Thursday, February 7, 2013

If you can make it like that, you're fine






All the time in cycling, I think. Your brain can be your best friend
 or your enemy. If you can break it down to, 'I must kill everyone,' or
 'I must destroy,' then you're fine. But if you start thinking, 'Do I
 really need to be doing this? It's raining out. The road is slippery.
 People are crashing everywhere. It's cold. My whole body hurts.'
 That's when it's negative, and the desk job seems quite good. But if
 you can use your mind to make your body like a motorcycle --- you just
 turn the throttle and go --- if you can make it like that, you're
 fine. That's normally how it is in training, you take out the elements
 of stress and performance, and you enjoy it. That's the key to racing.

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Stay strong



For me everything started when I was 4 year old. That’s when I started riding my bike, and that’s when I started to follow Jesus.
Both of my passion kicked in right way. I’m still racing my bike and I am still working on relationship with God, however because I discovered my passion at an early age, being brave in my pursuit of those things has come naturally for me. Most importantly however is my passion for Jesus. That passion gives me the strength to totally unashamed of Christ. I never want to hide my love for Him. Whether it is something I say or how I act, I have to reflect Christ. I’m not going to be afraid to say something or be afraid of people criticizing me or putting me down for my faith.

Stay strong. If your teammates or opponents hate you for your beliefs, it doesn’t matter. Persecution will come. Just rely on Him, have piece in knowing that He is with you. And I did come to realize: Christ is 100% more important than my cycling. He is the only reason we live.

Rob

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Just to be there



    While my daily calm-time in the church next to my workplace I wondered whether the Lord minds me asking  all time for something. Today I have been utterly worn, no power for any plea. I was just sitting there, silently, not asking any question. And then this flashed my mind:  Prayer doesn't mean asking only. Prayer is putting myself in the hands of God, at His disposition, and listening to His voice in the depth of the heart.
Hence, just to be there, just to sit there, to be silent - all these is a prayer.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Dead-march in powder snow - Winter Marathon 2013



At times one repeatedly asks the question as for what was the rational to create a bike race consisting of 6-8% biking, and the rest is snowballing him-/herself in a 40cm deep powder-snow. I for one was wondering a ton, but then I just yielded and shelved this question for good. 
All the same, I meant to kick off the race season in high spirits, and don’t let any negative circumstances get to me. The strategy then went like: auto-pilot on, put your head down and carry on.
But, what the hack, there has been so much of the nice things around that at the end of the day I walked away with a huge backpack of great feelings. And the most important point is though, my question [what’s been the intention of the organizer to have us rifle through this white dunes] has been answered too.
And I don’t join the pity-party of the whiners that were shedding negative feedback's and blaming on them. Had I lined up for the race if I knew the outcome? Most definitely, yes! Or else, I had never experienced this kind of totally bizarre race. So, as odd as that might sound, I am rather thankful towards them to give us this [even though at times unwelcome] opportunity.
The takeaway is definitely a gained experience and character-boost.
All in all, the day started in high morale, I felt just awesomely, had power at hand - albeit in this part of the season I am anything but up to the task [race] 100%.
The ambiance made me psyched up from the get-go, and those broadcaster interviews prior to the start had me kick into the “Let’s rumble”-mode.
O gosh I love that stuff so much, and it’s so brilliant to have this opportunity to bridge winter idle [say non-competitions] time with some spicy race like this.
Now, my hyper frame of mind took a dent once we hit the trial-head with a jaw-dropping 40 cm-ish powder-snow. There no way to get around those riders losing their track. Much to my regret, due to one of my health related handicaps [given my Retinopathy, I lack huge amount of coordination/sharp 3D-vision] once I hit narrow paths, my balance ‘goes down the tube’ immediately. Physical preparedness counts for nothing if you can’t hold the track, balance and coordinate your body movement. This isn’t as frustrating as the fact that those being far away from good fitness, however having a good riding technique, passed me, on the right, the left and the middle.
Even though I surrendered to the fact that the lion part of the track is going to be pushing/shouldering your bike, inwardly I hoped for some jeep-roads where the snow is moderately hard-packed. Forget about it. We exposed ourselves to ridicule by creating a dead-march queue, and sloshed thorough the deep snow. Those folks and onlookers around, had poked fun at us and were wondering whether we are serious whit our enterprise.

I ended up in an, for me, unacceptable final position, but what mattered more has been my accomplished work. As often, if some part of an event sucks then it’s made up by a lot of by another nice part of it. And so, the fond memories way outweigh the no-no’s. It’s futile to say that no organizer is accountable for weather conditions. They can at best do compromises/alternatives. In this case, the alternatives were extremely limited. And in hindsight, I see their very inconvenient position, they were in. It was a predicament. Thus, what they made of it was the best alternative, in my books. They took a bold decision, responsibility, and that’s why I just say: kudos to them for it.  
I’m not sure whether or not I’ll do another “snow-running” labeled as bike marathon, but I did it once, and am very happy I did so.