Journey of a Thousand Kilometers

After fighting, everything else in your life got the volume turned down. – Fight Club

After bike racing, everything else in your life got the volume turned down…

Stepped up to some Cat 4 fun in Banff.  Drove down Saturday afternoon with Naomi.  Banff Park Lodge… decent hotel, decent price. I recommend.

It rained all the way through the kids and cruiser crit races,but the weather gods blessed the category races with sunshine. The roads were still a bit wet with puddles though.. wet wheels made the corners a bit sketchy and likely contributed to a few crashes.  I didn’t hear of any serious injuries, just broken bikes and road rash.

I must admit.. the crit was a bit intimidating as or the first time I was racing in front of a large casual spectator crowd, instead of the usual athlete crowd. The Cat 4 race went out pretty hard, and the lactic acid was killing me.. I thought I was going to throw up. I really should get LONG warmups in prior to crits as  I’m never ready for the start.  I hung on to the last wheel throughout most of the race, although the pack slowed with couple laps to go as people were eyeing each other and I should have attacked.. or something! I probably would have been run down… but damn.. I gotta learn to take those chances.  About half the race DNF’d due to lapping or crashes so I was happy just to finish with the pack.  I went in too hot for the last corner, braked to avoid hitting the barriers and missed the sprint…. AGAIN. Second last in my Cat.. but I finished.

The road race.. they start all the cat 2/3/4 together. It was a HUGE field.  Feeling a bit intimidated by the sheer size of the peleton, I started at the back. Bad move. The race went out hard and furious. A gap opened up on the first climb… and I was racing to finish after that. I got stuck with a bunch of guys who wouldn’t work in a paceline.. or do any work.  Because for the rest of the race only me, a bicisport, and a Speed Theory guy go to the front. With almost 10 guys… and a good paceline.. I think we could have brought the gap back.  Frustratingly… we lost several minutes to the field each lap. I was the only cat 4 to miss the break and still finish.. 17mins behind the field.

I had a much longer race report in my head… but no time to write it all up.  All in… a fun weekend of racing. Next up is Male 30-39 nationals in Edmonton. Thankfully, it’s flat… I’m going to try and just finish close to the lead group!!

Quickie report.

Flying to Kelowna and driving to Oliver is much more pleasant than driving 11+ hours. Airmiles rule.

Finally, decent weather. Cooler and overcast. Only drops of rain.

Swim – I survived. Ripped my wetsuit on exiting water. Will skip the wetsuit strippers next time… I can get out of my suit faster. Need to swim train more than once a week!

Bike – Felt good was making up spots, then my neck issues started again and started losing ground. Have to figure that out before IM.

Run – Walk, puke, jog, puke, run slow, run fast. Finish.

Not my best performance on Sunday, but it was a lot of fun.  Congrats to all my friends who raced… it’s much more fun to race with friends, don’t you think!?

And finally congrats to my awesome wife Naomi for competing in her first race since surgery last year. I love you!

Next up, Banff Bike Fest…

My second stage race, on the May long weekend, was Bikes on Broadway in Saskatoon.  The weather forecast leading into the weekend was not promising, heavy rain and wind. I was feeling a bit under the weather on Thursday and Friday as well, and almost called off the trip.

Saturday morning I awoke to do an easy 60min spin to see how the legs were and was surprised by how good they felt. So, with the nasty weather report, I went down to WayPastFast to see if I could find myself a rain jacket, and Tom just happened to have an extra small in stock. WOO! I also picked up Naomi’s new Lazer Tardiz aero helmet, very nice.

The drive to Saskatoon was fast and uneventful, but with plenty of traffic on the holiday weekend. The weather was overcast and in the high teens for the entire drive, until I was within 20km of Saskatoon. Then, the sky turned gray, the rain started, and the wind was picking up.  At package pickup I learned that my planned accommodation, a room at the U of S, was not going to happen, they were full!  By the sounds of it, most places were booked solid for the long weekend. Thanks to Rob, one of my Cat 4 team-mates, for offering me the spare bed in his room, I was a bit worried I would be sleeping in my car!

8.5km TT

The first event was Saturday night, an 8.5 Time Trial along the river-front (Spadina Cres).  As I warmed up on the trainer in the warmth of the room, I could hear the storm intensify outside. I pulled on my new rain jacket and headed out the door to ride to the start which was just across the river in front of the Sheraton Cavalier hotel.  Crossing the bridge, I thought I was going to die. The winds were gusting over 65kmh, and my deep Zipp wheels on a wet road was making things very sketchy.

