The Middle: How to keep going in pursuit of your goals

By Travis Gale

On 1 January 1999, Travis Gale (aged 17) and Stephen Bonaconsa (aged 27) left Johannesburg on a mission to cycle across four continents and raise R1 million for children living with, and affected by HIV/AIDS in KwaZulu-Natal. They pedalled out of Johannesburg, riding mountain bikes equipped with panniers, carrying the basic requirements for an adventure. They rode unsupported. No Instagram or Facebook. It was just the two of them and the open road. The pair successfully cycled over 16 000 kilometres, across four continents, through 16 countries, raising R1.7 million for their cause.
When asked to share about his experience, Travis very rarely spends time talking about the start or the finish of the tour. The stories Travis shares are from The Middle. It's The Middle that tests us with challenges, yielding a multitude of emotions. It's The Middle that involves the raw and often painful need to dig deep, to push through the barriers that stand in our way, and show ourselves what we are capable of. The Middle is what we, as human beings, were designed for.
We can all pitch up at start lines. We can all celebrate a finish. But no finish is without a Middle and every Middle is where WHO WE ARE is revealed.
This book, The Middle, includes eight stories, drawn from eight key days of a world cycle tour, which will encourage and equip people through The Middle, the territory we must navigate in pursuit of our goals.
Keep going.
Increase momentum towards meaningful goals.
Develop grit and resilience in the midst of tough terrain.
Push through barriers that consistently get in the way.
Learn practical frameworks for making things happen.
Stretch yourself to do more than you thought possible.
Finish well!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tracey McDonald Publishers
• Release date: Jun 22, 2020
• ISBN: 9781990931666

Book preview

First published by Tracey McDonald Publishers, 2020

Suite No. 53, Private Bag X903, Bryanston, South Africa, 2021

www.traceymcdonaldpublishers.com

Copyright © Travis Gale, 2020

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission from the publisher.

ISBN 978-1-990931-65-9

e-ISBN (ePUB) 978-1-990931-66-6

Text design and typesetting by Patricia Crain, Empressa

Cover design by Tomangopawpadilla

Digital conversion by Wouter Reinders

For Steve.

Thank you for taking a risk and believing in me.

You have taught me what it means to live sacrificially,

and how to make a difference to our world by turning vision into reality.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Writing this book has been a journey of note. I have often found myself in The Middle of The Middle! I am thankful for the tribe who played a role and encouraged me through the territory I had to navigate in pursuit of this goal.

To my wife Toni. You bore the brunt of living with someone who had constant writer’s block over the three years it took me to land this book. You never once grew impatient with me, always encouraged me and were always willing to listen to my frustrations or help me figure something out. You make The Middle so much richer and fulfilling, along with our girls. Thank you so much.

The late David Agates, thank you for being open to the idea of the cycle tour in the first place. Every dreamer needs someone like you to catalyse turning vision into reality.

Andre ‘Budgie’ Smith, you have been a constant source of inspiration and encouragement since your phenomenal coverage of the cycle tour.

Dr Helga Holst, thank you for your positivity and support during the tour as well as for reading my manuscript and encouraging me.

Ayla, you may not know it but you were with us and lifted our spirits every day of the tour.

All of our hosts in each country we cycled as well as those we met along the way. This story was written together with you.

Mom, you bravely said ‘yes’ to your 17-year-old son when he asked you if he could go cycle around the world! Thank you for everything.

Dad, for all the reverse-charge calls on tour, and the constant encouragement you have offered in everything I have done since then.

My brother Gareth, thank you for being part of the story, for our African journey together and for your constant interest and belief in my crazy ideas.

Shannon Kenny, thank you for skilfully editing and graciously shaping my writing of The Middle book. I learnt so much from you.

Carey-Lee Gale, for your involvement in this process and for being a constant support for the past 15 years that you have worked alongside me.

Liesel Scott, for the journey we have walked in sharpening each other, and for the many years of developing our ability to do meaningful work.

Rex Samuelson. That conversation we had encouraged me to increase momentum and make The Middle happen. Thank you for your encouragement and backing.

Jonas Barausse, Heather Gale (Mom), Gcina Mhlophe, Frank Blair, Célia Senekal, Vicky Simpson and Wayne Sandeman, who took the time to read my manuscript and offer me valuable feedback and encouragement. Thank you so very much. You all played a role in shaping the final product.

The Appletree tribe, for inspiring me and influencing my perspective the way you do.

