Perfect Timing
A beautiful day, in an untouched countryside. The sky baby blue and the sun warm and steamy as pancake. A road swoops and slides over grass contours. And on that road a machine glides smoothly, the sound of a breeze, and hair billowing out the windows...
Sound familiar. Reality and your average car commercial are quite different.
On Friday afternoon I started my drive through the countryside in gridlock. Stop-start-stop-start for almost an hour. Then there are the trucks that hog the spacious highways - trucks overtaking trucks, and cars overtaking cars only to slow down absentmindedly and be overtaken. Tollgates and speed traps. And the last 40km of the N1 into Bloemfontein are still under construction - they have been for the last 6 months at least. Which means after 4 hours of driving you join another traffic jam where you are tempted to overtake and die.
The folks in Bloem are very eager to see winter to the door. It's interesting that just 400km away, Johannesburg has had another mild winter. It's almost a world away, Johannesburg is. Less wind, less of those cold extremes, not as dry. It's also a world away because it's Hansie's heartland. The cinemas in Bloem were sold out over this weekend, with locals streaming to watch their hero. Interestingly, the local newspaper gave a summary but didn't rate the movie. It was an odd sensation driving down Paul Kruger Road, the street where Hansie lived, and a street that curves less than a kilometre from Hansie's school,and seeing the bus shelters emblazoned with a faux Hansie.
I went to the Memorial Wall at Grey to see the plaque where Hansie's ashes are. The simplest message, if not the simplest on the Wall. Just his name, date of birth and death, and DIE HERE IS MY HERDER.
On Saturday morning when I unpacked my bike for the Windmill Casino race I had the strangest premonition of a puncture. I haven't had a puncture for 9 months at least. Unpacking the front wheel - it was hard as nails, I began to let go of the premonition. The back wheel was flat as could be. I managed to repair it and used a CO2 cylinder to instantly pump it up, meaning I made the race with literally a minute to spare.
After 6km I lost the bunch and then my water bottle, and over the next 2 climbs managed to drop a large runner-up bunch. I then rode with two guys, one of whom fell away at about 40km. At this point we picked up two other riders, (one guy, Ben, I know) and a few hundred metres further, I reeled in my brother. As I came alongside, I said, "G'DAY." He didn't respond. I assume he was annoyed that his fatter sibling had the gall to actually be keeping up with him. Intwistingly enough, we caught him just below Bloem's longest and probably most difficult climb. I suppose he figured I would be history - and he soon proceeded to make short work of me.
I've grown very strong in the hills of Johannesburg, and have obviously done a few races in the last few weeks. Coming from Jo'burg, Bloem's biggest hill is really a conventional training climb. As we crested I went to the front and set a hard pace. From the heart rate monitor graph it's obvious that I felt that hill.
Over the next 5km my brother and I challenged each other - making the other three riders wonder what the hell was going on. In the last kilometre he fell away, and so did my buddy who had ridden with me from the 15km mark. Ben and the other guy surged for what turned out to be the finish line on the slipway. Not quite where I expected.
The point of the story is you arrive at a race with a flat tyre, you lose your water bottle, and it's pretty easy to begin to imagine that's it's not going to be your day. It's not your day when you concede to the troubles around you. As long as you're involved, you find ways to make it work. I solved my lost water bottle problem by sipping from two other rider's bottles. And ironically, losing my bottle gave me a slightly lighter ride than I otherwise would have had. Things that happen to us in our lives are more likely to be 'bad' or 'good' because of our believing it, and believing not only makes it so, but makes it worse. When things happen that we don't expect, it is neither good not bad, it is simply a surprise.
This is true also of the President. Many South Africans wonder whether it is 'good' or 'bad' that Mbeki has left. They wonder whether Zuma will be 'good' or 'bad'. Here's a tip. Reserve judgement. If you believe it is bad, and Zuma suffers initial setbacks, he may well begin to behave in ways we expect. Judging other actions as 'good' may give him a false sense of security. It is better to respond to all things from the perspective that anything that happens is neither good, nor bad. It is simply what it is, and perhaps in retrospect, perspective will be clearer (and perhaps not).
Speaking of muddied perspectives, I'd like to conclude with a little insight into my life. As we all know, Mugabe is a dictator, he has a lot of contempt for his rivals, for leaders of some countries. He doesn't countenance dissent, and he doesn't collaborate. I know a person who reminds me a great deal of Mugabe. It's a woman. She has the same sneering contempt for people she considers 'not on her side'. She has the same moody demeanour towards her detractors. The ironic thing is that when this woman writes or reads about Mugabe I am sure in her mind that she considers Mugabe to be a 'bad' person. She might feel, like many others, that Mugabe's contempt for truth is obviously see through. She might feel angry that he has been allowed to dominate his country the way he has, making the lives of thousands miserable. All of this might echo the conventional views of the media, and others. Yet in this unequivocal judgement of the dictator, I doubt that she has ever compared herself to him. I doubt whether she has said: "I think I understand why he needs to control people, because I know why I need to..."
We cannot see anything when our beliefs have already decided our realities for us. Our conceits, the judgements we invest into our beliefs, ultimately prevent us from seeing ourselves, and finding reasons to change.
Race Stats:
Time - 1:41:27
Distance - 58km
Speed Avg -34.5km/h [This was mostly riding on my own again]
Temp - 11 avg, 8 min, 20 max
Ascent - 325m (that's nothing)
KCal - 1878
HR - 159 avg/171 avg
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