Well, it's official: I can ride a bike again!
Ahhh, it wasn't that serious...I mean, it does sound worse than it was. On April 7th, three days before my birthday, I crashed midway through a bike race in Santa Barbara.
For the first 12 laps I was holding my place near the front...for two entire laps I was second behind the leader! Well, at about the 20th minute (the race was a 40-minute event), I approached a corner in the gap. There was a breakaway group of 6 in front of me, and the rest of the field of 90 behind. There, in the middle, I approached a corner a little too fast...and a little too wide.
Over correcting, I went down midway through the corner. Sliding across pavement, I remember thinking something along these lines, "I don't like this at ALL!"
Milli-seconds later, I was bunched up in the curb, with a fellow cyclist piled on top of me. Moments after THAT, I was standing up, a volunteer holding me, another holding my bike.
The guy with the bike said, "Your bike is fine, you want to get back in the race?"
Without thinking (that's what we're supposed to do when we're prepared, and productive, right?) I nodded my head. Next thing I knew, I was running back toward the start line. (The rules state if you can return to the start line, you can jump back in with the group the next lap.)
So, with about 17 minutes left in the race (all of this is an approximation, of course) I was back. I still climbed my way to the front, and was able to hang on for the remaining laps. The great news: I finished.
The not so great news: I have been off my bike, and on recoup-patrol for the past few days.
So, when I got out on my bike today I really felt great. It's time, I'm ready, and there's another hill to climb. If I could say there were some "learnings" from this experience, they would be something like:
- My bike follows my eyes. I believe the same is true for our own personal productivity. What you look at the most will get most of your attention, and your action.
- Being a beginner is scary. This was my second bike race, and it showed. After the crash I felt myself cornering "too carefully;" swinging wide, and enduring the "HEY, watch out" warnings from my fellow cyclists. So too is starting a business scary. Looking out and knowing what I NEED to do, and having all the time, energy and focus I need to DO it are two different things.
- The universe rewards action. No it's not easy. Not always fun, sometimes downright painful...but, the #1 lesson I can take away is, "Just Show Up."
It was nice to be on the bike...and, with my next race day just 10 days away, I'm going to need all the mental, physical and emotional practice I can get!
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