LOVE FOR BIKING

I had a really bad experience about biking growing up. When I was 6, the day after I learned how to bike, I fell into a drain (together with the bike). Now, here is the thing. Drains in Indonesia are not clean at all. They contain polluted water. The smell is bad too. As a result of falling into a deep and dirty drain, I had my chin stitched and grew up with biking trauma.

A sample drain in Indonesia

Not until Summer 2008 that Marcel bought me a bike. It's a hybrid bike from Target. He encouraged me to face my fear and trauma by biking again. I was scared at first. Marcel, on the other hand, never gave up. He taught me how to make a left turn, hold the steer with one hand, signal with one hand, turn my head before switching lanes to observe the traffic, etc. They sound pretty basic right? But that's what it takes to get me out of my fear. And Marcel is really patient about it.

We didn't have much time to bike in 2008 before the weather started to cool down a lot. Thus, I didn't have much time to practice either. This year, we moved to a new apartment. There's a biking trail right by our new apartment. Every weekend, we would bike together. Slowly but surely, my fear and trauma have grown into the love for biking. As I gained my confidence in biking, we started to bike a longer distance such as Monterey-Carmel-Monterey (~32 miles) and SF-Tiburon-SF (~50 miles).

Most importantly, biking is not only a sweet experience for me right now, but also the only sport that both Marcel and I can enjoy together. Marcel's favorite sport is soccer. However, I have a bad left ankle due to several injuries when I was in high school. So I can't join him in playing soccer. My favorite sport, on the other hand, is swimming. However, Marcel has really bad reaction when dipping his face in the water. He'll have runny nose for weeks just by swimming for couple minutes. So biking has taken a special spot in my heart.

Marcel has been biking to work since May 2009. He's getting so much healthier. He is also in his strongest stamina ever. As I gain more and more confidence each day, I am now brave enough to bike to work by myself. I don't need someone to bike with me anymore. I know God is watching me closely as I pass the 2 railroad tracks and 2 major intersections each way every day. I am no longer in fear. It has been 2 weeks since I started biking to work. And I am loving it.

I am determined to continue to grow my love for biking so that I can enjoy it so much more with Marcel. Together we want to make this our family sport. And together we want to improve our physical health through this sport. Our hope is that as we gain more physical energy, God can use the two of us all the more greatly for His service.

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. -- 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. -- 1 Timothy 4:8

Then- I was nervous when Marcel took me for a biking trip in SF only 1.5 months after my first biking lesson with him (Summer 2008)


Now - before our regular biking trip to Shoreline Park (Summer 2009); I am a lot more relaxed


Now - Marcel before our regular biking trip to Shoreline Park (Summer 2009)

May this be a blessing to you!