Recently, I decided to read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. I wanted to read it because I had heard he wrote it in two weeks, and I wanted to see how a book written in such a short period could hold up. It is a beautiful allegorical tale about an Andalusian shepherd that made me question my own life and about finding my path through tracklocross.

I have linked The Alchemist to tracklocross because the story’s main point is to inspire you to follow your “Personal Legend.” The Alchemist can be seen as a fictional self-help book in the way it wants you to pursue your passions and dreams like Santiago does.

Even when things go wrong, he picks himself back up and continues his quest to find treasure at the Egyptian pyramids.

“The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.”

In this quote, Coelho is telling us that during the downs of life, we need to pick ourselves back up and carry on. It is almost impossible for us to achieve our goals and feel fulfilled without those moments where we fall. Our success is built on those falls, literally in the case of riding tracklocross.

I’ve dreamed of getting more people to ride tracklocross and experience simple cycling for years now. I’ve had setbacks and moments where I question this idea as a goal. Moments where people have tried to destroy me because of my cycling beliefs. I had a business partner try and ruin me because my viewpoint differed, but I kept on my path, and much better things came my way, allowing me to further progress toward my life goals. It also allowed me to bring forgiveness to those dark moments.

I may occasionally come off the path of my Personal Legend, but the moment I rejoin it, I can feel my happiness levels rise. Getting a message from someone trying tracklocross, a note about getting a frame I recommended, boosts me. You could argue that it is because these messages massage my ego, and yes, that may be partly true, but it is because they reaffirm my voyage down my Personal Legend.

I want you to follow your dreams, I also feel you should go and read The Alchemist, as it is a beautiful book.