Two Brothers and a Belief

As a 60^th birthday present to myself this year, I decided to ride my 18 year old Trek 2100 around the Cabot Trail.  The Trail is located in my home Province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The auxiliary benefits were going to be reconnecting with my brother, who among other skills is a coach and visiting with my family who I hadn’t seen in more than a year.

The ride was going to require careful planning: Nutrition (no more chips and chocolate for a while), Fitness and something that I hadn’t really thought about….”belief in myself”.  More on that later.

When my brother and I got around to talking about the ride we discussed the route, preparation, timing and doing the ride together.  The Cabot Trail is 300kms long over very challenging terrain including a few Category 4s and one Category 2 climb. We had 9 months to prepare.

So far so good….not so fast!!  There was a condition, my brother agreed to coach me, however, not for the two or three day ride that I was planning, but for one day only. First glitch in the “I believe in myself”, mantra. So after the hysterical laughing…the silence on the other end of the phone said…”Are you In”

The second glitch in the “I Believe” chant came four months later.  My brother injured his knee while training, surgeons confirmed my worst fear, I would be doing this ride alone.  The third glitch, I didn’t believe in myself!!  It was time to….. “Follow My Heart and Bring Along My Head”

I was reminded by my wife Helen that she and my brother had invested time, love and most important belief in me, quitting was not an option.

August 1^st, 2011

Cabot Trail Sole Ride: 300kms, 14 hrs. 15,500 calories burned and 5 climbs.

“I Believe”

http://www.novascotia.com/en/home/ourregions/scenic_travelways/cabot_trail/map.aspx,