Today was one of those days where I really should’ve listened to my gut instinct. There was no real flow to the morning, I hadn’t slept much the night before, but I pushed ahead being the ever optimist. I try to kick start Beep Beep a few times and nothing really happened, so I bump started him and off we went.
As I was riding along, nothing felt right. The back brake was squeaking, the gear changes were clunky and I didn’t feel at one with the bike. I was about 1 1/2 miles from my destination when the bike didn’t want to change gear. It started to slow down and I thought the electrical system was going. I pulled into the entrance of Brockencote Hall in Chaddesley Corbbett (near Kidderminster) to have a look over him (at least I picked a lovely place to break down!) To my dismay, I realised that I had run out of petrol and there was nothing in the reserve tank either. I had checked my petrol levels before leaving and I thought there was enough, clearly not! I remember seeing a petrol station but couldn’t remember how far away it was. I flagged down a man on his pushbike, who was luckily knowledgeable about the area, having previously been the local postman. He told me the nearest one was about half a mile away. He kindly dismounted his bike and walked with me.
I arrived at the petrol station feeling very hot as I was not suitably dressed for walking in warm weather. To my initial dismay, the petrol station did not have any fuel cans. The lady behind the counter was most unhelpful and disinterested in my plight. I was considering buying a water bottle and filling that up with petrol, but the fuel nozzle was too wide. Luckily, one of the more helpful shop assistants found a fuel can in the depths of storeroom. Long story short, I walked back in the heat with my heels bleeding from inappropriate footwear (great for the bike but not so great for walking) with what became a heavy 5l can full of fuel; Thirsty Beeps and I were eventually back on the road in no time.
I spent a couple of hours at Harvington Hall. Whilst resting in the grounds of this manor house, I reflected on what lessons I had learnt today:
- You will get there in the end (even if it took longer than you first thought)
- There will always be people along your way who will guide you, but they are not responsible for your journey. The journey is one that you have to make alone
- It’s all part of the adventure
- What happens in your outer world is a manifestation of your inner world. I too was running on empty
Tune in next time for more spiritual tales from the tank.
With love and blessings from Sarah and Beep Beep X
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