Dave and Sam Gould, Paul and Cecille Jensen and Ross and Amy Rodger, as well as my life group: Tessa and Craig Stuart, Matthew and Andrea Warriner, Ashleigh Rich, Gary and Teraza Blair. Thank you for your prayers and encouragement to keep going with this book. What a journey we have walked through The Middle!

Garth Moffatt, my closest friend, for believing in me, supporting The Middle initiatives and for turning The Middle into an adventure.

Finally, to Steve, Candice, Ali and Sam Bonaconsa. You are the most beautiful family I know and I am so grateful that our lives remain intertwined. Keep going!

DISCLAIMER

When I was in the final stages of compiling this book I noticed that the days as I’d numbered them didn’t always correlate exactly with the actual dates. I’m not quite certain how or why I made these mistakes.

I spent a great deal of time mulling over whether to rectify these discrepancies or leave them as they were. On the one hand, correcting days and dates would shush any nit-pickers. But it would be a logistical exercise that I really was not too keen to embark upon, since it would involve re-editing video, website copy, a host of other materials and even the structure and naming of elements of The Middle Journey. 

My final decision, to stick with how I experienced time, was based on the fact that I’ve taken each recollection directly from my tour diaries and I wanted to retain as much of the authenticity of that now decades-old journey. Those diaries were written when I was on tour, about how I was experiencing the year 1999, on a bicycle, riding around the world. 

So, the errors have been retained for posterity in this volume as they have been in my diaries and if I’ve recorded day 359 as 23 December 1999 rather than 25 December 1999, you – and my daughters who will read those diaries one day – know why. 

It was a long, adventure-filled year. And I learnt not to sweat the small stuff.

THE MIDDLE:

INTRODUCTION

Despite another heavy headwind we cruised the 65 kilometres between Caiguna and Cocklebiddy, two towns in the Australian Outback. Nothing beats those moments when you seem to be cutting through the odds. Unstoppable. Behind us were Day 32 (191 kilometres) and Day 36 (186 kilometres), the two longest rides we would do on the cycle tour.

Those rides flanked a three-day mission to repair and then replace a broken tyre rim (more about that in Chapter 4). We had conquered that challenge, had recovered some of the lost mileage and had pushed on with the cause-driven adventure we were both settling into. There was an intense, mounting excitement about the days of adventure still ahead of us. The tour was turning out to be a mix of challenge and triumph, which I now know is what life is all about.

Steve and I sat under the Australian sky, a ritual we followed every single evening on the two months that it took us to cross that vast land mass. The stars of the Southern Cross hung low, bright and bold, confirming that our direction was true. I looked across at our trusty Giant ATX860 mountain bikes, which were taking a well-deserved break after we had unburdened them.

We stored our panniers in our tiny ‘two man’ (manufacturers’ specifications are relative) tent. I was struck by just how little we needed to live when I considered the size of those bags that sat neatly over our back wheels when we travelled. They contained the bare necessities for an adventure such as ours: our tent, which Steve carried; a foldable pot/cooker set (which I carried); a fuel canister for our cooking system; sleeping bags; a water purifier; spare parts for our bikes (tubes, spokes, some basic tools); a rain jacket, a fleece, waterproof long pants, a couple of shirts and pair of board shorts and an extra pair of cycling pants; extra water bottles, shoes, flip-flops; a digital camera (one megapixel, the size of a small laptop!), our film camera and some reading/writing material.

In our backpacks we carried a portable CD player (mine was anti-shock and had enough battery life for one CD a day), hats and sunscreen. A small South African flag, about the size of an A4 piece of paper, stuck out of one of the compartments. Attached to the back of our panniers were our thin blue roll-up mattresses and three-legged stools.

Our blue mattresses – almost pointless on the stony earth – were now rolled out with our sleeping bags thrown on top, ready to receive two travellers who would hopefully sleep well after another day of pedalling. Our water was coming to the boil in our small pot. Tonight would be another fabulous combination of pasta and beans or perhaps sweetcorn. Our clothes, now in serious need of a proper wash, were strung up after a rinse in the shower.

Steve had his pipe out. It sat pursed between his lips as he looked contemplatively into the distance, puffing smoke into the night sky. I sat staring out into the Australian wilderness, wondering what was out beyond the horizon. I knew that the next day, and the next, would be days of discovery, every corner yielding potential and a land that I had not yet cast my eyes on.

Today, 20 years later, I can still take myself there. At times, I close my eyes to remember just what it was like to sit on my little three-legged stool and reflect on a day of cycling.

