Why you should think of Olympic time trial cyclists when setting fundraising targets

OK, bear with me here. This blog has been in my head for quite a few months, but I think I've got something to share with you, so here goes. Last summer, I watched a lot of the TV coverage of the Olympics, and one Saturday the event that was being covered was the cycling Time Trial event. I don't know whether you've seen it before, but it's quite unusual in that each participant sets out individually 90 seconds apart in lonely pursuit of the cyclist in front of them, and hoping to be fastest on the course to get the gold medal. But why am I telling you this? Well, the commentator said something that really stuck with me. Essentially, the point they made about pacing was that it was all in the minds of the cyclists: If they thought they definitely wouldn't be able to finish going at that speed, they were going too quickly; If they thought they definitely would be able to finish going at that speed, then they were going too slowly; but the Goldilocks just-right speed for an Olympic Time Trial cyclist, the commentator said, was if they were not sure if they would be able to finish going at that speed. In other words, to be successful, the cyclists have to spend as much time as possible embracing that uncertainty, because too quick or too slow would rule them out. The sweet spot, it seems, lies in the uncomfortable and I'm sure extremely painful middle ground: they're pushing at the boundaries of their abilities, aiming for a pace that can be described as "may