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The Coach

Actually my real 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 possible demise, the inessential crumbles away, and one is left with that which really matters…an ordinary life.

…and good humor. Good humor matters.

"Begin to be now what you will be hereafter"

- William James

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 average and a very extraordinary undertaking. Average 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 such a mere six months post chemotherapy for Lymphoma - as a means to “get back to health”.

That first century was a charity event - to raise funds for blood cancer research. The event enlisted many motivational speakers, all of whom had inspirational stories, but one of which stood out - 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 under-rated.”

He was referring to health, family, and the opportunity to simply “grow up”. The doing of things that ordinary people do - the things in life that really matter. That father’s 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 happen to include a lot of cycling training.

Since that first century I’ve completed many, many more. Coaching myself to significant performance gains, within the constraints of an ordinary life. I’ve also coached hundreds of other similarly minded cyclists. 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.

"An ordinary life is under-rated."

"Whatever ride you're on...make it wild!"

- crankenstein - KoS