Going for a bike ride

The Doorstep Mile

Going for a bike ride

I am often asked, ‘what is the hardest thing you have ever done?’

Generally, they want to hear me boast of hauling a heavy cart through the Empty Quarter desert or battling to put up a tent in freezing temperatures. These things are difficult. Uncomfortable, too. But, honestly, they are not life-changingly difficult.

There is only one adventurous act which has significantly altered the direction of my life. One warm summer morning, I climbed onto my bicycle and went for a ride, after a long sleep in my soft bed and a large breakfast.

I often detect a look of mild disappointment on the questioner’s face. ‘Going for a bike ride’ is not the answer they wanted.

But beginning trying to cycle around the world was the hardest part of all my adventures. Pedalling away in search of uncertainty and the great unknown. Everything interesting in my life has followed on from that.

Changing direction is often harder than the new thing you are going to begin. For me, the change of direction was stepping away from the conventional world and sensible progression of work, promotion and bank holidays.

To say, ‘I am going a different way’ was frightening and isolating.

It risked alienating people close to me. It risked being left alone, high and dry if the tide rushed out and everything changed. It risked failing. It risked a great deal.

But, at the same time, it also eliminated another risk. The risk of getting old and wondering what might have been.

The lesson of that sunny morning has served me well time and again. The hardest part of most things is summoning the nerve to climb onto your bicycle and push off down the street. The rest eventually takes care of itself.

OVER TO YOU:
What is the hardest thing you have ever begun? Reflecting back, how does it make you feel?

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