When I share what it was like to cycle around the world I very rarely talk about the day we started or the day we finished. Those were, of course, significant moments. The Middle, however, was where the story was written. Our mission was to ride a bicycle across Australia, America, the United Kingdom and Europe, and then back down Africa with the aim of talking about and raising one million rand for children living with and affected by HIV/AIDS in our home province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

The Middle was where we had to face up to what it was going to take to get the job done. The Middle was where we encountered barriers and had to overcome challenges. The Middle was where we had to dig deep and keep going, despite the unwillingness of our minds and bodies. The Middle was where we met new people, experienced new cultures, explored new lands. The Middle was where we found adventure.

We are all in The Middle.

The cycle tour was one of the most significant journeys I have undertaken. In the 20 years since then I have, like you, pitched up at many start lines and entered into many Middles. My wife Toni and I stood together in the front of a church a little over ten years ago and started our marriage. Four years after that day we pitched up at the start line of parenting. Today we are in The Middle of raising Ella (aged six) and Anna (aged two). Since 2005, I have been a part of leading and developing a brand called The Appletree Group, of which The Middle is a part, navigating what it is like to be in The Middle as an entrepreneur. I am in The Middle of being a citizen of South Africa – my birthplace, my home, a country I love dearly despite the many complexities we navigate here. I am in The Middle of being a friend, a brother, a son and, of course, a human being.

We are all in The Middle.

Over the years, as I have shared the cycle tour experience, I have been very particular about ensuring that my audience is clear that cycling around the world is significantly easier than navigating some of The Middles I have mentioned above. I was 18, carefree, had to pedal a bicycle daily, each day discovering new lands. Sure, it came with its challenges which I write about in this book. But there have been many days in the many Middles I have been walking since then where I would rather have been back on my bike.

The Middle is tough, beautiful, challenging, significant and meaningful – all at the same time.

We can all pitch up at start lines, we can all celebrate a finish, but no finish is without a Middle and every Middle is where who we are is revealed. It’s in The Middle where we are shaped, where our potential is realised, and ultimately where our stories are written.

This book is dedicated to all of us as we navigate The Middle. For 15 years or so since completing the cycle tour people would ask me if I was going to write a book. To be honest, I struggled with the idea of simply publishing my journey and what I got up to every day. I did keep a diary and have a record of each day stored in a drawer at home. Those are for my kids to read one day. I wasn’t sure why people would want to read my diary. I didn’t want to write as though I was some sort of courageous adventurer who does things that others can’t. In reality, The Middles that many in my country – and around the world – have to navigate daily are far more challenging than cycling around the world.

I felt that if I were to write a book it would need to encourage people and meet them where they were at. It would need to share insights learned from the cycle tour and how those insights apply to areas of life which we all navigate on a daily basis. I wanted the book, in some way, to gather us in the trenches of life and share insights around how to navigate The Middle and arrive at the finishes we desire to reach. I am an adventurer, just like you, adventuring through life.

How to read this book

Aside from the obvious turning of each page from right to left, I would encourage you to take your time. Each chapter is a short read and is broken into two parts. The first is a story from a particular day on the cycle tour. The second shares the insights I gleaned from that day and how those insights have shaped the way I have done life since the tour.

You will notice that the chapters are not arranged chronologically, and that the book is not a linear account of the cycle tour. That is because I have chosen the chapter sequence based on the insights rather than the order of events. I hope this doesn’t freak out the overly fastidious amongst us!

At the end of each chapter you will receive an invitation to pause, which is headed Selah. Selah is Hebrew and has a few meanings. One interpretation is to ‘weigh in the balance’ and another is ‘to pause’. It’s used most often in the book of Psalms in the Bible as a way of encouraging the reader to pause and contemplate the words they have just read.

Look, I am no psalmist but, hey, I am going to go ahead and use the term! I decided to include the invitation as I feel the art of pausing and reflecting, or selah, is something some of us may either have lost or may never really have practised intentionally.

Acquiring knowledge is relatively easy. Wisdom, however, is the application of knowledge. And for us to live wisely, we need to pause and think about if, how and when we can apply what we have learnt and understood into our daily lives.

Before you move on to the next chapter, I encourage you to think about how what you have read could equip you to navigate The Middle. For those who require some support, I have added some thoughts and questions.

Before you get going, consider how you can create space for yourself to digest each chapter. When would it be best to read The Middle? What could you do to be present and mindful as you do? How can you be intentional about engaging with each chapter in such a way that you can truly benefit from its pages and think through what they may mean for you?

This is not a book that you read