"Hell is the rhythm of others” wrote Paul Fournel. After several weeks of careful training, long solo rides taking on headwinds single-handed, the sensations of form begin to emerge. An optimism starts to take hold, a belief in your own immortal speed. Until the illusion crumbles the moment you attempt to hold the wheels of a fast moving group. Suddenly gradients aren’t spun up in a light gear, bum planted snugly on the saddle – it’s nose to the bar tape, digging in, desperately stamping on the pedals to stay in contact. These are totally different sensations, and it’s like being shaken awake from a cosy winter’s slumber.""

"Western Culture has things a little backwards now. We think that if we had every comfort available to us we'd be happy. We equate comfort with happiness, and now we're so comfortable, we're miserable. There's no struggle in our lives, no sense of adventure. We get in a car. We get in an elevator. It all comes easy. What I've found is that I'm never more alive than when I'm pushing and I'm in pain and I'm struggling for high achievement. And in that struggle, there's a magic."

-Dean Karnazes