Wholistic Fitness

Beautiful, Sacred Sandia Peak towering above Albuquerque, New Mexico. This photo, by Coach, was taken from his “Ai Imawa Platform” near Jemez Dam, a few miles from where his parents still live and where he lived when he wrote the book, THE WINTER ATHLETE, before moving to Los Angeles at the request of his Teachers to bring Yoga and Dharma Protection To The Big City. The summit of Sandia shown here, was the finish line of the Bill McClain Memorial Sandia Crest HillClimb. Coach said after this race, “Racing up this peak on my bicycle proved to me that Sandia Peak is more than a mountain, it is one helluva Yoga mat!”

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WE NOW CONTINUE OUR STORY WITH COACH CLOSING IN ON THE FINISH LINE TIED FOR THIRD PLACE OVERALL WITH A YOUNG CYCLIST FROM DURANGO, COLORADO WHO HAD JUST CAUGHT UP TO COACH. THE REST OF THE PELETON IS LESS THAN ONE MINUTE BEHIND OUR FEARLESS COACH AND HIS YOUNG COMPANION AS THEY PASS THE 9,800′ LEVEL WITH ANOTHER 1,000′ OF CLIMBING REMAINING…

FROM YESTERDAY’S DL:

…For the next 3 miles we did just that. I thus gained my second companion in suffering for the day. My new partner and I began to chip away at the tremendous mountain. Our chipping felt a bit like trying to fell a Flagstaff Ponderosa with a Boy Scout Hatchet, yet, the miles eventually passed though the pain never did. I learned my companion was 24 years old, from my hometown of Durango, Colorado via Michigan, i think. That was cool. Nice kid. As long as I beat him at the Finish. We kept in-couraging each other as we stood, sat, and spun our way up the ever-increasing altitude and steepness of the mountain.

Within 2.5 miles of the Finish Line, i had to work through a rather tough “spot of bother,” as Paul Sherwyn might put it. I couldn’t hang and lost the kid’s wheel. Fuck. And I say that with full yogic compassion for myself. It was all i could do to watch his young calves dance upon the pedals away from me…leaving me to my own Inner Practice of breath and posture and positive Self Talk to limit any more attacks from behind. As Roger Federer would say in his French Open Finals loss to the clay-court phenom, Nadal; “I was not able to come up with the shots, so I do not have to worry about it.” In other words, a champion learns to stay in the moment and not waste precious energy over what did not work. That is what I now had to do; just keep a’goin, keep a’goin, keep a’goin as the Mountain Paiutes would say.

Fortunately, I was able to keep a’goin at a high enough average speed (around 8.5 mph) to thwart any more young guns blasting my rear end from behind. The Finish Line arrived and I crossed it, chalking up a 40+ Victory for Red Rock Racing and a 4th Overall in the Cat.4 Division.

Coach Ilg flying the RRR colors, PowerBar, and of course, his Blessed Mala Beads at the Finish Line! First Place in 40+, 4th Overall in Cat.4!

This beautiful race, now named for Bill McClain, the Team Director of New Mexico VeloSport (NMVS), should be on your Race Calendar next season. Bill McClain, God Bless His Soul, was the man who invited me to race for NMVS when i lived in Rio Rancho, New Mexico working on my book, THE WINTER ATHLETE. I think Bill was in Heaven on that day two weekends ago, cool and happy as a cucumber, and maybe even smiling as he watched me power up the mountain climb now named in his honor.

I devote my victory to my new team in Flagstaff; Red Rock Racing, and i devote my effort on that day to Bill McClain’s Warrior Spirit who sang through my sweat and who will always be near to my heart.

May all Beings everywhere realized the precious nature of being Brave and Elegant in that what they do…and, what they encounter during their EarthDance.

Namaste,

coach ilg