Sunday I finished the San Jose Sharks face-off 50 mile bike ride, official time 4 hours 23 minutes and 24 seconds. I’ve never competed in a bike race before, I’ve never rode my bike that far or for that long and yet I decided to go for it. Why? That is the question that popped up in my head during the race, every uphill, every time no one was on sight, every time I thought about the most important thing Mexicans should be doing at that time – watching the FIFA World Cup game between Mexico and Netherlands.

It was a thoughtless moment when I signed up for this race, I don’t even remember where I learned about the event, I just know I told my friends about it, they encouraged me to do it and next thing I’m doing is reading a “San Jose Sharks Event Confirmation for 2014 Sharks Fitness Faceoff” email, all this on June 16th, yup, thirteen days before the race with no training at all.

Long story short, I set my mind on a 50 miles goal, “trained” the weekend before on the official race course, three days before the race I ate less heavy ( I didn’t say healthy) than normal, drank a lot of water, made sure my bike tires were in good condition, bought power bars and drinks for the ride and lastly got a nicer cycling jacket for the big day. As crazy as it looks that was my training, thin, short, unprofessional but with one very important ingredient, I was 100% convinced that I was able to complete this challenge, that thought never left my mind – plus, by Friday everybody in the office knew about my crazy endeavor, so I had no choice but finish.

Each of the 50 miles was a mental more than a physical battle, one that I fought by thinking I could ride for 5 extra miles.

I’m proud of what I did accomplish, four long hours to think about anything I wanted, four hours to enjoy the Bay Area weather, roads and landmarks, four hours to forget about work, four ours to enjoy myself. This race has been one of my best decisions ever, it was a huge challenge for me with a great outcome.

I’m ready for the next adventure, the next challenge, the next time I need to tell myself that something is possible and make it happen.

Until the next time, bye bye

If you live in the USA find your cycling challenge here http://www.usacycling.org/events/