We meet. I courtesy. You bow. Then I bow and you courtesy. We kiss each other on the cheek (you taste like Vaseline).
This is a blog about failing. This is about being the Lanterne Rouge.
This is about starting something and wanting to be really good at it and not being really good at it. This is about wanting to go really fast but going only sort of fast. This is about bicycles. This is about sports. This is about gear and equality and humiliation. This is about an espresso before and a beer after. This is about my seventh grade self and my thirty year old self. This is about love.
This is an attempt to be a better writer and to be a better cyclist. Writing is thinking. Writing is observing. Riding is thinking. Riding is observing. This is creative non-fiction. This is practice. This is essay. This is to get better. This is to fail and fail and fail and then maybe to. Maybe to. Maybe to. Win.
I love this intro and all the awkward memories from youth that it brings to mind. Ira Glass has a couple videos on YouTube about how many people try to do what they want, fail, and give up because they’re not meeting their own standards. He says–and I agree, and forgive me if you’re already familiar with these thoughts of Mr. Glass’–that our dissatisfaction stems from our own good taste. We know what right looks like and are frustrated when we don’t create what we want. What we have to do, says Ira, is persevere. When we keep at it, we get better and better. Pretty soon, if we don’t quit, we get there, and our work becomes great.
I’m all about failing because the more I fail, the closer I am to success.
I love the idea that “our dissatisfaction stems from our own good taste.” Marvelous. Thank you so much for commenting. Some of this idea also stems from Carol Dweck’s ideas on “Growth” vs. “Fixed” Mindsets. She did a lot of educational research on this and now I’m just trying to apply it to cycling. Growth mindset states that you can mistakes and take risks in order to get better. Fixed mindset claims that you are one way and you will never change. I am a total believer in growth mindset. Thank you again.
Hey Cyclist! Congratulations! I’ve nominated you for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award. Here is the link to the nomination page.
http://teanhunny.wordpress.com/2014/07/02/nomination-very-inspiring-blogger-award/
Just stumbled onto your blog and love love love this description of your blog. It’s so beautifully written, you don’t seem to have failed at all, at least not to me 💜