I managed to make it to the start line about 8mins before my start time. The starters told me I couldn’t wear my rain jacket as they couldn’t see the numbers clearly, so I stuffed it in my back pocket. I wanted it at the finish line!  I went hard, just wanting to finish, but I don’t think it was my best effort. I was overly cautious, trying to keep the bike upright. I managed 4th place in the Cat 5, about 16s back from 1st.  ERTC was sitting 1,3,4,10 on GC after the TT.

BoB TT

Battle of Batoche (the Road Race 60km)

Sitting back in the room after the TT I told Rob that I really wasn’t interested in starting the road race in the same conditions.  8.5km all out is one thing, over 2 hours in that was suicidal in my opinion. If the weather didn’t improve, I was going to DNS and head back to Edmonton. Luckily, the morning brought clearer skies, although it was still overcast and intermittent showers.

The race started and finished at the historic Batoche site.  Very pretty area along the North Saskatchewan river valley.  The Cat 5 race was 60km, mostly flat, with an out and back across the river, providing a selective hill. Being Cat 5 we were second last to start (Cat 6 was last) just after noon. Temps were reasonable, sitting around 10c, with some very light intermittent rain.

The first 10km was heading south with a slight tailwind. As ERTC controlled most of the top of the GC, our plan was to do as little work as possible, cover attacks, but work when needed to make a selection in the field,  and of course, try to win the race! 3mins before the start, BANG! Brett’s tire blew!  Luckily he had a spare wheel in his car and was able to change it with a minute to spare.  Lucky timing! Two mins later and we would have had to team time trial him into the race… although that might have been fun.

Speed Theory was the only other “full” team, with 4 riders.  They started at the front and seemed content to let the group roll out at a leisurely pace.  About 2km in, one of the women riders in the group  half-wheeled Reid and went down, but I think she wasn’t hurt and continued. As we turned east, a tailwind increased the pace a bit, but noone really wanted to do any work on the front. I started to take a couple of easy pulls, and decided to do the work for ERTC and let my teammates, both higher on GC and better sprinters stay in the draught.

15km later at the turnaround  the pace was still really low, noone was attacking, and there were a few poor bike handlers causing some grief amongst the group. 5km later, boom… our second crash victim, another  female rider. Enough was enough, time to get things moving, races get dangerous when everyone is dawdling!

After  a few long pulls at the front, noone else seemed to want to help with the work. I would pull off only to find everyone just following my wheel. I decided to attack off the front and see how everyone would react to that!  After getting a 150m up the road and getting into a rythm I was joined by a Speed Theory rider looking to go on all out break for the win.  I let him know up front that I wasn’t too interested in pulling him in front of our GC riders, but I would work with him to the bridge to stay up front where his wife had a camera.

BoB RR

At the big hill after the bridge, the chase group brought us back. I went to the front again and didn’t let off the gas to the finish.  I led a selection of 7 riders into the final left turn and 10k to the finish… all 4 of us ERTC, two Speed Theory, and a Synergy rider.  Everyone was content to sit in until about 1.5km to go, when the Synergy rider attacked, and all hell broke loose. I missed the acceleration, failing to grab a wheel… and everyone was gone.. although I only end up losing about 45s at the line.  The Synergy guy nabbed first, while Bruce got his best result yet.. a second.  Reid,Brett and I came 5-7… I think we need to work on better positioning for the sprint next time.

Broadway Crit - 25min + 3 laps

First lap went out fast. Plan was to push the pace early and drop the weak riders.  Lap 2, Reid was leading, Brett in second, when we went into corner 2 which is pretty tight. BOOM! Brett went down hard… sounded nasty too but we continued on.  On the next lap, Brett managed to get back to the start/finish and get back into the race.  After that it was simple attrition.. by the end of the race there were only 12 riders who managed to not get lapped. Our lead pack was only 9 riders.  I didn’t fight hard enough for position and came into the final sprint in 9th… and finished there.

All in all, a great weekend of racing. With some luck, some tactics, and some hard racing, ERTC nabbed 2-5 on GC. For my 4th place I earned my first paycheque, $105. Gas money paid for! Now to continue improving… in CAT 4! We all scored enough upgrade points to get upgraded this past week.

Next race.. Banff Bike Fest Crit and Tunnel Mountain road race, June 19-20. Oh wait… I guess I have a little triathlon in Oliver on June 6 first. Happy racing.

