Its all about the "fork control"....

We all have funny role models and aspirations in the world of cycling.

A world where power to weight ratio is everything, and all your commitment to this Idol, is finely squeezed into over priced, un-forgiving Lycra for all the world to see.

if you're 10lbs over weight everyone knows it. Your wife, that fat C**t in his SUV laughing at you and your sport whilst eating his super-sized Mc flabber he just picked up in the drive through. he fat but at least he's smart enough to hide it behind 1.5 tonnes of slowly rusting metal and lost dreams.

And most unforgiving of all your cycling buddies, although they would never say it (out loud, to your face) they each great each other with a nod and a quick scan up and down to asses body fat %.

God forbid if you ever come up against a world class polish coach.

You might have a BMI of 20.

be 6'5" and weigh 130lbs but he'll be pinching your upper arms and asking you how you find the courage to face the world and the rest of the cycling community with such an eating disorder.....

And is it any wonder? Look at those that came before us. The hardest and best of men in the hardest and best of sports.....the "chicken" (top), Mr 60% (a referance to his hemotacrit not his body fat)

or any of the other cycling greats we watch in awe as they fly up the hardest of climbs faster than we could ride on the flat.

As a child watching LeMond in those epic battles of the early TDF i would dream of emulating my hero's one day on those very same mountains.

I even did once when at the tender age of 19yrs old and 160lbs, i rode from Rome to Germany. I didn't quite fly up them though, I struggled to push the pedals for hours at a time.

As cyclist we celebrate each new vein popping out for the first time from behind the screen of fat, we marvel at the first time out ribs are clearly visable, a bench mark of success.

"Your at the right weight when your wife thinks you too skinny and your Mum thinks your Sick!"

But i lacked the commitment to "fork control" the desire to be in a state of near constant starvation, that it takes to be a champion. Its not easy to burn 2000 -5000 calories in a day and have lettuce and a protein shake for supper. Especially when everyone else is eating ribs and enjoying pitchers of beer.

but i guess that why i'm not world class.......but i still keep the motivational images to remind me the before and after photo's (below) of what it takes to be a success in this game. right under the sign saying "Fork Control" taped on the cooler..... so i can read it each time i get another "Molson 67".