#23 - New personal best and new goals
Picture taken from the Fordlpg website
As mentioned in my previous post, I went to the Ford Lommel Proving Grounds for their Pentecost riding day. It was quite the adventure. As if climbing their 25 % incline wasn’t enough of a challenge, I decided to ignore the bad weather and ride the whole way there. That means I have a new personal best of 134 km in a single day now. Doing that in rainy weather, with a constant wind of 25 kph and gusts of 40 to 50 kph, this was no small feat. Fortunately, the rain stopped in the afternoon, and the wind slowed down a little, Especially on the long
straights on the outside of the proving grounds, the winds still offered quite the challenge. Easy riding downwind, followed by another stretch of battling natures power. Since this was my first real ride in bad weather, I wasn’t sure how I’d manage. Before I set of, I took in account the possibility to turn around, and ride back home without reaching the proving grounds. Even if I would make it there, I had the option to ride straight back, or do one of the shorter laps. In the end, I did the whole thing. Including the awesome incline. Four meters ahead, for one meter up at its steepest. I had to stop a couple of times on the climb, and my gears creaked like a pensioner in the morning. But I made it. Unsupported. Just muscle and grinding teeth. At the top, a warm feeling of pride and accomplishment filled my veins.
A donkey and a pony :-)
The whole ride home, I was riding on a cloud. I did it. The climb that many told me I couldn’t do. Especially not on a recumbent trike. I DID IT!!
And before I got home, I would achieve a second personal best on that same day. My longest ride yet. Dreams of what to come and even bigger achievements, kept floating around in my head. All the way home, I was in a slight euphoric state. Adrenaline and endorphins kept mixing and made me feel great.
It’s been a couple of days now, and I’m still living on a cloud. For the first time, since I started riding again in Januari, I really feel like I accomplished something. Don’t get me wrong. My previous rides have been great too. Some felt epic at the time. But in the light of this past ride, they feel more like the growing process they really are. And I’m sure even this ride will be reduced to the same status, somewhere in the future. Maybe sooner rather than later.
And that brings me to my new goals.
In the past, I have been telling you all about the tours I’m planning. Don’t worry, I still am. I want to ride to see the world. Or at least a decent part of it. I want to discover
and test my limits. I want to see where the road leads me.
But as Tom Sanders pointed out to me recently on Facebook, that is something I can do in different ways. He was wondering If I’d heard about BRM’s. Brevet de Randonneur Mondial. He suggested that my performance on my latest ride, wasn’t all that big of a leap to riding for a BRM. I’d heard of them in the past, and the concept most definately has its appeal, but it also scared the bejeezus out of me. With a minimum of 200 km, averaging at least 15 kph, that’s a challenge in everybody’s book. And that includes time for breaks. As if that’s not enough of a challenge, there’s BRM’s of 300, 400, 600 and 1.000 km. And more even.
Screenshot from Randonneurs.be
The concept is simple, and in a way, it’s almost like I imagined touring all this time. No support. Carry what you need. Peddle the kilometers away. You against nature and geography. The one big difference, is the time limit. You can’t go faster then 30 kph or slower then 15. Outside those limits, you won’t get the medal for the ride. And basically, the only reward is the recognition that you finished the ride. That, and probably a HUGE feeling of accomplishment.
A little research on the website of Randonneurs.be showed that this is actually a thing. With rides almost every single week, people are putting themselves to the test on a regular basis, all around the world.
Maybe it’s just me wanting to know what my body can take. Maybe it’s my autism pushing me to my limits, and maybe even beyond. Maybe it’s my need to see new places. Also fed by my autism by the way. It’s challenging my very visual oriented brain. New places mean new impulses. And I need those. Or maybe, it’s just a way to prove to myself that after a period in life where my self esteem got some pretty hard bangs, I’m still able to do things that people, myself included, see as too hard or maybe even impossible. And they may well be. But there’s only one way to find out…
