Make the most of it

I’m a big talker. Here I sit roughly 30 hours before the start of the Death Ride. Endurance events require a slow build of training and it takes a lot of time… time that got shifted to other life priorities over the last 3 months. Here’s a recent conversation with my friend Paul…

Paul: “David, are you ready for the 129 miles and 5 mountain passes?”

Me: “No.”

Paul: “Are you still going to do it?”

Me: “Yes.”

Paul: “That makes no sense.”

Actually, it makes perfect sense. Even if I do not finish, I will fail in a blaze of glorious effort. In other words, I will make the most of the experience.

Several cycling buddies recently reached out with public and private messages of support when I posted my doubts in Facebook. These people are the same ones I cheered on, coached and supported before and now it is coming back to me. They believe in me, so why shouldn’t I believe in me?

One thing I have learned from past events… if you plan to quit early, your mind will make sure your body follows through on that promise.

So I am planning to do all 5 passes this Saturday. I will handle the cold, the heat, the smell from the forest fire, the 15000 feet of climbing and lack of oxygen. I will settle in and slog it out. My mother taught me never to talk to strangers, but I will be doing that as well. The only thing that can stop me is an injury or mechanical failure.

Here we go, Mr. Goad. Let’s make the most of it.