Friday motivation - pt 2.

TCR race James Hayden.   Link:  http://www.marmeladrome.co.uk/james-hayden/
This week I had a bad ride.   In reality, it was bad by performance standards, bad by my own standards and just......bad.   In reality for a normal person, it was a good, sound effort!   110 km after work in 4hrs 40mins should be something that most people would be proud of.    So why did/do I feel bad about it??

Ambition, interest and motivation wise I like to find out about other cyclists.   For those have an interest, here's an interview with Christoph Strasser, one of the people who inspires me.  Christoph Strasser, Steve Abrahams, James Hayden, Kristof Allegaert and co are just mental and make me feel like a whining kid moaning about a bad 110km ride.   If they can ride across continents, I should be able to do 100k, yeah?!?!

But then again, these guys reach that level from their devotion.   I have the devotion with limits - I am human, have to work and have a family.   But the time I can devote, I want to make 100% impact which is why a bad ride feels so devastatingly bad.   It's a ride I know I won't get back.

Without going into those hocus-pocus motivational Instagram things, if you're always looking up at your inspirations and your yardstick is them, then you will feel inferior.   But without sounding like I'm belittling those below, sometimes is good to look over your shoulder and see how far you've come and take stock.   Facebook, Twitter and all the other places put out the highly polished lives of those who want to brag, where the real inspiration and reality is this:


So even though Wednesday night in the dark felt crap and hurt in the dark and rain, I can reflect on this:
Looking up: I'm not even a fifth of the maximum distance and feel like a midget.  Looking behind me: 93% of the cycling population.
What I've done, where I've been and where I want to go are still strong and good.   Sometimes a kick down and reflection is what's need to move on and up.

So for the cliche:


Comments

Popular Posts