And where exactly are these mythical "happy people"?

hmmmm.

for a fast decent its usually

"i can go faster.. i've handled more technical stuff"

that tends to be followed up by "OWW!!!!" but thats irrelevant >=)


on big climbs.. its "I've done worse.. this is nothing!"


usually its a blatent lie to myself, but hey.. it gets me up there.


when i start to get reallllllly tired out.. i take a swig of powerade, look ahead a little ways and say "i'm going to make it to that point"

once i get there.. i pick another point not to far away "i'm going to make it to that point"

as i keep going.. the points get closer and easier to reach, so i just keep more coming.

then i have the attitude of "well i did that last one.. and the next point is even closer! so i can do that easily!"

>=)



its fun to see cars struggling to pass you on a 45MPH road

My motivation in this heat is knowing that when I get home, I can jump into the pool to cool off.

Isnt that just the best feeling in the world?

To crush your enemies.
To see them driven before you.
To hear the lamentations of their women.

Yes!

It's amazing to me the amount of useless data I can generate in my mind on a 80 minute ride.
Up until 2 months ago I used to wear a radio on every ride.
Since then the ride has become a peaceful and quiet time for thinking, meditating and getting into all that is going on around me.
The bike, the road, the cars, what's up ahead, what's behind, my spinning, my cadence, my speed, my heart rate, my breathing, up shift, down shift, stones, glass, shift hand position, relax elbows, my ass, blow my nose, take a drink...

I like your thoughts

everytime i work out, i keep thinking: "DAMNNNNNN.....When i get through with this, im gonna be damn hot!"

will liv longer, longer, unless hit by freak accident

It varies. Sometimes it's admiring the cute a$$ of the female cyclist ahead of me on our Saturday club rides. Other times it's "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." Last Sunday it was "I am not not going to let this idiot in the pickup truck pass me!" on a twisty descent where I was already having to slow down for the two cars in front of me.

Sometimes I ride to blow off the day's/ week's/ year's stress. Sometimes I ride to admire the season's scenery. Sometimes I ride to get rid of my PMS bloats. But mostly I ride to be able to eat more.

I agree, you summed up most of my motivations in a nutshell, save a couple.

To me, cycling feels kind of like a race against aging and death in a way. We will all die someday, that is a given, but in a way cycling extends ones life by making the elder years more useful as if one keeps in shape, instead of going to the doctors office all the time one gets to go cycling, walking or traveling instead.

That and i'm trying to undo 15 years of smoking, oh, and reclaim my youth. I was an avid cyclist (mainly road riding, some day touring & charity rides too.) in my early teens, and doing all the cycling stuff again in a way makes me feel as if I haven't grown up.

Also, as another poster said, it just feels damn good. Both the cycling itself, and the increased lung capacity and the muscles recoverign after a hard ride and feeling stronger and more taut.

peas,

Jester

This hurts less than moshing*

*excluding moments when I impact upon things

Having an extremely sarcastic, sadistic riding partner is all the motivation I need right now!!

First and Foremost, you should NEVER turn on your local country & western station prior to a either a long ride or a long training rider. If you pick up conway twitty, randy travis, garth brooks et al (even george jones ) you will be mentally 'locked' into playing back that song for the first two hours. If it's a long, slow, painful dirge then your ride will be, well, long/slow/painful.

jerry lee lewis, on the other hand, is perfectly acceptable. Johnny Cash too - right pace and right attidue.

If I'm on a hill climb I break down that hill into smaller chunks. usually a road sign or a tree is a good visual to get me to that interim goal and then, visually, I move up the road and ride to the next incremental goal

My motivation tends to be...

"Its just a hill, I can do it!" or "Its just a little sun, I can bare it!"

Watching weight drop....even if it isn't as quick as I'd like.

Most of all....is when I realize my speed is better than it used to be; distances that seemed long once now seem like "baby rides"; Hills that seemed hard once seem easier and easier each time.

Seeing cagers stuck in traffic, "Ha ha! Suckers."

I usually have a song floating around in my head that takes turns with other random thoughts. 'Bicycle Race' by Queen gets regular rotation, it's just a nice light-hearted tune. Sometimes I end up singing out loud. Then I think how silly that must look (not to mention how bad it must sound) and I tell myself to shut up. Then I realise that I just told myself to shut up out loud, and think how silly that must look and I start laughing, call myself a dork or something and eventually start singing again. This ends up repeating itself in some form or another for the duration of the ride. So, I find myself riding my bike, singing, laughing, and talking to myself... It's perfect, no place I'd rather be.

Just to be living life again.

Sometimes its how I have now lost more than twice what my bike weighs. Sometimes it's to catch the next rider, sometimes its to not get caught....but more and more its dancing on those pedals!!!! What a rush.

You know what, I have never really though on what modivated me. I just have the passion to ride. Perhaps when I am climbing a hill, I just grin and say " Come here you stupid ass hill!!". I guess I just have a will to ride and become better and better and be in a good shape.

My motivation is to get the right balance between working out and overdoing it, in other words 'train don't strain'. If I find myself getting too tired, or start to lose form, I'll back of a bit until I feel in the zone again.

I keep a picture of the poster that came with that album in my mind while cycling.