The Will

Fire Road 900 above Winthrop Washington

No technology can increase the energy of the willpower of the rider, nor can it lessen the doubts which sometimes overwhelm him.
– Bernard Hinault

As I swung off the main road, I was momentarily consumed by the simple thrill of my tires leaving the hard tarmac and hitting the rough gravel of the unpaved forest road. It was a brief distraction of the sort that keep me falling in love with the sport over and again; these small thrills fill even an ordinary ride; all you need to do is notice them. Nevertheless, the reality of the climb I was about to start was never far from the surface of my mind. I’d been preparing for it for a few hours; the heat, the gradient, the diabolical nature of the sandy gravel.

We never get used to the pain, it never stops clawing at us. The best we can do is harden our minds against what is to come and endure it, pulling the most from ourselves along the way. Mostly, we learn that pain is quickly forgotten and its sharpness begins to dull the instant we finish the effort. Then we train ourselves to remember that point and use that to resist the urge to stop. The Will is the only weapon we have in this fight: when it is strong, we fly; when it leaves us, we falter.

I’m horribly finicky about my equipment and my kit, that’s not news to anyone who knows me. Everything has to be perfect – always – but extra care is taken to guarantee perfection before an important ride. On a good day, it won’t matter whether the machine is silent or the bar tape clean; those things will never give me good legs. But if the legs are gone and I need to rely even more heavily on my mind, a creaking chain will start the tailspin into psychological collapse. The technology in our equipment can never stoke the fire of our determination but it can choke it off in an instant.

The best gains aren’t found in technology; they are found in building the strength of your Will; the Cave is a lonely place – if you don’t bring it with you, you won’t find it where you’re going. No one compels us to ride hard, to suffer. No one even asks us to. The choice to suffer is ours alone. The Will, it comes only from within.

frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

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View Comments

Ccos says:

Jul 29 2014 at 5:25 am

@unversio

Needed to take on a Gandalf voice for that bit.

Yep, better than Yoda's grammar "lonely place a pain cave is."
KW says:

Jul 29 2014 at 5:57 am

"The best gains aren't found in technology; they are found in building the strength of your Will..."

This (and my Velominatus Budgetatus status) is the reason that I have no problem riding a steel bike that weighs 23lbs (gasp!) with 9 speed (double gasp!) Sora groupsan (are you fucking kidding?!).

Better/lighter equipment might make me faster, but it will never make me stronger.
unversio says:

Jul 29 2014 at 7:38 am

@KW Size 59 Columbus MXL frameset -- 21lbs is within reach. I understand completely!
unversio says:

Jul 29 2014 at 8:05 am

@unversio

turn
an unlimited maximum
will
there is no end
ciclismo
a un glorioso strada
victory
one truth to find

unversio

May include this as fine print on new apparel design this year. ??
frank says:

Jul 29 2014 at 9:02 am

@piwakawaka

Had my first bunch ride in two months last Sunday, I knew there would be plenty of guy's who would know there was an opportunity to make me hurt, so I rode on the front, hurt myself more than they ever could, will is what got me home.

Hinault has another quote that I can't seem to track down to the effect that whenever he was really suffering, he'd go on the attack so no one could see how bad he was.

Sounds like you're taking a page out of the right book!

Then there's always this one.
frank says:

Jul 29 2014 at 9:04 am

@Ccos

Some riders sure have better willpower/kg ratios than others.

It always amazes me when you toe up to a ride and you spot the chubby guy who you figure will go out the back the moment the road points uphill. And then when the road goes uphill he drops you.

@imakecircles

I've read somewhere or other, attributed to Merckx when he was asked how he was able to race so dominantly that, "There are no physical laws that govern the will." I've never been able to find the quote again, though. Anybody on here know the actual quote or have heard of this gem?

I've never heard that before, but it's perfect. I will devote my life to finding it. (Not really.)
frank says:

Jul 29 2014 at 9:07 am

@Zman

And I thought I was the only one who let those little things creep into my psyche.....

Only on the bad days, but that's when you need a strong mind more than ever!

@KW

"The best gains aren't found in technology; they are found in building the strength of your Will..."

This (and my Velominatus Budgetatus status) is the reason that I have no problem riding a steel bike that weighs 23lbs (gasp!) with 9 speed (double gasp!) Sora groupsan (are you fucking kidding?!).

Better/lighter equipment might make me faster, but it will never make me stronger.

Sometimes I think that the better my gear has gotten, the slow I ride.

@unversio

turn
an unlimited maximum
will
there is no end
ciclismo
a un glorioso strada
victory
one truth to find

unversio

Nice one!
Ccos says:

Jul 29 2014 at 9:15 am

@frank

@piwakawaka

Hinault has another quote that I can't seem to track down to the effect that whenever he was really suffering, he'd go on the attack so no one could see how bad he was.

Sounds like you're taking a page out of the right book!

I can't recall if it's a direct quote or nit, but at a minimum it's paraphrased in "Slaying the Badger." I suspect he said that a lot .
Deakus says:

Jul 29 2014 at 9:43 am

@Ccos

@frank

@piwakawaka

Hinault has another quote that I can't seem to track down to the effect that whenever he was really suffering, he'd go on the attack so no one could see how bad he was.

Sounds like you're taking a page out of the right book!

I can't recall if it's a direct quote or nit, but at a minimum it's paraphrased in "Slaying the Badger." I suspect he said that a lot .

Nope. Slaying the Badger refers to an entirely different activity. Best left to the masturbation principle.
frank says:

Jul 29 2014 at 9:50 am

@frank

@imakecircles

I've read somewhere or other, attributed to Merckx when he was asked how he was able to race so dominantly that, "There are no physical laws that govern the will." I've never been able to find the quote again, though. Anybody on here know the actual quote or have heard of this gem?

I've never heard that before, but it's perfect. I will devote my life to finding it. (Not really.)

Page 193 of Graeme Fife's Tour de France - it doesn't attribute where the quote comes from, but its there anyway.