Month: January 2018

Lessons from a Super Randonneur

By gaucho

On January 15, 2018

In Escapades, Reflections

Hello there 🙂

It’s my 25th post on this Blog. Hope this one doesn’t disappoint just like the others didn’t.

*Wink Wink*

1500 Kilometres on Bike.
100.5 hours of journey.

The Brevet timeline was this:

2017

July 8: First 200 BRM
Nov 6: Second 200 BRM
Nov 26: 300 BRM
Dec 16: 400 BRM

2018

Jan 6: 600 BRM

I definitely picked up a thing or two over this period of time and distance. Let’s jump right in!!

1. You are the Average of the 3 riders you ride with!

My first two 200 Brevets, I used to either listen to podcasts or music while Cycling. This, to a large extent had an effect on my pace because I didn’t set a standard for me push for. Both the Brevets ended up being close calls. The first one I finished 7 minutes late and the second one I finished just a minute early.

And then in the 300 BRM, I managed to finish 35 minutes early to the deadline. And the 400 BRM, an hour early. What changed?

After learning from my mistakes, I decided to set myself a target pace and what better way to ride fast than to ride with faster riders. I joined and tried to be as close as possible to three other riders who were riding together – Mr. Ranjit, Ashish and Karthik. Though they were a bit fast and I couldn’t keep up with them at times, I still managed to be in close range of them reaching checkpoints just 3-5 minutes after they did. In the end, finished 35 minutes earlier along with them.

This worked in 400 BRM as well. I maintained a good pace till the halfway mark as I tried to be in close range to Ashish. I finished 60 minutes earlier this time. And in the 600 BRM, I tried to be in close range Colonel Devender Singh after the halfway mark. It was very testing as I had constantly push myself to stay close by.

That’s what setting a standard to reach does to you. You are constantly in check of yourself and you don’t slack seeing the other cyclists move past you.

So,

Evaluate yourself. What are the 5 books you recently read, 5 hours you recently spent on, 5 people you most hangout with, 5 favorite movies of yours, 5 websites you most visit, 5 Youtube channels you most watch and the list goes on.
When you set a new goal, increase your proximity with the people whom you think have already reached there.
Want to improve your technical knowledge, spend time and ask questions to people who already are strong at it.
Want to improve your confidence, spend time with people who are already confident and learn the nuances from them.

2. Confidence is Preparation

Just after starting the 400 km Brevet, I was riding alongside Ashish and he casually asked me how many practice rides I had done leading up to the 400. 20 kilometers is all I had done in the 20 day gap between 300 and 400. He was slightly shocked and reprimanded me for not respecting my body and pushing it all of a sudden. And in fact I did push my body. It couldn’t anticipate what was coming. And my body did react. Cramps, knee pains, extreme discomfort because I was wearing new cycling shorts directly on the day of the Brevet. I couldn’t correctly time my sleep and I was riding alone most of the Brevet.
Another mental block I had was that I didn’t know how to fix a flat in case it occurred. I would have to wait for a good Samaritan to help me. And another huge mistake was not carrying a hand pump along with me. Almost all riders were having a hand pump of different valve size(Presta) and the bike I was riding had a Schradder valve. In case I had some air issues or a flat in the middle of nowhere or in the night, I might have had to drop out from the Brevet.

I didn’t want to repeat the same mistakes again.

So leading up to the 600, I tried to as prepared as possible. Along with Ashish, I did a 100 km night ride to Yadigirigutta and back, a week after doing a 50 km night ride along Hussain Sagar. All these along with small distances of 10-15 kms plus a night ride a day before the Brevet and also a warm up ride the morning of the Brevet. A total mileage of 250 kms. I was now confident of my body handling itself.

I also gathered all the necessary equipment which I didn’t previously have. Goggles, wind cheater, patch kit, hand pump, mechanical kit. All set even for a mechanical failure. That boosted my confidence a lot.

When you prepare for the worst case scenario, you are completely confident. And you enjoy the ride!

So,

Next time you have an interview, do a background check. Prepare for all the questions you might be asked.
Next time you are giving a speech, practice as much as possible. You end up focusing on the content and message rather than on your irrational fears.

3. Being at your Best is not a Luxury, but a Necessity

2nd 200 BRM. Last final stretch from the start of Microsoft Hill to HBC, Gachibowli. I looked at my phone for one last time to check the time and the distance. Just enough time to ride easy and reach there. I then put my phone back in the pocket. Since I was drained of energy already, the first thought that came to my mind was to take it slow on the hill. But then, I had a premonition- that something similar to my previous 200 BRM where I was late by just 7 minutes might happen.
I pushed through the hill, raced through the traffic – all this while not having an idea about the time. I didn’t slack even for a bit throughout the final stretch. And when I reached the finish, I got the shock of my life.

