The following text is from the original post in the facebook group from March 17, 2020
I JUST HAVE TO SAY SOMETHING...
You ALL are awesome. Even if you haven't done the challenge yet. Let me tell you how all of this started:
It's been a very tough year. Divorce on Valentines Day started it all. A chain of "scam" jobs (I worked in TV/Film in California for over 25-years with GREAT success (google me if you're curious), and moved to TX for my ex's career). There is no film industry in Houston. And on Feb 28th, my dad had a severe stroke.
(Funny thing is, I usually make fun of people that post these posts on OPP... but I'm gonna do it anyway. I assume I'll see this screen-shot in one of my other groups.
But they don't even know)I felt VERY self destructive... downright despondent on my mom's birthday (3/4). So I decided to hurt myself in the healthiest way I could imagine. I thought to myself, "you know what Ty? You have refused to ride a lot of instructors. And there are others you just haven't ever done." Also, I had never ridden a ride longer than 60 (and only one of those, and only one 45).
So I sat on the bike and cued it up. Went through every instructor. No water bottle. No food (and I'm a type-1 diabetic). Just rode. I started with Alex.
The whole way I typed my thoughts out on a discord group. "Oh fuck, this instructor doesn't even have a 5" and so on.
No plan... no nothing other than to just get it out. A year worth of hell. Just to unload it all.
A year's worth of turmoil...
-Every month sweating paying rent on a 1-bedroom apartment.
-Going from making 180K+/year to not even able to get hired at an entry level job
-Thinking I'd be homeless at the beginning of every month because of not knowing how I was going to pay rent.
-Being behind on bills
-going from a credit rating over 700 down tow 453
-My son choosing to live with his mother instead of me because I took his video games away (he's old enough to choose)There were high points too...
-An amazing best friend (Jennifer Barker)
-An amazing close group of people (the discord thing I was talking about)
-My dogBut on I rode...
every bit of it melting away with every tearbawling like a little kid
I needed to experience the pain. The soreness. The torture
I just needed to overcome an obstacle that seemed impossible. And I did. I did it.
And then others started doing it. And Jill said "yes" when I asked her to moderate with me. And here we are... just a few days later... HUNDREDS of you. A fucking ARMY!
I watched a video today.... many videos actually of Katrina van den Brand's journey. And I relived it all. I relived 3/4/2020. My journey. And here we are together.
Every single one of you that embarks down this path... it's not easy. It's long. Someone today used the excuse to quit of "boring." But those of you that have finished know... IT IS NOT BORING.
It may be nothing but the shortest of every instructor's rides. But they add up. You get a taste of everything... but it eventually makes you full.
It fills you with pride to take this 3-hour tour. It is an accomplishment. Don't let anybody take that away from you. There may be a lot of 5-minute rides. But if someone... ANYONE complains about it? Challenge them to do it. Put up or shut up.
There is someone in another group who is notorious for saying that 5-minute rides aren't really rides. I challenged them to do it. They failed. But at least they tried, and at least they are open enough to now know how hard this challenge is.
THANK YOU ALL! Thank you for joining us in this. Together we are strong.
Together we go far
Together we are an army of warriors
We've all been to war with this challenge, and we are victorious!
This is about a personal experience... not a badge. Not any swag. Ultimately you are accountable to yourself. Make this a personal journey. You'll know if you really did the Tour... or did just another event...
The golden rule: Stick to the spirit of the challenge, and you'll be fine. Don't try to game the system.
This is about a personal experience... not a badge. Not any swag. Ultimately you are accountable to yourself. Make this a personal journey. You'll know if you really did the Tour... or did just another event...
The golden rule: Stick to the spirit of the challenge, and you'll be fine. Don't try to game the system.
"Tour de Jour" (Tour of the Day) - To ride every class on the schedule for 1-whole day. Rather like a Le Mans of the Peloton world.
This is about a personal experience... not a badge. Not any swag. Ultimately you are accountable to yourself. Make this a personal journey. You'll know if you really did the Tour... or did just another event...
The golden rule: Stick to the spirit of the challenge, and you'll be fine. Don't try to game the system.
This is about a personal experience... not a badge. Not any swag. Ultimately you are accountable to yourself. Make this a personal journey. You'll know if you really did the Tour... or did just another event...
The golden rule: Stick to the spirit of the challenge, and you'll be fine. Don't try to game the system.