Racing is life

Today I give you my race report.  As you may know I raced the SanFelipe 250 – a 285 mile race in Baja.  The terrain there is especially difficult.  Besides 25,000 whoope (big bumps) there were several tight canyon washes with very intimidating boulder gardens and rock falls to ride through somehow.

Racing is like life.  Especially long-distance racing.

There is preparation.  I worked out a lot – even when I didn’t want to.  Once I started though, I got into it each time.  

There is teamwork – I have a great team to build (rebuild) the bike and to chase me throughout the race.

There is inspiration and motivation – you have to make decisions to get involved and take action.

Perseverance – you have to keep going even when the feeling you had to do a thing has long since left you.

There is acting in the face of fear – giant rocks to ride over – got to gas it and beat them.

There is competition – it brings out the best in you to try to beat them.

There are setbacks – the second day of prerunning things were going good and I made a mistake when dropping off a 4-foot step.  I landed on an off-camber spot with loose rocks and my front wheel washed out.  I crashed and hit the back of my right hand on a rock.  It broke an artery in my hand below the skin and within a minute there was a big ball of blood under my skin.  I was 35 miles from the truck.  I got lightheaded.  I didn’t know how much blood would accumulate under my skin or how dangerous it was.  I had to ride out.  

There is danger – when 1000 horsepower trophy trucks pass you at 3x your speed, it’s scary.  You have to get off the course fast.  The first few usually have helicopters that buzz you at very low altitudes to tell you the fury that is coming within seconds.

I started at 6:30 am, determined to run my own race and keep my heart rate in the optimal zone – not too high.

My hands ached for the first 80 miles, especially the injured one.  After that they settled in.  I was in second place out of three teams.  The leader had four fast guys.  When you have a team you can sprint and give it your all for 70 miles and give the bike to the next guy.  I was solo racing against two teams.

Things went pretty well for the next 130 miles.  I knew the rocks in Hatamote Wash were coming at mile 210.  Oh boy…  When I got there I did not delay.  I hit a steep rocky hillclimb that terminated into boulders at the top.  Drop back down into 100 feet of deep sand, then pick a line through boulders the size of microwave ovens.  I drop the bike once.  Gas is leaking out.  Pick it up quick – don’t want to run out of gas.  Make it through those boulders.  100 more feet of deep loose sand.  Then giant ledges on the left and giant boulders on the right.  I choose the ledges.  Good choice.  Navigate over and back down to the sand and rock gardens – made it!

Fifteen miles from the finish I see one of my chase trucks.  They had to drive in 30 minutes over deep sand whoops to get there to see me.  I stop for 2 seconds and say “I’m good!” and I go on.  One minute later I hear a bike coming alongside me.  I look – it’s 513x – my competition!  Ut oh!

At first, I wonder if I have enough left to put up a fight – and what he’s got for me.  I have to try.  We were in sand whoops that flowed fairly well.  I kick it up two notches and pass him.  I couldn’t look back – I needed all my concentration on the terrain.  I pretended he was right on my butt.  I rode faster and better than in the whole race.  I had trained well and had something for him at the end.  I had the skills to handle the bike at speed in deep whoops and drop offs.  

Two miles to go.  A vast silt fields opens before me.  I skirt the edges – still deep, downshifting and getting all the horsepower I could.  The deep silt turned to deep silt whoops.  One mile to go.  Sand dunes now.  The locals built a jump for show.  I hit it to celebrate.  Pavement.  Two blocks.  Police making sure no traffic is on the racecourse.  Fans line the course.  Last turn onto the Malecon – the beachfront boulevard where it starts and ends.  No 513x.  I did it.  I beat a team by myself.  

I roll across the finish line with my hands in the air.  Relief.  Joy.  Proud of what I had done.  Happy for what it did to me.

My wife and friends are there. 

Big deep smiles all around.  

Life.

Active Pursuit

You can learn a lot, and many people do.

You can wish and hope a lot, and many people do.

You can get ready all you want.

But there is no substitute for action.  

Action is the faster way to learn.  When you mix it with healthy doses of reading and listening to the few who have really done it before, you will make forward progress.

The world cannot resist someone with clear goals, courage, and persistence who is in ACTIVE PURSUIT.

Uncommon Sense

There is stupidity.  This is common.

Then there is common sense.  This is what the average people have.

Then there is uncommon sense.  This is what you’ll need to go beyond average.

Learn a lot about what you want. Take action and learn from it.  Think and study a lot.  Talk to masters who embody qualities of what you want.

Then depart from the common thinking, and go for it.

Be uncommonly great!

Limits are not outside of you…

Your limitations are not on the outside of you, they are on the inside of you.

They are yours to throw out.

So what is that limitation that has been holding you back?

What do you say – keep it or work hard enough and do what it takes to blow through it like it doesn’t exist?

OLD you/NEW you. Choose just ONE.

Beliefs, habits, actions.

You can’t be the old you and the new you at the same time.

You have to let go of one of them.

Which one will it be?

If you want it bad enough….

If you want it bad enough and put in the work then you can do a LOT – far more than you think, and certainly far more than most people expect.  But it’s not about anyone else.  It’s about you.

What’s inside you?  What ambition?  What drive?  What courage?  How strong is it?

If your desire is as big as the challenge, you can do it.

Doubt is the enemy

Doubt – Not allowed.

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.

Flawed conclusions

Years ago you accepted flawed conclusions about yourself as correct.

You began to live as if these warped ideas were true.

You were wrong about you.

Rethink your thinking.

Rethink you.

Dream Dramatic Emotional Dreams

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Give yourself a chance

It’s not about taking a big chance, it’s about giving yourself one.

If you don’t give yourself a chance, you’ll never know what you can really do!