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 9:53 am

@Deakus Whoa, I'm referring to the book. Otherwise his quote gets real strange when you change the context.
imakecircles says:

Jul 29 2014 at 10:09 am

@frank Wow! Thank you for finding that! I have been looking for that for years.
SurlaCraque says:

Jul 29 2014 at 10:57 am

nice post, was this inspired by the Gran Fondo Winthrop? I rode the Gran Fondo Leavenworth earlier this year and experienced a similar testing of The Will. Brutal climbs on not always smooth gravel roads. Could not stand to relieve the burning quads for fear of spinning the rear wheel. Yes you must have confidence in your gear leaving no other explanation for weakness than your own pitiful self...
VeloVita says:

Jul 29 2014 at 11:16 am

Nicely written, as always.
The Oracle says:

Jul 29 2014 at 12:19 pm

@frank

@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.

I think the remainder of the sentence is governed by the attributive properties of the introductory clause, "As Merckx says..."

Yours,

The Pedagogic Grammarian.
KW says:

Jul 29 2014 at 12:47 pm

@frank

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

That's called complacency.
Chris says:

Jul 29 2014 at 1:01 pm

Nice one Frank.

Without the Will we are nothing and we have nothing; without it we can't overcome our strongest adversary, ourselves.
the-farmer says:

Jul 29 2014 at 1:08 pm

I think it was Yoda who said (and yes I know he's not a real being) "Either do or do not, there is no try" or something like that. In my opinion the worse you are on the bike, the more will you require, but you also need other motivation, for example walking up a hill in cleats sucks balls big time so you may as well pedal up breathing out of your arse instead. In fact if you have a bike why the fuck are you walking anyway.
Gianni says:

Jul 29 2014 at 1:18 pm

@the-farmer

I think it was Yoda who said (and yes I know he's not a real being) "Either do or do not, there is no try" or something like that. In my opinion the worse you are on the bike, the more will you require, but you also need other motivation, for example walking up a hill in cleats sucks balls big time so you may as well pedal up breathing out of your arse instead. In fact if you have a bike why the fuck are you walking anyway.

No need to qualify a Yoda quote. He is Yoda. Enough said.
DeKerr says:

Jul 29 2014 at 1:31 pm

@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.

Wow man... just... wow. Hard man this one.

The VMH has a Sora set on her commuter. It gets the job done, but it ain't pretty.