The World Health Organization (WHO) states that one of the top causes of death in the world is lack of physical activity. Among various physical activities, cycling is a great option. Cycling helps to build heart muscle and reduces your risk of developing diabetes and heart disease. More importantly, it builds the mental health of the individual as well.
One of the best choices we can ever make in life to improve our fitness, finances, health, or environmental choices is to start cycling. On 6th September 2020, I had an amazing cycling experience with Amazing People.
Here are a few lessons that I learned:
Summary of the cycling 100kms:
- Explored a new track
“The lonely road to greatness is better than the crowded road to mediocrity.”
― Matshona Dhliwayo
We explored a new route during this cyclothon. The path was less traveled and we enjoyed it a lot during this ride. It took me 7 hrs to complete 100kms.
2. It is always easy to start
Anything can be started with ease, but maintaining consistency takes a lot of effort. For me, the first 65 kilometers were simple. I didn’t experience any tiredness or fatigue. This might be a result of my earlier yoga sessions. But it went very smoothly exploring new paths.
3. Challenge during 65km — 85km.
After 65 km, I need to push myself a little harder. Sun God was also over the top and I also get dehydrated. As a result, I developed cramps in my legs and I had to undergo pain in my legs.
After a few kilometers, the bicycle punctured and there was no repair shop nearby. Parallelly, my cycling partner was injured and he needed first aid. These all incidents happened one by one. We didn’t give up and patiently continued our century ride.
4. Yoga practice and marma therapy helped to recover
Regular yoga practice assisted in reducing cramps and exhaustion. Self-marma therapy also played a significant role in fast recovery.
Yoga is a holistic way to develop ourselves physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually. Long-distance cycling not only required physical strength but also required strong willpower with patience to complete the century ride. I could experience the effects directly at that moment when I completed 85 km.
5. Self Motivation is the key
After crossing 85km, it was out of noway I felt more energized and reached the 90s. I was Faster Again. Enthusiastically, I completed more than 90km.
6. Check for Patience and Perseverance
When I completed around 95km, it started raining. It was raining like cats and dogs. Due to heavy rain we had to wait patiently until it slows and stops.
7. Facing problems with Vigor
We patiently waited for it to slow. As the rain slows down, we continued our ride. Slowly and steadily, we completed the 100kms. Miraculously after completing 100kms, raining stopped as if it waited for us to finish.
Conclusion
The lesson I learned, could be helpful in other areas as well. Like cycling, life is also about traversing your own path with a comfort zone, obstacles, injury, mentors, and many more. To grow yourself and your willpower, ‘LIFE’ gives you a ‘CHOICE’, the choice to embrace the pain and outgrow yourself or let yourself remain in your comfort zone and don’t cross that line. None of these two are good or bad, it's only a choice one makes, and cycling taught me this very well.
Thanks for the journey and for sharing great words of wisdom and motivating me Kailash Manjhi Amitesh Anand, Rajeev Kumar Gupta, and Sunil Barnwal to complete 100km.