Velocity was May 1,2.. but never got around to write a blog about it.. here’s the quick and short:

Saturday morning, 10k TT:  didn’t get enough of a warmup in, and misjudged the length of the course a bit… but came in 10th, about 30s back.

Saturday afternoon:
25min + 3laps crit.  plenty of corners plus a steady headwind on the back section.
I really need to improve my bike handling to hold speed through the corners. Less braking, better lines…
With a field of 50, my goal was to just try and stay near the front and avoid any crashes.
Did pretty well until about 4 laps to go… when I got caught out in the headwind section and let a gap open.
Chased like mad until the finish…but couldn’t bridge and lost 29s to the field and GC.

Sunday morning: 68km road race, flat but with 6 corners and a steady north wind.
The team plan (we had 5 guys), was to trade attacks and try to get Juventus, who had about 6 guys in the top 10 GC to work at the front.
I got caught up on the excitement and didn’t fuel for the first 2 laps. I completely  ran out of gas on the last lap and rode a long quite painful loop back to the finish line.  Most shelled I’ve ever felt from a race.

Ended up 10mins back from the field.

Lessons learned:

• Fuel more.
• Recovery between stages in a stage race is vital.
• Improving my bike handling will allow me to use a lot less energy.
• Tactics… lots of choices!

My friend Alison last night asked on her Facebook status “How do you get motivated?”. I never really thought much about it… I just am. So after some googling, I found this great article on that very subject… enjoy:

Tao of Motivation

If you think you need to ‘get motivated’ … then I am sorry but you are thinking in reverse.

Why?

Because neither motivation nor inspiration are things that you can get ‘out there’, like they are things you can buy at a supermarket.

Does a tree need to ‘get motivated’ to reach its branches towards the sky?

Does a river need to ‘find inspiration’ to flow down to the sea?

They sound like silly questions right?

But they are no more ‘silly’ then the notion that you need to ‘get motivated’ to be the success you are naturally destined to be.

In saying things like, “I need to get motivated” or, “I need to find inspiration” you create a separation within … a motivator and a motivatee.

Doing this can create an internal scenario where part of your mind becomes the “Task Master”, the one with a whip and a drill sergeant’s bellow, and another part the “Wretched Slob” who performs up to standard only to keep the whip off his back. Such internal conflict is destructive to one’s well-being and is also a major waste of energy.

This type of motivation is external and artificial. ‘True’ motivation and inspiration are internal and come as naturally as breathing.

You see, there are four types of people. The first is the unconscious incompetent. This is the person that doesn’t even know that they don’t know. This is the lowest rung in the ladder.

The second type of person is the conscious incompetent. This is the person that knows that they don’t know, but they still don’t know what to do. The model above of “The Task Master” and “Wretched Slob” fits this type of person well. They consciously want to be achieving things but their internal incompetencies and personality traits sabotage this desire.

The next type of person is the conscious competent. This is the person that knows what to do, and then if they think about it, they can go ahead and do it. Instead of the “Wretched Slob” this person might internally be a “Super Star” but they still need “The Task Master” with his whip.

The highest level of person, though, is the unconscious competent. This is the person that has it so ingrained in them as to what to do, that they don’t even have to think about it. They just automatically do it.

The unconscious competent does not need any sort of external motivator … motivation for them is a natural, internal state of being.

Chapter 38 of the Tao Te Ching1 begins by saying:

One of subtle universal virtue

is not conscious of being virtuous,

therefore, he is truly virtuous.

Applied to motivation, it could be modified to say:

One of subtle universal motivation

is not conscious of being motivated,

therefore, he is truly motivated.

Look at young children playing. Do they need conscious motivation to be playfully exuberant? It is only when social conditionings encroach that this natural exuberance diminishes and we have to resort to artificial ‘motivational systems’ so that we can do the things that used to come to us ‘naturally’.

Here’s a personal example, for a long period of time my internal “Task Master” would be always telling me to exercise more because I wasn’t as fit and trim as I used to be. I tried all sorts of processes including reward/punishment systems, time management systems, personal trainers, going to the gym and the list goes on.

But then in a moment of clarity my inner youth piped up and said, “Hey! Wouldn’t it be much easier if you just did something that you really enjoyed?”

That’s when I discovered Hacky Sack. For the uninitiated a Hacky Sack is like a little bean bag that you have to try and keep up in the air with only your feet … just like the pro soccer plays do with soccer balls.

