Saturday, December 26, 2009

2010 Accountability

Speak your dreams and you shall be held accountable for them.

It's not a theory, it's a fact. Last December I told myself that 2009 would be the year I had a podium finish. I started the year by winning the beginner's division at the "Rim Wrecker" with a 3 minute gap over 2nd place. I'm still not sure how to feel about that win; It was my first mtb race, but with that kind of gap over 2nd place I feel like I may have been unintentionally sandbagging.

Despite my efforts I am still regarded as the guy from Team Red-Wheel with man-boobs. My legs are solid as stone, but these bitch-tits and beer-belly remain intact. Having the name "Bob" makes the nickname "Boob" nearly inescapable, and recently it's evolved into "MOOB". Don't interpret this as a "Poor me" melodrama, I kinda like the name. I gave up being embarrassed about "the girls" a long time ago, choosing instead to embrace my body habitus as unavoidable.

Well...fuck all that, I changed my mind.

2010 is the year "MOOB" goes away for good. This is not a "New Year's Resolution," it's a life-style change. This is not bullshit, it's for real.

I already put my money down to race in the "Silver 50" in Leadville, CO and put my name in the lottery for the Leadville 100. I've also talked a bunch of shit about doing the "24 Hours of Syllamo" mtb race and the "Dirty Kanza." There's no turning back.

The Silver 50 and the Leadville 100 scare the shit out of me. My likelihood of failure is about 98%. I called my buddy Luke for some guidance, and he told me this story about Spanish Conquistador Hernando Cortez:

When Cortez and his men arrived on the shores of the Yucatan, he rallied them for one final pep talk before leading them into battle. These three words changed the course of history: “Burn the Ships”. He met with resistance from his men. "Burn the ships," he repeated. He then said, "If we are going home, we are going home in their ships". With that, Cortez and his men burned their own ships, and by burning their own ships the commitment level of the men was raised to a whole new level.

Whoa, those were some baaad mofos.

My ship is going up in flames on January 1st. I have until then to gorge myself on friend foods and alcohol.

Failure is my motivation, and the tank is full.

Please......please doubt me. Oh, I love it when they doubt me.