The Joy of Overcoming Pain
Propelled forward by my surging leg muscles, sweat gushing down my face, the harsh reality of this 50-mile bike race has begun to invade my body. My eyes remain intensely focused straight ahead: Grinding away along the racecourse, I see five girls from a different team about 200 yards ahead of me. My team needs a contribution from me, I realize, and I make the decision to pass all three of them. Through the heat rising off the asphalt I can finally see the distant white line proclaiming the finish. My mind propels my legs to their maximum ability. In these last few seconds of exertion, the years of hard work are paying off. Soaring through the finish, I have achieved flight.
Biking is a pure sport, requiring little more than a brain ready to conquer pain. It is a sport that calls for commitment and mental toughness. Through testing myself, I increase my resilience and grow stronger. I unleash the power of my mind, and I bike. Some people are born with great biking ability, and others, like myself, are born with the desire to excel at every challenge. I've become the best biker I can through hard work and dedication. Challenging myself with new goals every day, I bike against the forces of gravity and inertia. I love the thrill of competition -- the euphoric feeling I get when mind overcomes pain.
As a four-year member of my high school biking team, I have experienced just about every physical infirmity that comes from biking. I have dealt with shin splints, biker's knee, broken toes, and pulled calf mussels. My orthopedic surgeon took one look at my legs and admitted that I'm "not built to be a biker." Yet, I chose to continue biking because of its daily challenges and rewards. I've learned from this sport that by focusing single-mindedly on achieving a goal, I can make any obstacle trivial. I still hear my coach's voice in my head: "If you sacrifice yourself, good things will happen."
As much as a bike race requires individual strength physically and mentally, it also requires a team effort to succeed. Like sisters in a family, the girls I bike with understand and respect one another. We remind each other to work harder, eat right, and to accomplish the most we can.
This inner strength helps her learn to live life as a paraplegic; as well as, the courage to become a wheelchair racer. The author’s competitive spirit and enthusiasm for life continues as her misfortune turns into opportunity, and finally emerges as an Ironman triathlete. Coupled with her perseverance, Downing transitions from an able-bodied cyclist to an athlete with a disability. Equipped with the true meaning of the words challenge and change, the author becomes the first female paraplegic to compete in an Ironman triathlon. In fact, to overcome her disability, Downing uses the strength, courage and determination learned as an
Mountain biking for a lot of women is a sport in which they can gain both physical and mental strength over time. There are rough terrains ahead, which help to strengthen the body and if you’re a woman who loves to exercise and mix cycling in, then mountain biking is more than likely your favorite pastime. Between the beautiful and clear fresh mountain air, to all the core exercise you can obtain from mountain biking, this sport is an excellent choice for almost all persons, not only women. Some of you ladies may wonder what is needed to develop great skills as a beginner mountain biker and today, we are going to be going over a few of those top tips.
Biking today has risen to be a very good form of exercise but it is more than that people race both mountain bikes and road bikes around the world. Bikes have been included in both of the world wars and made a cheaper way for soldiers to travel farther distances than having to ride a horse. Bikes that could be rode without your feet touch the ground have been around since the 1860s. Since then great advancements have been made to them including easily adjustable gears and lighter materials to build them with such as aluminum, carbon fiber and titanium. These are all things that make the bike a great a revolutionary form of getting around with quickness and ease.
Everyone has different perspectives and ideas about what Hell is. This is especially true in The Odyssey, The Aeneid, and The Inferno. First, in The Odyssey, Homer’s explanation of Hell was very basic and contained the dead and was very dark and sad. Then, in The Aeneid, Virgil offered a more vivid and descriptive explanation of Hell that also explained that the souls of those who pass are being punished for their sins on Earth. Finally, in The Inferno, Dante presented a disturbing version of Hell and expressed how Hell was divided into sections; each section was dedicated to a certain type of sin. Dante then described the different punishments presented at each different level. While all three epics have different ideas of what describes Hell, there is no doubt that all three epics reiterate the same message that sins expressed on Earth do not go unnoticed. Though Homer’s The Odyssey, Virgil’s The Aeneid, and Dante’s The Inferno all shared the same characteristic of being epic poems and having a Hell or Underworld involved, each book offered different views of what exactly ‘Hell’ was.
Cycling is an easy and effective form of physical exercise that can be adopted by many people in the society.
At the age of 15, Amy Purdy decided that she loved to snowboard. When she started snowboarding, she learned to have confidence in herself and love all the great things about life. When Amy was 19, she was excited about her future and what was ahead, but never thought about what happened next. At the age of 19, Amy had Neisseria meningitis, which led to the failure of her kidneys and the removal of her spleen. But, it also caused the amputation of both of her legs when her body went into shock. Her body stopped the blood flow to her legs to help save her organs. But, she is very healthy to this day. Before, during, and after this tragedy popped into her life, she knew that snowboarding would always be a part of her life forever. When she was in the hospital, all she could think about is how she’s going to snowboard again and what it’s going to take to get back on a board. Before Amy lost her legs, she was a massage therapist who loved to snowboard and wanted to see the world. With her future changed, Amy was still determined to do the same things she did before, but just differently. She knew she couldn’t quit, because quitting meant giving up things that were most important in her life. While Amy was in the hospital, she claims her doctor said, whatever you believe in, think about it right now. When that happened, Amy thought in her head about love. She believed in loving life, loving each other, and loving to snowboard. Now, this is what inspires her today. Even though she loved snowboarding, she never thought about going to the Olympics until after she lost her legs. She went to the 2014 Sochi Paralympics and won a bronze medal. She also started Adaptive Action Sports to create opportunities for people with physical disabilities...
