Diabetes Insight Blog #11: The lessons of Endurance

Hello again and wishing a very happy 2019 to all those who read this! 2018 seemed to fly by, alas here we are another year older and wiser. I had many things to be grateful for in 2018, also a few challenges that I wish were never thrown my way. I was grateful however for an experience that I finished my 2018 that taught me the importance of patience whilst on a journey to wherever we may be heading.

The 22nd of December marked the summer solstice in Tasmania, Australia and subsequently the longest day of the year. A friend of mine named Steve whom also is a former professional cyclist floated an idea for this day that upon first hearing sounded fairly silly. The proposal was to cycle our bikes 500km from the town Stanley at the top of Tasmania to Hobart at the bottom in 1 day. I thought about this for about 2seconds before my cycling head jumped at the opportunity and I committed to joining Steve and 4 others on this magnificent adventure. We would attempt to finish most of the ride in the 14hours of daylight offered on this day, meaning we would have to push a pace of over 30km/h for most of the day which is very ambitious giving we had 6500m of elevation to climb over also. 

We set off just before the first glimpses of sunlight at 3.30am from the northern fishing village of Stanley. Spirits and motivation were high in these initial hours of the ride, as the sun rose winds were very light and we were making good progress. As with many journey’s the motivation is at it’s peak in the initial phases. Capitalising on the strong motivation and good conditions we covered good ground in the first 3 hours covering over 110km. However at the first big mountain climb of the day we lost our first 2 victims to the challenges of the ride who hopped in the support vehicle we had organised due to sickness and fatigue. Leaving just 4 of us to share the work for the remaining 390km. As the mountains became steeper and longer at the 150km mark, my legs started succumbing to the difficulty of this ride. Turning the pedals was becoming more and more of a struggle as each kilometre ticked over. But perhaps the most difficult thing at this part of the ride was knowing that there was still 300+km remaining. My longest ride up until this day was just over 310km which I remember as being extremely difficult and writing me off physically for weeks. The mental knowledge of what lay ahead seemed monumental and insurmountable.

As the remaining 4 of us became more and more fatigued throughout the day normally insignificant issues seemed far bigger and dramatic than they needed to be. I remember becoming so frustrated with the constant  humming of the diesel van following us that I cracked it and yelled at the driver to pass on the seemingly wide enough section of road. The fatigue in my legs and in my head was making mountains out of molehills so to speak.

I remember in the days leading up to the ride I remarked to the ride leader Steve that having miles in legs was likely very important for a ride like this. His response stuck with me through the day.. He said “more importantly- miles in the HEAD”. Experience brings perspective in cycling and in life in general, being able to interpret all the mountains, wind, darkness and fatigue that lay ahead as something that was manageable was only possible with an experienced, trustworthy, steady and balanced leader like Steve.