{"id":743,"date":"2010-08-27T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-08-26T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/when-the-going-gets-tough-stay-on-your-bike\/"},"modified":"2020-08-14T11:49:54","modified_gmt":"2020-08-14T01:49:54","slug":"when-the-going-gets-tough-stay-on-your-bike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/when-the-going-gets-tough-stay-on-your-bike\/","title":{"rendered":"When the going gets tough, stay on your bike"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

You may not know this about me, but I have cycled 500+ kilometres, all at once, over the course of a week. Twice.<\/p>\n

Of course, this was BC (not just before children, but indeed in ancient times), and it was for a good cause. The Big Ride was a major fundraiser for Multiple Sclerosis \u2013 and an excellent way to lose up to five kilograms in one week.<\/p>\n

I bring all this to your attention because I\u2019ve been thinking a lot about mountains recently. Specifically, mountains of work. As discussed before, freelancing can be a rocky, rollercoaster of a road. Lots of hills and valleys.<\/p>\n

I was reading a blog (and I cannot for the life of me remember which one, so if it was yours please let me know so I can reference you here) recently, which talked about weight loss as climbing a mountain, particularly if you had a lot to lose.<\/p>\n

You couldn\u2019t look at the whole picture, you had to look only one step ahead at all times.<\/p>\n

Writing a novel is the same.<\/p>\n

I commented that my wise friend L had some excellent advice about mountains. I did my first Big Ride with L and it was with her that I encountered some of my first big \u2018hills\u2019 during a training ride one morning. I looked up, saw what looked like Mt Everest rising before me, and immediately stopped.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t ride up that,\u201d I said, preparing to dismount.<\/p>\n

\u201cStay on your bike,\u201d she said, severely for someone who is generally very laid back.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t ride up that,\u201d I repeated, taken aback.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re never as big as they look,\u201d she said, dropping down about six gears and moving forward. \u201cIf you just keep riding, you\u2019ll find you\u2019re halfway up it before you realise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doubting her, I did as she asked, swearing the whole time (in very genteel fashion, if you\u2019re reading this Mum and Dad).<\/p>\n

She was right.<\/p>\n

Whenever I\u2019m confronted with a mountain of any kind, I think of this advice. It doesn\u2019t matter if you\u2019re attacking piles of work or a novel or or a mountain road that would make a Tour De France rider blanch (well, maybe not, but you get my drift), the approach is the same.<\/p>\n

