cycling rocks

I was watching Glenn Beck the other night and Jerry Rice was a guest promoting his new book and having some good discussion with Glenn. Rice has always been a top respected player in the NFL and still to this day has such positive values.

What does this have to do with cycling? Not so much having to do with cycling, rather what goes into cycling. My cycling. One summer in high school we went to football camp at Sierra College where the San Francisco 49′ers practiced. We got to meet some team players including Coach Bill Walsh, but the highlight was running routes with Jerry Rice.

I was in the WR/DB group and we all got to cover Jerry during our drills. Bump-n-Run, Post, Flag, I can’t remember all the routes that a receiver can run, but we had to be ready for anything.

Ready. Set. Hike.

His bump and run was merely a tap. Enough, though, to break my concentration. I tried to stick to him. Instead, he faked right, planted his other foot and turned on a dime to catch a quick pass middle short in the flat; effectively leaving me in the dust.

Not that I could ever really cover a professional football player. He was probably going less than half speed. Jogging.

At any rate, of all the role models that I’ve admired, emulated, ment-eed (if that’s a word), Jerry Rice has been and still has a highly professional, centered and positive attitude that is rare in professional sports.

Thanks, Jerry, for not only showing me what’s it’s like to be burned on a short pass from a pro, but also for continuing to excel and teaching me professionalism in everything I do, everyday.

p.s. Got some rollers last night. I’ll let you know what I think of them. (Hint: They require a lot of concentration.)

Wednesday, January 24th, 2007 at 5:40 am.
Filed under Cycling.
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