Alexi's blog

Most of y'all have probably seen it already, i've been busy or distracted other places, Tilford's link to it today got me to sit and read it for a second waiting on a system to come up (there's a lot of waiting in what i do, time isn't something you can tweak easily).

This one rang true in a few ways.

First I got to "One of the things I like about the peleton is that you have to respect each other"

reminds me of the difference between racing with the masters and the kids... the old guys (and maybe it is just my perception from watching the B racers do stupid shit) seem to have a bit of patience SOMETIMES bottle neck at NoHo excepted. There's sort of this fierce competitiveness but also an understanding of when to back off and when to chop, when you can do it cleanly and when you should just wait for the next corner and set up the kill cleanly. Could be my imagination too, or me romanticizing the old fast dudes too much.

Then you get to the meat of everything, the real reason why he's coming back.

Damn that speaks a ton. He's got the gift, I don't but I can offer a different reason, but equally compelling example of perseverance, following a passion that maybe you aren't naturally gifted at, but following it completely and sticking with it when things don't go well, pushing for small glimmers of success, measuring against yourself and pushing through.

Providing an example for my kids, not of someone who won't ever miss their football team on TV, never misses a hockey game on TV or other passive participation in a "passion" no, I think what I've got and am giving is pretty special. Yeah maybe that sounds a bit egotistic, but, it is a strong motivation and being an example to my girls that you can ride a bike year round, that it isn't a big deal. That you can race and be passionate about something and still put dinner on the table and have a job you love. Winning isn't always everything. Sure it is pretty f'n nice, maybe some day I can experience a truly fulfilling win in cyclocross, I don't mean to take anything away from those who do hit that podium regularly. Anyway I'm winning by being able to follow my passion and love for this sport. Being there to watch my friends compete, some for wins and podium spots, some for national championships. It got pretty dark early this season for me, I lost focus, over trained because I thought that would make me stronger, thinking all I needed was more intervals, more intensity, sooner and harder. I didn't...

Anyway, I had a great ride home today, felt pretty good. Wasn't feeling great during the day, but the ride home? Pretty great. Drilled it and it pretty nice.

This sort of makes sense re-reading it but i should really expand it but not now, time to start cooking some dinner.