By lunchtime yesterday I was feeling as if I hadn't slept for a week and was as weak as Alfie the kitten on the day we found him. Despite eating a boat load of couscous and tuna, followed by a "healthy" man-size bowl of cereal for lunch, I was in the same state again after a really short 6km ride home last night. Maybe yesterday's "sedate" pace was too much for me after all? I decided to eat my way out of trouble and managed to demolish enough chilli and rice to feed a small army before heading to bed feeling more full than on any Christmas Day afternoon in living memory :)
Rode solo again today as Dan's away, but I was feeling pleased with myself - I had a cunning plan following a chat we had yesterday, to make life a little more interesting. "Is it as cunning as a fox who's just been appointed Professor of Cunning at Oxford University?" I could almost hear Baldrick ask. Most definitely. Through the amazing beauty and utter genius of technology I took yesterdays route and rode it again with the benefit of a Virtual Me to ride against, in the form of an avatar on my GPS.
Interesting really that the LifeCycle Challenge itself is about 40 riders preparing themselves for a personal challenge to reach the finish line. Nothing more. This isn't like the Tour de France - it's not a race. There is no winner and no first prize for the first home on each day or at the end.
To quote Baz Luhrmann:
"sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind… the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself."
That may be true, but I don't think I'm alone in seeing competition in everything I do? Put any group of people together to do anything and I guarantee that the red mist will descend and a competition will break out.
For the front riders in our challenge, they'll be creating their own "competitions" to keep them going I'm sure, and I do the same. I know I have no chance of keeping up with many of the riders in our event - they are all fitter, (mostly) younger and more experienced cyclists than me. Even though I know that, there is an unexplainable increase in adrenalin (and pace) on a Sunday combined with a totally unreaslistic desire to catch all of the yellow jerseys that are ahead of me. If not catch them, then at least close the gap and get there (wherever "there" happens to be) quicker than I would otherwise.
I'm sorry, but even if the competition is ultimately only with myself I can't help but look to create an element of competition with the others, just to help me in my own personal duel.
Hang on, what's this??!! Is this yet another unspoken doubt being cast over my ability to ride at pace? Yesterday we covered the distance in 3 hours and 10 minutes, yet Virtual Me is "challenging" me to cover it today in 3 hours and 15 minutes? I can't believe even my own GPS has turned against me!!
I felt far stronger today thanks to Claire's magic chilli and I took a lead on Virtual Me within the first km. Difficult to know whether I'm on track to win since he's chosen to ride at the same speed all the way round - I'll gain on the flats and he'll gain on the hills. Even more difficult to know if I'm ahead of Yesterday Me but it did feel like my pace was good.
The road at St Georges Bay and the Westin was covered in water and as slippery as a truck load of jelly monkeys. My back tyre went twice but my luck held and I stayed upright, and smiling. Yesterday Me didn't have to cope with that!
The race progressed and I was pulling away nicely from Virtual Me. By the time I reached the top of Freeport hill I had crushed him like a grape and knew it was down to a two man race against Yesterday Me. 2 hours to this point and no re-collection of how long it was yesterday. No chance of telling from the remaining distance - with Siggiewi hill still to come I was worried it could still go either way, and pushed on again.
Coming off the Zebbug bypass and rounding the Rabat roundabout I had 25 minutes to reach the office in first place. Surely the race was mine? One more obstacle - flying down the Attard road you never know whether the road will be at a stand still in the village. Yesterday Me had a clear road so odds on I'll get stuck and hand him the victory.
No! The road was clear and I'm through Attard and up the hill with no delays. I knew victory was mine, but didn't let up. I'd beaten them both and the only target left was to break the 3 hour mark. Despite a final hitch approaching the office with a dawdling donut who couldn't park a mini in four empty spaces, I was down the ramps and at the door with 13 seconds to spare!
I'd left Virtual Me still labouring somewhere near the Rabat roundabout and Yesterday Me coming out of Attard - the race may only have been against myself and there may not be any prizes at stake, but it feels bl**dy good anyway :)
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