{"id":3775,"date":"2012-07-20T04:39:45","date_gmt":"2012-07-20T08:39:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/?p=3775"},"modified":"2019-12-30T03:46:51","modified_gmt":"2019-12-30T08:46:51","slug":"thoughts-on-sticking-it-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/2012\/07\/thoughts-on-sticking-it-out\/","title":{"rendered":"Thoughts on Sticking it Out"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I hate the feeling of giving up.\u00a0 You probably do, too.<\/p>\n<p>Yet we all have those throw-in-the-towel days.<\/p>\n<p>During our two and a half months biking around Borneo I\u2019ve had plenty of them.<\/p>\n<p>But I stuck it out.\u00a0\u00a0 And I\u2019m glad I did.\u00a0 I think a quick look at the images below will best explain why.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"December 29, 2019\" width=\"750\" height=\"563\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oJ_FO7sfsKE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>I didn&#8217;t always enjoy \u00a0bike touring on Borneo.\u00a0 It was a struggle.\u00a0 The heat, the hills, the palm oil plantations and the deforestation were tough to cope with.<\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re a cycle tourist, then your perseverance has surely been tested. \u00a0 Here are some of my strategies for sticking it out:<\/p>\n<h3>I give myself permission to be miserable.<\/h3>\n<p>I allow myself to whine, to cry, and to curse the engineers who dreamed up a road with an 18% grade. \u00a0I\u2019ve even been known to throw a toddler-like temper tantrum. Sometimes you just have to let off steam.<\/p>\n<h3>I let it pass.<\/h3>\n<p>Wallowing in self-pity is not a long-term solution.\u00a0 But if you\u2019re hot, hungry and physically drained it\u2019s hard to see past that.\u00a0 \u00a0When I want to give up I stop. I eat.\u00a0 \u00a0And sometimes I even hop on a truck.<\/p>\n<h3>I consider the conditions under which I will quit.<\/h3>\n<p>Bicycle touring isn\u2019t always sunshine and tailwinds, but it shouldn\u2019t be a constant struggle either.<\/p>\n<p>If you find yourself dreading another day on the bike over a long period of time something is wrong.<\/p>\n<p>Most of us enjoy the challenge of a steep mountain pass and there\u2019s something to be said for sticking it out across the Sahara, the Nullarbor or the Gobi.\u00a0 \u00a0Usually I hunker down and plow ahead.\u00a0 \u00a0But sometimes the pain and suffering just isn\u2019t worth it<\/p>\n<p>I hit my limit pedaling up a 16% grade climb during a tropical rainstorm on the narrow and busy road between Bontang and Samarinda in East Kalimantan.\u00a0 We were more than a month into the never-ending \u00a0hills of Borneo and I\u2019d had enough.<\/p>\n<p>Hitchhiking to the next town saved my sanity.\u00a0 \u201cTemporarily\u201d quitting meant I was able to stick it out in the long run.<\/p>\n<h3>I let serendipity work its magic.<\/h3>\n<p>Just when I\u2019m at the end of my rope, I\u2019m often gifted some form of encouragement or respite.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe it\u2019s as simple as a big wave from some cheering kids or an offer of a cool drink or hospitality from a stranger.<\/p>\n<p>On the Borneo ride it came in the form of a guy called Hippo.<\/p>\n<p>After a serious breakdown (bicycles, not mental) he tracked us down, crammed our bikes and gear into his vehicle and ferried us off to his little expat oasis. \u00a0Think air-con, hot shower, flush toilet and a swimming pool.\u00a0 After a couple of days of good conversation and comfortable living we were ready to face the world again.\u00a0 That\u2019s magical.<\/p>\n<h3>I focus on the ultimate goal.<\/h3>\n<p>Thinking about the end goal helps me stay focused and gain perspective.<\/p>\n<p>What keeps us pedaling across the torturous Ozarks?\u00a0 We want to cross America.<\/p>\n<p>What makes us push on through the mud and muck of Central Africa?\u00a0 We want to reach Cape Town.<\/p>\n<p>What keeps cyclists going as they battle headwinds in Patagonia?\u00a0 They want to reach Ushuaia.<\/p>\n<p>What helps me face another day of hills on Borneo?\u00a0 I want to cycle every country on the planet.<\/p>\n<p>And the tiny country of Brunei just happens to be situated on the island of Borneo.<\/p>\n<h3>I remind myself \u00a0how lucky I am and focus on the joys.<\/h3>\n<p>At the end of the day, I keep on pedaling because I love bike touring.\u00a0 There\u2019s nothing else I\u2019d rather be doing.\u00a0 I\u2019m curious about why lies ahead and I\u2019m passionate about exploring the planet.<\/p>\n<p>If not bike touring, then what?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I hate the feeling of giving up.\u00a0 You probably do, too. Yet we all have those throw-in-the-towel days. During our two and a half months biking around Borneo I\u2019ve had plenty of them. But I stuck it out.\u00a0\u00a0 And I\u2019m<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3781,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[152,148,311,26,49],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.10 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Thoughts on Sticking it Out - Worldbiking.info<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/2012\/07\/thoughts-on-sticking-it-out\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Thoughts on Sticking it Out - Worldbiking.info\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I hate the feeling of giving up.\u00a0 You probably do, too. 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