What are your cycling affirmations?

[Geonz]

Getting up hills... before TOMRV which has a lot of them, I memorized a wonderful song about a widow who lived on the moor who never turned a traveler from her door ... who had more endurance than the devil, who could not last the night with her. (At sixty-nine the widow laughed... "again, again!" she cried... the devil said, "well I can see just how your husband died.")
So the ride comes along and I'm chugging up the hill... and the song that comes out is "Ain't no grave gonna hold this body down!"
THe other thing I tell myself when the little voice starts to question whether I can do something (especially keeping up with a fast pace) is "well, of *course* you can't do this. What a completely absurd notion! I fully agree! You just can't stop right NOW!"
I observed that when I was in the middle of thinking "I can't keep up with these guys" that I was holding my body tensely and when I said, "no, ride like you know what you're doing even if you can't" - kinda calling on the Marine idea of *looking* like you're not trying - d'oh, I went faster.

[Zen]

I memorized a wonderful song about a widow who lived on the moor who never turned a traveler from her door ... who had more endurance than the devil, who could not last the night with her. (At sixty-nine the widow laughed... "again, again!" she cried... the devil said, "well I can see just how your husband died.")

I'd like to hear that whole song

[Hub]

The Zen of the spin . . .

and that feeling when you're about to fall over and you would be foaming at the mouth if you had any fluid left- psyclepath calls that seeing Dead Elvis- he's there in all his glory, spandex and glitter, saying 'come on, darlin', come to the light

[deena]

On the commute into work yesterday, my mantra for the first part of the ride was "holy crap it's cold, ride faster" until I got to where the bike trail runs under the interstate - then it changed to "I'm not on the freeway" (sing to nanny-nanny boo-boo)!

[deedolce]

When I'm just beat from being in the saddle for 6-7 hours, I just tell myself sitting in the saddle is just the same as if I were sitting in an easy chair at home - so any coasting is pure recovery and easy, and then I manage to pedal again after my rest in my virtual sofa!