*** I LOOOVE HACKY SACK! ***

Playing Hacky Sack for me isn’t exercise at all … not in the sense of, “OK now I am exercising.” I went from struggling to ‘exercise’ once per week to having up to 2 or 3 full-on sessions with the Hacky Sack every single day. I grab every chance I can to kick that little sphere of joy up into the air!

You see my motivation to exercise went from an external, artificial affair to an ‘unconscious competence’ state of being. By digging deep within me and discovering that my true nature is very playful, exuberant, and youthful I was able to discover ‘automatic motivation’ to engage in exercise.

I now don’t have to ‘get motivated’ to exercise … I just get out there and play because I am motivated from within to do something that I really love doing.

And there … right there … is the essence of motivation.

In the I Ching (the Book of Changes)2 you will find that it is the nature of things for life to be ever-changing, ever in motion, ever ‘motivating’ into new manifestations. So it can be said that ‘motivation’ is a natural prime mover that keeps life going on its merry course.

When viewed in this light motivation can be seen as a core fundamental principle of your very being. So if you feel you are suffering from a lack of motivation it basically means you have cut yourself off from your core inner reservoirs. It means that you are not in tune with your true nature.

At a basic level this is caused by 2 things:

a) You have an internal ‘blocker’ that is preventing you accessing your inner reservoir of motivation. In essence, your inner ‘river’ of inspiration has been clogged up with a lifetime of debris and conditionings.

b) Also, a lack of motivation can be the result of engaging in something that is not truly your ‘path of heart’ (which is usually caused by having internal blockers).

The solution of course is to remove these internal blockers so that you can once again integrate with your limitless reservoirs of natural energy, enthusiasm, and motivation. Unblock the dam and the river flows again.

Until you can tap into your inner source of motivation your attempts to ‘get motivated’ will only create superficial motivation because as soon as you stop the motivation process you run out of motivation. Like when you are cold you put a jacket on to get warm, but when you take the jacket off you get cold again.

What you need to do is to reach the stage of being unconsciously competent, or unconsciously motivated. Motivation needs to be so much a part of your being that you don’t even realize that you are being motivated.

You see that is the secret to motivation … it is not about how to ‘get motivated’ …

…but how to ‘be motivation’.

Because the truth is that you already are motivation. You just need to clear away the ‘debris’ and let your natural motivation and inspiration flow forth.

ends

References:

1 Ni, Hua Ching (2003) The Complete Works of Lao Tzu. LA: SevenStar Communications Group, Inc.

2 Ni, Hua Ching (2002) I Ching, The Book of Changes and The Unchanging Truth. LA: SevenStar Communications Group, Inc

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Stuart Shaw is a recognized motivational speaker and poet. His web site, http://www.inspirationmagic.com, provides a wealth of inspirational articles, poems and resources on everything you’ll ever need to know about motivation and personal success.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Staurt_Shaw

So, I’ve entered the wonderful world of cycle racing. To get my pack cycling skills in order I have competed in the first two spring road series races. $5 and an ABA membership is all you need to race and give the sport a try. I have to say… I’m HOOKED!

The first race, put on by ERTC was on April 11. A nasty late season snow storm with crazy winds threatened to cancel it… but by Sunday morning the winds were only 10kmh and sunny skies warmed things up to ~0C at race start. BRRR!

I woke early that morning to catch the end of Paris-Roubaix on a pirate internet feed. Almost 265km, with 16 sections of nasty cobbles… I can`t imagine how tough that would be! Fabian Cancellera rode away from the pack for a well deserved win, the guy is an animal. Filled with inspiration from the pros, I set out to the west end of the city to have my first go at bike racing.

A small, but larger than expected group showed up despite the freezing temps. Each Category (A,B,C) had approximately 10-15 cyclists. I rode with the newbie C group and our race was pretty uneventful, a few modest attacks. I even had a go a few times, but my legs were not cooperating at all! As we rode up the last hill, I was at the front and made a bad shift, losing my momentum…. and everyone blew past me for the final 2k sprint to the finish. Doh!

After a cassette swap to 11-23 from 12-27, replacing the rear derailleur cable, and fine tuning the derailleur adjustment, I was feeling confident my bike was tuned properly for the Prairie-Roubaix, race #2.

As soon as the guys at Speed Theory announced the Prairie-Roubaix course, I wanted to do it. A unique event in that each 14.5km lap has about 3km of gravel… and not the hard packed stuff.. some of it loose and sketchy! Included were some pretty decent hills as well. I love tough unique courses.. so had to make the trip for this one.

