We might as well win

That's the name of the book I read today. It was written by Johan Bruyneel, team director for US Postal and Discovery when Lance won 7 tours, and Contador won his first. Its a great look into the mind of this most amazing multi-tasking bicycle racing master. The stories of his stage win for his father who had passed away suddenly, and the connection with how Lance won his stage in memory of Fabian Casertelli, were touching, and showed how emotion can carry people to do amazing things. And his sprint win over Indurain, after hanging on for dear life for 30 miles, even someone who is not the most gifted physical athlete, can do amazing things when the time is right, and the mind works right. The stories of his office (the team car) during a race, wow, this guy could do ten things at one time, while having conversations with riders in 5 languages, and make split second decisions that lead to the results they train and plan for months. There are so many great stories and things to think about in this book. My favorite is, and this is not quoted word for word, but 'you have to be willing to risk losing, for a chance to win'. And while he was talking about winning the biggest cycling race in the world, I can apply it to my own race against myself. I've said this to my coach and some friends a few times, that one of these days I need to race from wire to wire, not holding back just because I'm afraid to hurt, and because the run is the hardest part of a tri for me. This year I will take risks, and see what I can do.