It was an unforgiving 95 degrees Fahrenheit in eastern France last week. Rain had fallen nearly every day of the week prior to Stage 16, Wednesday, July 21, making for a very steamy road up the face of one of the most unforgiving mountain rides a cyclist can make in the course of his or her riding career. Nearly one million people lined the narrow mountain road leading to the peak of L'Alpe D'Huez to watch a one man, Lance Armstrong, in the time trial of his life. This seemingly immortal man had survived cancer to make this climb his top achievement leading him to victory five times previously. Could Lance pull off an unprecedented sixth win? He rehearsed this scene time after time over the course of the previous year in preparation for such a time as this. That preparation paid off. He climbed this mountain in exactly 61 seconds faster than any of his nearly 200 competitors. One million people in a less than 20 mile stretch of road all to watch a bicycle race. But this was no normal race, this was, after all, The Tour de France. Considered to be the most physically unremitting sporting event known to man, this mere bicycle race has a history richer than many nations in and of themselves. Over a hundred years ago, in a turbulent, at best, France, two men found their way into a personal disagreement. The results of which, over a century later would still draw spectators by the thousands to the hillsides of France for what would become the greatest continuing nationalist and sporting spectacle of that country.
When Lance was thirteen, a couple of his friends and him were loitering by the Richardson Bike Shop (a local bike shop by his house), when they discovered a flyer for an Ironkid's Triathlon. He told his mother about the triathlon, and she bought him everything he needed for the race, his uniform, and his first racing bike; a slim, elegant Mercier road bike. Lance joined the Ironkids triathlon, and ended up winning without even training for it. Pretty soon, he was entering triathlons in the...
...in a lot of computer gaming events which were L.A.N. based & have achieved victory in college events. Involvement in sports has also meant that competitiveness and team-skills have become a part of my lifestyle, but I simply believe that I have a lot of patience and the willingness to learn and accept every challenge that comes my way.
The start of the 2002 track season found me concerned with how I would perform. After a disastrous bout with mononucleosis ended my freshmen track season, the fear of failure weighed heavily on my mind. I set a goal for myself in order to maintain focus and to push myself like nothing else would. My goal for my sophomore track season was to become a state champion in the 100 meter hurdles. I worked hard everyday at practice and went the extra mile, like running every Sunday, to be just that much closer to reaching my goal. The thought of standing highest on the podium in the center of the field, surrounded by hundreds of spectators, overcame my thoughts of complaining every time we had a hard workout. When I closed my eyes, I pictured myself waiting in anticipation as other competitors names were called out, one by one, until finally, the booming voice announced over the loudspeaker, "...and in first place, your 2002 100 meter hurdle champion, from Hotchkiss, Connie Dawson." It was visions like these that drove me to work harder everyday.
I dip my toes in—feels cold. My nerves rise up and spread like fire throughout my body while I watch—while I wait. Stomach hurts. All those butterflies clash and crowd. They come every time that I race—it never fails. There is so much noise—the splash of water, talking, yelling, whistling, cheering.
Now, what do you know… it’s a bike that addresses all three concerns: a fun, fit and healthy way to have a break your busy everyday routine.
“My bike is my gym, my wheelchair and my church all in one. I 'd like to ride my bike all day long but I 've got this thing called a job that keeps getting in the way,” by Bill Watson explains what my bike is to me. If I had my choice, I would be on my bike for hours a day again to watch, pray, and just be myself. Yet my job gets in the way, my life gets in the way. Without even meaning to I got looked up to on my bike and still do by, brand new, people everyday. When I walk to a football game or a public event I get ,“It 's so awkward that you 're not even next to your bike,” or “How long do you even ride?,”. My bike has helped me become someone I am proud to be and see everyday in the mirror and when I wake up with my bike on my mind, I know exactly how I feel to me and I want you to know exactly how it all got started.
The sport of riding bicycles often over rough terrain and unpaved surfaces is called mountain biking. Specially designed mountain bikes are used for this adventurous sport. Through the years, there has been an increase in the number of people who are getting enthusiastic about mountain biking.
With the warm tropical climate, it is occasionally difficult to attract participants to take part in these meaningful activities, especially those who could not balance on a bicycle, and dislike outdoor activities. One way to promote participation is to re-design a concept cycling device to take up to four participants to increase the fun and entertaining factor and to attract the amusement of passer-by, bringing attention to the good cause...