Something has happened to me in the last few days. After months of stress and excitement about this rally, after setting up a new bike, making lists and checking things off the list, after planning and executing a series of training rides, after getting good at the computer side of waypoints and routing, after thinking of a bazillion tiny details and posting every tiny question here on the forum, I realized that it all comes down to a single question:
Can I do it?
And I realized the answer is, Yes. I can do it.
If it turns out that I can’t do it, for whatever reason, it doesn’t really matter. It’s not the end of the world. It’s just a very special summer vacation. No matter what happens during the rally, I’ll have a great time and will always know that I did my best. That’s it. I can fantasize about this finishing position or that one, but where I finish doesn’t define me as a person. It’s just an interesting side product of my summer vacation.
I can’t tell you how much peace this has given me. Suddenly none of it really matters any more. My bike doesn’t have to be perfect. I don’t have to be perfectly trained and practiced. I don’t have to have a plan for every contingency. It’s going to be what it is, and I’ll make the best of it.
Aaaahhhhh.
This doesn’t mean I’m done with the training rides or the lists, or the dumb questions here (sorry!) It just means that the stress around all the preparation is over. I have achieved inner iron butt peace.
See you in Spartanburg.
