Getting Hungry

We had 12 show up for the Tuesday night ride this past week, including a 12 year old on a cross bike! The ride went close to two hours and stayed mainly on the rail trail, however, we did do some single track - nothing too technical. I rode the new 29'er - what a great ride! One ride and I'm already sold on this tech. My light battery died about 90 minutes in, making things very interesting. When I was with the group, it was no problem. When alone, I couldn't see the trail under me, making the ride dangerous and bizarre. I came out unscathed though. This ride has been a blast and a nice change of pace.

Wednesday night, I attended the kick off meeting for the Bethel Cycle Club for next season. Greg has really done a great job with this club. He has the right people heading things up and they have done nothing but grown. Megan S. heads up the tri-club and they currently have more members than the cyclists! Greg introduced me at one point and asked me to say a few words, so I spontaneously discussed motivation during this time of year. One of the things I mentioned was the African runners and how they are studied and observed to see why they are so good. Many books and magazines have covered their theories as to why the Africans excel in distance running - the common theories are; they all train together at altitude and that they have been running long distances since they were young kids. I think it's more simple than that. The pure reason they are so good is because they are hungry - both literally and mentally! In a country where their annual individual salary is less than $100/year, this is their ticket out. We have it very nice over here in the US, even during this recession, and this makes us soft, plain and simple. The point was that now is a great time of year to "get hungry", instead of being a lethargic, excuse making, over partied, over hor douerved, typical December American.