Are You Making Progress or Excuses?? And a Gran Fondo in Beverly Hills

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As you already know... You can either make progress or make excuses... But you cannot do both. Excuses keep you where you are with no hopes of getting out while progress takes you everywhere you want to go! Excuses are the nail in the coffin of dead dreams while progress is the seed that blossoms to a grand oak tree! 

When you reach the top, keep climbing

Courtesy of www.fitfabcities.com

Today's blog title is from an old Proverb. You have to begin to do your absolute best in everything you do and when you think you've made it, you need to keep working hard because greater returns come to those who put in that extra effort.

It is a known fact that most people never truly reach their goals because they only do just enough to try to reach them!  What most people don't realize is that in order to accomplish anything in life they must be willing to go the extra mile!  Doing just enough will win some victories but not enough to make winning a habit!  For something to become a habit, it is well known that you have to repeat that habit for a minimum of 20 days for behavior change to take affect.

Getting Back to Work! And a new Gran Fondo Giro d'Italia

Credit: Simon Wilkinson/SWPix.com
If you like this photo, check out more at ttp://goo.gl/TmRL5X

My apologies for about being out of the loop the past three weeks. There was this event called the Tour de France that was occupying my attention! Being in California, I would record the each day's stage and then watch it throughout the day, sometimes catching the finish in the evening after starting in the morning! This was certainly a tour with lots of drama. There were times when I thought that Froome was going to lose the lead the next stage because his team looked weak. And then, boom, they bounce back. What I most enjoyed about this year's Tour was the emergence of a new group of fresh faces, untarnished by the past 10 to 15 years of drug use, who give us hope for some exciting races in the years ahead. 

Halfords #getonyourbike

Every so often, it's time to remember there's a reason we ride bikes. And there's a reason we keep getting on our bikes, even when the government, the local authorities and the court system let us down again and again. Somehow, this video kind of captures that reason for me. I hope it does the same for you too.

Hats off to Halfords!

Hope Is Not A Strategy

As many of you know, my blog postings are not always about cycling. The focus of Cycling CEO is about success in business and on the bike so, this week, I've tried to bridge both business and biking.

There is a saying that in life you are never given more than you can handle. Life has the tendency of giving you what you expect. If you expect failure, then failure will be all around you, but if you expect success then success will come knocking at your door. 

Summer Cycling Workouts - Pain & Gain

Image Courtesy of www.yourguide2thelakedistrict.co.uk

As summer weather finally starts rolling in, the time for making eliminating excuses as to why you cannot get out on your bike has arrived. Even if cycling isn't your primary means of exercise or if your schedule is such that time is limited, there are some exercise routines that you can do that will get your heart pumping and legs burning.

Confidence - Believe In You

Photo courtesy of ninikalviee.blogspot.com

This past weekend wrapped up a busy week of cycling. Vincenzo Nibali winning the Giro after leading for nearly two thirds of the race. Tony Martin winning the Tour of Belgium and Freddie Rodriguez, at age 40, winning the US Professional Road Championship. Each of them is talented in their own right but also have one common trait that led them to success - confidence.

In a broad sense confidence is the ability to believe that you can reach your goal. But what gets in the way of your confidence? Probably most everything, if you let it!

The #MyBikeTakesMe Instagram Contest & Other Items

As many of you know, May is National Bike Month. National Bike Month is an opportunity to celebrate the unique power of the bicycle and the many reasons we ride— bike to work or school; to save money or time; to preserve your health or the environment; to explore your community or get to your destination.

Let's Roll Together!

In case you weren't aware, today is the start of National Bike Month. I am supporting People For Bikes in their drive to create awareness that cyclists and cars can coexist on the road.

I've made the promise and would like to ask you to make a promise.

When To Stop

Image Courtesy of creativesafetysupply.com

Today, I received an email update from Bicycling Magazine. One of the articles caught my attention so I clicked on it and headed over to their website to read the full story. While on that page, another story caught my attention, one written by an old cycling buddy of mine, Bob Mionske.

