Bike Forums - Of lifetime goals and inner peace

Hi,

I am amazed and thankful for all of the positive responses. I just hope that this story can help some of you reach a bit further than what you think is attainable.

Quote:

Originally Posted by stapfam (Post 10923429)

I would modify that to-"You can still do things later in life that you managed to when younger"

We have a hard ride in the south here that is 100 miles with 10,000ft of climbing and it is offroad. Up to 97 I had attempted this ride 7 times and failed once. Then in 99 had a bypass. I was actually in training for my 8th attempt when that came about. Then a couple of other problems and in 2002 I decided to attempt the ride again. 6 months to get ultra fit and Stuart and I did it in 2003. It hurt but I did it.Can't even say I enjoyed it but we decided to do it again in 2004---and 2005---and 2006. 06 though and the weather was against us and we failed.

Since then I have gone out on the Ride day to direct riders through a tricky map reading section. Seeing all those youngsters at the end of their energy makes me realise that I was sensible to stop doing the ride when I did. 58 was old enough to say- Been there- done that and got the T-Shirt. no need to do it again.

Hi stapfam, there are a few things that I can still do on my bike that I could when I was younger but that wasn't my point. ;) There are definitely a number of local rides and a couple of races that are in the 'been there, done that' category for me too. One general "challenge" that falls into that category is racing in the rain. I've forfeited pre-entry fees a couple of times in the last few years because I don't need any epic rain race stories any longer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rumrunn6 (Post 10966024)

nice job. inspirational. intriguing title.

Hello rumrunn6, the second half of the title refers to the immense feeling of personal satisfaction in achieving this lifelong goal. As I wrote, my performance was not great as compared to other 50+ racers that day, but it was my PR and goal achievement that meant so much to me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ahsposo (Post 10967491)

Way to go! Seeing that time was a real kick, I'm sure. I could do that, too if the course was all downhill.

Your mention of all the places you post made me think of the story where the old Jewish guy goes into the Catholic confessional.

"Father Murphy it's Irving Goldfarb."

"Well, Hello Mr. Goldfarb what brings you to confession?"

"I've met a beautiful young lady who adores me and we make mad passionate love sometimes several times a night""

"That's really good for you, Mr. Goldfarb but you're Jewish and this is a Catholic confessional. Why are you telling me this?"

"I'm telling everybody who'll listen"

Hi ahsposo, yes that is an old but favored joke for me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobbycorno (Post 10967917)

Familiar tale. Back in my racing days, my big goal was to break the hour. That kept me going for a lot of years. When I finally did it, (59:37 at Masters Nats 1992), I just kinda ran out of steam - no other big goals, so why bother?

SP
Bend, OR

Hello bobbycorno, goals are important for me but they are not the only reason why I race. I love riding fast and there's no way for me to ride fast other than racing. Also, I like being at this level of fitness and I don't have the self discipline to ride this hard without racing on the weekends to motivate me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red Rider (Post 10969183)

True dat.

Thanks for posting this. You continue to inspire me to keep pushing my limiting beliefs; I appreciate that very much.

Your TT time is impressive. I'm looking forward to your report on the Sr. Games.

Hi Red Rider, I'll try to post my Senior Games report this weekend. There's a good side story about my strength as a 2 minute coach.