Briek Schotte's 10 Golden Rules

Magnetic north for wielrenners?

That would be in Kanegem.  Used to be the home to Ijzeren Briek Schotte.  De Laatste Flandrien.

 Briek's been sorely missed since 2004 when on the day of the Ronde he was called up to a higher peloton. But if you go to Kanegem today, you can still see the iconic flandrien bronze statue tribute to him.

His lessons live though.  Here's Briek's advice on what it takes to succeed.  In cycling.  In life.   I just saw this list in Les Woodlands new book about the history of the Ronde.  (Good read, download it on Amazon Kindle here.)

Its the kind of knowledge you won't find on the display of your PowerTap or SRM.  So take your eyes off the watt meter, read, and learn jongen...

BRIEK SCHOTTE’S TEN GOLDEN RULES*

1: Be happy with what you’ve got.

2: Determination and patience get you everywhere.

3: Tired? If you’re tired, go to bed!

4: Never lose your freedom.

5: Stay who you are.

6: Watch and you’ll learn a lot.

7: Let yourself go and you lose yourself.

8: Never forget your roots.

9: Never believe in dreams you can’t make come true.

10: Speak ill, and ill will come of you.

Funny that none of these specifically have anything to do with cycling, per se.

But they have a helluva lot to do with character.  So therefore, by deduction, they have everything to do with cycling.

I'd never seen this list before, but think it fits my personal philosophy perfectly! I've tried pretty hard to follow all of these.  Well, OK...all except rule number 7!

Which one is your achillies heel cafesupporters?

*Woodland, Les (2014-01-01). Tour of Flanders: The Inside Story. The Rocky Roads of the Ronde van Vlaanderen (Kindle Locations 757-766). McGann Publishing. Kindle Edition. 

Comments

  1. AnonymousJanuary 30, 2014 at 11:06 AM

    I struggle with number 9. Who knows how much is too much when it comes to dreams. I mean, clearly some are out of reach. But where is the line...I guess that depends on #2. Rudy

    ReplyDelete

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