I was just a minute early to the finish.

What if I slacked even for a bit? What if I let my legs rest even for a while.

This taught me a very important lesson. About being and giving your best even when you think you can slack. In this time of cut throat competition, being your best at all times is not a Luxury but a necessity. Not an option but a requirement.

So,

Next time you think of slacking. Even a bit. Maybe take a nap or facebook scrolling. Don’t. Be the best version of yourself at all times to be the BEST!

4. Only YOU can Define/Defy your limits

I talked about my 2nd 200 BRM. But my favorite and most memorable was my first 200 BRM.

Background: I wanted to become a Randonnuer before the Audax season ends in October 2017. I didn’t have a bike of my own back then(even now :p), so I borrowed it from my friend. For the same reason, I wanted to complete the Brevet on time at any cost and do the remaining brevets when I get a bike of my own. I was a bit overconfident at the start, that I complete half an hour before the deadline. I even asked my dad to reach the venue early to pick me up.

How wrong could I be?

I had to complete the last 10 kilometres in the last half an hour (that’s how I remember it). It seemed impossible to me. I had run out of both food and water to get back the energy I now had run out of. Strong urge to give up. Should I?

15 seconds later

I mustered every ounce of strength. After repeated screaming whenever my body pleaded to give up, I pedaled and pedaled and pedaled. Unexpected traffic in the last 3 kilometers came as a surprise but I still pedaled and pedaled whizzing through the traffic. I reached 7 minutes late.

Though the disappointment occupied my mind for the initial hours, upon later reflection I was amazed at how I pushed my body’s limits. Never before did I do anything of this sort. It was revelation to me. That our body and mind can be pushed beyond their limits.

I was so passionate of this incident that when I was competing in a major public speaking competition by Toastmasters, this was what I talked about. And I ended up getting the 2nd place with a huge trophy and a macbook air as the prize. Do check out the speech to realize the importance of having a strong WHY and about pushing through your limits.

So,

Next time, you think you have reached your limit. Think again. You haven’t! Be it in an interview or a negotiation or feeling tired of studying/learning. You can always up your ante.
Sometimes, you might be disappointed by your result at one particular point of time. But if you carefully pick your learnings from it, it might set you up for later success. A favorite failure in fact.
You only have the right to focus on your efforts and not on your results and rewards. Even the Gita echoes the same. The results are never in our hand(even if you think otherwise), because we are not the center of the universe and a lot of factors come into play.

5. You just gotta Keep Cycling

For me, cycling is going through two distinct phases.

Ebb and Flow!

The Flow: smooth downhills(or any downhill for that matter), relaxed talks with fellow riders, having the company of a group, tasty food and snacks you eat upon the pretext of burning calories, nightly escape from the sun.

It’s easy to cycle when you are in your Flow.

Then comes the Ebb:the testing uphills, unforgiving sun, chilling cold, cramps, knee pains, wrist pains, all kinds of pains, riding alone for large stretches without any moral support you get when you see another fellow cyclist, flats and mechanical failures, sour cravings because all the snacks you have are sweet and much much more.

This is when you get tested and a chance to push your limits.

In the 400 BRM, I was riding alone in the dark for 30-40 kilometers at one particular stretch around 2 pm. No one in sight. Mental pangs. I was in a emotionally weak state then. That’s when Colonel Devender Singh Duhan passed along and when I shared this, he said “You might think that riders ahead of you have it easy but remember that everyone riding their Brevet has their own challenges they have to face. You just got to keep cycling”.

So,

Next time you have a bad interview, try to focus on you what you did wrong rather than waste your remaining day brooding over it.
Next time you feel you are having a bad day, don’t go into a self negative loop. Stretch, walk, jog, shower- do whatever to keep you moving.

6. To get Help, you need to Ask First

I was hesitant in doing the Brevets because I didn’t have a bike of my own. It was very difficult for me to request repeatedly. Vijay Sir was kind enough to lend me his cycle for all the four Brevets. Most of the required things for the Brevet- be it spare tubes, lights, patch kit, hand pump, etc. I borrowed all of them too. I had to request multiple people.

(In Pic: The Beast Vijay Sir lent me)

There were times when I was a lot far from the starting point and I had to cycle there. I wouldn’t have been able to on time. I had to call out for help from passing by trolleys and mini trucks. Some rejected but there were many kind hearts who offered to drop me nearby without expecting anything in return.

