Gary Moad
“Whatever ride you’re on…make it wild!”
crankenstein - KoS
Sensei
Japanese; a title for addressing someone who is a master of their craft.
My name is Gary Moad. And while I am many things, two are important here:
I’m an avid cyclist. Because everyone needs a way to get fit and stay healthy, and cycling is that for me.
I’m a blood cancer survivor. A fact that doesn’t so much define me, as it shapes my perspective and outlook on living, cycling, and coaching.
To wax poetic regarding fitness, health, and harrowing battles against deadly illness – When faced with the prospect of one’s potential demise, the inessential falls away, and one is left with that which really matters.
An ordinary life.
…and good humor. Good humor matters.
Origin Story…
I’ve been riding bikes my entire life, in earnest - with performance goals - for the past twenty years.
My very first century was America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride in Tahoe, which I completed with a moving time of 6h 30m. While I realize that a six-and-a-half hour century isn’t exactly a small feat for anyone. For me, at the time, it was simultaneously a very ordinary and a very extraordinary undertaking.
Ordinary because most riders, who put in even a little bit of structured training, can complete a century in such a time. Extraordinary because, while I trained hard for ten weeks, I began this endeavor a mere six months post chemotherapy for Lymphoma.
That first century was a charity event – to raise funds for blood cancer research. The event hosted many motivational speakers all of whom had inspirational stories. Among such speakers there was one whose story resonated with me; the father of a five year old child who was suffering from Leukemia. When this man spoke, he said something about his child’s plight that has stuck with me to this day.
He said, “An ordinary life, is underrated.”
That father was referring to health, family, and the opportunity for his child to simply grow up. The doing of things that ordinary people do. The things in life that really matter. His statement, coupled with my personal outlook and experience with extraordinary measures for survival, have shaped my perspective and how I approach living, cycling, and coaching.
I’m no pro-racer. I don’t aspire to be. I live an ordinary life, with ordinary pursuits, that just happen to include a lot of cycling training.
Since that first century ride I’ve completed many, many more. Coaching myself to significant performance gains, within the constraints of an ordinary life. Along the way, I’ve also coached hundreds of other cyclists who know the value of an ordinary life, as I do. A like minded group, of ordinary people, who wanted solid no-nonsense training, with reasonable workout frequency and duration, that could be completed without forsaking the things in life that really matter.
50/15 Fitness is the next step on my path. It's my means to help other riders, on their ways to an...extraordinary...ordinary life.