How Being A Loser Can Make You A Winner
Regular readers will notice I have not updated George Hood's Guinness World Record attempt at endurance spin cycling. The reason for this is because he lasted a lot less time than I imagined. Here's my column from today's Naperville Sun..
Until I met George Hood I thought spin cycling was something only my washing machine could do. Then I discovered it was a sport, and he was planning to break the Guinness Book of Records endurance test in it. Full of bravado before the event started, he told me he was going to cycle for 300 hours, that he was doing it because “he could” and he was going to raise $200,000 for two charities. I thought he was interesting, but probably insane. He spoke about the attempt as if the record was a given, and it was just a matter of time until it was his. I thought he was probably doing it as a publicity stunt. As he started the record attempt, the whole thing seemed a little ridiculous. Here was a man trying to drum up as much publicity as he could, and all he’d managed to get was a handful of faithful helpers to hang around inside a disused store in Aurora at 8 p.m. on a Sunday evening. What a loser!
A few days later I popped back to see him again. He was still cycling, but the bravado had gone. This was a struggle. He looked beat and he was no where near the end of his challenge. Sure I felt a little sorry for him, but it was his own fault. Who cares about spin cycling anyway? Surely he’d have had more fun if he actually drove the thing out of the building and kept going down Route 59!
On Monday I had a call to say Hood had failed in his attempt, because he literally could not keep up the pace. In all my mocking, it never occurred to me that he wouldn’t achieve his goal. The only reason I wasn’t impressed was because he’d made 300 hours cycling sound like a trip round the park. How could have possibly failed so soon?
On Saturday I went back to speak to him. His body was just as fit and muscular as I remembered, but mentally he was a different person. He was philosophical and vulnerable having decided that perhaps riding for 300 hours was never a goal he was meant to reach. Now he technically was a loser, he suddenly appeared to be a real winner.
What Hood achieved was something more special than having his name written down in a book. During the course of his ride he had pulled together people who would never have met otherwise. Doctors, nurses, dads, volunteers - ordinary people who were inspired by someone prepared to follow his dreams.
Everyone’s dreams are different. It doesn’t matter if you’re not inspired to ride a spin cycle. It doesn’t matter if we think people striving for impossible goals are a little nuts. What matters is that people like George Hood keep trying, because ultimately that’s all any of us can do.
Until I met George Hood I thought spin cycling was something only my washing machine could do. Then I discovered it was a sport, and he was planning to break the Guinness Book of Records endurance test in it. Full of bravado before the event started, he told me he was going to cycle for 300 hours, that he was doing it because “he could” and he was going to raise $200,000 for two charities. I thought he was interesting, but probably insane. He spoke about the attempt as if the record was a given, and it was just a matter of time until it was his. I thought he was probably doing it as a publicity stunt. As he started the record attempt, the whole thing seemed a little ridiculous. Here was a man trying to drum up as much publicity as he could, and all he’d managed to get was a handful of faithful helpers to hang around inside a disused store in Aurora at 8 p.m. on a Sunday evening. What a loser!
A few days later I popped back to see him again. He was still cycling, but the bravado had gone. This was a struggle. He looked beat and he was no where near the end of his challenge. Sure I felt a little sorry for him, but it was his own fault. Who cares about spin cycling anyway? Surely he’d have had more fun if he actually drove the thing out of the building and kept going down Route 59!
On Monday I had a call to say Hood had failed in his attempt, because he literally could not keep up the pace. In all my mocking, it never occurred to me that he wouldn’t achieve his goal. The only reason I wasn’t impressed was because he’d made 300 hours cycling sound like a trip round the park. How could have possibly failed so soon?
On Saturday I went back to speak to him. His body was just as fit and muscular as I remembered, but mentally he was a different person. He was philosophical and vulnerable having decided that perhaps riding for 300 hours was never a goal he was meant to reach. Now he technically was a loser, he suddenly appeared to be a real winner.
What Hood achieved was something more special than having his name written down in a book. During the course of his ride he had pulled together people who would never have met otherwise. Doctors, nurses, dads, volunteers - ordinary people who were inspired by someone prepared to follow his dreams.
Everyone’s dreams are different. It doesn’t matter if you’re not inspired to ride a spin cycle. It doesn’t matter if we think people striving for impossible goals are a little nuts. What matters is that people like George Hood keep trying, because ultimately that’s all any of us can do.
posted by Hilary at
8:07 AM
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