The Gravitational Pull of Putting One On The Calendar
This year is nowhere near over, and I’m already looking forward to next year. By that I mean, I love daydreaming about big rides to come. Fall is a great time to plant the seed with your riding buddies, and put a big event or two on everybody’s calendars.
I like mapping out rides in advance for a few reasons. Obviously there’s the benefit of having something to look forward to. But also a shared goal creates its own momentum with your friend group. And lastly, having something to train for gives you motivation to go train.
Some of my most enjoyable experiences have come in the lead-up to events I had on the calendar. One time I signed up for an Ironman, and since I was petrified of the whole swim part, I signed up for an indoor and then an outdoor swim group, where I found myself in a lake at sunrise, brimming over with endorphins and strangely loving the experience.
Okay, so the floating goose poop part wasn’t that cool, but nevermind that. The point is, I could have gone and jumped in that lake at any point in the last 17 or however many years I’ve lived in Colorado, but I never did until I had something on the calendar pulling me in.
Similarly, after signing up for the Leadville 100 I found myself on all sorts of cool trails high in the Colorado backcountry that - very much like that lake - had been there for years, and that I had never, ever been on.
That to say, there is something to be said for signing up for an event that’s a bit of a stretch goal. Of course that varies by individual — one person’s 5K is another’s marathon, right? Luckily, Colorado is absolutely covered in excellent cycling events, many of which have a few distances you can choose from. And of course The Ride Collective has some of the very best!
So take some time in the coming weeks to think about a big event you’d like to do next year. Then recruit some friends to make a weekend out of it, and put it on everyone’s calendar.
At a minimum, you know you’ll end up at the event with some friends. But in between now and then, who knows where you will find yourself! Enjoy yourself — and watch out for the goose poop.
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