I is for Inspiration

Inspiration has been on my mind lately as to being an inspiration to others and thought I would talk about what inspires me.

For the longest time, one of my biggest inspirations was Lance Armstrong.  His story was perfect and gave me so much to aim for in my life.  I still draw some inspiration from him but nothing like before he was proven to be a lying, cheating jerk and 'confessed' to his doping.  He still did have cancer, his recovery was remarkable and his achievements, even if drug assisted, remain incredible.  I have read his book "It's not About the Bike" several times and it still can inspire me.

Lance talked about some of the recovery process during and after the chemo.  I specifically remember one section where he talks about finally getting back on the bike and doing some laps around the neighborhood:

By the end of my treatment we would ride for half an hour, a simple loop through the neighborhood... about halfway through the ride we reached a short steep hill. I thought I was keeping up, but the truth was, my friends were being kind. In fact, they were moving so slowly they almost fell over sideways on their bikes... I had little concept of how fast or how show we were moving.
All of a sudden, a figure moved up on my left. It was a woman in her 50s on a heavy mountain bike, and she went right by me.

This section of the book hit me quite hard because I so easily get into a mode of getting judgmental of what others are or are not doing.  I don't know where that person has been when I am passing them (or being passed by them as is more common).  I don't know what struggles they have seen and need to remember to respect them and where they are at.  We all need to remember that when we pass someone on the road, the trail, or just see them struggling to do something we consider trivial.  So, even a lying, cheating, mean spirited, self serving jerk of a cyclist can give us lessons in how to live our lives.

If there is another cyclist that inspires me now, it has to be Jens Voigt.  Jens is a 42 year old cyclist who rides for Trek in the 2014 Tour de France.  Two years ago, Jens won a mountain stage (are there any others?) in the US Pro Cycling Challenge here in Colorado.  Jens is always attacking.  He is always the man you need to mark because you never know when he will go.  Jens' most famous quote is "Shut up Legs" which is his battle cry to keep continuing on.  This year, he is the oldest rider in the 2014 tour and took the Polka Dot jersey today (best climber) in the opening stage.  Shut up legs indeed.

Wayne Gretzky inspires me.  He was the best hockey player ever and famously said that "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."  If you don't try, you have already failed.  It doesn't mean to play or live with complete abandon but you must live and play, taking the opportunities that life presents to you.  I almost screwed that up this last week by not taking advantage of an opportunity to drive a 427 AC Cobra kit car for reasons I don't want to get into.  My wife encouraged me and I did it.  It was an awesome experience and my son said that my smile was the biggest he has ever seen on my face.

Mario Lemieux is another hockey player that inspires me.  He fought through diseases that would level any ordinary man and, had he actually been healthy throughout his career, may have passed Gretzky to be the Great One.  He had herniated disks in his back, non-hodgkins lymphoma, and chronic tendonitis.  In spite of this, he was one of the best and attempted two separate comebacks and eventually saved the Pittsburgh Penguins by buying them while playing for them in his second comeback.

My wife inspires me.  She has overcome so much and completed the Pikes Peak Ascent (half marathon with 7k+ feet of vertical gain in less than 6hrs and 30 minutes, something I could never do) in the required time.  She is not someone that most would look at and consider an athlete but through hard work and determination, she accomplished what she set out to do.  She makes me want to improve and get back to something close to where I was.  I went for my first ride in forever today and it was awful but Stephanie has had equally horrific rides, runs, and other outings but she keeps going.  She makes me want to improve and encourages me to truly be the best I can be.

Brian Einsweiler inspires me.  We first met about 12 years ago at the hockey rink when he was placed on our team and, although we did not know it at the time, he had lost a significant amount of weight and had gone from couch potato to athlete.  Brian ran the Leadville 100 trail race a few years ago, an event that so few enter and even fewer complete.  His transformation is something that makes me want to do better and to work harder.  He is also the only person I know who can put away a quadruple bypass and then ask what is for desert but that is another story...

Are there others that inspire me?  Of course but I don't want to write forever.  If I have not named you or your favorite athlete/historical figure (a few more of my heros are in a previous blog), I apologize but these are the ones I chose today.