Wholistic Fitness

yup,  when it c(om)es to my own paltry road cycling pal mares* THESE GUYS AND GALS are responsible for feeble ilg reaching WAAAAAY down to c(om)e up with the goods to deliver the podium for my teams, my self, and my cycling sangha from Durango…ilg is HONORED to be a part of my h(om)etown’s cycling legacy…ironically?  i have never won the local Durango Wheel Club Championship Jersey…came in 2nd last year as a matter of fact.  But, hey,  training rides in Durango?  They are actually EASIER than MANY races!  dat’s why i live, that’s why i did what it took to move my family here,  to do whatever it takes to live and RIDE (and, if you’re like ilg? run, ski, climb) in Durango…and choose to raise the chi-ld who chose to c(om)e through me here…my native h(om)etown beneath the Sacred Peak of Dibé Nitsaá!!!

your feeble teacher of nothing has lived in, rode in, and raced in Durango for…well….let’s just say,  “Many moons…”  

ilg was here when there was a very well-delineated grouping of A, B, and C riders and when Hal (yup, he is still alive and nearly as vocal as ever) would give CD’s to the Hesperus KOM winners because he was Southwest Sound.

ilg was here when Ned, Tomac, Brown, Deaton, Maple, Furtado, Hare, et. al…would all rule the roost in ways that NO ONE…let me repeat… NO ONE would attempt to do something stupid on the rides,  like NOT regroup at a planned regroup or amplify a social ride…

ilg was here when we only had Farmington Hill as a SE option out of town each Sunday ride and National Champion Missy Giove and her female friends would ‘flash’ us as we rode by… no wonder why we never changed that route!

before venturing further?  

let’s just say that ilg remains a humble member of the Durango Wheel Club.   due to my still somewhat significant visibility,  ilg does get approached every now and then – even at age 54 –  to become a member of a cycling race team nearby,  yet?   i usually default to DWC which is the (supposedly) 2nd longest lasting all time national cycling club in America.  apparently, we’ve been pushing our pedals as a club ’round and ’round since 1895.   yup…i said, 1895.

oh,  hec yeah,  our average speed and time spinning on the svelte, curving, and usually UPHILL roads which currently grace our heavenly hamlet like asphalt cobwebs corralling the black sage and pinyon may have increased since 1895…yet?

the inner determination, the unmatched per capita FIREBALL TENACITY which hallmarks our local club rides has not changed since those early cyclists who went full gas from Animas City to Bakers Bridge and back on single-speed, wooden saddles, and a frame that may have weighed more than your child (or weekend’s worth of beer).  

in the past  few weeks Durangatang cyclists weaned on our Club Rides include;   Todd Wells, 3x Olmpian getting the win at Sea Otter,  former Durango Nordic Skier Turned Pro Cyclist Carmen Small nailing down a podium at not one, but two European Stage Races and remaining an unbelievable if under-acknowledged force in women’s pro cycling.  speaking of things Nordic?  how about Tad Elliot, son of my own Nordic ski racing coach, Mike (himself a 3x Olympian) coming back from an endless Mono-bout to nab 2nd in the National 50k Classic while another Durango Nordic Ski Club product, Sepp Kuss (son of 3x Olympian and coach of Mike Elliot, Dolph Kuss who still volunteers for my Winter Warrior 10 SnowRace) TOTALLY STOLE Stage 2 of Redlands Cycling Classic, taking the win over such veteran cycling pros as Chris Horner (only 30 years his senior).  Oh,  in this town?   This diatribe of my h(om)town tribe could go on and on and on…

why did feeble ilg do what it took – including selling my (OUCH!!!) Kawasaki Sport 1,000 – to move my daughter back beneath the sacred peak of Dibé Nitsaa in order for her to receive the whatever-it-is in this precious town that transforms regular kids into Champions?     well?  i KNEW….beyond a Buddha’s shadow of a doubt that i HAD to do whatever it took to have the chi-ld that chose to c(om)e through me grow up under the pranic, community, and natural beyond-belief POWER that IS Durango…

so…

ilg reckons,  after all these decades…?

yup…i’ll hang with Durango Wheel Club… even if i don’t pedal as fast as i used to…

it’s all about the Leg-acy…

that’s why Durango is so unlike any other place on Turtle Island and why i chose to raise the daughter that chose to c(om)e through me….here.

here is my letter to the most recent C-Ride Leader regarding his brave attempt to re-kindle a much needed ‘sane paced’ weekly ride to Durango:

Noble C-Ride Leader Graeme,