26.7 miles per hour – to be precise. And that’s on the flat without ducking down on ‘the drops’ and carrying a rucksack. I am of course referring to my most recent bike ride from Peterborough or to be precise, Gunthorpe Road to Queen’s Street. The route took me north via Newborough, then right on to the Thorney Road (facing winds of 25mph, gusting at 30mph – I checked), then turning right to be wind-assisted for the second half, up past the Dog and Doublet and into the town. What a contrast.
I am sure there are people who have gone faster. I once did a funeral for a man who managed to live a long life despite receiving a speeding ticket for travelling at 50mph on a bike through the Mersey Tunnel. I was so sceptical about this that I did check what was possible – and yes it is – but you rely on the hill rather than spinning legs to achieve those kinds of speeds. And of course, those who know my figure will know that I am more like a human cannonball than a dart – but this does have its advantages when it comes to preserving my momentum.
Seriously though, for me, 27 miles per hour – faster than I have ever gone even
when travelling downhill – is fast enough. Goodness knows how people cope at higher speeds, especially when you don’t know the road (and more to the point, where the pot-holes are). Experience tells me that falling off even at half that speed hurts. At a few days over 50 (Ahhh, I year you say), I don’t bounce. However, in that moment my thoughts are not on slowing down, but just concentrating.
There is something in this; so often we have the potential in life to go faster but we need to balance this with keeping ourselves safe. Sometimes our fears are ill-founded and we need to stay alert, keep pedalling, and keep our hands off the brakes. At other times we need to take the risk seriously and slow down. Somewhere in between the two is what Jesus declares to be ‘Life in all its fullness’. Hold back and you will miss out on life. Push it too hard and we will end up flying through the air, and not in an angelic way. But in my view, more often than not we are more conservative and risk adverse than we need be. Life is meant to be lived to the full. Whilst we can find fulfilment in an arm-chair, it is not meant to be lived there, at least not in the spiritual sense. Even if mobility prevents us from leaving our homes easily, we can still ‘get out’, exposing ourselves to new experiences; reading a different author, watching a different TV programme, phoning up someone we have not talked to in ages, setting up a Facebook account (or any other form of social media). There is a whole world out there. God wants you to live in it, experience it, to feel the reward of the wind pushing you from behind, having faced everything it can muster up as you face it beforehand.
I am minded of the quote that came to mind last Sunday morning, “Jesus did not come to make bad people good. He came to make dead people live”. For me there is more to life than just a pulse. So the next time you are tempted to tap the brakes just hold off for a second – one second – and ask whether there is more life to be had in this, or whether you really do want to slow down and miss out on a whole new experience. Sometimes our nervousness is unwarranted. Risk is everywhere. It’s how much risk we are prepared to tolerate that makes all the difference.