Yep, it was. January 14, 2009

Yep, 2008 was the best year ever.  No doubt about it. I don’t know how it happens, but somehow each year has been better than the last, since I was born.  Seriously, I’m not bullshitting.  Every year I look back and go “whew, does it get any better??”  Sometimes some key aspect of my life goes to crap, but then, that just sets up something else.  I knew it would happen again this year and it did.  Not everything went perfect. There were some financial stresses, vehicles that got wrecked or broke down, races I blew, disagreements from time to time, jobs that never got done, friends or family that got seriously ill, and a few that passed on.  But if you look at the list, it’s all stuff that no family on earth avoids.  Try it, check the list.  You probably had 80% of them too. It’s life. Otherwise it was the best year ever. 

My bike racing performance was below average, and only a second place at the Velo stage race crit to smile about. But I learned that I could still hang out with friends and a few beers, get up the next morning and race hung over, and still have a fun day, it hurt more, but still fun. Lots of times that great day simply meant finishing at the back but having a great time watching the chaos, or working with a teammate.  It was all good. I also realized that if I could stay with the pack completely hung over, maybe I might actually win something if I focused a bit.  The Devon GP was another success, and we made some mistakes but they forced a whole new approach to the race organization, and the GP will be even bigger and better in 2009.

The kids were even more fun than ever as they grow and change.  They still live life like a bomb going off.  But one day this summer, Cassidy came up and said, out of the blue, “You know, I love my life.  I love everything about it.  My friends, my family, all the fun things I get to do, my school, my cousins. It’s so great! I just love it.”  That right there, pretty much made my year.

 
At work, we’ve had a lot of challenges, and some really hard moments, but every time we get through it, every time we or I screw up and have to unravel a big mess, it’s like this intense MBA crash course.  I have to make some adjustments to how I work to balance overtime, but I have a plan, and that’s half the battle.
We got lots to be thankful for; there’s a lot of war in the world, but I get to stay home with family; the economy is sideways but my company is gonna be ok; the housing market is a bear but we bought years before it hit; my kids are healthy and happy. 

 
Cindy had a great year, establishing her training pattern, xc skiing with the club, doing more cyclo-cross.  She continued to remove walls with the axe. She got her work schedule changed to fit our lives better.  She was the rock that got all 200+ volunteers going the right directions for the biking club. She experimented with some dietary changes and it’s really working.  She’s a machine; nothing stops her, she just keeps motoring along, game for anything. 

The great part is that if I look at all the things I want to improve, they all seem to be symptoms of one issue, which means making a plan for 2009 to be the best year ever will be easier than I thought:  I have to simplify.  I let life get too complicated.  Too many projects, too many activities jammed in.  Too much clutter.

The Devon GP could be simplified to require less volunteers even with the same # of events.  I have already thrown out a lot of half-done projects from the garage: Better to reap the satisfaction of the ones that will become something, than forever trip over the “someday-I–should’s”. I finally got in touch with a few old friends this year, people I used to be in contact with daily, that I haven’t spoken to in years.  I gotta simplify my schedule, call people and get together, rather than saying “hey let’s get together”, and then it never happens.

There’s a lot of freedom in simplification.  I got rid of my bike computer and it was like taking off leg shackles.  I don’t need a computer to tell me that I pushed too hard…usually I just barf, and I see the chunks on my legs, and that’s my sign.

 
Simplify.

 
Yep, 2009 is gonna be the best year ever.

Best movie speeches – Rocky IV “DO IT” November 7, 2008

Just finished watching Rocky IV…how can you not want to go train old school chopping wood and stuff after watching that…seriously.   But the best of all is the short talk he gets from his (formerly Apollo Creed’s) coach, just before he starts training.  I need a mp3 of it to listen to every day before training…

 

“Apollo was like my son.
 I raised him.
 When he died, a part of me died.
 But now you're the one.
 You're the one that's going  to keep his spirit alive.
 You're the one that's going  to make sure he didn't die for nothing.
 You'll have to go through hell...
 worse than any nightmare  you ever dreamed.
 But in the end...
 I know you'll be the one standing.
 You know what you have to do.
 Do it.
 DO IT.”

ooooo ya ya ya I gotta go do hill repeats now!!!!  Woooohooooo!

Quote of the week March 26, 2008

Overheard during a training ride involving sprints from a pack with the juniors this week (I think it was Le Arsonist David):

“Aw man this is the sketchiest pack I’ve ever ridden in; a bunch of Juniors, a chick, and two dads on ‘cross bikes”

Oh no! The “Big 4-0″ January 29, 2008

I turned 40 a few days ago.  Apparently the world is supposed to end.  I’m supposed to age suddenly like the guy who drinks from the wrong cup at the end of “Indiana Jones in the Last Crusade”, and then shrivel up and die.  At least, that’s what everyone is saying.  I don’t mind the joking around at all, since obviously it would kind of suck if nobody noticed!

I just don’t get why it is supposed to be so bad.  I’m excited about this year.  My kids are doing cool things.  My wife and I are trying new things.  We’re trying a new fitness program and I think it’s really working.  My job is getting more exciting every day. So the age seems pretty much irrelevant.

But, it seems a big deal to everyone else, and I thought maybe I was in denial, so I decided to really think about it, and in the end I actually felt even more convinced everything was ok than before.

First of all, I truly believe that the age is in the math.  I’m going to live to 100.  I’m 40.  If you got 40% on a math test, would you consider that lots?  Ok, if you’re crappy at math maybe, but you get the idea.  Or you could break your life down into it’s phases: childhood, youth, and adulthood.  Childhood was really fun, youth was exciting, and adulthood is great so far. If 18 was the end of childhood, and 30 the end of the youth phase, then I’m in year 10 of 70 of my adulthood.  Getting upset about it now would be like going for a 3-hour ride and declaring 20 minutes in: “oh my god!! It’s almost over!  I’m so depressed!”

