By Lesu Miah
Whats the most important step a man can take?
Last week I spoke about the the beauty of the Lancashire roads and the challenges it provides a cyclist. This week, what springs to mind is that other thing my region is known for…the weather!
The great Lancashire weather, in all it’s dull, dour and damp glory! It’s a great metaphor for my feelings and emotions this last week. Everything was going well however, after I submitted last weeks blog, I had a few personal matters that derailed all my plans! It is purely down to the Mercy of Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala and the beautiful people in my life (mainly Gulab) that I’ve been able to move on.
I was meant to have an action packed weekend leading up to 3 rides during this week. However, the arch nemesis of all Northerners, our glorious weather intervened and the whole weekend was a write off. Rain with strong winds and cyclists are not the best of bedfellows. I have to be honest, I was glad for it, I really didn’t feel like riding and was just zoning out and was in real danger of ‘falling off the wagon’. From the bright skies of the previous week, to here. I guess we can all be as capricious as the weather. The clouds were building and a deluge awaited. It’s just that, when you get the inevitable challenge or distraction that life throws at you, its so easy to go back to the old comfort zone. In life, you are always going to have challenges, trauma and bad news, but you have to keep going with the activities that are conducive to both your physical and mental wellbeing.
‘Alhamdulillah I’ve known Lesu and his excuses since childhood , but this time I will put to it that he doesn’t have any excuse left not to cycle.’
Gulab Mostofa
One question I’ve always asked at every junction in life is “What’s the most important step a man can take?” I’m sure we’ll all have our own answers to this question, but for me the answer is; “The Next One”
This may sound a little simplistic but what did you expect? I’m a Banker, not Aristotle!
It’s definitely always worked for me anyway. My thinking is, whatever has happened, unfortunate or not, it’s in the past and the only way to fix it or move on is, the next step. Trust in the Qadr of Allah (swt). This isn’t always easy and a lot of the times, you just need a little nudge from someone. Be patient and Allah always provides that at the right time. Fortunately for me, I didn’t have to wait long.
I’d been speaking to family and friends throughout, but in the end, the nudge I needed came from an unlikely source, My Boss! I was off work for a few days and we had a brief chat, and he suggested a ride might be just what it takes to take my mind off things, as he has found this helped him in the past. This is the thing with cycling; It’s just YOU….YOUR BIKE…. AND THE ROAD. That’s it. The effort it takes not only helps you physically but mentally too and it was just what I needed to get my thoughts together.
So, onto the rides. I promised myself to go out on Wednesday for a short ride, even if it was just 1 mile. Luckily, the lads at AICC became super active on Whatsapp and a few of them decided to go to the track and do a 10 mile time trial. A light bulb went off for me, as the track that I was raving about a week ago, had completely gone from my mind. I decided to head down there, as being a novice still, it’s always good to have someone around, you still have a fear of falling, punctures and many other issues, even though Social Distancing has made the normal group activities difficult.
Ooh look, it’s a rain cloud
As I was about to go out, I look up and see a huge rain cloud towards the area of the track. “Great!” I thought, but I just had to ignore it and take the next step. Once there, it was good to see that it wasn’t too busy. A few of the AICC lads arrived at a similar time to me. Gulab and Zak actually whizzed past me at Nelson. It was a case of “Now You See Me…Now You Don’t!” They have no idea the expletives I used as they did so!
The ride itself was great. I just put my head down and peddled, keep moving I thought. I knew I couldn’t keep up with anyone, but this is my own internal battle and I just homed in on my technique and thoughts. The lads were great. Always sharing encouraging words as they whizzed past me. Again….and again…. and bloody again. AND ONCE MORE FOR GOOD LUCK!
When you have a competitive nature as I do, you don’t know how annoying this is! My pride aside though, the lads have no idea how much they helped. Just being out as part of a group again was great. Even when the heavens opened and I was drenched, my first rain ride. I barely felt it. I just wanted to keep going. Headwind on the straight? Didn’t care. In the end, I did a new Personal best of 18.02 miles. When I got home, I felt great, as though the rain had washed away a lot of the baggage I was carrying.
I had a great couple of days off. Gulab, my cycling “coach” will cry into his Bovril about me doing 3 rides a week but the next 2 days were definitely rest days, just a 30 minute walk to keep the legs loose. The plan was to go to the track again on Saturday and smash out a 20 miler. When I got up on the Saturday morning though, I’m not sure why, maybe because I didn’t hydrate properly or something else (don’t mention the age please) but no matter how much I stretched, my muscles just felt tight. However, as it’s only to the track, I thought I’ll just take it easy, I should be fine. Gulab, however, had other nefarious plans. The ride went from being just a different route down the road, to the bypass, to Accrington and onto Hapton!!! Anyone who knows these places, (no Accy Stanley jokes please) will know that, it’s definitely NOT FLAT!!!!
This quickly became my first ‘real’ ride. Impromptu, completely unplanned and deep down, I knew I wasn’t ready for this, physically. This is because the track is great, but it just can’t replicate the challenges a route like this provides. Anyone who knows me will know that I’ll try anything at least once, my curiosity will always get the better of me, even if it threatens to finish me off for good, like this one did.
The uphill sections going from Burnley to Accrington were challenging and I had to stop to fuel up a couple of times but kept pushing and was doing ok until we got to a corkscrewing uphill section between Accrington and Hapton. I don’t know the exact location and neither do I care, as far as I’m concerned, it was some devilry wrought from the deepest darkest caverns of Gulab’s sick mind! He even proceeded to dust off the old “it’s flat after this bit” and “it’s just a short hill”. I thought, I swear if he says those words again, Gulab is going to find this bike, ending up in places it was never meant to be, IN! My right quad at this point was really burning up so, I had to stop about a third of the way up the hill and walk up with the bike. I made a mental note though, “we will meet again” In hindsight, It was a marker laid down. It was good to know my limits and now I also know what to expect when I do this route again.
You know that fresh feeling after a heavy bout of rain? Those first rays of light after the clouds dissipate? Well that’s what the crest of a large hill feels like after a tough climb. When your eyes see that long, angling slope, you just throw yourself at it. You rest your legs as you spin out, the feeling of the wind at high speed, it’s something my younger self would’ve loved and the older me is no different! This was the pattern for most of the ride home. Cursing my way up every hill, stopping and walking part way up 2 more big inclines, then flying down the slopes. I’d have loved to have defeated at least one of the big uphill sections without stopping, but it wasn’t to be.
I managed to keep going. I felt pain in my legs, my tank was close to empty but, the ride back home felt exhilerating. 18.9 miles was slightly more than my previous best, however, the thing that I was most proud of was that I managed a 1142 FEET elevation gain! My previous elevation best was 385 feet, so A HUGE increase. I got home and just soaked in the bath for what felt like an eternity.
What I’ve enjoyed the most is, the sheer hypocrisy of my thoughts. The hatred of every uphill section and then the elation of that blessed downhill, oh how I wish it could go on longer! That’s life though, dark clouds are never permanent and you always get sunshine after the rain, you just have to make sure you get up and have a stroll outside to really appreciate it. It’s been a seriously tough week on so many levels but thanks to the grace of Allah (swt) and the blessings he has provided me, I’ve finished it in a good place.
Oh and for those sicko’s amongst you who like to see people suffer, that fella called Gulab Mostofa, has recorded the whole ride! Hopefully the sound isn’t on so you miss some of the verbal pyrotechnics that went on! I didn’t give permission for this recording so I don’t think it’s even legal but, if you want to witness my suffering, it’s doing the rounds somewhere!
