The sun is beating down, wearing like a heavy blanket on my body. Beads of sweat seep excessively from the pores of my skin. Bugs are swarming around me. They latch on. I brush them off. They latch on again. Sometimes I give up on the frustrating routine. And my mind is focused telling myself over and over again: Push down, pull back, pull up, push forward. Push down, pull back, pull up, push forward. The only way to the top is one pedal at a time.
It’s the setting and mind-set of the most grueling Canadian Cancer Society Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock training ride yet.
In fact, the Sunday climb to the top of Vancouver Island’s Mt Washington is probably the most grueling training ride of them all.
It’s designed to prove to every rider that no matter how hard a day we’re having on Tour – a ten day, more-than-1,000 kilometrebike ride down the length of the island – nothing will be as hard as Mt. Washington.
In other words: If you can do that, you can get through whatever is challenging you in that future moment we know is bound to happen, as we pedal from community to community in the fall. We start in Port Alice, Sept. 22, in the cause’s annual effort to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars in the fight against pediatric cancer and to send children and families affected by the disease to Camp Goodtimes.
Being prepared is critical.
The ascent to the top of Mt Washington is nearly 20 long kilometres, pedalling up 1,128 metres, and it can take hours.
For me, the start was the hardest part. It was hot. So hot. I felt like a thermometer, visibly showing a steep jump in redness right to the top of my face. The ride also started with a considerable climb, causing my lungs to feel as if they were going to pop. And it was the just the start.
How on earth was I supposed to get through this? "It’s way too long. It’s way too hot," I thought.
Oh, wait. One pedal at a time.
That’s when the chant started in my head: Push down, pull back, pull up, push forward. I looked into the hill and soon I started to forget the pain in my lungs and the stiffening muscles in my legs. The relentless heat seemed to fade too, at least temporarily. The chant became the perfect distraction until the top of the hill’s peak.
Sometimes the road seemed to smooth out. I can remember two breezy stretches motivating me to pedal harder in hopes of catching as much of a cool-down as possible.
And then another steep climb would pop up. I would repeat the chant: Push down, pull back, pull up, push forward.
Soon (well not that soon) the Mt. Washington Alpine Resort sign came into view. I was going to make it to the top and my other 21 teammates would make it there too.
And you know what?
The ride may be the most rewarding athletic challenge I’ve ever taken on. Not because I did it, rather because it was for something so worthwhile.
Some kids don’t get to ride their bike because they’re too weak, using every ounce of their energy fighting cancer. And that’s not fair.
This ride is toward a greater effort to change that.
It’s #forthekids.
So like our trainers reminded us: “Embrace the suck.” Too many are going through much worse.