A lot of us hesitate at asking. Be it with the doubts in our class or in times of need.

The universe doesn’t just hand you things. You have to go out and ask. Ask for help if needed. Because there are many people who might have gone through the same and they wouldn’t mind helping you if you show the required determination. Asking for help does not make you weak!

So,

Next time you need help, ask for it. Don’t shy away. We are all here to help each other.

Just receiving help is not the end. Whenever you have the chance give back to the society(or your cycling community). It should be a Chain Reaction as Mr. Sanjeev said when speaking about how riders who join a club bring in their friends who bring in theirs and thus spreading the joy of cycling.

(In Pic: Celebratory ride after my SR)

That’s how it went folks. Grateful enough to have taken these takeaways. Hope you keep them in mind and find it useful in future. You might have noticed the more references to interviews. It’s because I’m in my final semester of engineering and that’s the point of focus at this time 😉

Do comment down the lesson which you related the most to. Would love to hear 🙂
If you liked this format, do check out my previous post: 21 Life Lessons at 21.

And as always, Don’t forget to follow my blog if you haven’t already. Lot’s more interesting stuff to come.

21 Life Lessons at 21

By gaucho

On January 1, 2018

In Ideas and Reflections, Reflections

2017 was a blast. Most eventful, most memorable and most intense. Starting with my Cycling journey, followed by my first solo trip, first time anchoring, first Brevet, first internship and ending the first 6 months with a 2nd place at a public speaking competition. The second half of the year was slightly less eventful but nevertheless the same impact on my learning curve. First Half Marathon, first guest speaker appearances, first felicitations. And then, ended the year by completing a series of 200, 300 and 400 km Brevets.

I’m really grateful for an amazing year I had and there were a lot of lessons I learned along the way. A lot of learning and a lot many takeaways. I would like to share some of my learnings with you on this New Year’s eve. And before that, wish you all a very Happy New Year 🙂

1. Life is Ebb and Flow

This might be the most important life lesson. At the start of this blog post, I mentioned all the good parts, the shiny ones. The sunny days.

But everyday is not gonna be like that. There were and there will be sad, bad and worse days. Maybe that’s what life is all about. You shouldn’t get too attached to your happy moments or get too sullen when you are at your trough.

If you think a bit deeper, you wouldn’t have appreciated life if it was all good. Quoting the passengers Let Her Go :

Cause you only need the light when it’s burning low
Only miss the sun when it starts to snow
Only know you’ve been high when you’re feeling low
Only hate the road when you’re missing home

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZmincS6xTs&w=560&h=315]

2. Have a Goal and Use it to your Advantage

At Fun and Furore 2017- an annual Toastmaster conference I had the chance of speaking to the keynote speaker Mr. Aditya Maheswaran, who was the runner up at the World Championship of Public Speaking. One particular takeaway was(and in his words) ” Having the goal of becoming World Champion of Public Speaking, had an exponential growth effect on me. All the years of Toastmasters experience was eclipsed by the learnings in that year of the competition alone.”

Looking back, it indeed was true.

I was a very timid and shy speaker but then the goal of being the Master Orator Champion had me practice number of times, improve my body language, learning speech structuring and a lot more.
I was a leisure cyclist, cycling mostly on only Sunday. But then I put myself a goal of becoming a Super Randonneur (one who completes a series of 200,300,400 & 600 kms on cycle) by 2018. This forced me to watch what I eat, regular exercising, doing the 7 minute workout daily. I might be in my best physical shape now 😛

And for my Computer Science friends, if you are still hesitant about jumping into the programming world, why not challenge yourself with this. Make this your goal and put your efforts to it.

Setting a goal is the easy part. Working on it is the hard part. And how do you work on it? By respecting the slight edge

3. Respect the Slight Edge

No good things comes fast. The only way you can achieve something is to put your efforts day in and day out.

One of the most influential books I read was The Slight Edge. This might be the only self help book you need to read. The whole book can be summarized in one single picture.

4. Have An Accountability Buddy

So now you have set yourself a goal and you try to maintain the slight edge. One day or the other you would feel like giving up. If left to yourself, there’s a high chance that you might give up. But what if someone else is gonna push you? Think of a gym. The pumping of the trainer push you to do more reps than what you would have done alone.

But I am not in the gym and I don’t have a trainer, I’m focused on other things, you might say.

Being accountable to someone can be done in many other ways. Let us take my example:

I made a goal of either running or cycling daily. To be accountable for this I started uploading my daily progress in the popular app Strava. Some days the workout just happened and other days I had to drag myself just an hour before the day ends only because I had to honor my word put out in the open.
I usually didn’t wake up early and even if I did, I wouldn’t be consistent for long. So I requested my close buddy to call me up at 5 and I would send a selfie after washing my face and tagged with a quote.

