I think it was around the 5-hour mark. Right around that leg burning, bruised-butt feeling time when Stephanie and I had the conversation. I think in that moment, we were suddenly struck with the realization that we didn’t really need to be riding our bikes for 7 hours straight in a lululemon storefront on a Sunday. Who would care, or even notice if we just stopped pedaling?
Of course the answer is no one: no one but ourselves. Exactly the reason that our legs kept up their cyclical rhythm and the trainers continued to whir with friction.
“Free me mountain, from the slavery of the summit”. Stephanie had heard this quote in a Banff Mountain Film Festival film and it had stuck with her. As a Type 1 Ironman athlete, mountain biker and backcountry skier, Stephanie is a high goal-setting champion, accustomed to having no one but herself to answer to. But even she couldn’t come up with an explanation. What makes us set goals and stick to them? Rather dramatic in reference to our one day bike ride, completed in low gear and surrounded by merchandise….but bear with!
Goals. The reason behind global exploration, athletic achievement, heck, any achievement, behind business, education and pretty much every other part of life that I can think of. It’s the subject of lifelong research, multiple psych and soc PhD’s, not a question to be solved in one day on a bike or one blog. But it sure is interesting to ponder.
Since local Banff Slipstreamer Lauren Moore (spin instructor, backcountry skier, Type 1 and lululemon ambassador, among other things!) connected CIM with lululemon this month and suggested we spin in the window from open to close, we hadn’t even questioned the ride itself.
The energy in the store on Sunday was that of a true Slipstream. As we engaged hundreds of passersby, talked to them about diabetes, showed them how our pumps worked, fielded questions and connected with other Type 1’s living in the Bow Valley, the momentum built. The team at lulu immediately jumped on board to support our mission of fostering a community of people living with Type 1 diabetes so that they may inspire one another to live without limits. We fed off of their enthusiasm; their gorilla yoga displays on the street and their positive attitude towards helping others lead active healthy lives. We were motivated by words of kindness and encouragement from ‘guests’. On we rode.
In the last hour of ache (hour 7), I started to put it together. It truly was the journey, not the destination. The goal served as a reason, an excuse if you will, for us to spend an incredible day engaging with the boisterous Banff public, being welcomed into the lululemon store like you would be a good friends house, convening with like-minded folk and hanging out, just us Type 1 gals, for an entire active day.
We set goals to achieve, to give us direction, to push ourselves beyond our comfortable limits, because that’s what people living life without limits do. We stick to goals because of the growth, strength, experience, people, places and relationships we form along the way.
This weekend, our one little collective goal, grew into a fantastic experience, a new sense of community, a whole heap of new friendships and four very, very sore behinds.
Read Jen’s account of the lululemon experience on her BLOG
