Monday, November 14, 2022
Recovering from a weekend, almost from hell, I am collecting my thoughts over the experience we had organizing the "Le Dur" MTB Adventure 530 km in the Khomas Region. Le Dur is french for "The Tough One" - like one cyclist put it... he thought we added a nice French tone to an endurance ride to make it sound difficult, however the name do justice to the route destination.
The meaning is hard, durable, strong, determined, rough and you can tolerate difficulty or suffering. It is a MTB adventure of 530km around Windhoek's toughest terrain, and you have 50 hours to complete. This event is done under the Legacy of Love umbrella as it is a fundraiser event to host trauma retreats for children and parents that has lost loved ones. Pierre Lambert, came 1st in the Le Dur 2022, started this journey last year alone, to raise funds for trauma retreats for children going through loss. Eventually it was decided lets go bigger and let more people enter. Let's make it official. We hoped for 15 entries. At the end there were 32 plus 2 social woman's relay teams, which I was part of.
My mind is going back to the question: Why would people willingly engage in something that brings so much suffering to your body. Is it bravery or stupidity or maybe a combination of both. Experts say due to a common neural overlap, this 'physical pain offset' may incidentally alter activity in some areas of the brain associated with emotional pain. As a result, physical pain offset may reduce emotional pain and cause relief. Now, for that I can relate.. I started cycling as it was part of the Legacy of Love projects and wanted to participate and not stand on the sideline. As soon as I started to push myself outside my comfort zone and start the endurance route it was like I'm both really powerful and really vulnerable at the same time when I'm on the bike. Even as tears splattered across the bike so many times, I found that it drives me to ride harder and faster. I get into a zone of me, my God, my child, my thoughts, my heartache. A lot of times the fact that Lumé had to suffer that last couple of hours and did not have air in her lungs to breath push me to limits that I want to feel that pain to make it somehow reasonable for me... It sounds insane, and maybe difficult to understand, but that is where my mind goes when I am either in a competition or event where I race. Also to ride endurance for the most part it allows me to just have that alone time, downtime, where people aren't talking to you or putting their opinions to you. It is such a relief for me. Like Pierre Lambert put it: "The pain is temporary but the pain of losing someone, especially a child is permanent, and that is why I do it.." This year Pierre dedicated his adventure to his brother that passed away one week before this journey. This was very real for him. He finished in a record time of 31 hours and 20 minutes with 541 km.
This was far more and far surpassed what I imagined the Le Dur would be. It's about experiencing something that is bigger than you. It's about building character, digging deep into yourself to find that one thing that can push you through. It's about anticipation of what, where and who... It's about resilience, raw nature - the hidden, the remote, just the way that the Namibian landscape can provide. It's putting things and us into perspective. It's about the adventure, pushing limits - the thrill. Riding in the scorching sun, first hand experience of raging wind and then under the stars in the quiet night as you enter the loose river sands and hear all sorts of night sounds, and then endless hills that are rocky and rough. It's about learning, but most of all having a memory that can stay with you for the rest of your life.
We had the privilege to experience this adventure from more than one point of view.... an organizer, sort out support and waterpoints, doing crises management and as a participant, and driving the whole route in a vehicle with no sleep. After 20 hours of no sleep and doing what you are suppose to do with any event, I climb on the bike to ride the part from Wilhelmstal to Otjimbingwe 63 km at 01:15 in the morning. I was tired to begin with, and just hoped the adrenalin will kick in sooner than later. After 2h50min on the bike with patches thick sand that stretch for 30km, I arrived at Ojimbingwe, very very cold. I drove with our support vehicle from Otjimbingwe to the C28 by following a jeep track. Well I have to say you needed one of those vehicles from the movie Mad Max. Riding a 4x4 there is risky let alone a bicycle. No sleep on that road, due to all the shaking. Waiting at the finish line for riders was brutal. Staying awake, have a happy face and be excited tested me to the core, and I'm sure for my husband even more.
This alone was tough for me, tested my character and my mood. However, I learned so much more on how much you can endure, and lessons from the other participants. Life lessons from an adventure not for the faint of heart. Like one solo rider said.. all he could think of when it got impossible was "Accept, Adapt, Endure and move forward. Words that stuck with him from a speech of the main sponsor on Thursday night. That kept him going. I saw riders sucking it up, pushing through regardless. I saw uplifting spirits even though they were "moer" toe... (depleted in strength and energy) I saw courage (strength in the face of pain or grief) and resilience.
I learned that you cannot do this without coffee, especially in the morning hours. Be prepared for the worst scenario. I saw a camaraderie with teams and support and most of all I learned that there is still a lot of people in our community with hearts as big as elephants. Now this inspire me to a next level of belief. Belief in the impossible. Belief, what you cannot see. Belief in what you can overcome. We will grief the loss of our child forever and yes it is painful, but we can:
Accept: Accept the things you cannot change...
Adapt: Become adapted to new conditions
Endure: To experience and bear something difficult, painful, or unpleasant. Suffering can make us more resilient, better able to endure hardships.
Move Forward: Making progress, maintain your pace, move forward despite of obstacles.
Having the privilege to learn and be part of something bigger, something that makes a difference, and share intimate moments with people that have the biggest hearts, makes me feel really humble in my journey of overcoming and enduring.
II Corinthians 4:8-9 “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”
