How many of us are afraid to try new things because they’re hard and we’ll be shit at it, or worse, we won’t be able to do them! Whether it’s piano or a complex knitting pattern or learning a new sport.  I could tell you a story about skate skiing and I, but there is not a happy ending. But at least now I don’t have to wonder about skate skiing, I know its rough times on the struggle bus. And yes, I’ll probably get on board again a couple of times next winter, and try it again.

I recently did my first 3-day mountain bike stage race. I work for the BC Bike Race – but always say that I work for the race because I could never race it. OK so I can’t do a 7 day stage race, but what about a 3-day race?

There was a whole lot of hemming and hawing about just how crazy it was to do my first race in my mid 50s. To set the stage, I have never done anything athletic in my life – note sad skate skiing reference above. The biggest thing I’ve ever done was ride my bike from Vancouver to Whistler for the first Whistler Granfondo in 2010. That also ruined my relationship with road riding, which was when I came over to the dark side and bought a mountain bike.

Fast forward to late 2021 when I need to make a decision about using my 2020 entry for Moab Rocks which fell by the way side when a global pandemic changed everything. Could I even be bothered to take it one again? It was two years later, I’d have to start training again. From scratch? Was I even into that?  Would it even be worth the bother? Oh the excuses …. they multiply faster than you think. And could I even deal with putting in all that work and not being able to finish?

Funny how we always default to failure. What if I trained, got stronger, was able to finish each day and had a lot of fun! Why don’t those possibilities occur to me as quickly? I have a colleague that says stop asking why, and start asking why not. Go ahead … try it.

Through much overthinking I decided I HAD to at least attempt the race – again, assuming failure. If I didn’t, would I always wonder if I could have done it? And if I was going to do it, this was my best shot at success because it wouldn’t get any easier as I got older. If I worked really hard, and tried my best and still couldn’t finish … what then? Would it be enough to at least I’d learn where my limits lay?

Fast forward again through 4 months of committed training with a great coach and here I am at racer check-in picking up a race plate. A race plate. I can’t even explain to you why that was so scary. Maybe it was just the reality that race day was the next day, that it was time to put the work to the test, that it was time to execute and see how it would unfold. I don’t know all the reasons why, but it was terrifying.

The first day on the start line did not feel nearly as scary – there is no logic to emotions. It was just the clarity of knowing I had done what I could to prepare and all that was left was the execution – and here’s to hoping it would not be my own execution.

I’ll spare you the boring details of 3 hard days on course. I was slow slow slow but never hated my life -not once! My unwavering commitment to my training was so that I wouldn’t have a moment during the race where I wished I’d worked harder. The climbs were hard and there were too many times where I was walking my bike. Some of it on day 1 was just so steep that I could not turn the pedals, other days the climbing was too technical that I didn’t even know how to attempt it.

While some of the descents were beyond my ability, and I was again walking my bike, there was also a lot of crazy good riding that I was able to ride – with all sorts of hootin’ and hollering. I was dead last every day but finished each day grinning from ear to ear – so I mean really, I pretty much won each day.

Here’s the thing – by regular racing perceptions last place is lame and maybe embarrassing for some. Especially when you’ve been training and working with a coach and still you’re last, you must really stink. But that last place was my best effort each day. I was so damned happy to get through each challenging day riding all those super fun trails in such an amazing location with my friends, and then to show up on the start line again the next day ready for another challenge. That felt like success to me, and fortunately for me, I am only judge of my success. Well my coach has some input but he was pretty stoked with how it turned out too.