Monthly Thought

April 2010 - You Can Do It

Last summer I, along with 5 other intrepid cyclists and our amazing support team, completed an epic bike ride from John O'Groats at the top of Scotland, to Land's End in the bottom south west corner of England. The final few miles as we approached Land's End were exhilarating for those of us that had completed the 900+ miles in under 10 days, and to be greeted by a crowd of friends and family as we neared the famous sign post was an amazing feeling.

The tales we had to tell them after the champagne had been opened, many photos taken and we'd generally been welcomed to the finish line, was of hurricane force winds in Scotland, pedalling downhill because the wind was so strong in the Lake District and encountering some heavy traffic and nervy moments in Cheshire.

At the end of our journey we were all pretty tired and some of us were carrying injuries; some of us had fallen off and got back on... okay, that might have just been me... (too many times for me to count during a particularly nasty few hours navigating traffic signals through Glasgow), others of us had knee problems, back problems and I even had numb fingers for a few weeks afterwards where I'd been gripping the handle bars.

There were moments when each one of us wanted to give up; but we kept on, encouraging, urging, riding together to reach the goal. It would have been near on impossible for any one of us to have made it on our own. But together we made it and raised over £4000.

Riding the length of Great Britain, or running a marathon might not be something that everybody can do, but meeting the needs of one person may just be one thing that everyone can do tomorrow. To encourage, support, show compassion, stand up for justice, and offer a hand of help or a word of inspiration.

The brother of Jesus, James writes to a persecuted church and urges them to show faith and love in action. Let us do likewise – together.

You can read more about our exploits last summer in our diary at http://www.jogle.philrawlings.com/jogle.