A great achievement
When I started riding bicycle in 2002, I would never dare to even think of letting go of the handle bars because as soon as either hand left the bar, I was guaranteed to fall. I made sure that my grip was tight. However, this meant there was no way of drinking water. I had to stop, drink water and continue. Even with the water bag on my back, it was still risky to remove my hand. I had to learn to let go and grab the water nozzle.
This was the way I used to drink water:
- Make sure no cars were coming either way
- Stop pedaling
- Focus where the nozzle is
- Count from 1 to 4
- Grab the nozzle and drink
The result was that my water intake wasn’t enough.
But on Monday I gained enough confidence to let go of the bar and comfortably drink water.
Tuesday was a highlight! I let go of the bars with comfort and kept on cycling.
Now I have a new challenge: to practice doing this so that I can do it with ease in November!
This got me thinking: how many times do I doubt myself? This is only one of many examples. This isn’t a big thing, but many times I need more courage to do the little things. All it took was confidence, but I already had it. I just needed to take hold of it and put it into action.
By Deon Labuschagne
