The Moment

Cycling is quite different to almost any other sport. Everyone, no matter what level they are at can experience moments that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.

Those who race might be able to vividly recall decisive moments that led to victory, and the unique feeling deep inside that victory gave them. However, it is far more common for cyclists to be able to vividly recall moments, very often at the top of a climb, when time itself presses pause.

When you are on your deathbed and your entire life flashes before your eyes what will be the moment that you will press pause upon?

People sometimes say it is the birth of their children, something that happens on average 2.2 times during the average lifetime. There will of course be days or occasions that you remember with your family that bring a smile to your face and these are indeed highlights of your life.

Others say it is the day they got married, average once per lifetime.

Very few will pick a moment from their entire working career, averaging 93,600 hours. Even someone who really enjoys their job and is obsessive about it would rarely pick one moment from their working life as the highlight of their time here on earth.

Recently I had a client in for a bike fit. He showed me the screensaver image on his phone. It was a photo of him cresting the summit of an alpine climb and he said that it is a moment that he will press pause upon when he is on his deathbed looking back upon his life.

How often do we take those moments for granted?

I have been at the summit of climbs surrounded by incredible scenery in unique locations and almost immediately heard the phrase ‘Right, let’s go’, and we tear off down the other side without truly appreciating the uniqueness of the moment.

One year on the Etape de Tour we were riding up Mont Ventoux in 40 degree heat through forest from Bedoin. There were people collapsing off their bikes from heat exhaustion laying on the road. I definitely had a touch of it myself. Chalet Reynard was like an oasis in the desert and no matter how much the coke, water and baguette cost it was money well spent. Sitting on a wooden bench, watching cyclists in all sorts of agony stream on by the thought struck me that I had seen very little of the spectacular route up to that point. I was all head down, arse up staring at the wheels in front, and for what? To finish in the first 500 if I was lucky. What would be the difference between 499th and 4099th place on the day? The finishers medal was the same for everyone, but some would be making more memories than others.

From there on, even though it was only 6km to the top I decided to take it all in. I bumped into Niko Eeckhout and we chatted about Kurt, Sean and the An Post team. Then I stopped at the Tom Simpson monument and thought about the last moments of his life as they passed before him on that very spot. I left a bidon behind as I rejoined the vast array of cyclists on the mountain again. 2k from the top there was a couple from Cork standing beside a campervan with a big Irish flag. They gave me a shout of encouragement when they realised I was Irish and my speed was so slow that we even had a brief conversation about where we all were from. At the final hairpin a guy sprinted past me on the inside and beat me to the line for a place something like 2028th or whatever. I remember very little about the first 174km of that day but I remember a lot about the last 6km.

I have stood at the summit of the Stelvio and felt my eyes well up. The first time I was there, my friend Andrew who I was rooming with showed me his screensaver. It was September, and since January 1st it had been an image of the Stelvio. He was a very successful businessman with a huge amount going on in his life, but his biggest goal for the year was to climb the Stelvio. The huge smile on his face at the summit was bright enough to melt the snow and I can still vividly picture it to this day. The second time I reached the summit Andrew was no longer with us due to a tragic accident. With his initials on my jersey I could almost feel his presence beside me at the top and needed a moment to get my head around it.

The top of climbs are where many moments are made. Everyone needs their own opportunity to make their moments. If you are a great climber and get to the top 30 minutes before the last person in your group you must give them the time to make their moment too. Even on a Sunday spin the last person to the top needs time to recover and gather themselves. If you are concerned about getting cold then turn around at the top and go down past the last person and ride back up again, or ride the climb at their pace and then you won’t be waiting around too long and you get to enjoy all of your surroundings.

Whenever you get a chance to make a ‘moment’ embrace the opportunity and take the time to take it all in. Chances are you might never get the same chance again.

Barry