Today is Independence Day, and while today’s newsletter is not about our country, it is about persistence. Something the founding fathers of our nation definitely had. They also lived through a chaotic time, but one thing that helped them bring it all together was their gardens. Click here for a past newsletter I wrote about the book Founding Gardeners.

Today I’m thinking about being persistent at something that you like doing in order to improve/get better/increase your skill level. It’s been more than two years since I broke my shoulder riding my bike on the trails out at Alafia State Park. In retrospect, I realize that I wasn’t ready to hop on the trail that I did. I’d started on a blue (intermediate) trail, Rollercoaster, and that was no problem, and I remember feeling pretty full of myself. I’d done a little jump, felt steady on my bike, and thought, “Of course I can do Derailed, that name isn’t ominous or foreshadowing at all.” 

After my crash, it took a lot of persistence to get back on the bike. For the first few months after I was able to ride again, I found myself really tentative at the top of even a moderate downhill section. But over the last year, I’ve been able to get out and bike a little more, maybe once a week or so, and in being persistent, I’ve definitely noticed improvement. The steepness of the downhill is directly proportional to the nerves I feel at the top, but I really do think that is also a self-protective mechanism (if you are nodding your head, and thinking, “Why?” you aren’t alone. This is a reel Kim sent me recently…).

As my skill on the bike has increased, I still find certain elements that I can’t quite tackle. One in particular is on an intermediate trail named Spider Berm out at Balm-Boyette Scrub Preserve. It’s a great trail with ups, downs, a tight turn or two, enough to challenge a little, but not overdo it. Except there is an additional element that you can add in. I think for the first 5 times I rode Spider Berm I had no idea that this side trail existed. At some point, you come to a little intersection with a sign that points you to the easier way (left) and harder way (right). After my Derailed experience, I’ve opted for easier routes, but each time I rode, I sort of looked to see what made that path harder. It looked like it was just a little uphill, a little downhill, and then a sharp right turn to get back on the trail. Not really worth worrying about.

But then one day as I rode the easier side, I happened to look left and realized that what I’d taken for a short detour was actually an entire loop trail that took you down a steep drop and then continued on a short loop before rejoining Spider Berm. This little loop trail is called Chaos, and after discovering it, I was determined to ride it, but that first time past I just couldn’t. No way my brain was letting me hop off my known trail and head what felt like straight down. “No way,” my brain said. (If you watch any biking videos like we’ve linked in this newsletter, note that GoPro cameras give absolutely no sense of how steep inclines or descents are. They are always very different in person.)

So, every time I ride Spider Berm, I have a decision to make. Do I go for it? A couple of times I’d roll to the edge, but each time I bailed.

Then a few weeks ago, I felt like I was ready. I knew that I’d done descents equally as steep on other trails. It was just my brain holding me back. So I took the right turn, swung around left, and I just about didn’t go. At the last minute, I hit the brakes. But then something in me said, “Go for it,” and I flew down the descent.

Here it gets really chaotic. I was so excited that I’d actually overcome my fears (and sanity) and gone for it, that adrenaline was coursing through me. Problem is, the drop is only the start of the trail. It goes up steeply immediately after and then curves into a sharp turn built out off the side of the hill. It finishes with a downhill curve and then evens out as it meets back up with Spider Berm. As I started the uphill, my whole body felt chaotic. Somehow the adrenaline just had me all mixed up. I couldn’t get my feet on my pedals properly; I couldn’t get my handlebars balanced. I made it up and back down, but I was all over the place. Anyone seeing me ride after I dropped in would have thought it was my first time on a bike. I felt like a combination of Elaine dancing and Phoebe running all while trying not to pitch off the edge of the hill.

But in the end, my persistence led to not just a chaotic ride but the successful completion of Chaos. Next time I’ll know a little better what to expect, so I’ll be ready to tackle the trail with a little more finesse. I’m just glad that I kept at it. There is a quote I like that sums it up: “A river cuts through rock not because of its power, but because of its persistence.” You may never hurl yourself headlong down a hill on your bike, but I’m sure you have something in your garden, in your relationships, in your life that you want to be better at. Show up. Be persistent. Like the river, you’ll get there eventually, hopefully with less chaos.