Cycling 101: 2013
When I sit down on my bicycle and I click my shoes into the pedals it is my release from the world in many ways. More specifically exercise is my release and most likely throughout life it will be. The endorphin rush I get at the end of a workout is an unparalleled feeling. Now the title of this blog post is a reference to Lance Armstrong’s book: “It’s Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life”. Before continuing on about my passion for riding my bicycle and exercising I need to pause, to talk about Armstrong and other athletes for that matter.
Back in college, in my Human Ethics course I gave a presentation on why athletes should not be considered role models. I cited various reasons and feelings of why athletes are setup to fail those who idolize them. How society is less to blame for a culture which puts an athlete on a pedestal rather than a teacher or a parent. As a school teacher I am in some ways a pseudo parent of my students. I spend a great deal of time with them. I see habits and sides of them that their parents will never see at home. It is a great privilege for a teacher as teachers transcend the classroom. Teachers become a role model and a person who students can go to when things are not going their way. It is the personal relationship that develops between a teacher and his/her students. When these students are at home they have parents who should provide them with guidance. This is not always the case as home life for every student is not always supportive. In this way the role of the teacher becomes even more magnified. I have to go back to what I just said, “. . . personal relationship.” An athlete can never have the same impact upon a child as a teacher or parent can. This athlete will never have a relationship with that child where they can make an impact in their life. Yes, children look to athletes for inspiration in sports and give them a beacon to aspire to.
There is nothing wrong with having an athlete who you look to aspire to become as an athlete yourself. It becomes troublesome when a child is crushed when that said athlete tests positive for PED’s, is arrested, or is in the spotlight for extramarital affairs. Their hero and idol has fallen from grace and they are filled with disappoint. Teachers and parents can disappoint a child as well, but not on the same level. This circles back to society and how people view athletes. When they make a mistake the media tears them apart and judges their character. As Charles Barkley eloquently said in a Nike commercial, “I am not a role model. I am not paid to be a role model . . . Parents should be role models.” To further this even the great Michael Jordan affirmed that growing up his parents were his biggest role models. Inspiration and confidence should be built in the household and in the classroom, and not by some athlete winning the game for his team.
How does this relate to the bike and Armstrong you might be thinking? My brief explanation of my paper and subsequent rant above has everything and nothing to do with me getting on my bicycle. In 1996, Lance Armstrong was diagnosed with stage three or advanced testicular cancer. The cancer spread to his lungs, abdomen and brain. This is on a human level and not an athlete level. I will always say to people you need to separate the man/woman from the athlete. I want you, the reader, to sit back and to think about being diagnosed with that level of cancer. For female listens you have breast cancer and not testicular cancer. Your world is completely rocked and you are given a 40% chance to survive. Though Armstrong had some of the best doctors in the world it still to a large degree comes down to the patient. Sometimes a doctor cannot save a person from life or death. Here is where I admire the man, but not the athlete due to his constant lying and usage of PEDS. Rather than calling it quits and stepping away from the sport Armstrong returned to a level many of us will never get to. Yes, drugs helped fuel his comeback, but I could not tell you to what extent. In the world of professional cycling you get to the top by taking an advantage you can get. The athlete and the man for that matter were truly obsessed with winning.
For those of you unfamiliar with the Tour de France it is one of the three grand cycling tours. This past Tour the overall length of the race was 3,404 km (2,115 mi) split into 21 stages. The winning time averaged (40.5 km/h or 25.2 mph). I average 18.4 miles an hour on my rides that usually are an hour long. These athletes rode an average 162 miles a day for just over three weeks. On the famous Mont Ventoux stage the winner Christopher Froome took 5hr 48min 45sec to complete the 242.5 KM (150 miles) stage. My point being is that you have to be an absolute crazy person to sit on a bike for that long. Armstrong was that crazy and showed by his seven Tour victories, he might have cheated but the accomplishment is far more ridiculous. After surviving cancer this man injected himself with drugs so that he could sit for periods of more than three hours on a bicycle to win an event many call the hardest in the world. As an avid Tour de France viewer I was amazed at Lance Armstrong’s accomplishment. Before the truth surfaced I believed Lance to be a clean athlete and a cancer survivor.
He is still the latter, but he is no a clean athlete. His book talks about his way back onto the bike and the measures he took. It is an inspiration story of him beating the odds. How the bike was in many ways his salvation, but as it turned out his greatest flaw. When Lance was on the bike he controlled his destiny, but he intimidated and cheated his way to the top. The salvation he felt was sincere and for him riding the bike was his coping mechanism. This is where similarities start to emerge. I myself pity Armstrong for having to cheat, but I understand why he did it. This changes my opinion of the man and athlete completely, but I still see a message. When I get on the bike I meditate on my problems and I attempt to leave them behind.
Mile after mile goes by and every now and then I think of Armstrong. Why he felt the need to cheat and what that means to me. I only took what message he was giving and applied it to my life. To work hard and to never give up are prominent messages that I hold with great conviction. These ideas were not planted by Armstrong; they merely reinforced ideas and concepts I already knew. My parents and teachers had already driven this home and having this cancer survivor tell his tale added to it. I did not look up to Armstrong as an athlete, but as someone who battled as adversity and won. Each time I ride I know I have fought adversity and I have won. It is a time where I can put my troubles as close or as far away as I want them to be. All those breakaway sprints or hills I encounter are times I can dig deep and fight for it. In many ways the bike has become a metaphor for me. It becomes a way of coping with the day’s problems and the stresses of everyday life. Each ride can have a different meaning and purpose for me. When I ride my bike with my Dad I am sharing quality time with him. We might not be talking, but is a shared activity which bonds us. My parents are my role models and always will be. Armstrong and other athletes have only provided lessons from which I can learn from.
You see in many ways it is really about the bike. It is vessel which can take you from place to place. In many ways you will need it from one time to another. Along the way you will learn about yourself and others if you choose it. Each time you fall on the bike you pick yourself up and you get back on. If you are like me you get on, get out of the saddle and pedal until you where you were before you fell. In life you need to pick yourself up and get right back up. For all the bumps and bruises you may accumulate in life you will always have smiles, cheers and inspiration along the way. Remember, it is not what you do when you fall it is what you do after that defines you.
Comment from my Dad:
You are right Ian. It is about the bike (life) and about life being ahead of you and you run at it! Because you never know how far your life will take you unless you truly saddle up and get on with it.
Johnny Mull
