GH quote

Every time I ride with my friend Matt, I come close to falling off my bike at least once. Not because he's a squirrelly rider invading my road-space... but because he's funny and extremely random. During our most recent ride, the laugh intervals were hard and often. This gives me an idea for a homework assignment (Matt I will need your help). Let me compile a list of random/hilarious/tire swerving stories from the M&A Rides.

However, our conversations can quickly go from roadkill smells to the current political scene. Over the weekend, during my drive to Chattanooga, I listened to an early morning radio show. The guest speaker: George Hincapie's Mental Coach. The topics discussed actually tie in nicely with a recent post on Jen's blog (see Soapbox Saturday). Basically, the mental guru got George saying "I am a climber." result = he won a climbing stage in the tour.

While we were talking about GH, and this year's tour, and what goes through your head during a race... Matt recited (loosely) a great GH quote:

"What I enjoy most about racing is having total control, pushing my body beyond its limits, making it hurt, telling it what to do while not allowing it to talk back to me until the race is over."
(Liz, I thought about misspelling one of the words in the quote - just to make it more "authentic")

I love this quote! For some reason... it makes me think of an infamous scene in "American Pie." I just want to look down at my quads and growl... "what's my name, say my name B_______"

There are so many things I love about racing, and that quote really captures one of the major aspects. Pushing myself far beyond anything I could do in training, silencing the pain, embracing the challenge, overcoming obstacles, and forcing my mind/body to accept the same assignment (forward motion as hard & fast as possible).