So the math pretty much does it for me, but then maybe it sounds a bit like I’m trying to convince myself.  So I decided to look a bit deeper.  When I used to race cars overseas, I learned a method of dealing with fear, nerves, and uncertainty from Niki Lauda’s book (Ex F1 driver). In his autobiography, he describes how he confronted his fears after coming back from his horrific and disfiguring crash, and went on to win the world championship.  It basically involves staring straight into your fears and taking them apart piece by piece like you would a carburetor or a bike.

Let’s say I was nervous about a race. Why am I nervous?  Am I afraid of crashing? No, I’m safer here than on the highway.  Am I afaid of a breakdown?  No, the team is good and I can’t control bad luck.  Am I afraid of losing?  Maybe, but it’s too late to get faster now.  My abilities are what they are, and all I got to do now it get out and do my best.

 I found this process really effective, and I did the same thing about turning 40.  Why would I be afraid of turning 40?  Is it because I’m getting closer to death?  We dealt with that age thing above already; there’s  lots of time left.  Am I afraid I’ve missed something, have unfinished business.  Again, lots of time, and I don’t have any regrets anyway, as I have lived about a full life as you can, have not held back ever.  Maybe, like when I was 30, (which was harder) people fear that maybe they will soon no longer be able to do all the things they love.  Ride bikes, run, jump, toboggan, swim, rassle with the kids, go to the bar and act stupid, compete. 

I have a two-part answer, and part 1 is: SAYS WHO??!!  My dad is over 60 and he still motors like most 20 yr olds.  My mom is also getting much fiiter these days, trying new things.  There’s a few 50-somethings at out bike club that are as fast as the kids.  Lori-Ann Muenzer was 38 when she knocked off the favorite and then swept a 20-something to win Gold at the Olympics.  Age is not limiting, only your attitude is, and I think a gold medal at the olympics is pretty tangible proof that it’s not just a nice thing to say.

The second part of the answer is something I learned when we had kids.  At first, when you realize that you can’t really party every night anymore, can’t ride all day, have to give up some person indulgences, you are a bit bummed, but then it hits you; you’d rather be with the kid anyway.  My interests and priorities had changed.  I didn’t really miss alot of the things that I “could no longer do” because I didn’t want to anyway.  So I no longer worry bout the day when maybe I can’t ride fast, or do running races because maybe by then I will be into something else anyway, like flying, or boatbuilding, or sailing.  That what my dad is doing.  He rides less these days, but he is so passionate about learning to sail, he acts like a 10 year old kid with a new bike.

So I’m turning 40.  Yep. People say, “so how does it feel to be old, over the hill, ha ha ha”  Honestly, all I can say is, the first 40 were a riot. 

I can’t wait for the next 40.

What burns your fire? January 28, 2008

The last two years we spent alot on gear.  Alot.  Ok, I have friends who spent more on one ski-doo than I have spent on all my gear combined, but relative to most athletic people, we spent a lot.  Mountain bikes. track bikes. ‘Cross bikes. Xc skis for the kids. Downhill skis for the kids.  Speedskates.  A welder (to fix the stuff, make my OWN frames).  It goes on.  It’s almost embarrassing.  People say, wow you’re like really serious bout this eh!  But we’re not really, I train way less than most.  It’s not like we’re loaded either.  We have no new cars, the house needs work, I’m half-done so many reno’s, but I still buy gear. I thought maybe I was addicted to “stuff”.   I remember thinking that some guys were dorks for spending sooo much money on a bike when they weren’t Cat 1 racers or anything.  Like they hadn’t earned the right to ride a bike that good.  They were wannabes. Or when they spent so much time and energy on the technical stuff, like heart rates, average speed, wattage, rpms etc…”BLah blah blah”. I thought, I’ll tell you the technical data I need: If I get dropped, I’m going too slow; if I barf, I went too hard; If I finish somewhere near the front, everything is ok.  But had I become a wannabe?  So I thought really hard about it.  Why do I keep trying all these new sports?  Why would that guy spend all his time logging his HR?  Why do I go to the garage and rebuild stuff over and over? Is it that I get bored easily?  Am I addicted to e-bay?

Then it occurred to me one day: because it keeps the fire burning.  It gives us a reason: to stay fit, to get out with friends, to enjoy life.  Everyone needs a reason.  A reason to get up.  A reason to train. A reason to work hard at something.  I used to think that people who exercise just to look good were vain, but really, maybe they’re not vain, they just work hard at staying fit and healthy; looking good is their reason.  Who am I to judge?  Dude with the expensive bike maybe isn’t fast, but the extra cool bike is the reason he rides.  He digs the best bike around.  The only thing that matters is that it gets him out of bed and on the bike.  Two years ago we joined a new bike club just simply to try new things.  Since then we’ve tried track, ‘cross, mtn bike racing, and speedskating.  And it looks schizophrenic to some of our friends, because we seem to be just jumping from thing to thing.  Actually, what’s happening is that each new thing gives us a new reason, a new fire in the belly to get out.  We do everything as a family.  Every new thing we can do together is another new adventure together. 

So yup, we spent waaaay too much on gear lately.  but we are sooooo pumped to do more of our latest things, speedskating and XC skiing.  Maybe we’ll get bored and it would seem we bought the stuff prematurely. 

But that’s ok, we’ll sell the stuff and use the money to pay for the next thing…..I can’t wait!