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Keep On Moving Forward

This spring I went on an adventure.  As it turns out, my adventure is a pretty good recipe for success.

My motto during the adventure was "Keep Moving Forward!"

Four friends and I decided to ride the Kokopelli Trail.  This is a mountain bike trail that runs from Fruita Colorado to Moab Utah.  It is 150 miles of very tough riding.

Going into the ride, I had concerns about my ability to complete this ride.  Simply put, I had not prepared enough.  The longest training ride I had done was 20 miles and I was exhausted after that.  Now I needed to do three 50 mile days in a row.

I decided that as long as I kept moving forward I would be all right.

I kept this idea, Keep Moving Forward, in mind throughout the ride.

When I came to really steep sections of the trail, I got off my bike and walked.  I have the ability to ride those sections but the energy it would have cost me was too much.  As long as I was walking, I was still moving forward.

My goal was to complete the ride and if walking 50 yards here and there helped me to complete that goal then I was fine with that.  In fact, there are numerous mandatory hike-a -bike sections on the trail that nobody can ride.  I just had a few more hike-a-bikes.

This strategy served me well.  I kept moving forward and I completed my goal.

Other elements were necessary in order for me to keep moving forward and achieve my goal.  (Do you have these elements in place to support you to keep on moving forward?)

Support:
Jason’s dad drove sag.  He met us about every 20 miles with food, water, tools to fix our bikes and our camping gear.  Without him, we wouldn’t have been able to complete the ride.

We also had the support of each other and of friendship.  This helped immensely.  (What’s your support?)

Rest and Recovery:
Part of moving forward is taking breaks where you are not moving forward.  Without stopping to rest, eat and sleep we wouldn’t have succeeded.  In the face of stress and effort, we still needed to take care of ourselves.  (How do you rest and recover?)

Snacks:
I ate a lot of powerbars and other energy snacks on the trail.  Whenever I would start to feel tired, I would put some more fuel in my tank which would allow me to keep moving forward.  Without these snacks, I would not have succeeded.  (What are the "snacks" that put fuel in your tank?)

The Right Equipment:
Obviously the right equipment was an important part of being able to complete the ride.  A road bike would have been destroyed 5 miles into the ride.  This is a serious mountain bike trail.

I also needed my pump and a spare tube.

My camelback carries 120 oz of water, has storage for tools, food and extra layers of clothes.  (Do you have the right equipment?)

Trail Map:
All of the other things I have mentioned would have been useless without a plan of where we were going and a map to guide us.  (Do you have a map and a plan?)

Remember, your success is a long journey.  As long as you Keep Moving Forward , you constantly move closer to achieving your goal.