“Allez, allez, allez…!!!”
The last thing I heard before I reached the summit.
I’d been fighting the incline for more than an hour as the wheels turned more and more slowly across the smooth tarmac and I passed marmottes basking in the morning sunshine.
It all began as a goal I set myself about a year ago – to climb the Col de L’Iseran on my bike.
The highest open mountain pass in the Alps, an absolutely stunning natural amphitheatre set amongst the snow and out-of-season ski-lifts.
I like to exercise but I’d never done any serious hill climbing on my road bike and I wasn’t sure how far I would get to be honest.
But I had a clear goal, I was committed and I was motivated having prepared myself as best I could riding the hills in the Scottish Borders at home.
And I learnt some very useful lessons along the way …
- When you set your mind to something, really visualise it and feel yourself succeeding in your endeavour, it can be a very powerful and motivational force
- A lot of challenges are mind over matter – the pull up the hill became just as much a mental test as a physical one
- It’s important to focus on the next important thing, rather than everything at once…in this case the next bend, and then the next. Not the fact there was another 10km to go…
Later that day I was chatting to my daughter who was struggling on a long walk we were doing. I tried to capture the essence of the above by telling her a story that included the words of the famous Chinese proverb “a journey of a thousand miles begins with one small step…”.
Her face lit up as the penny dropped…she looked down at her feet and began to bound forward with great gusto.
It strikes me that the road ahead will always have its twists and turns but if we take things one step at a time and enjoy the ride we’ll be able to make the most of every opportunity as they present themselves.
And like the unnamed cyclist who gave me that motivational lift as he descended the very same mountain that morning, it’s also worth keeping an eye out for those who might need a bit of a boost themselves to help them on their way…