Moments of doubt

Fabian Cancellara, Tour de France prologue, London, July 2007

Here, Cancellara is on his way to win the prologue in this year's Tour de France. it was clear as he rounded the corner that he was more committed and focussed than the rest: he didn't miss a beat or ease up for an instant while most stopped pedalling here.

This is indirectly related to photography...

While I was driving Highway 40 (the Kananaskis Country Trail) in Canada last weekend, I saw plenty of cyclists out enjoying the fine weather at the end of the season. made me wish I had a bike with me, rather than the camera. For the weekend I had been struggling to see much to photograph: it's there, I just wasn't looking at it right. Plus there was that nagging though in the back of my mind that I had a pile of processing work to do already.

Get home and it was time to get the bike out again: I need the exercise. More doubt - will I be on the pace or suffer badly for 4 weeks off? Always a problem after a break. This is actually a little demotivational (is that a word??). Other problem is I don't really know how well I'm doing until after 1.5 to 2h of riding. By that time I'm far enough away that a bad day means a struggle to get home.

This sort of mirrors the feeling I was having about the photography.

Thing is, the exercise is good for me in many ways. Most important at this point is it works the body such that I sleep well and refresh my mind. Good for work and photography. That becomes the motivation to face the doubt on my performance.

Turns out I needn't have worried, I managed a decent pace for the full 2.5h ride and this morning woke up fine, no leg problems just a slight ache in the back (getting reacquainted with the riding position).

Now time to get out again and hopefully I'm fully mentally refreshed for the week ahead.