Blind Confidence

I have a good friend living in Eindhoven. It just so happens that we have not seen each other for a while. During the summer, I have been looking into options for how to get from Liège to Eindhoven. There are no direct connections, so it would need to be a mix-and-match of transport. And the cherry on top is the price of Dutch train tickets. 50€ for a one-way second class ticket is absurd.

For a while I procrastinated the idea of going to see my friend since it was expensive and messy. After last weekend's I Land Sound, I felt that I had been partying a lot and not working out nearly as much as I would have liked. So this past week I was back at the gym and running. I also decided that I would go for some chill biking on the weekend.

On Friday, the idea formed that maybe I could try to get some of the way to Eindhoven. I texted my friend to see if he was there and to plan. Rather straightforward, actually. Bike to Eindhoven. Or at least try to. For reference, the distance is 120km from my place in Liège, and I have never before biked over 60 km.

So that's the setting. A task that, on paper, seems unreasonable and even dangerous, and a boy who convinced himself that it should be doable. So on Saturday around 10:30, I left Liège to start my way towards the city of Philips. The company was born there in 1891, and it's kind of a big thing; the football team is named Philips Sports Society, and a bunch of buildings were built by them.

I digress. What I wanted to talk about is that you are probably capable of more than you think. I was very surprised to find that at kilometre 100 out of 120 I was still happily riding my bike. It might have been that getting closer, I was less happy, but then I had the comforting idea that I had already ridden 100km – what's a few more?

I undertook the challenge with blind confidence, and in the given scenario it was a necessary approach. I did not even bring any of my camping accessories. The last message I sent my friend before leaving was: "No sleeping bag, no tarp, no way back".

Needless to say, this ride made for a memorable night in Eindhoven and a good story to tell to my future kids – back in my day, to go see my friends, I biked 120 km.

This Week's Suggestions:

🎶 "Välgud Peeglis Koos _vanema Õega_1988 " by Tarmo ja Toomas Urb:

We stayed up till 6 A.M with my friend discussing everything and nothing. It was a great time. Till about 4 A.M we had an indian boy with us, so of course we started discussing Estonian music. Here's one part of it I did not know myself before yesterday.

What's something you would like to do with blind confidence?