The Words "Giving Up"? Not In My Dictionary .

The greenery. The wind brushing through my face. The birds chirping. The gradient of the road. The hot Sun, heating the **** out of my already-dark skin. The fast pace. The speed of the leaders. The steep gradient of the road. The pain on my legs, getting to me slowly and slowly. Me as the youngest of the group, trying to prove myself worthy to ride along the gangs of Pinarello Dogma 2, S-Works Tarmac Sl4 and BMC Race-Machine 01. Three hours on the saddle. Half my brain wondering why the heck am I even here, telling me to stop, to not kill my legs. The other half; on the peloton. Precision. Decision. Speed. Speed ...


     The most torturous ride of my life was ended today with my milage reading 77.5 kilometres, back at our starting point at Jami Bike Centre. The pace of the leaders were fast, at an average of 35+ km/h, and I must admit I couldn't keep up with the peloton. The hills were tough. The wind was completely against. The heating Sun only means further torture. My water ran out at the part when I needed it most. 

In other words, I'm surprised that I'm still alive .

I'm kind of surprised at the power of the mind to push the rest of the body through the whole challenge, I mean, some three-fifths of the whole 77 kilometres were hilly, and if I were to look at the road that I was about to cycle through, I would be going all "****, I can't do this". But I didn't know what to expect, and in the beginning I just TOLD myself not to stop, to not stop pedaling, to just keep the bike moving above 25km/h to maintain my average speed.

     The turning to Klang Highway was quite obvious before we hit that one hell of a hill, and I was wondering "WHAT THE **** IS THE PELOTON DOING?!" because the turning was right over there when my milage was 15, but, as this mother*beep*er right here have all the luck in the world, we continued towards a long hill climb, up to the top at a native village. 


I kept telling myself, "My mind move my feet. My feet moves the big crank which moves the smaller chainring, which moves the wheel hub, and then the back wheel. The movement of the back wheel would move the front wheel, which moves the bike". OK, that might've been a little too complicated, I'll put it simpler this way -  Set your mind to finish the sh*t, and your legs will finish the sh*t for you, no matter the gradient, no matter the speed, no matter the pace.


     Point is, you're not going to die when you push yourself far beyond your limits, so why be afraid to do so? Like Eminem had said, "You can do anything you set your mind to." And this thing has just been proven right; I mean, I didn't think I could even go forty without pushing. I didn't know what to expect so I didn't know where are the climbs in which I need to conserve my energy on, I just drafted through my dad's back wheel and pedaled the **** out of my Shimano Sora STI 2011 crankset. Torturous though it may seem, I made it - youngest of the group, although I reached third last, I made it just fine; without any falls, without pushing my bicycle. It was tempting to stop and just push the sh*t though, but what is the use? A bicycle is meant to be pedaled. So I'm not gonna waste the RM3,500 my dad had spend on this sh*t and just push the pedals like a mother*beep*er.

And that's what I did, and whether you want to believe it or not, 

I MADE IT ;D

So let this be a reminder to all, anything is possible if the will to achieve it is there, the mind set is the primary need, the effort right after. Leave aside all the torture. Try to not even feel it. Think of the ones you love. Think of a place you love, anything to get your mind off the torture; but nonetheless, focus on your mindset. 

If this lousy tall ***hole that loves turtles can pedal his sh*tty legs through seventy-seven kilometres of hilly roads, I'm sure you can too ;)

Trust me, it's all in the mind.

faris