7 Life Lessons I Learnt from 101 Minutes Behind Bars
“Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.” — Ecc 7:8
When it comes to exercise and fitness, there is no better place I would rather be than behind the handlebars of my bicycle. Sitting behind those handlebars helps me relax, clear my head and get in shape. Six years after taking up the sport, I am enjoying it more than ever. I have grown in confidence that I can now enter amateur races to challenge myself.
The Dubai Spinneys 92 event on 2 April 2021 was my seventh amateur race in Dubai. Building from the confidence of completing the 92KM main event of the 2019 edition, I registered for three out of four build-up rides and the main event of the 2020/21edition. However, the event was not exempt from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The organisers had to cancel one of the build-up rides due to lockdown restrictions and postpone the main event three times. The Dubai authorities finally cleared the event to go ahead on 2 April 2021. There was a much smaller field of riders compared to the last challenge. But the low turn out did nothing to dampen the mood of the participating riders.
The race officials flagged us off just before 0800 hours. Masks off, pedals clicked in, onto our saddles and handlebars, the race was finally off. While the scenery along the 62KM route was breathtaking, this ride was not for sightseeing or social media photoshoot. It would have been nice to capture some images of two of Dubai’s famous landmarks — the Dubai 2020 Expo site and the Global Village. But my focus was mainly on the wheel in front of me and my handlebars. The pace was fast, and I could feel it was an outstanding effort by my standards. With 500M to go, I accelerated out of the group in a dash to the finish line, which I crossed after 101 minutes. Four months earlier, I completed a similar distance in 118 minutes. Although the 62KM was not the main event, it was a great race all the same.
Although the short course was scheduled to start an hour after the 92 KM race, I arrived two hours early to avoid road closures leading up to the venue. I took my time to prepare my bike then set my alarm before stretching out in my car for a 45 minutes nap. I woke up to find I was the only cyclist in the parking lot. A rush of sweat ran down my face in panic. I thought I had missed the start of the race. Lucky for me, the race did not start until 20 minutes after I got to the starting line.
I pressed the start button on my Garmin bike computer and waited for the beep to signify the start of recording my race time. No beep! I looked down with concern to stare at a blank screen. The pack of riders were pulling away while I was fiddling with the Garmin to no avail. Plan B. I took out my phone from my back pocket to record my ride using the Strava App. Beep, beep — no satellite signal. There was no plan C. But I had the race timing chip strapped to my left ankle to record official timing. All else failing, I pushed on hard to catch up with the pack of riders ahead of me. Although I could not tell how fast we were going, I felt the pace was good. I had no choice but to go with the flow. Also, I could not tell the distance we had covered. Riding blind in a race can be disorienting. But, I decided to put all that mishap out of my head and just race.
I assumed we were halfway through when we turned a roundabout to ride in the opposite direction. Just then, I felt my body go into shutdown mode; I felt like I was riding backwards. Once again, the leading pack of riders was pulling away from me. My legs and lungs were telling me I had reached the limit of my practice rides between 30–35 KMs. But I was not about to end my race there. I summoned every last bit of energy left in my body and changed to a standing position. With the burn in my legs, I pedalled my way back into the pack. Now it was as if they were riding backwards. The relief of rejoining the leading group filled me with the freshness I had at the start of the race. I had broken the pain barrier and gotten out of my comfort zone. With that burst of energy, I felt the urge to chase down a breakaway pack. “Be patient during the ride. Resist the temptation to attack too early.” Those words from my coach gave me the disciple to hold back and maintain a steady pace. It wasn’t long before we caught up with the breakaway pack some reasonable distance before the finish line. At the 500 meters mark, I pulled away with a burst of speed I did not know I still had in the tank. 100 meters to the line, cameras flashing, I let go of my handlebars to take my favourite Wakanda pose. My moment of glory. Or so I thought.
After the finish line, we rolled into a queue of volunteers handing out the finisher’s medals and face masks. I pensively drove home to wait anxiously for the provisional official results with no way of knowing what time I posted. I received the results, in chronological order, in my email three hours later. A fist pump and shout replaced the broad smile on my face as I did not have to scroll farther down the 8th row to find my race number and name. Next to my name was a time of 1hour and 41 minutes — 19 minutes quicker than the 120 minutes target I had set for myself. My time was only 16 seconds behind the best time in that category. And I recorded my fastest pace in the final 13.5 KM.
Would I have recorded the fastest time if I did not have the technical glitch at the start? Choosing to ignore this mishap is one lesson plus six others I learnt during the race that I felt are relevant to the many races we face in life.
1) Do better than your last best
I consider the 2021 Spinneys 92 race my best one to date. And that is not because of my position on the leader board. Sure, I should be proud of a top 10 finish. Sixteen seconds behind the fastest time is worth celebrating.
My coach’s response to my time was, “Wow! Impressive result DAS! Great Job. Way way less than your target of 2hrs.”
He did not ask about how I placed. Instead, he checked my time against the two-hour target I set for myself to improve on my previous attempt.
