This week my brother Ben and I are trying to cycle from St David’s in Wales right across the widest point of the UK to Lowestoft.
When I dreamed this Grand Challenge up in lockdown it seemed like a fantastic idea and made perfect sense, right now it makes no sense at all.
What’s a CVM Grand Challenge?
Essentially this is all about doing a charity fundraising event for CVM, raise a minimum of £1000 for CVM by doing a challenge that will push you to the limit and be a decent achievement for you personally.
So this is what we are doing, dressed as Batman and Robin we are cycling across the UK pulling a bathtub on wheels to make as much noise about the work of CVM as we can.
This 5 part blog series is all about endurance, challenge and spiritual fitness. Let’s go!
Day 4 – Eyes in front of the wheel
I remember hearing someone say to me recently, ‘what’s your 500-year plan?’ I laughed because the idea of me being able to plan much beyond the end of the day is enough, let alone 500 years?
This guy went on to say he had heard this from an artist friend who said that ‘his art and life has been mainly influenced by artists who lived 500 years ago.’
An interesting perspective about legacy and impact.
How does that relate to biketub? Will people 500 years from now look back and watch some dusty video of me and my brother cycling in a bathtub across the country and have their lives changed forever? No, that’s not going to happen.
Point is, having a plan is great, being able to think about years down the road and what sort of legacy and life you want to be remembered for is great, but for most, I think we are just looking to get to the evening and sit down.
When undertaking endurance rides the advice I have been given, especially for hill climbs, is just look in front of the front wheel. Keep looking there and just keep moving.
Maybe this is a word in season for you, I think it probably is for me and Ben right now as we cycle along days 4’s route. Keeping going, looking just in front and keep pedalling. It’s a moment, a season and the hill you’re climbing will let you go – but for now, keep going.
An amazing moment is recorded in the bible in Luke 9 when Jesus sets his face like flint towards Jerusalem. Resolve. Not only did Jesus have a 500-year plan, but it was also a ‘for the rest of eternity’ plan when he set out towards the cross and his death. But I think humanly he also put one foot in front of the other and moved forward. Like looking just in front of the wheel, the big picture is there but at the moment, it’s about simply moving forward and not looking back.
If anyone else out there can support and cheer these guys on with a donation, please do – it makes a real difference!
