TRAVERSE Issue 29 - April 2022 | Page 162

TRAVERSE 162
simply cannot avoid this one in front of me . I am out of my element and must finally admit ; I have been for days . It crushes me to acknowledge this .
It ’ s like this hill has grabbed the top of my ball bag and held out my exposed nuts , to repeatedly hit them with a hammer . I ’ m not sure how they haven ’ t burst at this point , and for some unknown reason , I keep coming back for more . I ’ ll keep going until they are hammered to death and gone , or I make it . I ’ m like a robot with a short circuit that keeps trying to do something repeatedly but is unable to complete the task , and not sure why .
Despite a diminishing return each time , I keep going . I ’ m either stupid or insane , most likely both ; but I am without a doubt possessed by riding this track , which has brought me directly to this fucking hill . This hill of ruin . I pick the bike up once more and have another go , but it ’ s fruitless , and I get a mere five feet before we are down again , and I meekly flail with the ungainly weight of the bike . On such steep and unstable terrain , she is impossible to move with her wheels in the air and can only be dragged six inches at a time , to a space where she can be raised . I drag her six inches and gasp for air , recover , and drag her again then collapse for a few minutes before trying to raise her . Each attempt makes me weaker and weaker , and damages her further and further .
I ’ ve learned in these endurance events to keep a reserve of energy in case of the worst . For me that ’ s 10 per cent , and when I get close to the last 10 per cent of
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