Last weekend, I ventured out a similar and painful path on my bicycle towards Mersing. For months I have somewhat dreaded the Tour de Timor Race, a 450 km mountain bike race that my Gone Cyclin’ project is using the channel to fundraising through.
My drive to be challenged often gets me thinking, maybe the conventional path is not so bad after all?
On our last practice trip to Mersing, my body was pushed multiple times throughout the journey and I often felt like a helpless road kill victim, collapsing on the side of the road because I didn’t have the strength to go on. It was the ultimate challenge.
I pushed myself so hard that when I got back I got so sick. My body was telling me that even if my mind told me I could do this, my body was limited by its physical state.
To my amiably surprise this weekend, I was able to do the same path with a fractionally minimal level of discomfort. As we cycled 150 km, I discovered I was able to go faster and was not extremely exhausted by the end of it.
There were parts, which were challenging, but overall as I looked at the road kills victims along the road, I thought that Ted was right, and transformation from a level of fear towards the confidence of being able to control.
Every challenge starts off difficult but through passion, drive and commitment ultimately ends by becoming easier.
