Wholistic Fitness

Okay, that does it.

i am going to have to name my First Born child:
“Landis.”

Landis Ilg.

i do not really care if it is a girl or boy.

Landis…in honor of Floyd’s friggin’ CHI, baby!!!!!!

***

I have a bicycle racing friend and former teammate who, upon hearing the drug-related kickout of Road Cycling’s two top stars since Lance’s retirement; Jan Ullrich of Germany and Ivan Basso of Spain, simply refused to watch the Tour de France this year.

what a shame.

It was the best Tour i have seen since Lance took on Ullrich and eventually only beat him by slightly over one minute.

i will be drawing CHI from this year’s Tour like crazy over the next several years.

my friend will not be able to.

such is the Way of “beliefs” and “judgments.”

Yogis accept Everyone and Everything as Teachers and Teachings.

Take what is useful for your Ascent, and throw the clutter away.

* The podium (L to R): Spain’s Oscar Pereiro (2nd), San Diego Stud and former mountain biker Floyd Landis (1st) and Andreas Kloden (3rd) of Germany/ Photo:Sirotti

The fact that this year, for the 8th straight year in a row,
an American stands upon the topstep of the Tour de France podium, is to me…
well,
a Miracle.
Floyd expressed a decidedly nonchalant attitude toward keeping the Yellow Jersey after the second week of the race. Perhaps this pacifism was instilled in his cells from his Mennonite upbringing, yet, it seemed to karmically rise up and snakebite him REAL bad when, in the penultimate mountain stage, he CRACKED BIG TIME on the final climb of the day and essentially lost the race.

How often it is that we do not REALLY realize how much we want something,
until AFTER
you don’t have it?

water.
love.
health.
breath.
The Yellow Jersey.

well, the CHI FLOWED and
Floyd,
like the great champions who, for 93 years in this amazing race, have RISEN ABOVE THEIR DOUBT and BROKEN BODIES,
rose Higher the next day and HAMMERED SOLO for an unimaginable amount of miles and mountains
to regain his lost time and set the stage for the Time Trial Nail In The Coffin Of His Competitors.
As my Durangatang bro, Bob(ke) Roll said on OLN, it is something about American Cyclists…we have to descend into Hades
before we rise HIGHER than anyone else to claim Victory!
or, as i have Taught you in WF Training Philosophy;
“The way to win is to make it okay to lose.”

Floyd Landis made it, perhaps even subconsciously or karmically, “okay to lose.” NO ONE thought he could back from several minutes down and in 11th place to win the Yellow Jersey in two day’s work. The Pressure was off of the “Pedaling Mennonite” once he cracked…so…with nothing left to lose, he rose up like the Phoenix from the acidic state of his fatigued, exhausted, dehydrated body…and
CRANKED LIKE NEVER BEFORE!!!!
it was arguably the most intense single effort comeback in modern Tour history…it certainly was to my recollection and i have been following the Tour and training cyclists for it since the days it was not even televised and i had to listen to it on the radio!
and, having rode in the same peleton as Floyd, my heart was happy to see this Blue Collar Kid make the comeback of comebacks! such great inspiration and self-reliance Teachings!
i really like his Coach, Robbie Ventura, who was precisely what a Coach should be;
a constant pillar of positive support and energy….no matter how bleak the picture.

Next Sunday, there will be a recap of the Tour on OLN.
tape it.
keep the tape.
study it as a Practice of Svadhaya…
it will help your own Abhyasa.
i promise.

*Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) is the man! Photo:Jonathan Devich

i must say, it was getting pretty easy toward the end to pick who would be close to podium. i called American George Hincapie to pull out a last ditch breakaway on the final day in Paris and, if that did not succeed, then my Norwegian stud; Thor Hushovd would take McEwen at the line…which, is precisely what happened! YEAH NORWAY!!!!! BIG THOR HAMMERS HOME!!!!!

You gotta love Robbie McEwen, the feisty sprinter from Down Under…he decimated the legs off of all the other sprinters most consistently throughout the 3-week race and honorably wears the Green Sprinter’s Jersey for the third time. I wonder what his son, Ewen, tells his classmates in school when it is “What does your Father Do Day” at school!

The Tour…
TV worth watching…
sweat worth watching…
passion, sacrifice, and unflappable grit and determination…
this Tour was yoga…
Samkalpa; Powerful Determination…
just
ask Yogi Floyd…
how do YOU
TAF Floyd will handle the Bardo Entry?
sheepishly…unconsciously?
or
with that Hallmark Warrior Quality of
Fierce Determination?

this is why the Vehicle of Sweat is so important to us;
it trains us to know our Limits,
and then,
TRANSCEND THEM THROUGH SWEAT and SAMKALPA!

feeble ilg sez;
do not trust anybody who doesn’t see a bicycle for what it truly is:
a Yoga Mat!

coming next in DL:
A WF Student races to a PR using WF Spiritual Principles!
do not miss the CHI!
only
on DL!