I drove down on Saturday afternoon to Calgary, and was able to get to the new Speed Theory store before it closed. A nice shop, with plenty of nice bikes.

After an extensive search for an open pool for lane swimming (tough to find in Calgary on a Saturday night), I drove way out to the Westside rec centre for a little swim with a kick set to loosen me up from the drive. Then off to supper at Sharwama King, Kensingtons finest Lebanese take out! Mmm… donair platter.

After a not long enough sleep on Carson`s couch, Carson and I headed out the door at about 7:25 for the 30km ride to the race start for 9am. With a brief stop at Timmie`s we ended up having to push the pace to get there in time… there was quite a bit of elevation gain. We seemed to be the only crazies who rode out there though, as we didn`t see another cyclist until we got on the course, and were happy to see that other people were still arriving. As we approached the registration area, it was NUTS. Almost 150 cyclists in a middle of nowhere rural road! Quite the sight!

As were almost the last to arrive before registration closed, I saw the signup sheet for A,B,C races… all had close to 50 riders. I was afraid the C race was going to be all women and I was going to get killed in the B race.. but the sheet showed at least half men. A very big women`s turnout overall though.. I`d estimate about 25-30% of the field. I put my name down on the C sheet, dropped my cycling jacket in the registration area, and rode to the start line.

After the A and B groups left, we waited the three minutes for our start. As the course starts up a decent hill, I expected a relatively moderate start, and the real action to begin about 2km in as we turned on to Lochend road. Oh, was I wrong, it was hammer time from the beginning! 3 or 4 guys got a gap, but another 10 of us or so formed a group a couple seconds back. The Cat C pack was strewn out in a long line behind us and completely shattered in 3-4km of racing. Only 42km to go….

As we made the turn on to Willow Road, the top bunch of about 15 guys came back together. The pace slowed, and I ended up on the front only doing a modest pull.. I wanted to catch my breathe after the opening salvo. As we turned west on 262, the attacks started again, and again. The top 3-4 guys were quite strong and started to ride away from the chase group. The guy from RMCC was already looking to be the strongest in the field, followed closely by two Synergy riders working together.

The final right turn on the course put us on the gravel. It was a choice.. follow the wheel in front or try to find a harder packed smoother line for yourself. Everyone seemed pretty cautious the first lap, although I heard that in the A and B races guys were attacking hard on the gravel.

The second lap came and went in a blur. I ended up riding anywhere from 4-7 position, mostly on my own. In the top 10, i think there were only two guys on the same team (Synergy), and as I came across the finish line to start lap 3 and crested the starting hill, I finally cracked one of them I had been going back and forth with for much of lap 2. At that point I was pretty sure I was in 5th, but with all the jockeying of positions and race brain, I could have been wrong?

The guys behind me finally organized a chase and picked me up as we entered Willow Road. The 4th place guy was dropped from the lead group at this point and stood up to sit in our group for the final push to the finish. So, with a group of about 7 we turned the final corner on to the gravel and 3km to the finish. I was sitting about 5th wheel and resting. I didn`t want to make the first attack, so after about 800m, I moved over to another good line in the gravel and the pack all followed on to my wheel. I then made a couple fake surges, and started easing the pace and weaving across the road, daring someone to make the jump.

Sure enough, the guy who had been in 4th earlier, made his move. Everyone went nuts at that point as we were also approaching the start of the pavement and the final 600m to the finish line. I was unable to catch the lead guy, but got on to a wheel and powered on by for a strong uphill, upwind finish for 5th. That had to be the most fun I`ve had racing in a long time… a big smile on my face! And boy… was I tired! I spent most of the 46km redlining it.

That`s how I remember the race… hopefully I got it right! There was a bit of confusion at the finish line… so can`t verify official results…

Anyhoo… more racing to come this weekend at Spring Series 3 and the Velocity Stage Race May 1-2. Woo!

From the ERTC website…

ERTC is hosting an ABA Spring Series road race at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday April 11, 2010. The race will be held on an approximately 12 Km circuit on a course just west of Edmonton. All you need to race is $5 and confirmation that you are a member in good standing of any ABA affiliated club. We will run 3 groups. The A group will go for 7 laps for aprox 85Km’s. The B group will go for 5 laps for aprox 60Km’s, and the C group will go for 4 laps for aprox 50Km’s. There is no women’s specific category however we can organize a women’s specific group should there be interest on race day otherwise you will be able to join the group of your choosing. These groups will be subject to revision based on the numbers that show up. The race will be a “rustic” affair as you can tell by the questionable math used in calculating distance. There will be no finish line camera, no muffins and no times. Winner of each category gets nothing but the right to use the title of ‘champion of the universe’ (no certificate of such title will be awarded).