The thought is worse than the reality. They\u2019re never as big as they look. Stay on your bike<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You may not know this about me, but I have cycled 500+ kilometres, all at once, over the course of a week. Twice. Of course, this was BC (not just before children, but indeed in ancient times), and it was for a good cause. The Big Ride was a major fundraiser for Multiple Sclerosis \u2013 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6295,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,1,5],"tags":[714,723],"class_list":["post-743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advice-for-writers","category-pink-fibro-life","category-writing","tag-author-life","tag-how-to-write-a-book"],"yoast_head":"\nWhen the going gets tough, stay on your bike - Allison Tait Author<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When the going gets tough, stay on your bike. No matter how big the challenge, whether writing or cycling, don't give up.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/when-the-going-gets-tough-stay-on-your-bike\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When the going gets tough, stay on your bike - Allison Tait Author\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When the going gets tough, stay on your bike. No matter how big the challenge, whether writing or cycling, don't give up.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/when-the-going-gets-tough-stay-on-your-bike\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Allison Tait Author\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AllisonTaitWriter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-08-26T19:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-08-14T01:49:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Allison-Tait-Logo.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"286\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Allison Tait\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Allison Tait\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/when-the-going-gets-tough-stay-on-your-bike\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/when-the-going-gets-tough-stay-on-your-bike\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Allison Tait\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/#\/schema\/person\/277afd61b41e1b23d976e1ae2f09cf46\"},\"headline\":\"When the going gets tough, stay on your bike\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-08-26T19:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-08-14T01:49:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/when-the-going-gets-tough-stay-on-your-bike\/\"},\"wordCount\":414,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/when-the-going-gets-tough-stay-on-your-bike\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Allison-Tait-Logo.png\",\"keywords\":[\"author life\",\"how to write a book\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Advice for Writers\",\"Life\",\"Writing\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/when-the-going-gets-tough-stay-on-your-bike\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/when-the-going-gets-tough-stay-on-your-bike\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/when-the-going-gets-tough-stay-on-your-bike\/\",\"name\":\"When the going gets tough, stay on your bike - Allison Tait Author\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/when-the-going-gets-tough-stay-on-your-bike\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/when-the-going-gets-tough-stay-on-your-bike\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Allison-Tait-Logo.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-08-26T19:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-08-14T01:49:54+00:00\",\"description\":\"When the going gets tough, stay on your bike. No matter how big the challenge, whether writing or cycling, don't give up.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/when-the-going-gets-tough-stay-on-your-bike\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/when-the-going-gets-tough-stay-on-your-bike\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/when-the-going-gets-tough-stay-on-your-bike\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Allison-Tait-Logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Allison-Tait-Logo.png\",\"width\":600,\"height\":286,\"caption\":\"Allison Tait blog\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/when-the-going-gets-tough-stay-on-your-bike\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"When the going gets tough, stay on your bike\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/\",\"name\":\"Allison Tait Author\",\"description\":\"Adventure, Mystery, Almost History\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Allison Tait | Author\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/logo_sm1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/logo_sm1.png\",\"width\":600,\"height\":286,\"caption\":\"Allison Tait | Author\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AllisonTaitWriter\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/allisontaitwriter\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/#\/schema\/person\/277afd61b41e1b23d976e1ae2f09cf46\",\"name\":\"Allison Tait\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e4dfb414ad67df8aa68d6a62bc02c6ba2a7f718fd8f98b9b00f49451ae17f246?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e4dfb414ad67df8aa68d6a62bc02c6ba2a7f718fd8f98b9b00f49451ae17f246?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Allison Tait\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/author\/altait\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"When the going gets tough, stay on your bike - Allison Tait Author","description":"When the going gets tough, stay on your bike. No matter how big the challenge, whether writing or cycling, don't give up.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/when-the-going-gets-tough-stay-on-your-bike\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"When the going gets tough, stay on your bike - Allison Tait Author","og_description":"When the going gets tough, stay on your bike. No matter how big the challenge, whether writing or cycling, don't give up.","og_url":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/when-the-going-gets-tough-stay-on-your-bike\/","og_site_name":"Allison Tait Author","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AllisonTaitWriter","article_published_time":"2010-08-26T19:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-08-14T01:49:54+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":286,"url":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Allison-Tait-Logo.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Allison Tait","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Allison Tait","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/when-the-going-gets-tough-stay-on-your-bike\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/when-the-going-gets-tough-stay-on-your-bike\/"},"author":{"name":"Allison Tait","@id":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/#\/schema\/person\/277afd61b41e1b23d976e1ae2f09cf46"},"headline":"When the going gets tough, stay on your bike","datePublished":"2010-08-26T19:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-08-14T01:49:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/when-the-going-gets-tough-stay-on-your-bike\/"},"wordCount":414,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/when-the-going-gets-tough-stay-on-your-bike\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Allison-Tait-Logo.png","keywords":["author life","how to write a book"],"articleSection":["Advice for Writers","Life","Writing"],"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/when-the-going-gets-tough-stay-on-your-bike\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/when-the-going-gets-tough-stay-on-your-bike\/","url":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/when-the-going-gets-tough-stay-on-your-bike\/","name":"When the going gets tough, stay on your bike - Allison Tait Author","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/when-the-going-gets-tough-stay-on-your-bike\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/when-the-going-gets-tough-stay-on-your-bike\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Allison-Tait-Logo.png","datePublished":"2010-08-26T19:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-08-14T01:49:54+00:00","description":"When the going gets tough, stay on your bike. No matter how big the challenge, whether writing or cycling, don't give up.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/when-the-going-gets-tough-stay-on-your-bike\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/when-the-going-gets-tough-stay-on-your-bike\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/when-the-going-gets-tough-stay-on-your-bike\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Allison-Tait-Logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Allison-Tait-Logo.png","width":600,"height":286,"caption":"Allison Tait blog"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/when-the-going-gets-tough-stay-on-your-bike\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"When the going gets tough, stay on your bike"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/","name":"Allison Tait Author","description":"Adventure, Mystery, Almost History","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/#organization","name":"Allison Tait | Author","url":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/logo_sm1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/logo_sm1.png","width":600,"height":286,"caption":"Allison Tait | Author"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AllisonTaitWriter","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/allisontaitwriter\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/#\/schema\/person\/277afd61b41e1b23d976e1ae2f09cf46","name":"Allison Tait","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e4dfb414ad67df8aa68d6a62bc02c6ba2a7f718fd8f98b9b00f49451ae17f246?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e4dfb414ad67df8aa68d6a62bc02c6ba2a7f718fd8f98b9b00f49451ae17f246?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Allison Tait"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/allisontait.com"],"url":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/author\/altait\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=743"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}