A Testimony of Cycling 50 Miles in 5 hours

In October 2022, I completed a small milestone of cycling 50 miles in 5 hours. It took 4-6 weeks to prepare for the day. To keep up with the commitments, I had to go to extremes to fit the practice runs into the schedule. It was very rewarding because I discovered that I could cycle down the hill at 4.30 am; I realized I could work with my fears when I am on my own; I mean, on the pitch night with no street lights, you don’t know what to expect, right? I am familiar with the turns, and I knew I could easily pass the coyotes if they were crossing the road. But when you are scared, you think of all the possible animals your neighbors spotted, even if years ago. Something inside you, though, helps you keep going in the darkest of nights. It was beautiful to experience it. I also fell off the bike twice because I couldn’t break on time, and nobody was around to help or pick me up, but it was a good thing. I was surprised to see my sprint; I could lift the bike, put it on the side and get up and start cycling again (no fuss?? no crying??) I was so happy to see this part of me.

You must be wondering why I am sharing all this with you. Wait, the real deal starts here. With that fifty miles cycling milestone, my coach got excited about 100 miles goal. Till this point, we were just trying to gauge my strength. But now, he was after me. Many times during the practice, I cursed myself for taking up this goal. David is four times world cycling champion and also a stuntman in Hollywood. His first-ever client was Kevin Costner. David trained him for the movie American Flyers. The thing about tough guys is that they don’t let you give up. I have tried hard to give up, but David is from a different planet. Rain or sunshine, he will be there, and he will make sure you are on the bike. He will also take 15-20 minutes to adjust my helmet because it’s not fitted “correctly” my dad used to do that when I was in elementary school. I just look at him with wonder when he fixes a flat tire in five minutes ( wait, how did you do it?) He just laughs. He is so alert; once, while biking, he was ahead of me. He shouted, “There is a fire truck behind you; watch it!” I asked him,” How did you know?” He said, “Because I have another pair of eyes on the backside of my helmet.” LOL

I resisted a lot on locking the shoes on the pedal. He told me the efficiency would be multifold, my speed would go up, and my knees would be protected once I start locking my shoes on the pedal, but all the logic went out of the window, even if I wanted to follow him. He didn’t give up. Finally, I learned how to lock and unlock my shoes from the pedal during cycling. One week into the training, I had fallen thrice and sprinted again to get back on the bike.

This was my first ride with locked shoes on the pedal when he took me into the local routes to get comfortable with road traffic. On our way back, we stopped at the traffic light right in front; behind us were cars and vans. It was getting dark, and I was worried to be on the bike in peak traffic. There was so much going on at that point I forgot that my shoes were locked on the pedal, and before I could land my feet, I fell off when the light turned green. You can imagine! I freaked out but managed to get back on the bike; the cars behind me started honking. David couldn’t help because he was on his bike. I followed him, and in another five mins, I fell off again. This time my wheel got arrested in gear. It was a bad fall; David freaked out; he came and helped and realized the technical defect that caused the accident. He cheered me up, and I was riding again. My heart was pounding with what I experienced in this one ride. David said, “Tomorrow morning, tell me about your injuries; you will not feel them much now. And you will come on Sunday for the next practice; this experience should not hold you back.” I said, “Ok.”

The next morning was very busy because my daughter had a performance, and I was running the wheel to get things done. I had swelling around my chest, my elbows, and my wrists, and bruises on my knees. But I didn’t get any time to whine and cry and get some pampering. I told David, though, how much it’s hurting and so many bruises and swellings. I was totally expecting him to say, “Please take a rest; once you recover, we can start again.” But he said,” See you tomorrow.” I was like, what the heck?? But I complied. The next morning when I showed up, he gave me a grand welcome! He said,” You just crossed a big mental hurdle. You are acing the uncertainties and the pain and fear that comes along with it. If you didn’t come today, I would not be sure if you could get on the bike again. Because your mind tricks you, it says you got hurt; you are putting yourself in danger when you don’t need to. And anyway, you need to recover, so take time off. And then, you would go through a mental journey of at least two-three (if you are lucky) months to get on the bike again. But you came through. This is mental toughness! “

This was a big realization for me. This is exactly what I was doing to myself. I have not been consistent, and I gave up easily now when I reflect on my efforts in the past. I couldn’t gain momentum to see results. And it ends up with a feeling of hopelessness. I blame my hypothyroidism for my sluggishness, my body being weak, etc. For example, I do Suryanamaskars, and in the beginning, I used to get swelling in my arms after I crossed twenty rounds. I would start to pamper myself and give a royal break to “recover.” Recovery is very important, but how do you know how much recovery you need? David’s words have lifted a big mental block for me. It’s new learning, and I have a lot more to learn, but one thing I see is that when we commit to a goal, we have to give it the right environment and consistency to gain momentum. Where to take a break, where to stop, and how realistic it is, is a personal decision. The important skill is to break the inertia and be consistent. It’s not something I didn’t know before, but I understand it better now, thanks to David.

Let me congratulate everyone who has made a commitment to self-improvement in 2023. Taking that first step is difficult; at the core, you’re removing mental blocks that stop you from being your best. I find it courageous because many of these goals aren’t going to stop your life (if not achieved), and there’s nobody you are answerable to: you are only answerable to yourself. Yes, learning to love yourself is an invaluable gift you give yourself, but learning about yourself is magnificent! You don’t have to learn to fall in love with yourself; it just happens. This is my first experience sharing with you all for #bettermewithosdotme. I hope to see new learnings from your experiences in the coming months. Just for fun, sharing a screenshot of my first milestone from Strava below. It took me 5.15 hours to complete 50.9 miles (84 km). Thank you, Anindita for proofreading my post.