Meet up at 9:30 at the Woodbend community hall where limited parking will be available. The community center is located at the intersection of Woodbend Road (TWP Road 514) and Winterburn Road (215st SW) This is approximately 5k south of Garden Valley Road (23rd ave.) Here is a link to the course: www.bikemap.net. The hall is located at the Northeast corner of the course. Bring you own water as we will not have access to a tap. We will have a port-a-potty available for your pre-race enjoyment.

Check out the awesome ERTC website at www.ertc.org for further details and to take an adventure back in website design time to the days when Netscape was your browser of choice.

Click Here for the Race Poster

If you don’t feel like racing but want to volunteer or have any other questions please email Travis at: twanderson [at] gmail.com.

Hello strangers…

Spring is finally here!  The snow has been melting rapidly in the capital region for the last couple of weeks, and the warm sunny days have allowed me to get out on the bike a couple of times already and as I am also a fair-weather runner, run outside too! Today I rode over to the Strathcona Athletic Park and was pleasantly surprised to see the track almost entirely clear of snow.  Unfortunately, my track workout tomorrow may be postponed for another week due to a forecast of scattered flurries and a high of -2. DOH!

Strathcona Athletic Park

My last day out on the skis was the week after the winter triathlon, the trail base has melted completely at most of the ski areas.  I really started to enjoy skiing this year, and may try to ski almost every day I can next winter, when the weather/conditions permit.  I never knew Nordic skiing was such an amazing sport and I will likely invest in a pair of classic skis  to expand the areas where I can ski next season.  I might even give the Birkie a go. I can’t imagine skiing for close to 4 hours though, I’m usually cooked after 90mins!

It may sound odd… but I also enjoy spending the long winter months in the warmth of the basement, sitting on the trainer, running on the treadmill, or lifting weights in the little home gym.  I get to spend lots of quality time with my wonderful wife Naomi, and  catch up on all those movies we don’t watch while we are outside enjoying summer.

Back in December I said that the only triathlon I signed up for so far was the Oliver 1/2 Ironman. Well.. that wasn’t entirely true.  At that time Naomi and I had already decided to do a little Euro vacation in 2010 and had both signed up for the inaugural Ironman Regensburg in Germany.  Regensburg is a place I visited waaaay back in 1990 on my first trip to Europe and I distinctly remember it as one of my favorite places.  It will be my first Ironman race in over 5 years… and Naomi’s first.  After race day, we plan to head south to Austria, Italy, and possibly into Croatia and Slovenia. We haven’t fully planned it out yet, but will be soon.

I’m also still on the hunt for a used road bike.  It’s very tough to find a nice used bike in the size I want. I prefer a tighter, more aggressive position, so at 5’8.5″ tall, I need something with a ~52cm top tube (think SMALL or XS).    With the impending costs of my Euro trip though, I may just purchase a cyclocross bike for the spring/fall riding and for double duty as a commuter. Probably a wiser investment, but life isn’t always about wise investments, right?

And finally, if you have read my blog for some time… you have probably been wondering what “A Journey of a Thousand Kilometers” means.  It’s a take on the famous line from the Tao Te  Ching “A journey of a thousand miles, starts with a single step”.  Actually, the correct translation is a journey of a thousand “Li” which is a Chinese measurement equalling ~1/3 of a mile… depending where/when in China… but I digress.  I have been reading a lot of Taoist literature, and several translations of the Tao Te Ching (some translate the meaning of chapters to English better than others), and stole the phrase… I think 5000 years puts it in the public domain though!

Taoism should not be confused for a religion… although some people would list their religion as Taoist, it is more of a philosophy.  You can be a Christian, Jew, Muslim, Catholic, Buddhist, even Atheist… and still be a Taoist. Anyways, I’m sure if you wanted to learn more… you can google Taoism or Daoism. I found this site very good.

Of all the millions of self-help, DIY books on mental training for life, business, sport, relationships, etc…. the 81 simple (yet full of meaning) verses of the Tao Te Ching seem to cover it all.  I can’t describe it much better than that as the Tao is Tao; to describe it is to limit it.

A particularly funny translation of the start of verse 20 I found online from Ron Hogan’s book using “modern american vernacular”:

Don’t spend too much time
thinking about stupid shit

There you go… stop thinking about my blog and go do something fun! Bye…