The Don’t Quit Poem

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but don’t you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow–
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than,
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor’s cup,
And he learned too late when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out–
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit–
It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.

- Author unknown

The source of this poem can be found here.

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Momentum 94.7 Cycle Challenge 2011

The annual 94.7 Cycle Challenge took place on 20 November 2011, following the same route as the previous year, covering a total of 95 km.

Despite still limping due to the groin muscle I pulled the previous week, I was determined not to miss this race, as I spent the whole year training for it. Fortunately, the weather was fairly cool, and my leg didn’t hurt while riding, so I made it to the finish and completed a very successful year of cycling.

 

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Momentum 94.7 Mountain Bike Challenge 2011

The 2011 Momentum 94.7 MTB Challenge was Dain’s first chance at riding as a “grown-up” in the event, as he had only been eligible to ride in the Kiddies event in previous years.

Despite temperatures around 35 degrees Celsius and very few water points, he managed to finish the ride, despite assisting me after a bad fall 2 km before the finish. I pulled a groin muscle and was on crutches for the next week, but Dain’s smile said it all!

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MTN OFM Classic 2011

The MTN OFM Classic was chosen as my last training ride before the annual Momentum 94.7 Cycle Challenge. The race was held in Bloemfontein, over a course very similar to the 94.7 Cycle Challenge, but with a few less hills.

The conditions on race day, 6 November 2011, were very hot…in excess of 30 degrees Celsius, making dehydration a big problem. Fortunately, the water points were well managed, and I had no problems.

At the end of the day, I completed the 100 km ride in 4 hours 18 minutes. My trusty Bianchi didn’t miss a beat and I didn’t have any punctures…a good day all round!

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To be a Cyclist…

I stumbled upon the following piece by an unknown author, expressing what it means to be a cyclist:

Because I am a cyclist I have dirty hands. I can’t be bothered to pull on latex gloves before I commence to wrenching, and it seems no matter how much degreaser I work through my oily digits, I still end up with every crack and crevice of my winter-blanched skin outlined in black. I do the best I can to hide this at business meetings, but in the end, who cares? I am a cyclist.

Because I am a cyclist I don’t smell that great. To shower as prodigiously as I ride would leave me in a more or less permanent state of prunishness, which, on balance, would be slightly less attractive than my persistent odor.

Because I am a cyclist, I know things about materials science and nutrition and psychology.
Because I am a cyclist I perceive the distances between things differently than other people. I think more about effort than parking. When someone refers to a hill as steep, I know exactly how steep it is. I am fully topographic.

Because I am a cyclist I am keenly attuned to the weather. I know which way the wind blows. I understand the dew point and its implications for perspiration, hydration and recovery. I know when the snow will fly and how deep I can let it get before escape (from work) becomes impracticable. I understand how wet “really wet” is, and know that I can clean the road grime from my calves in the sink, as long as I get to work before most everyone else.

Because I am a cyclist I watch sporting events on crappy internet feeds from foreign lands, in languages I can’t speak. I look forward to races that most of my friends haven’t heard of, in cities approximately 0.1% of people could find on a map.

Because I am a cyclist I know that when I am suffering I am learning things about nutrition, psychology, weather and most importantly, about myself, that I could not learn without smelling bad, having dirty hands, being dry, in a car, on the couch, in front of a baseball game.

That’s just how it is. When you are a cyclist.

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EPR Cycle Challenge 2011

The EPR Cycle Challenge was my second road ride with Dain, just a few days after the Magalies Steam Train Chase. During the three days between the two rides, I had to repair the damage to Dain’s bike following his fall in the earlier ride. This included replacing his rear derailleur and front brake caliper.

The EPR event began at the Tarlton International Raceway, a drag racing strip to the west of Krugersdorp. We arrived just before sunrise, on a very chilly morning.

Dain and I opted for the shorter 58 km route, which would bring Dain’s total for his first week of road riding to 96 km! After the scare and subsequent fall he had experienced during his first ride, Dain was a bit apprehensive. We took it easy, and I let him set the pace. The scenery was great, once the sun had risen to warm us up.

We passed several wild baboons sitting in the bushes, but the highlight for Dain came at the halfway mark, where the short route merged with the longer one for the final 30 km to the finish. Our timing was perfect, arriving at the water point just as some of the lead riders came through. Dain felt like he was watching the Tour de France all over again, and several more chase groups passed us as we continued to the finish.

The final 10 km of the ride were tough, due to a strong headwind, but we both persevered until we could see the finish. All that was left, was a final sprint up the drag strip to the finishing line!

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Magalies Steam Train Chase 2011

This year, the Magalies Steam Train Chase took place on 9 August, the Women’s Day public holiday. It is a fairly short ride over 38 km, starting at Krugersdorp and finishing in the small town of Magaliesburg. The objective is to finish the ride before the steam train arrives in Magaliesburg.

As this was Dain’s first ever ride on the road, and his first ride on his new road bike, he was extremely excited. I must admit, I was a bit worried about how he would handle the traffic, so I tried to stay as close to him as possible.

Here are the two of us at the start in Krugersdorp:

The ride itself went very smoothly, and Dain coped very well with the traffic, keeping to the side of the road as I had taught him.

About 5 km from the finish, an overtaking car pulled in sharply in front of Dain, startling him. he lost his balance and fell onto the gravel on the shoulder of the road. This shook him up a bit, but after sitting down for a while and letting the paramedics make sure he wasn’t injured, besides a few grazes, he said he was ready to continue with me to the finish. The fall had deflated his front tyre, so I changed it for him while he calmed down. It was only later that I realised he had also bent his rear derailleur, affecting his gearshifts.

Dain and I finished together, crossing the railway line in Magaliesburg just before the steam train.

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Humanity

The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity, said:

“Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”

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