I'm doing the #RideFestive5 challenge...
"while it would be great if everyone had time to take part in the Rapha Festive 500, Cycling UK wants to offer a more manageable challenge that doesn’t mean neglecting friends and family and dedicating all your time to a sporting feat"
I did the #RaphaFestive500 last year, this year I'm trying something warmer and drier: the #RideFestive5 ... 5 minutes of cycling for the next 5 days.
Heading out for the first of my #RideFestive5 , packing a Carradice rain cape in case the heavens open!
A bridge under a bridge. Between Kitchen Fold and Kiln Hill underneath Manchester Road, the route goes over the stream and under the road! #Slaithwaite
2.5km done... reached the Titanic Spa in Linthwaite. Mostly downhill from home. Difficult to call cycling a "sport" when you're sat down and freewheeling.
Turning back to Slaithwaite on the newly surfaced Huddersfield Narrow Canal towpath. Remember cyclists: slow down near people walking! @CityConnect1
Starting to rain, time to unpack my secret weapon: the Carradice Rain Cape!
Arriving back into Slaithwaite and I've done well over 5 minutes, but only 4km... having so much fun I want to top it up to 5km. Yes, it's raining, but my cape is awesome: bike and I both dry.
Reached the end of the all weather surface, from here to Marsden is a mud-fest at this time of year. One for mudlarking clothes rather than jeans and t-shirt.
5.25km in 22 minutes.
Sunshine and rain.
Urban and rural.
Road and active travel path.
Notable wildlife? 1 Heron.
195 alleged calories... but I'm sure half of them don't count due to me freewheeling downhill. #RideFestive5
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I overheard a question that poked fun at the Christian doctrine of the Holy Trinity, and I thought to myself, 'how would I explain the Holy Trinity?' I wondered if it matters whether I can explain it out not.
A close friend said, 'to me it doesn't matter, it's an academic argument', I think my friend means that it has no practical purpose, and that it is a distraction which spirals in smaller circles of semantics.
I responded that it's okay for an individual to simply say 'I'm a follower of Jesus', but for organised religion there's a desire to have a commonality of belief. I suggested that community is important and that people rightly want to know what communities believe.
Day 2 of #RideFestive5 from Cycling UK... a break in the rain sees an opportunity to ride perhaps 5 miles instead of 5km... here we go!
A glimpse of the world famous pair of Darkwoods Coffee Roastery and Zapato Brewery through the leafless trees beside a bend in the river. @zapatobrewing@DarkWoodsCoffee
A model of Marsden in the middle of Marsden, beside the Riverhead Brewpub and River Colne. 4km hilly route to get here... Onwards and upwards!
Morning Prayer. May the communities of Marsden and Slaithwaite shine like stars in the Kingdom of Heaven. May our mortal lives be transformed by the grace of God. May our businesses thrive, our schools be places of flourishing, and those who care for others be strengthened...
May our homes be places of peace and safety. May relationships be loving and those who are vulnerable be cherished. May those who practice deceit and violence turn again and live... May those who harm others turn away from sin... and by their repentance magnify the good news...
May those who travel to and though our villages be blessed by our communities and by the beauty of your good creation God. May the hills and moors speak of your creative and redeeming love. May this valley be washed with rivers of righteousness and may justice appear like dew...
As the deer longs for the water brooks,
so longs my soul for you, O God.
My soul is athirst for God, even for the living God;
when shall I come before the presence of God?
My tears have been my bread day and night,
while all day long they say to me, ‘Where is now your God?’
...
Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul,
and why are you so disquieted within me?
O put your trust in God;
for I will yet give him thanks,
who is the help of my countenance, and my God...
Praying for the people of Slaithwaite, Marsden and the surrounding communities - for the liberation that comes from the knowledge and love of God to flow down from the hills like rivers of righteousness.
#PrayerInPublicSpaces can feel hard on days like today, surrounded by traffic noise, isolated by tarmac from the earth, observing the bubbles of humanity distracted by the cares of the world. Today is what it feels like to be 'in the world' not 'of the world'
O Lord, open our lips
and our mouth shall proclaim your praise