another ride with zeke
grind it out and grow your guts
Alo dear reader,
Another weekend, another ride.
Monday seems like a weekend for this fool as I tend to fill my Mondays with fun.
Zeke and I were at it again. Today we took it easy - just fifty miles today. It felt like a break from the 100 mile rides we’ve rolled through over the last two weekends.
Zeke’s preparing for an ultra endurance race at the end of the month.
We started our ride on the pipeline trail. It follows the gas line out towards Fall river.
It’s a nasty piece of work to ride. I’ve fallen more than twice there. It’s technically demanding composed of large rocks the size of small dogs that want to bite you, knock you to the ground then shit in your mouth.
Zeke, funny enough loves this trail.
I wish the whole race were like this he said as he spun along like a bee flitting from flower to flower.
I could keep this pace all day.
I didn’t doubt it. Zeke’s a bit like a mountain goat. He moves in a way such that he doesn’t seem to touch the ground.
That race though? It’s a bit too much like a road ride. I tend to excel, tended to win when things got really technical
Zeke carries through this bullshit because he has guts.
But having guts?
That’s not about courage. Confidence? Sure. But that only comes from pushing himself again and again.
But when it comes to ultra endurance riding, you need to have guts that efficiently give you energy through digestion while exerting yourself for what seems like forever.
Not only that, our guts - from our abs to all of the little connective bit?
They make up our core strength. And Zeke’s enduring core strength is what allows him to float and fly along as though the bullshit below him just wasn’t there.
Me?
I grind it out, feeling every bump. Sure, I’m learning to let the bike move below me more, but having the strength and endurance to keep this going over six, ten, twelve or even twenty four hours? That takes time to develop.
And having the guts, the confidence to know that I could possibly maintain this for the long haul?
Well, that comes from facing myself and pushing my limits again and again the way Zeke has over his thirty five years of racing.
Life is hard.
Guts and the ability to float of the the bullshit doesn’t come easily.
Sure, there are many out there who want to smooth out the bumps for humans, remove barriers and make things paved and easy.
They’re kinda soft and super boring.
But when you can support yourself to build the muscle to first grind your way through the bullshit of life?
Eventually, you might become strong enough to float and fly.
Either way?
It’s going to hurt.
Anyone who tells you that life shouldn’t?
They’re liars.
Love the people who love you
And bring on the pain.
What doesn’t kill you will grow your guts.
