Lifecycle summed up

Yesterday I missed the group Sunday ride as I was participating in the last event of the Equestrian season, organised by the Malta Equestrian Federation.

Having said that, this does not mean that I missed the actual training, as I undertook the planned 80km route, on my own on Saturday morning - and I sorely missed my cycling buddies.

Since I was not present to give my side of yesterday's story, I am publishing, with his kind permission, Alan's weekly write up , which sums up a lot of my many thoughts regarding Lifecycle.

Read on and enjoy!


"That was a 20km loop today, and already some of you are realising just what all this is about. Hours and hours of training sacrificing your family and friends around a small island which you not only are familiar with but which you get sick of the sight of. Saturday evenings become a non starter, holidays sacrificed as you need the leave time for the event. New cycling equipment and all the gizmo’s required for the trip mean money will be tight. Spare time at a minimum and that’s before the challenge starts.

Over there it is more long hours on a bike, days on end with no proper recovery. Sometimes those hours are spent with friends but invariably there will be periods when you find yourself alone. Strange country, tired body and psychological warfare going on in your brain. Basic field conditions each night and the odd accommodation which is not exactly “what the brochure” promised.

So what the hell are we doing this for? Why do we all volunteer for such hardship? Well of course we would love to convince ourselves that it’s all because of the cause and that it’s a sense of public duty but it goes far deeper than that. We all like to get ourselves out of the comfort zone we live in. We get turned on by the challenge, we need to test ourselves, find out what makes us tick. We need the adventure, to form a bond with like-minded people and hopefully come out of all this a better person.

Of course some of you will identify with the spiritual side of all this and there is no doubt that by identifying with your inner self you may hit on something that is hard to explain in tangible terms. One thing’s for sure and that is if you believe this to be just any old endurance event then you really will get a surprise and are missing the whole point.

Whist you spend 11 days on a bike some man or woman will be dragging themselves to the renal unit three times. They sit down on a couch probably donated by this organisation and have a large needle inserted into their arm which is connected to a machine also probably donated by this organisation. They will then spend the next 4 hours having their blood changed due to their dysfunctional kidneys being unable to do the job. Imagine the despair, the feeling of inadequacy. Fears for the present, fears for the future? It’s all there believe me. But you are lucky enough to be able to help them, to make their lives better.

Next time we start feeling sorry for ourselves let’s try using that image as an inspiration. Let’s focus on what the main reason for all this effort regardless of any personal goals.

Life Cycle is what it is because we try and bring to the attention, the plight of the patients in their daily struggle. By doing such an extreme event we get the attention of the media and sponsors and therefore raise the funds required to keep that man or woman on that machine.

Don’t know about you but I think apart from all the other reasons you are doing this for, that’s a pretty good reason for making those sacrifices we mentioned earlier?"

Highlighted text reproduced with kind permission from the author Alan Curry