Well, I Guess Me is Me, After All

I just got finished reading an article over at Red Kite Prayer titled, “He is Him.”  While the utilization of capitalized H’s formally denotes reference to The Almighty, I got the picture of what the author was referring to: When riding with others, You are You, and They are Them.  This is similar to a concept a college professor told me many years ago in regards to the human thought process, human nature and particularly relationships: “What is true for You, is true for You.”  So, what exactly does this mean to us cyclists?

Each of us possesses unique gifts, skill-sets, luck, and abilities to procure better equipment, due to more resources (money) compared to other people.  We are not all on the same footing, so to speak.  Humans all begin life equally, but a myriad of variables determine how we get from one end of life to the other.  However, it is not just what we are given, but WHAT we do with what we are given, and this naturally extends into the realm of cycling.  In its purest form, we see Real Life played out on any, and every, ride consisting of two (2) riders or more – “Who is better?” goes the battle cry.  Well, that is indeed truly relative, as the real question should be, “Better at what?” 

In my own experiences with other riders, we all indeed have our strengths and weaknesses.  Others are faster than me, but they are only faster for short periods of time.  Some people climb better than me, but I destroy them all on descents.  Some people ride well in the cool, morning hours, and I ride well when it is smoking hot outside (a carry-over from my Cross-Country running days).  The latter reference to running is also why I am stronger at the end of a Century than at the beginning, well after all of the Tour de France wannabe’s have long since pooped out.  I also have the ability to slug it out in headwinds for extended periods of time, while others I ride with don’t even go out if the wind is 10 MPH or more.  There are many more examples I could share, however, all of you have had similar, relevant experiences, I am certain.

In totality, whether it is He is Him, Me is Me, or What is True For You, is True For You, we all have unique moments of existence on this planet.  So, instead of looking to others for validation of our own unique attributes, just enjoy what Providence and genetics have given to each of us.

Just ride.