Try it out. Figure out areas where you wanna improve and have someone to be accountable to.

5. Discipline is what makes(/breaks) you

We’ve seen the Slight Edge and we swear by it. But there will be days when you feel like not doing things. That’s when you need to be disciplined.

As mentioned earlier, I made a resolution 25 days back that I would at least do a 2 km a day. There were days when I didn’t wake up early and the didn’t find time (just an excuse) and it was already 11 pm. I could either give up and do it the next day or I could respect my decision made days ago. I went for the walk.

At Fun and Furore 2016, Mr. Rajdeep- the keynote speaker expressed the same thing. ” Your life is a painting. Every commitment you honor is a stroke and every commitment you dishonor is a scratch.”

Paint the best version of yourself!

6. Keep it Simple Silly

Meditating. This was something I always tried to do but never could. 20 minutes was what I set forth and it was too much for me. That’s when I came across this.

Be it meditation or fitness, all you need to do is one single push up or one single mindfull breath. The essence here is to keep the consistency reiterating what we saw in Lesson 3.

7. Have a Tunnel Vision

Inch wide, Mile deep.

What does this mean?

I am in my last semester now and I had the thought of either joining a kickboxing class to build my personality or a dance class so as to perform on my college’s annual day. I gave these both serious thoughts but then upon further contemplation realized that these both were just distractions from my actual goals.

I won’t say any further here. Take a read at what Derek Sivers has got to say.

And to end it, Gary Vee says it the best at 0:40

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fx2aKP7UGQ&w=560&h=315]

8. Choices & Trade-Offs

Life is all about trade offs. All about choices.

Choosing to stay with your family or move abroad for a higher pay and a better lifestyle?

Eating that yummy chicken zinger for pleasure or watching your diet and feeling good about your body for the real happiness?

Staying in your comfort zone or Stepping out of it and embracing the randomness?

Every choice will have a consequence. And you should be okay with it once it’s been chosen.

9. Take Your Time

There’s usually a recurring character in all our lives whom we compare our self against. They might be the supremely confident ___ or the drop dead gorgeous and muscular ___ or be it the everything planned and perfected ___. We usually stalk them to see what they are up to go into an endless loop of self loathing. Or at least I do.

But one thing to keep in mind is that, you are not taking into factor their circumstances or their resources ( and also your laziness).

I was shy. I was timid. I couldn’t answer if somebody asked me “What are your hobbies and interest? “. but then it has been a good turnaround this last year.

Nevertheless you might still feel a tad bit of jealousy and envy. That’s when you should…

10. Practice Gratitude

So what is Gratitude?

It has two key components. First, an affirmation of goodness. We affirm that there are good things in the world, gifts and benefits we’ve received. Second, we recognize that the sources of this goodness are outside of ourselves…We acknowledge that other people…gave us many gifts, big and small, to help us achieve the goodness in our lives.

A couple of weeks back, Agresh and I were having yummy dosas and he told he that he was offered three internships so far and he’s gonna start earning 20,000/- a month in his last semester.
First thought, why didn’t I get that oppurtunity?
Second thought, all my fault. I didn’t work hard enough.
A couple of thoughts later, It’s okay. He deserves it. I’m grateful for the other things blessed upon me.

Jealousy and Envy are natural emotions. But what you do after you encounter them is the crux for either beautiful or sour relationships.

Gratitude is a daily practice. A good start would be the morning journal by Tim Ferris.

11. Don’t Focus too much on Yourself

After Master Orator Championship, the Guntoor Toastmasters club invited me to be a guest speaker/Toastmaster of the Day. That was very unexpected and I was elated to say the least. I drafted a speech but I made one huge mistake…I focused too much on myself.
Let’s look it from a macro and micro perspective.

The macro was that the Guntoor Toastmasters was a pretty young club and it had to draw audience(mostly students) and also demonstrate how a good Toastmaster meeting would be conducted.
And what did I do? I focused on the micro. I structured the meet around me, focusing way too much on my speech, my delivery and all my.

Lesson learnt. Whenever required, try looking at it from a larger scheme of things to have the right perspective. It isn’t all about you but the role you have to play. Focus on playing your role perfectly and also sync it with the other roles.

Before we move on, a question for you. Do you hate your internship or your entry level job or a particular role in your club or community. Maybe you are focusing too much on yourself. To avoid that, be a canvas and embrace the canvas strategy.

