A Mouse Who Roars

2/28/26

She can barely walk her ankle is so swollen from Achilles tendinitis.

She has just joined us on the ride in Eastern New York following a wedding … not there at the start in Bar Harbor.

She readily admits that her training has not been great and the tendinitis is a direct result . I’m concerned that she may not get very far on the Northern Tier, but I start her on naproxen and ride with her for the next week. Through the Grace of her youthful 25 years and hellbent determination, the Achilles tendinitis resolves and she rides on without pain.

Three or four weeks later somewhere in the Midwest she and another rider pass the threshold of novice to become experienced riders and finally show themselves to be “Wildflowers” (see the stories of June 18 and 19th of 2018).

We finish the ride in Seattle with much mutual joy.

There’s an Aesop fable about a mouse and a lion .The lion catches a young mouse and is about to eat her when squeaks from below beg for mercy saying that someday she will return the favor. The lion laughs and says there is no way something so small could ever help but decides to lets the mouse go. Some years later, the lion is caught in a trap of ropes… vulnerable and old. The mouse now grown comes along , sees the struggling and offers to help by gnawing through the tightened ropes. The lion bounds away free and the favor is returned.

I have often thought of that lesson.

Now, eight years later, I am riding again with one of the Wildflowers. I have not seen her in all that time and barely communicated with her. The trek from Jacksonville to Key West is about 700 miles and she has decided to join the team. We hug and embrace and I meet her parents for the first time.

Today I ride 70 miles the longest I’ve ridden in nearly a year and a half. Injuries and work commitment have kept me from long rides and recently the winter has been very difficult with much snow …outside training has been impossible. I ask if I can ride with her since I know I will be slow and she readily agrees . More importantly, I know that she has computerized maps on her bike …she can lead the way and I will not have to worry about changing glasses all the time to read the map of the route.

When we reach the second rest stop at 55 miles I amble over to her and ask if I should “pull a White Rabbit ” and speed ahead.

With a slight smirk on her face, she says “ Well , do you have any idea where you’re going?” and I realize the answer is no.

A smile confirms her suspicion and she says “ I think it’s best that you stay behind me so I can get you there”.

As payback for the many times I “dumped her“ on the Northern Tier in 2018 (near the end of routes for her experience ) she dumps me about 8 miles from the edge of Saint Augustine’s leaving me to fend for myself .