Last week I managed to get some time to join a friend of mine in Barcelona for a couple of days cycling. We planned to do 2 x 4+ hour rides taking in some of the steep hills to put us through our paces.
It worked, although, not without some blood, sweat and, nearly, tears!
Day-1 we were on our final challenge, descending towards a village, with the plan of turning around at the bottom and cycling back up our last hill of the day.
Before I knew it, I was on the floor and had come off my bike. Having taken the corner too fast and the back wheel slipped away and we (me and my bike) slid across the road. Fortunately, I missed oncoming traffic and only sustained some superficial damage, so, once we sorted that out, we decided to cut the ride short and get back to the apartment.
As I got back on the bike I realised it had also sustained some damage and the rear cable had come off the bracket and could not be fixed. This meant that the only gear I had was the hardest one, which you’d normally use to come down a hill, not go up it!
We weighed up the options, should we get a taxi home, go into the local village to see if there was a train station or cycle back up the hill? We (Tony) decided we should go up the hill and, as I was still slightly shocked and bloody, Tony rode my bike.
I followed him as he stood up on the pedals and grit his teeth to get up the hill. I struggled to keep up – even using his bike and the lower gears. At about 80% of the way up, we changed, and I took my turn for the final push up, followed by the easy ride back into town. When we got back to the apartment, I cleaned and patched myself up and we went for something to eat and to prepare for the next day.
After a later start to day-2, a visit to the bike shop to get the repairs, we set off to do the same route as before. After 3 hours cycling I was feeling tired and we got to the top of a hill where we could decide to go down to Barcelona or go left to do the dreaded hill from the day before. I must admit, I didn’t have much left in my legs and fancied going right! We (Tony) decided the reason we were here was to really push ourselves, so we went down the hill, followed by the climb back up and final decent to the town centre.
We took the bikes back to the shop and walked to the nearest Costa for a coffee and cake.
The reason for sharing this story is: When you are feeling tired, you are in pain or you are suffering, surround yourself with strong people and use their strength to help you release more potential, go further or dig deeper than you would if they were not there to support and challenge you.
Thank you for your support Tony, I enjoyed the challenge, the cake and the beers I had…..
I constantly have to remind myself that the “growth happens outside of the comfort zone” so being uncomfortable is essential at times.