Wholistic Fitness

COACH GETS A CONTROVERSIAL “5TH” PLACE AT ARIZONA STATE ROAD CYCLING CHAMPIONSHIPS

“Push yourself again and again…don’t give an inch until the final buzzer sounds.”
– Larry Bird

The final climb to the finish was a knee-cracking 16% grade of 500 meters before a small flat finish you see above. After 50 miles of racing into high winds which hit you like an endless conveyor belt of 2″x4″s in your face, i knew i had to attack my competitor on the steepest section which was 150 meters from the finish. i attacked as hard as all my Jump Squats would allow me, got a 15-foot gap on my competitor, put my head down and kept chargin’ for the finish line. At this level of racing however, no one gives up and my competitor, with whom i had worked with for the past 22-miles, reached deep into himself and answered my attack; he kept on kicking, spitting and hissing until he regained my rear wheel and started to come around me with only 8 feet from the finish line. The crowd was screaming, Ananda was jumping up and down….i let out a WF Tribal chi-yell and kicked again for another gut-deep dig to throw my bike across the finish line to win by half a bike length. All of this effort at 7,800′ elevation is enough to make a guy loopy. Staying Power, baby. That is what road cycling is all about. It’s what personal fitness is all about. And it is certainly what the Spiritual Ascent is all about; Staying Power!

At the start line, you can see me gesticulating to the officials to clarify the rules about our category not racing with other categories to gain placement. Our group went off only one minute before the group behind us would go off. I did not like that situation because i knew things would get confusing in the high winds as the two groups intermingled. Sure enough, number 728 beside me would go on to “win” even though he and three others used the other group of racers to gain time over myself and three others who actually raced honestly (stayed in our own category). Bullshit like this always happens in road racing and especially at State Championships where the lure of being the “State Champion” makes those who are not spiritually attuned in their athletics become so greedy for fame that they allow themselves to cheat. As Hailliard says, “The force of selfishness is as inevitable and as calculable as the force of gravitation.”

Out on the roads, i animated a break to chase down the ‘cheaters’ who were now 3’50” up the road from us taking shelter from the wind in a larger, yet not their own, peleton. Fellow WF Warriors, i don’t care if you yourself one day, risk losing a State Championship like me, i want each and every one of you to always practice Satya (Truth) in your performances, whatever shape they may be. Why? Cuz, there ain’t no Cheating in the Bardo! The quality of your Truth and Consciousness is what will matter in the long run. After the race, i waged a formal Protest against the four guys who finished in front of me to the USCF Officials. The Head Ref snickered, “Yeah, okay, we will look into it.” Nothing was done. Yet, the “State Champion” will always know when he wears his State Championship jersey, that it was not he who was pulling into the headwind.

“Failure is never final and success is never-ending. Success is a journey, not a destination.”
– Dr. Robert Schuller

The Juniors at the Start Line. While the other bijillion kids in Arizona stayed home to watch Saturday morning cartoons and play videos, these few yet Mighty Legged and Lunged Warriors show me that out of a million mediocre humans, there are only a few Warriors that intuitively realize that ‘swimming upstream against the current,” is somehow absolutely vital. These kids are the Warrior Kids that inspire me to keep doing what i can to bring Wholistic Fitness to become the National Fitness Training System of America! God only knows our National Tribe needs the Light and the Guts of the Wholistic Fitness Way!

May my efforts in the State Championship benefit your own fitness endeavor today and may you too, all-Ways prioritize Truthfulness and Nobility in that which you do.

That Is All.

Head bowed from the humble Helm,

the ‘fifth’ fastest cyclist of my age in Arizona
and your ever-devoted mountain yogi and coach…

steve ilg

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NOT YOUR TYPICAL RACE DAY STATS
ARIZONA STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS – September 17th, Flagstaff, Arizona:

Race Week Preparation: Rock climbing and yoga in the remote wilderness of the American southwest. Helping aging parents.
Race Day Preparation: Meditation, Toilet Yoga, Neti, Pranayama.
Race Day Food: bagel with Tofutti Cream Cheese and Jam.
Race Day Herbs: SUNRIDER Sport Caps + Action Caps + VitaSpray.
During Race: On-Bike Pranayama, Fortune Delight + VitaFruit.
Race Day Photos by my support crew; Ananda

Coach’s 2005 Road Racing Results:

� 7th place – Devils Punchbowl RR, Palmdale, California
� 4th place – SnowBowl Hillclimb, Flagstaff, Arizona
� 8th place – Wupatki Road Race, Wupatki National Monument, Arizona
� 5th place – Arizona State RR Championships, Mormon Lake, Arizona