Less than a week and nervous as all hell

I have been to the Doctor. I Went for my follow up visit and spent an hour in his company. He advised me on my diet, what to and not to do. He gave me lecture on stress and the effect on our bodies, the lack of Vitamin D, the dangers of the wrong carbs and the perils of drinking. There was no compromise of "have the occasional drink" or "drink in moderation". It was just "stop drinking". 

 I put it down to him being a totally ‘goodie goodie’. He had the softest hands, man or woman, I have ever felt, thus he can’t possibly understand the ways of the ‘real’ world right? Bloody sheltered Mama’s boy; How can a man survive without a drink (or with soft palms) ?? Well, I am not about to find out. Lets see if I can bring the counts down while I still indulge in on of my great pleasures.

He also prescribed a list of meds and supplements and a regular exercise regime, including strength training that I have clearly neglected over the past few months. He was thorough and patient and did take the time to walk me through each negative in the long list of negatives that were my test results. On the bright side, I don’t have Hepatitis A or B and I don’t have HIV. Yet. !!!

During my conversation I mentioned to him that I was taking on ‘The Pearl’. He gave me an incredulous look and says “well… I’ll just prescribe twenty days worth of meds as you are going to kill yourself”. I wish I could put a goggle-eyed ‘imoji’ at this point, as that’s what I felt like when I heard this.

He then, thankfully laughed, not very convincingly and said, “i was kidding, just make sure you hydrate, take the pills for your blood pressure and take it easy”; a little more reassuring than his first utterances but not as convincing as I wish he would have been.

Why am I nervous?? The Doc has nothing to do with it. I have sat and watched a reputed physician do a mathematical calculation and tell me why people should die at 19,000 feet if they don’t take oxygen. I am still very much alive, yo this type of medical hysteria is not new to me. It is a combination of non-medical factors that are giving me the ‘heebie jeebies’.

For one, I am in terrible shape. Forget the bulges where they shouldn’t be, but the way I feel; Lethargic and creaky, stiff and achy. Next, I have been traveling so much during the past few months that I have had far from ideal sleep patterns, diet or time on the bike. 

I would have liked to have spent more time riding. Just getting out there and getting my body used to the 8 hours in a saddle that it has to look forward to. Instead I have spent many an hour in airline seats, hotel rooms and on restaurant and bar stools. Instead of wracking up the miles and the hours, I have piled on the calories and the air miles. Hardly the best preparation for an endurance bike ride. 

Then there is the heat. Now, I know those of you who know me well, know how much I hate the heat. I was not born to deal with anything more than 24 degrees Celsius and the idea of spending hour upon hour in over 35 degree heat is enough to make me want to quit this before we even get on the bikes. I was seriously pursuing the options of some kind of ‘cool suit’ or portable cooling device, both of which were scratched off the list for obvious reasons. Hydration will have to be spot on in this weather. Do we have the right combinations of electrolytes? Do we have the right nutrition? This type of endurance riding is new to most people on the ride, are we taking this too lightly?

Thirdly, there is the traffic. We are riding along one of Sri Lanka’s busiest arteries, The Galle Road. A road full of manic bus drivers, suicidal tuk tuk’s pedestrians and a fairly random collection of domestic animals that seem to dice with death quite unconcerned. Charlene and I particularly are not used to this level of congestion on the roads and this could prove an additional challenge.

But, there is the overriding excitement and anticipation of actually getting down to doing this. To many of us, the possession of our first bicycle was a massive event in our life. To me, it was freedom. I could escape. Go wherever I wanted to and feel the wind in my once full head of long hair. This sense of joy and freedom still remains. However, with the onset of year and kilo's the joy quickly departs at the mere sight of the first hill.

Thus mounting our bikes with a group of guys ( and one girl) who are fundamentally out to go out and ride a bicycle and combining it with raising money for a very charitable cause has a strong personal appeal. We are a group of individuals who don’t necessarily know each other but over the next few days will forge a bond through the common achievement. I have experienced this before on TRAIL and on several tough mountain treks. It’s an amazing phenomenon. It’s a life long bond that seems to be strengthened if the experience is one that will test you and push you to your limits; the tougher the test the tougher the bond.

While I don’t disagree that such bonds could be formed over a less testing activity such as endurance carom (if such a thing should exist), there is something about shared suffering, pain, mental and physical exhaustion, that brings people together like no other. Knowing there is someone next to you, feeling the same pain and sticking with it, is an amazing bond and I look forward to that more than anything else.

The inevitable camaraderie and banter, the bickering of a few, and the true characters of people that emerges only when really tested, both mentally and physically. I always felt that the adrenaline pumping through your veins before running onto a rugby field was akin to a primal feeling of ‘going to war’. This ride is really, no different. You suit up early morning, you gather your troops, mount your steeds and head out. All very dramatic I know but all somewhat the same.

Yasas and Ajith our fearless leaders have assured us that this is a ‘smell the roses’ ride. In other words, we are not going to be pelting down the road at ungodly speeds. We are hoping to maintain average speeds of under 25kmph and I am hoping this would ensure my creaky legs would endure. There are scheduled ‘stretch and nutrition’ breaks planned every 1.5 hours and a longer break after 100km. This means that the ride will be broken down into manageable chunks.

We have some concern about elephants on some stretches. The Katharagama- Bundala stretch being one and the Lahugala stretch being the other. These big boys and girls tend to congregate around the roadside, more on the look out for a free handout of food from passersby than as pedestrians, but have been known to be grumpy and short tempered, and not averse to ‘charging’ any vehicle they consider a threat in anyway.

I have had the pleasure at being charged by one particularly grumpy young lady while in my 4WD and have no desire to have that experience repeated while I am on a bicycle.

Thus plans have been made for ‘close escorts’ and later departures to ensure we don’t come across these Pachyderms at dawn. At least we will have the advantage of visibility if there is good light. We are also planning on riding through Wilpattu National Park which is a leg I am really looking forward to. This will be on Mountain Bikes due to the rough terrain and takes us through some sensational jungle country with more of our four legged friends to look out for. 

While we have planned for the foreseeable, there are many unforeseen challenges that will hurl out of the blues. This is where the strength and character of this bunch will be tested. This is all a part of the team experience. I am sure we will handle it. 

While I write this, I am seated about 35,000 feet above sea level on a flight back home. It appears that the weather gods are not happy today and we are bouncing along like a rubber ball across the Bay of Bengal. I am sleep deprived, jet lagged and badly in need of a good shower and my bed. My plan this evening is to ride my stationary bike for a minimum of an hour and tomorrow morning, do a ride of at least 50kms if not 75. Sunday, I will try and do one longer ride and then a shorter ride on Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday I rest and Thursday we take on The Pearl.

Three productive days on the bike, in preparation for 10 days of 150km’s each. I guess being nervous isn’t unreasonable but 'fuck it' . Life is short and this is a bicycle ride. it's a fun ride right?? Lets go out and have fun. Prepared or not, lets give it our best shot. Its all in the experience. We will do the best we can and enjoy the experience to its absolute limit. We will 'suck the marrow' out of this one.