In life, we dilute the magnitude of our achievements when we compare ourselves against those who have done better than us. Doing so steals our joy, and we end up being ungrateful and unappreciative of how far we have come.
I did not let that happen to me this time. I was super proud and excited about my result because it was better than my previous best.
Do not undermine the size of your efforts. Be grateful, be happy for your progress no matter how small it may seem.
“Comparison isn’t the thief of joy. It’s the thief of everything. Keep your eyes on your purposeful path. Celebrate others. Celebrate progress, not perfection. Cultivate gratitude over comparison. Gratitude turns what we have into more than enough.” — Lara Casey
2) Stay in your lane
After six years, you would have thought there is not much left for me to learn about cycling or my bike. But I recently signed up with a cycling coach to learn cycling basics — mechanics, pedalling and bike handling. I found the courage to accept the things I do not know for me to learn and grow. I believe this attitude is the start of growth — the courage to admit what you do not know. In the same light, I had signed up for the short course instead of the 92 KM distance.
After all, I have done it before, and I have been riding for over six years. But, I accepted that I was out of shape, not fit to go the distance.
I stayed in my lane. The result justified the decision. My limit up to that point was 33 KMs in one hour or 65 KMs in two. I accepted my limitation, faced it and beat it.
“Know your limits, not so that you can honour them, but so that you can smash them to pieces and reach for magnificence.” — Cherie Carter-Scott
3) Focus on the things you can control
I never go on a leisure cycling ride without my Garmin bike computer, let alone race without it. With my Garmin, I know how fast I am going, how far I have gone, and my chain positions on the gears. Without it, I can not regulate my ride. I will be riding blind.
I had two choices when my bike computer froze at the start of the race. I could have worried about it, allowed it to distract me and lose focus on what was important. Or, ignore the mishap, put it behind me and ride.
The earlier we get over our setbacks, the faster we can set ourselves up for the comeback. There is no victory without a challenge, setback or difficulty. Therefore, it is not about the setback but how we react to it that determines if we succeed or fail.
“You can’t calm the storm. So stop trying. What you can do is calm yourself. The storm will pass.” — Timber Hawkeye
4) Surround yourself with people better than you
The phrase, “you are the average of the five people with whom you associate,” may be overused, but it is too apt, profound and timelessly relevant to ignore.
Probably, the fastest time I have recorded over 30+ KM distance in my solo practice rides is 32 KMPH. I clocked almost 37 KMPH in the 62 KM race because I rode with much stronger and faster riders than me. I cannot improve if I am the quickest rider in my practice group.
I had to push past the pain barrier, ride outside my comfort zone to hang onto the pack of faster riders to finish with my best time in six years.
“Surround yourself with people who are smarter, faster, stronger and better than you so you can be uplifted by their models and inspired by their examples.” — Robin Sharma
5) Get a coach
He did not say much. He did not try to tell me how to ride. Instead, my coach told me what no one had ever told me. And something I found hard to accept. “Be patient out there. Hold your pace, and do not attack too early. Be patient on the climb, be patient on the downhill to conserve energy,” he said.
If I had attacked with the breakaway riders early on, I would not have had the stamina to keep going when my body almost shut down. My coach’s echoing words restrained me when it was critical so that I could finish at a pace I knew I could.
We all need a coach to bring out the best in us.
“A coach is someone who tells you what you don’t want to hear, who has you see what you don’t want to see, so you can be who you always knew you could be.” — Tom Landry
6) Don’t celebrate at the right time
The timing of the celebration is as important as the celebration itself. A lesson that left me asking, what if. What if I did not celebrate with the Wakanda pose before crossing the finish line? What if I had kept going? I can only assume I would have posted a better time if I timed my celebration right.
“Timing and accuracy is really what matters at the end of the day.” — Carson Wentz
7) Finish better than you started
I was most satisfied to see that my pace in the last 13.5 KM was 38 KMPH compared to the 28 KMPH of my first 3 KM. My pace kept getting better with each KM of the ride.
And that’s how I want to finish every race, not just cycling.
“It is not how you start the race or where you are during the race; it is how you cross the finish line that will matter.” — Robert D. Hales
I encourage you to face your career, business and life in general like a race. It has a start and an end. There will be setbacks, distractions and challenges. Sometimes, you will feel you are not ready, and at other times you may feel like giving up. People might let you down; things may not work according to plan. Yes, others will compete against you for that promotion at work or a new job or compete against your business. Just remember, it’s a race in which you achieve success by knowing that you did your best, better than your last effort. Winning does not always mean success, and losing is not always a failure.
You will only grow and succeed when you step out of your comfort zone. Know your limit not to be paralysed by it but to surpass it. No matter how hard it gets, keep pressing on to finish your race stronger than you started. Only then would you have earned the right to celebrate.
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” — 2 Tim 4:7
In my new book — Joy Has Come Home, I cover deeper insights on how the above lessons have helped me in my career and business.
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