Originally Posted by
tjspiel
There are personality traits related to cycling in bad weather that manifest themselves in other aspects of my life. I do think those traits have helped my to succeed in other ways. Whether you call it toughness, or tenacity, it can help see you through. At same time, I know that those same traits can cause me to stay on a certain path when changing course would be wiser…
I have occasionally compared my personality trait / work ethic to my hill-climbing. I like to push hard on long, special projects (uphill), but cruise on the routine (flats).
Originally Posted by
tjspiel
…The other thing I'll say is that sometimes toughness is confused with experience. …Part of is toughness, but part of it is just knowing what you're doing and having the confidence that you can.
If I equate toughness to “hardcore,” this favorite post of mine about winter riding expresses that same opinion; from the thread, "
When does Hardcore become Stupid?":
Originally Posted by
StephenH
Hardcore becomes stupid when it becomes dangerous.
Hardcore becomes stupid when anything going wrong becomes a safety problem instead of an inconvenience...
Hardcore becomes stupid when minor errors in judgment become safety issues….If you estimate wrong, do you get a chill? Or do you die?
Hardcore has clearly become completely stupid when you lose any fingers or toes to frostbite.
In each case, it's not just the weather that makes it hardcore or stupid, it's the degree of preparation and knowledge used in dealing with the weather.