The five steps to humbleness
 

1. I'm going to crush this ride.

2. Maybe not.

3. I'm going to survive this ride.

4. Maybe not.

5. :cry:

Just remember, when you think you are humble, you cease being humble.

Hmm.....


http://www.thinkingmantavern.com/ima...o_at_index.jpg

I am not sure Rodin would approve of the addition.

But then again he was french and if we extrapolate from the genetics of physiology thread, this means he was likely a very active drinker as well as thinker.

then there's the stool too.

The "Destroyer" humbled me yesterday :O
 

So I go out for a 50 miler…going to crush this out and back from my garage into Deer Creek and return. My bike is tuned & gleaming. My Big George cycling apparel is making me look like I’ll knock out an average 361 watts over this 4000 foot gain of a ride. Rory could not better me on Flagstaff today I’m thinking.

There I am, passing the lowly folks, men and women admiring my awesomeness as I spin by effortlessly as the grade increases. Good lord, I’m full of myself.

I hear what first sounds like some superbike…maybe a Ducati (you’ll see these and the like going up and down the narrow turns in the canyon often). I felt the hair on my neck stand as the sound quickly became more familiar. Yes, a Doppler effect of carbon wheels being powered hard (one of the truly unique sounds of cycling for me).

My bike almost falls over as I notice this form in my left eye periphery…it literally scares me for a moment. I watch this young dude standing on the peds while in the drops rocking that bike like a paperboy as he rushes past me with such a volume of air in his drag that I had to concentrate to make my next turn of the crank. He was turning a 53 to a mid cassette with such sustained power I was flabbergasted. This section of grade is 7.8 percent…approaching a 13-15 % pressure around the next corner.

Done, baked and over. THAT was awesome and inspiring. I was humbled…and it came just when I needed it. I was getting to full of myself.

Thank you amazing stranger. You are the destroyer of gasbags like me on the road. I will ride now remembering there are always folks faster…and slower…but who enjoy cycling with a good balance of themselves ;)

The one step to humbleness

1. Ride with some "old guy" for the first time

Werd... I ride with a few guys in their late 50's, and a 60 year old. They can ride up hills. I am a young 56, and have a hard time staying with them...:)

Bah... modesty is for those who don't rule. http://forums.youthrights.org/images/smilies/rockon.gif

I am too fat for this sport. Does this qualify?

My humbleness comes from my insecurities.

It is something I want to get rid off rather than stimulate.

"That hurt" should be in there somewhere.

Awesome

You do realize that was only while you could see him. As soon as he was around the bend he likely went back to normal climbing mode.

There is that, though keeping human waste out of the thread should be observed.

Really well written and I can sure relate. We do tend to get a bit full of ourselves...and then the inevitable soul crushing commences.
I was out for my weekly 60 miler...and noodling at 18 mph out to the park...about 20 miles...saving my energy for my group ride when I get out there and up the ante. A guy rides up on an old Italian aluminum bike with low level Shimano gear...he looked fit...I had no idea. :) We got to talking...I had seen him before...hell of a nice guy....and so decided to ride out to the park together and he asked if he could join the ride. So met some friends and started our ride of and course the pace picked up and we are riding for a few miles around 21 mph or so and we come to some hills and of course the pace picks up even more and the guy just takes off. I couldn't stay with him and I am no slouch...but he was just too strong. We regrouped and began our ride home and we met some of his friends who were racers and rode some more and they weren't riding that fast which was good :) and he told me how much he rides. He told me he typically rides two centuries a week...sometimes hard. Average 300 miles a week or about twice what I ride. I am not sure if I could even ride that many miles...or want to. Anyway...I got his number and told him it would be best if I caught him on a recovery ride when he wasn't pushing too hard. :) Yes we certainly can be humbled and I sure was.

I'm proud of my humility....

Nicely written, we are all in the process of passing or being passed, the one becoming more frequent than the other as we age.

Thus sayeth the wise man, humble he is.

Oh yes, I thought that might be the case until he made this left hand turn onto a small park loop that links back to the main canyon road I'm on (this loop adds even more grade if you're feeling like superman). So I know what's going to happen next. I consider two options. First is to dismount and have an energy bar and check my texts for a few minutes. The second choice...my choice...was to eat my humble pie and keep riding knowing he's going to loop back onto the main road and ride over me again. That of course, is what happened. He was fast. Faster than I thought on that loop. However, he must have been bothered a bit as his helmet is now strapped to his bars as he comes by me again, this time with a grunt of a good morning - and I - like some gradeschool kid, giggle back in a high pitch voice "good morning too". WTF! Did I just say "good morning too?!". I'm twice his age and he is now in a smaller cog (yes...I looked) and I'm saying to this guy "good morning too"?!! Shame. Pathetic. And I'm sorry to all of you for not being honest in my story. Confessing my beat-down is one thing...but to be spanked twice on the same stretch is a bit embarrassing :(

Enjoy your riding this extended weekend everyone. Be humble out there :)

Excellent...

Life is humbling. Even the great champions lose their powers. The difference is...they had their day in the sun when they couldn't be beat.

humility is under rated

I'm 60, and within the set of 60 year old guys I'm probably in the top 10% in terms of fitness. However, within the subset of 60 year old male cyclists, since I've gotten a lot stronger and also more comfortable with long miles...I'm probably approaching the median. :bang: Getting passed going uphill by some youngster doesn't bother me. Getting passed going uphill by some guy a decade my elder - and him not breathing hard - shows me how much farther I have to go.