PTSD Adventure 2012
The other day, I went on a simply awesome twenty-mile ride. I had started off on one of my usual routes when I decided to take a random, different road I had never been down before. The road I was riding down was breathtaking, full of tall trees and lush vegetation, nothing like the scenery I’d been looking at just a half mile down the road. All of a sudden I came to a fork in the road, and without even thinking, I took a left.
Now at this point my body had about a five-second argument with itself. One side was saying, “Parry, you have no clue where this road is going to take you or what you’re going to run into.” That’s when my crazy side kicked in and screamed, “Well, there’s only one way to find out!”
The next three or four miles I rode looked like something I would have read from a book. I saw several hawks and other birds flying above me. I was constantly seeing rabbits and squirrels, and the scenery was still awesome. Even the ditches were litter-free and full of sparkling water from the rain from the night before. At this point, I wasn’t tired yet, but I had to stop and take a small break just to soak everything up and appreciate what I was seeing.
After my break, I took off, and about thirty minutes later, the pavement turned into a dirt road, but I wasn’t ready to stop. Another mile down the road, I came across a field with the greenest grass I have ever laid eyes on. Once again, I stopped and just stared for a few minutes. It was at this point that I decided it was time to turn around and head home because I was getting a little tired and I noticed a bunch of dark clouds headed my way. So after putting in some headphones, and turning up the iPod, I started pedaling home.
And then it hit me. The wind that had been at my back the entire trip was now hitting me head-on. I was only halfway home before I was officially worn out. The small hills that didn’t bother me so much at first now felt like mountains, and the wind in my face really was not helping much. Finally, I reached the main road, past the woods I saw towards the beginning of the ride, and I noticed that the dark clouds I saw earlier were now right on top of me and ready to rain on me.
Instantly, it felt like the temperature dropped about 20 degrees and the wind picked up even more! The last mile of my ride home felt nearly impossible. It was windy, cold, and at this point I was beyond exhausted and I was getting rained on. Finally I saw it. HOME! I pulled up in my driveway, parked my bike, and just lay down in my garage. And I couldn’t help but think…”Man, that was definitely the best ride ever!”
Awareness Adventure 2012 – challenge accepted.
By Parry Skinner
