Yesterday I pulled myself onto the bike to head out for some laps in Cleveland Park.  The desire to do so was pretty neutral.  Still, some things you need to do.  However, my plans got changed when Matt Tebbetts’ name appeared on my phone.  I rode straight on through the park and meet him at the intersection of Buncombe and Shaw.

I’m glad he called.

We headed toward Green Valley by way of Furman – much like my Saturday ride started out.  As we were crossing Hwy 25 the rain began to fall.  It was one of those instances where you get hit by huge raindrops (enough to make it sting as you ride through them), but the sun is shining at the same time.

Matt commented, “We should see a rainbow at some point.”  We continued riding to get to Green Valley country club so we could find some shelter. With cellphones in our jersey pockets, we needed to find a dry spot.  As we headed there we kept our eyes open for the rainbow.

Just as we were passing by the club house, the rain eased up.  There in front of us was the rainbow we were looking for.  We were able to see both ends of it.  Through the clouds beneath the arch we could see the outline of Paris Mountain.

There was hardly any rain now as we started off again.  The conversation had turned from talking about that certain race in Europe and race tactics for the POA Cycling Summer Series to rainbows and wet cellphones.  Most of all, I felt refreshed from the rain and my spirits were lifted.

The rainbow was following us as we returned home – or we were following it as it always appeared just before us.  Several times it looked like you could ride right up to the end of it, but of course when you neared where the colors met the earth it would always move.  Guess we’ll never know if there is a pot of gold there!

We were treated to one more really neat scene as we neared our turn onto Old Buncombe.  Up ahead we would see the end of rainbow coming down onto Paris Mountain.  I have a picture, but it really doesn’t do it justice.

As we headed home we were pushed along by a tailwind. The rainbow stayed visible off to our left for some time, but by the time we reached home the sun was shining through a partly cloudy sky. It had been another incredible ride in the Upstate of South Carolina.

I was reminded of the Biblical story of the rainbow. The rains of the great flood had ended and Noah and his family came out of the ark. God showed Noah the rainbow and let him know it was a promise that He would never destroy the world again by water. More than that, it was a sign of God’s grace and mercy.

Things have been pretty tough on some levels for me recently. With the car break ins, wrecks, and deadlines it is easy for me to feel overwhelmed – like a flood is washing over me. However, I know that God’s grace is there to help me hold up against the waves. He will not send anything my way that I cannot bear.

My ride turned into a spiritual lesson for me. That rainbow was sent for me.

 

Tags: Matt Tebbetts, Paris Mountain, Rainbow

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 7th, 2009 at 5:57 am and is filed under Life, Rides. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.