12. The Canvas Strategy

I was going through a rough phase in my first internship and that did have a mental effect on me and then, I came across the Canvas Strategy in Tools of Titans.
Not much talk here, I insist on you reading the full article here. It hits you like a ton of bricks.

Lesson 11 and 12 go together. Bhavana was the one who invited me for the meet at Guntoor and when we met recently, she reiterated both of these. When you see fame and reputation as your driving force, you won’t hold onto your purpose for long enough. I respect the Guntoor Toastmasters for being a living proof of this.

13. Be a Financial Literate

Ever been to a subway or kfc and the bill was close to the ten’s (478/539 etc) and the cashier doesn’t return the change? Did you hold yourself back from asking the change because you would look ‘cheap’?
Happened with me.

Lot of mental slaps later it hit me that I wasn’t respecting money. My parents’ hard earned money. Another concern was that I didn’t keep a tab on my expenses. I didn’t know how much I spent where.

Start by having a financial etiquette. Account for all your expenses. Learn the basics of accounting. Learn how stock markets work.

Having a chartered accountant friend helps 😛

14. Never put yourself Low

This was one of the biggest lessons/advice I got this year. I was practicing my script to introduce the guest speaker for our college’s annual day celebrations. This was going on in a room filled with many students practicing for their part – guitar, singing, etc and I was unassertive when talking out my script. That’s when Mehul, my friend told me to “Never put yourself low”. That had a pretty enormous effect on me. That had an immediate effect in my voice and also my demeanor.

15. Have A Standard

It all boils down to what things you are willing to accept of yourself.

Do your dress your best and are groomed every single day or do you slack often?

Do you have a standard for your work ethic?

“If you don’t set a baseline standard for what you’ll accept in life, you’ll find it’s easy to slip into behaviours and attitudes or a quality of life that’s far below what you deserve.” – Tony Robbins

16. Increase your Proximity

Other than having a goal, you know what might give you an accelerated learning experience? Surrounding yourself with the right people.

You must have read this somewhere : You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.

Think about it. Whom are you spending the most time with and how are they affecting you.

If your goal is to improve your public speaking skills, you need to increase your proximity to that environment. Maybe join a toastmaster club.

If your goal is to improve your confidence, increase your proximity to the confident people you already know. You automatically pick up their personality.

If your goal is to improve your coding skills, increase your proximity to the coders you already know. Have discussions with them, ask questions and learn from them.

This really is from a personal experience.

17. Prime Yourself

Did you ever realize that the morning is the only part of the day that you can absolutely control. Rest of the day is just reactions to outside events and people. So start your day by priming yourself. And why is that?

When you win your morning, you win your day.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgnu9mapQiQ&w=560&h=315]

18. Double/Triple Threat

Best expressed by Scott Adams here :

Just reiterating his words, you need to realize that apart from your technical knowledge you also need to have the necessary communication skills. The world belongs to story tellers.

19. First Movers Advantage

2016 and 2017 was the year of Influencers. I’ll take Instagram as an example. Won’t be taking any names and some might have already striked you. They were able to exploit the platform because they were posting content right from the start. They invested time when not many were into this. This is similar to what happened to the Blogging and Youtube scenario back in the 2000’s. Now it’s got harder with more people entering the field and the competition getting bloodier with diminishing returns.

So risk doing or adopting something novel. Risk going into uncharted territories. And it’ll make all the difference.

20. Build a Brand

Your online presence matters.

Be it the Instagram and Facebook posts or the whatsapp stories, every online posts creates an impression of you.

What impression do your online friends and acquaintances have about you?

Are you just a person who keeps sharing online memes and videos?

Or are you a person who provides a value. Just a consumer or a creator too?

Try building an audience on Youtube/Wordpress/Medium/Quora. Resumes are a thing of the past. What is your online presence?

And do have a brand name.

21. Risk Being Seen in all Your Glory

Right when I thought about posting this blog post, a thought flashed across my mind.

What would people think?

Would people who are more accomplished than me look down upon me or my content?

A few names struck me too, who might probably laugh it off.

So what do I do now? Do I let it be to be more ‘acceptable‘?

I recollected my favorite quote by Jim Carrey and as a result you are reading this now.

Next time you are nervous in a group discussion or a Jam, timid to voice your thoughts and opinions, just remind yourself this. And you won’t be the same.

Your need for acceptance can make you invisible in this world. Don’t let anything stand in the way of the light that shines through this form. Risk being seen in all of your glory.

Class completed. So which one was the lesson that resonated the most with you. Leave it in the comment box and once again a happy new year!!!!