Leadership Matters, Now More Than Ever
Don't ride the hills till you get there!
January at home? Nah January is for riding my bike in Thailand. I have been doing it for the last twelve years. Admittedly I got close last year to missing out due to the fires, but I joined the crew on the rest day in time for the best part of the ride.
I ended up getting a couple of rides done in Thailand during 2020, before the borders were closed and here we sit approaching the twelve month anniversary of the emergence of Covid and the international and indeed the state borders are once again well and truly closed. Even my little part of Sydney on the Northern Beaches (the infected end) is closed to the rest of the country. So things aren’t looking too great to return to Thailand and ride my bike anytime soon.
If I can’t be riding in Thailand, it doesn’t mean my head and heart aren’t over there. Today, should be as every 4th of January has been since 2011, the start of our riding season that sees us ride 1600km in 16 days to kick things off.
Brigid Gibson started it all when she told me she was going to ride 800kms from Bangkok to Khao Lak and raise $10k. “I’ll join you” I said and as they say, the rest is history. Never could we have imagined with that first ride in 2009 how the rides would grow and grow. In 2020, we had over 250 riders registered across six rides and it would have been our biggest year EVER!
January 2009, Khao Sok the start of our last day on the first ride.
Thinking of the rides, it’s not the hard slog into the wind, or riding in the heat or rain or on what can feel like a never ending straight stretch of road that comes to mind first and foremost, it’s the shared experiences I have enjoyed along the way. It is the lifelong friends that I have made and the amazing journey that is shared by those who dare to accept the challenge.
I never cease to be inspired by the return riders who keep coming back raising the money year after year to make it all happen. They find a way to make it possible, they find a way to say “yes” to the challenge when they have tapped out their family and friends, but they go again anyway. They know the kids depend on them, hell we all depend on the riders in such a big way.
Business Blueprint Riders
Our rides are not for the fittest, strongest and fastest. They don’t necessarily appeal to your avid cyclist, they appeal to ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Over the 30 rides that I have led in Thailand since 2009, I have seen incredible feats of courage, determination, resilience, persistence and I have seen growth. You can’t embark on one of our rides, be it the January 800km ride or the Business Blueprint or Digital Live 500km rides and not be changed as a person. There is a transformation that occurs deep within your soul from sitting on that bike seat for days on end.
The change or “human upgrade” as it has been called, is not the result of the riding, it’s the people you share the journey with, the conversations you have along the way, the vulnerability you show and the strength you feel from the group.
I have ridden with those closest to me and those who have become close to me as a result of riding together. We have built bonds and we have banked memories that will never be taken away, no matter what happens. All of this from riding a bike.
We have a saying within the riding group and that is “don’t ride the hills before you get there”. Don’t let the worry of what might be ahead detract from the present. Don’t let the fear of something big hold you back from achieving something massive.
We’re not sure when we will be back riding in Thailand, we have plans, but we have seen how useful plans can be in 2020! We will continue to work to support the children of Thailand who depend on us and until the borders open I will continue to ride my bike here at home.
The journey to one of our rides feels like it is a 12 month commitment. That gives you time to plan your holidays, get your head around the challenge, fundraise and then train, turning up ready to accept all that comes your way.
Khun Rotjana our former Director of Baan Tharn Namchai
Given the mess that 2020 was, given we won’t be riding in Thailand anytime soon, I am inviting you to join me in 2022 as we ride the roads of Thailand once again. Give yourself something to work towards, perhaps it can be your ultimate act of defiance to those (or that internal voice) who say you could never do it. Come, join us and experience what it is that makes the rides so unforgettable.
Acknowledging the uncertainty that exists in society now and the difficulty in making plans beyond the next meal, to reserve your spot on the 2022 ride you don’t need to pay anything, all you need to do is reply to this email, saying “hold me a spot”. Then once the borders open up, once we again start travelling the globe, then with certainty you can commit financially to the ride.
It’s only 364 days until the 4th of January 2022…I might head out for a training ride.
Pete
To secure a spot on our 2022 January Ride simply send an email asking us to "Hold me a Spot for 2022"