After an incredible experience on the HotChillee London to Paris ride, I wondered if my usual mundane life would ever be the same again? Of course, some months on, it is, but a small part of me has changed forever. Not physically as I continued through the summer to train hard for all the events lined up in the days and weeks to come, not even a mental change as my usual mild obsessive-compulsive doctrines continue to prevail. But certainly a philosophical shift and more significantly too, a change in my soul.
This has been reinforced by a spectacular summer of sport. London 2012 on both an Olympic and Paralympic platform has captured the hearts and minds of the nation in much the same way. These events we have watched, cheered on, marvelled at and celebrated are changing perceptions forever.
As a collective, we have been drawn into the drama, the stories of supreme commitment and endeavour of years and years of preparation, of sacrifice, of blood, of sweat, and tears. Success does not come easy but victory is compelling.
More importantly though perceptions have been challenged and rewritten, and this resonates strongly with my own experiences of 2012.
Earlier on this year I confronted a demon when undertaking to run a marathon after a ten year break. I managed to dismiss expectations (my own of course) of competitiveness and ran to raise money for charity. I finally got it, that how fast I could run was not a measure of how worthy a person I was.
If that was a thought trickling into my consciousness then riding London to Paris with the team from Stoke Mandeville and three of the most courageous and determined guys I have ever met was a veritable monsoon. Maybe that was my damascene moment, the realisation of the reward of endeavour outside of my own selfish sphere. Sure I've had brilliant moments in my life when I have achieved something special, I've stood atop a podium and heard the National Anthem being played, albeit as a junior member of a team. I have punched the air in joy and unbridled elation at my own success. But nothing matches the pleasure I have experienced this year in a "support" role.
Supporting GB athletes, both Olympic and Paralympic, from the arena's and stadia, the streets or our living rooms has reached into our hearts. Here perceptions have been comprehensively revised; Locog put on a brilliant show, the games makers were a spectacular success and the athletes were incredible and inspirational. Newspaper inches were filled with stories of success rather than bemoaning dissatisfactory performances as seemed previously to be the norm. Millions of people turned up and tuned in to support, cheer and applaud. How bloody brilliant. Boundaries were pushed out, limits eradicated. A revolution of good spirit, of good cheer. A revelation! [Not just during the Olympics were perceptions challenged, this summer a British man from a British team won the Tour de France and a British man won a tennis Grand Slam, who would've thought that possible?]
Although the games were soon ending, just last week I was lucky enough to have the Alpine Challenge (www.TheAlpineChallenge.com) to continue the theme, a three-day multi-stage cycling event based in Annecy, where I was participating as a Ride Captain for HotChillee. Allocated to Group 4, our goal was to complete rather than compete, a concept I'm getting rather accustomed to. Using various strategies of motivation, and sometimes just plain old physical assistance we all made it through over 300k of riding and more than 5000m of climbing. Here too was plenty of evidence of altered perceptions; riders who hadn't before, who didn't believe they could, DID. It was another privilege to watch the transformation, bodies were battered and exhausted but minds were not beaten. Success for those at the back end was every bit as rich as those contesting the winner's jersey upfront. And proof that sport is for all; for those at the sharp end, the supremely talented Olympian, for those willing to push through disability and life-changing injuries, and for you and I, whatever our shape, size, sex or any other limitations we had previously shrouded ourselves in. The veil of CAN'T does not exist.
To conclude, rather shamelessly I have stolen the strapline from the outstanding organisation that has played such a major part in my wonderful year of 2012, HotChillee "a world without limits". Pretty apt. Go smash those boundaries, explore new frontiers, dare to believe. This summer has shown us that it is all possible, just hard work required.
This has been reinforced by a spectacular summer of sport. London 2012 on both an Olympic and Paralympic platform has captured the hearts and minds of the nation in much the same way. These events we have watched, cheered on, marvelled at and celebrated are changing perceptions forever.
As a collective, we have been drawn into the drama, the stories of supreme commitment and endeavour of years and years of preparation, of sacrifice, of blood, of sweat, and tears. Success does not come easy but victory is compelling.
More importantly though perceptions have been challenged and rewritten, and this resonates strongly with my own experiences of 2012.
Earlier on this year I confronted a demon when undertaking to run a marathon after a ten year break. I managed to dismiss expectations (my own of course) of competitiveness and ran to raise money for charity. I finally got it, that how fast I could run was not a measure of how worthy a person I was.
If that was a thought trickling into my consciousness then riding London to Paris with the team from Stoke Mandeville and three of the most courageous and determined guys I have ever met was a veritable monsoon. Maybe that was my damascene moment, the realisation of the reward of endeavour outside of my own selfish sphere. Sure I've had brilliant moments in my life when I have achieved something special, I've stood atop a podium and heard the National Anthem being played, albeit as a junior member of a team. I have punched the air in joy and unbridled elation at my own success. But nothing matches the pleasure I have experienced this year in a "support" role.
Supporting GB athletes, both Olympic and Paralympic, from the arena's and stadia, the streets or our living rooms has reached into our hearts. Here perceptions have been comprehensively revised; Locog put on a brilliant show, the games makers were a spectacular success and the athletes were incredible and inspirational. Newspaper inches were filled with stories of success rather than bemoaning dissatisfactory performances as seemed previously to be the norm. Millions of people turned up and tuned in to support, cheer and applaud. How bloody brilliant. Boundaries were pushed out, limits eradicated. A revolution of good spirit, of good cheer. A revelation! [Not just during the Olympics were perceptions challenged, this summer a British man from a British team won the Tour de France and a British man won a tennis Grand Slam, who would've thought that possible?]
Although the games were soon ending, just last week I was lucky enough to have the Alpine Challenge (www.TheAlpineChallenge.com) to continue the theme, a three-day multi-stage cycling event based in Annecy, where I was participating as a Ride Captain for HotChillee. Allocated to Group 4, our goal was to complete rather than compete, a concept I'm getting rather accustomed to. Using various strategies of motivation, and sometimes just plain old physical assistance we all made it through over 300k of riding and more than 5000m of climbing. Here too was plenty of evidence of altered perceptions; riders who hadn't before, who didn't believe they could, DID. It was another privilege to watch the transformation, bodies were battered and exhausted but minds were not beaten. Success for those at the back end was every bit as rich as those contesting the winner's jersey upfront. And proof that sport is for all; for those at the sharp end, the supremely talented Olympian, for those willing to push through disability and life-changing injuries, and for you and I, whatever our shape, size, sex or any other limitations we had previously shrouded ourselves in. The veil of CAN'T does not exist.
To conclude, rather shamelessly I have stolen the strapline from the outstanding organisation that has played such a major part in my wonderful year of 2012, HotChillee "a world without limits". Pretty apt. Go smash those boundaries, explore new frontiers, dare to believe. This summer has shown us that it is all possible, just hard work required.
