century ride....and I'm only half way? This must be because of the pack. The hills, I expected, but the pack was the great unknown; I had never done this kind of ride before, and other than carrying my lunch and clothes in my commutes to work, I had never carried a pack at all on a bicycle.
I started counting the miles backwards, like a countdown to the finish line. From thirty to twenty-nine; twenty-nine to twenty-eight, etc.; the distance left to go. This is kind of like watching for a pot to boil, and I knew it was not a good idea, but I couldn't help but keep track.
I've learned a little about Biblical Numerics over the years, and I couldn't help but notice that at 18 miles to go, I was on one of the longest, hardest climbs of the day. 18 is the number of bondage. I felt the bondage, and the burden of this pack I was carrying weighing heavier than it had felt all day. I set my mind to other things and that mile passed, but the mind starts to dwell on such things when the body is challenged to this degree. Mile 15 was great! It flew by; Grace (5) times the Holy Trinity (3!) Mile 6 was awful (Satan's number). Mile 5 was very easy (grace again!)....and finally, after having some serious conversations with God, I arrived.



I met some really nice people at the campground. Jeff and Julie gave me peanuts and loaned me a hammer to drive my stakes in with (I had a blue plastic tarp to span over the top of my hammock.) I got cleaned up sponge bath style in the bathroom (no showers on the Parkway, unfortunately!) but felt a little more human and was just glad to have this leg of the journey completed. I met a Russian couple who were riding a Russian motorcycle with a sidecar. They had come from Massachusetts, and were riding the length of the Parkway, and then on through the Great Smoky Mountain National Forest before heading back home. They would pass by me several times the next day on the road, as they stopped to enjoy the scenic overlooks. I built my fire; and had a few pieces of nice firewood show up mysteriously in my camp – obviously donated by one of my temporary neighbors. I heated my water and made my dehydrated chicken and rice. It was good! (Food always tastes better camping, and the additional factor of my calorie debt made it all the better!) It was supposed to serve three, and I only had a little trouble finishing it.



So, at dusk I struggled into my sleeping bag in my hammock (try that one with tired legs!) and settled in for the night. The breeze was strong across my face and I feared a big temperature drop overnight, but it never came. God watched over me, calmed the wind and gave me peaceful rest. I was surprised to see dawns light with so few tossings and turnings. I rolled out, stoked up the fire and was only missing a stool to sit on close to the warmth, but I just wrapped my sleeping bag around me and enjoyed the morning in this beautiful place. 
This morning was much warmer than yesterday, and by 9AM I was ready to roll. The hills that seemed so long and hard just a few hours ago seemed to glide by, and the first ten miles was traveled with very little difficulty. I stopped and shed my long sleeves as the day warmed up nicely. I planned to stop every ten miles for a breather and just to give my legs a chance to recuperate. Suddenly, I was soaring down a great hill and just smiling from the inside out when I realized I was at mile 18. My God had turned bondage into freedom! All I had to do was change direction. 



This early Sunday morning was so peaceful on the road. Very little traffic, and just a slight overcast that made the shadows of the trees feel like a tunnel. But it was not how this day would end. At about thirty miles, I again felt the heaviness of the load I was carrying, and the heaviness of my legs. Some of the climbs seemed steeper than they looked and I was often in my slow crawl of 5MPH and looking for the crest; hoping it was not too far off. With 15 miles to go, the traffic had picked up considerably and it was almost the mad rush of a regular highway, not my beloved, peaceful parkway. The cocoon of protection I always feel wrapped in while riding was being invaded. The motorcycles seemed louder, and would cause me to flinch and wobble when they passed, at my slow uphill speed. I began to proclaim the name of Jesus over every vehicle that passed; in BOTH directions. I'm sure many of them heard me with their windows down in the cool air. I began to notice my other nemesis along the side of the road; POISON IVY! Not a real common site along the parkway but here it was. So I had poison on one side and danger on the other, and God spoke to me from the Psalms of David: how over and over again David  was besieged on all sides by his enemies, but the Lord delivered him, every time. The peace began to come back - the traffic seemed less rushed and I knew He had calmed the storm. 
The burden I had been carrying all this way began to take on a new light: the pack contained all the things needed for my flesh to survive and exist, but it is NOT the only thing man needs to survive in this world! Without God's mighty presence and protection we would all be lost. He tells us in His Word that if we seek Him first, He will add all the other things we need onto us. If He provides for all the birds of the air, HOW MUCH MORE does He care for us? I could feel the burden become lighter as I remembered Jesus' words saying, "Come to me, you that are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." He is saying that we DO have a burden to carry. There WILL be a yoke upon us. We DO have to survive in this world. We DO need food, clothing, and shelter, but we need Him more, and we need Him first. And His burden is so much easier to bear than when we try to do things ourselves; when we try to do things the "easy" way. 

To feel God's presence in this way makes all the effort worthwhile, and that's why I do it. 

Tim Eagan
7/9/2014


I can be contacted at:
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Pictures from the ride are included in the pdf and odt versions.

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