Bob and I were on the US National Team in the late 80's. Bob represented the US at the 1988 Olympics, narrowly missing a medal in the road race by literally a tire width. Bob is now a nationally known cycling lawyer with a practice exclusively focused on representing cyclists.

You Have to Believe to Achieve

Photo Courtesy of www.makingmountainsmove.com

Each of us encounters obstacles, big and little, nearly every day of our life. Little obstacles are little problems and usually, with a modest amount of time, thought and effort, we overcome them. Big obstacles typically are representative of bigger challenges. And, because of that, we often let them paralyze us or hold us back from moving forward.

However, big or small,whether professionally, personally or athletically, the process is the same.

You're Not....You're Too....(fill in the blank)

No doubt you've probably seen this commercial on TV numerous times, especially during March Madness. This time, as you listen, pay attention to the message. It really resonates and, after watching it again this morning, I thought about my past and how I refused to let someone else tell me I wasn't good enough or I wasn't capable enough.

To Strava or Not To Strava

Lately, I've started to see more controversy about the value of Strava, which I thought was interesting. For example, today alone I received two emails discussing the good and bad about Strava.

The good? Well, Strava is like a cyclist's social network. We connect with our cycling buddies, whether across town or across the pond. It gives us the opportunity to show what we are up to and, perhaps, brag about a new PR or KOM. It provides cycling visitors the opportunity to look for cycling routes in areas where they are visiting

Why Your Company Needs a Fitness Program

Photo Courtesy of www.news.com.au

Accountancy recruitment firm, Robert Half, recently published research suggesting that three in ten UK HR Directors say employee burnout is an issue. The research concludes that:

• Workload is the primary reason for burnout in 67% of situations. (This rises to 75% in large, and 73% in public sector organizations.)
• More than half (56%) blame long working hours.
• 37% talk about “unachievable expectations” and “economic pressures”, and
• 27% cite worklife balance challenges.

Success and Failure

I intended this week to writing something specific to cycling. This morning, I received an email with a link to this video and I realized that I had to deliver a different message this week.

Throughout my life (and I'm guessing many of you), we've experienced success and failure. Success is great. It validates the fruits of our labor, it keeps us motivated to push forward for more. Failure, on the other hand, is a different beast.

Its Racing Time...What Are Your Plans?

2013 Tour of Oman, stage 5 - peloton

Photo: Graham Watson | www.grahamwatson.com

Lot's of exciting news in the cycling world these days to brighten the optimism regarding the outlook of the sport, especially after the dark off-season. We've got racing in Oman, France, Spain, Portugal and Italy through the weekend. On top of that, the Court of Arbitration for Sport corrected what I would call is the UCI's horrible injustice in denying Katusha a world team license. And, stateside, the Tour of California route was announced.

To Go Our or Not to Go Out. That is the question!

It is February. We are gearing up for the race season, focusing on an upcoming century ride or tour, then BAM! I you live in the northeast, you wake up to a foot or more of snow. For those of us on the west coast, it is our rainy season and cold (ok, it is warm if you live in the northeast). Regardless, cold, inclement weather forces us to think about whether to venture outdoors or spend some time on the trainer.

One of my wife's favorite stories about me when I was on the National Team is when I tried to go out on my "beater" bike in a snow storm. I got about a mile down the road and, after falling multiple times, turned around. She said I was too stubborn to train indoors. Maybe so, but truth be told I really didn't like riding indoors.

You Can't Achieve What You Don't Believe

You can't achieve what you don't believe. It’s reality.

It’s the reason why quotas don’t work with your sales people, why you struggle to get your managers to hit deadlines, and why you find it difficult to improve inefficiencies throughout your company.

And since you can’t dream that it might actually happen, you don’t do what’s required to make it happen. You hope that somewhere along the way something lucky happens to change the circumstances.

Truth or Consequences

No, the title of this post is not designed to draw your attention to the game show of the same name, the New Mexico city of the same name, nor the 1997 neo-noir film of the same name produced by Kiefer Sutherland. Nor am I hear to rehash the thousands of articles and critiques of Oprah's interview of Lance Armstrong.