3 years ago

ARE YOU SLOW?
As we age, we tend to slow down or think that we are slow. But do you feel that you’re slow? Is time passing more quickly, or are you slowing down some? And, are you “got passed by a guy pushing a wheelbarrow” slow? I found out I was.

APRIL 16, 2015
April 16, 2015, started off like any other day for me. Well, not really, but it was another in a long series of great days.
The ship that we were sailing on pulled into the Port of Roatan on the Island of Roatan just off the coast of Honduras. I was excited because I was planning on riding my bicycle around the island. I had learned that I could take my bicycle when cruising and had done it for some time. And, the day was sunny, and winds were light.

CYCLEMETER
I have an app for my Iphone named Cyclemeter that I use to track all of the details for my bicycle rides, and it serves as evidence for the tale that I’m about to tell you. The link http://cyclemeter.com/6a08acd34d9daf7a/Cycle-20150416-0822-29817 will provide you with all the details for my ride that day. It records things like my heart rate, distance, time I’ve ridden, the speed of travel, etc. Think of the app as a “black box” that records all of the details for an airplane flight, only this works on my phone on my bicycle.

GREAT BEGINNINGS
When riding a bicycle, it’s always important to start the ride with a nice slow pace to warm up, and this island provides the perfect opportunity for that type of riding. After clearing the ride with the Honduran authorities and ignoring the “He’s gonna ride that thing in these hills!” stares, I set out on my bicycle, riding to the left out of the port and heading down to the town of Flowers Bay.

THE GOING GETS TOUGH
After passing through the town of Flowers Bay, you have to turn right and head over the hill if you want to go to West End, as I did. And, at the two and a half-mile mark of the ride, the going started to get tough. But, that’s when the tough get going. And, I’m rough and tough and hard to bluff. But I am slow.
It’s not necessarily that you have to climb a long way as the climb only measures about two hundred feet, but it’s the steepness and grade of the ride. And, I was pushing my 350-“poundish” body on a bicycle up that steep grade. And that’s when it happened.

WHEELBARROW DUDE
At around the three-mile mark, a dude pushing a wheelbarrow with some bricks, two buckets, and some concrete mix passed me going uphill while I was pedaling like a madman (story embellished a little to protect my fragile ego).
I’m fortunate that the camera on the bicycle recorded my moment of doom for posterity so that you can all chuckle a little. The dude was friendly and muttered “rapido, rapido, rapido,” which translates into something like “move over, and let the faster people pass” or something like that. After feeling a moment of embarrassment, I eventually caught up with him when he went to turn off the road, and we chatted in Spanish for a moment or two after I could breathe and talk again. He was a really nice chap, and while our paths have not crossed again, we remain friends to this day.

THE HUMILIATION
At that point, I had to decide if I should turn around and go back to the ship or continue to see what was on the other side of the hill. As a big dude, decisions like this come about on a frequent basis. But I decided to press on, and I’m so glad I did.

HEAD WEST, YOUNG MAN
I was rewarded with a bay that was as smooth as glass in the little cove town of West End, which is not on the east end of the island. I meandered around the town on my trusty iron steed and took many photos of the town, the people, and the bay.

THE LONG WAY BACK
While I could have taken the short path back to the ship in the back of a taxi, I decided that I should take the long way back to the ship. And, I was rewarded with many more beautiful photos of the island. I passed by Gibson Bight, Antoney’s Cay, and Sandy Ba, and turned back up the hill after I passed the town of Sundancer.

NEVER TURN BACK
I guess the point of my story is don’t stop, turn around, or quit even if you are a little slower. Never turn back unless you absolutely have to. I would have missed out on so many great scenes that I’ll cherish forever had I turned around and ridden back down that hill.

ME
If I can help you in any way, please let me know. My “rememberer” is starting to lose the battle to my “forgetterer,” but I’ll try to help if I can.
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