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It’s a hiking trail, not a bicycle path.
And there are stairs in some of the most beautiful places.
Hence I had to carry my bicycle more than on a couple of occasions. All in all it was a very cool bicycle ride from Valmiera to Cesis and Sigulda, some 60 miles / 96 kilometers on trails, forest roads and across grass fields. More beautiful than I expected, and also more difficult. A fun weekend adventure.
By the way, the trail is called Meztaka (Forest Trail).
It goes all the way across the Baltics.
Just Do It. Do More of What You Love
Just make the time for it.
If you don’t have time for something, make the time.
I thought I don’t have time for sports. Then I bought a bicycle. And now I’ve been riding for around 20 – 24 hours a week. That’s 1/7 of the week spent on a bicycle. It’s like a half-time job. Because I enjoy it. It makes me feel better. And I have been making time for it.
If you aren’t sure of something, or you’re afraid of something, but you want to do it. Do it anyway. Try it. Very often the first step is the most difficult one. Sometimes it’s the only difficult step.
These are some very simple, yet powerful concepts.
At least for me. Maybe they can be also for you.
Because I, too, doubt myself a lot. And I guess that you do that as well. Whether it’s worth it or not. Whether you have time for it or not. Whether you’ll be able to pull it off or not. If you think that it might be what you want. Just do it.
– No, I don’t have time for that. No, it’s a stupid idea.
– I’m not sure if I want to ride that trail tomorrow.
Even though I thought it could be a fun adventure I needed.
So, I tried. And it was a fun adventure.
Is It the Hardest Thing You Have Done?
Last week I watched an inspiring interview.
It’s only in Latvian, unfortunately. The interview is with a Latvian adventurer Karlis Bardelis (Bored Of Borders) who in 2020 became the first person in the world who have rowed solo across the Pacific Ocean. These were 493 days in a boat. Alone. 222 days on the islands in the Pacific. Around 2 years on a single adventure. Alone.
And there he was asked – is it the hardest thing you have done in your life?
Karlis said no, explained his point, the interviewer didn’t get it.
But I get it right away. And it clicked with me.
If you do what you want – be it rowing across the ocean or struggling with a bike on the forest trails – it’s fun, it’s your thing. You do it, because you want to do it. It can be exhausting, painful, scary as hell, but there are much harder things in life.
It’s so much harder to do things you don’t want to do.
Things you hate to do.
Here’s the interview:
Or things that you are pushed to do.
Like being thrown in a prison and tortured for no reason, like it happened with the Iraqi woman called Mayada. Last week I finished reading her story – Mayada, Daughter of Iraq: One Woman’s Survival Under Saddam Hussein. Or living through war. Or simply having a work you don’t enjoy or hate. These things are tough.
Yes, I don’t only ride my bike lately.
I work. I cycle. I read books. And I make time for the most important things.
Here are some photos from my last week’s longest ride.
For more photos check out my Valmiera – Cesis – Sigulda article.
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