Do Whatever It take to Communicate

The biggest advantage of race radios isn't what you think it is.

In the middle-90s in cycling only the leader were connected by a radio/headset to the team manager who sat in the car and told the leader what he had to do while driving. Or only riders who had a reputation as being the eyes and ears of the pack had a radio too. But not the domestiques („servants") had a radio -they were the unconnected part of the team. That means that only a little part had information for the tactical plan or the next kilometres of the race.

But in 1999 changed something. There were one team where everyone had a race radio. Everyone was connected to everyone. The name of the Team was US Postal Service. The American team had this advantage of technology first. Because of that fact they could react faster.

Some of you know the discussion after a race where everyone said "I though you would go with the breakaway".

I thought that all trainers, managers or coaches tell her athlete brilliant things- like tactical things he/she has to do for winning. But I was wrong.
After time of thinking I came to the conclusion that if I would be the voice in an athlete’s ear - I would push them mental. I would be the voice which remembers to your basics, which is a support for you mind. How often your body tell you that here is the end? And how often you continue and continue?
I agreed to often to my body and I didn't continue that much how I would like.

The good small chance

We all know the millions of tactical movements.
We all know the strengths and weaknesses of us. Maybe you could have an idea - maybe you have help of teammates or a loyalty cooperativeness of friends.
If you try to win - you lose.
If you don't try to win - you lose for sure.

So if you're at the start line and you image that you haven't any chance for the victory - you're beat at the start line.
In a basketball game you have to point for win. In football you have to shoot goals.
So what you will do? What you have to do?

In my (juju) skating career I tried one time to break away. It was 2007 in Berlin. There was the XRace which was a WIC B- C races. It was after the half of the race. Every round there were point sprints and I don't know but I was 900m before a points sprint in front of the pack. I broke away - a reaction of..... (I don't know what it was) - But I tried. And skated and skated - push after push I came closer to the finish line. I looked behind me - to see what the pack it going to do. Nobody followed me. There were 2 things - The pack with all the big names and I.
At the end they caught me - 1 meter before the line 2 skaters pasted me. That was my good small chance.

Trust People - Not Products

Technology can help you win. So can a team bus.
A solid recruiting program, an inspiring mission statement. But none of those things actually do the winning. A million dollars can't ride a bicycle. Neither can a million bits of data. Races aren't contested in wind tunnels. It's the people who perform.

Many people think that it's the technology which made you to a winner. A full-carbon time trial bike, custom made skates, a 1500$ swim suit or time trial helmet. All of these things could be look very cool and very professional. Maybe these things push your ego too. But they can't give you the power, endurance or believe.

In Paris, at the end of that Tour de France in 2003 Lance Armstrong had only a cap of 61 seconds to the 2nd Jan Ullrich - the smallest cushion every. Lance won in 1999 by 7:37 ; in 2000 by 6:02 ; in 2001 by 6:44 ; and in 2002 by seven minutes flat.
Lance said to this manager Johan Bruyneel „That was too close".
Johan: "Never again so close"For the next tour they wanted to ratchet up the intensity for their race preparation for 2004. They analysed everything. Lance told Johan what he wants to do for his preparation of training. It was a near insane level.
But they heard things about Jan Ullrich's time trial bike. Some experts said that this bike is the fastest on earth.

For this reason Johan and Lance started a program, the name was F-One, in which they wanted that all sponsor of Lance come together. He wanted that every company customize their products with the other company. So Nike, Giro, Oakley and Treck worked together.
The result of F-One sounded good. Of course very good. It was a multimillion dollar development initiative.But at the end Lance didn't rode the one million dollar bike. He said that for him it was an uncomfortable bike. He didn't like it. Viatcheslav Ekimov (a rider of Lance's team) borrowed the 1million dollar bike and rode to a silver medal in the Olympic time trial.
But for Lance and Johan the real million-dollar payoff was the reminder that the heart of winning lies heart. Technology can help you winning. But it's the people who perform - out on roads and all across the world, whether their ambition is to win the Tour the France or to break a 300m time trial record or open a restaurant or find a sponsor for the youth-league uniform. And it's the people who have the heart to ignore the distractions - of money and technology and managers and everything else that to be part of our lives - who win the most.

Start to begin

Hello Blog,
we are Paddy and Juju. Two normal guys who love sports and life their passion of speedskating. On our site we want to bring you closer to our points of viewing. The texts could criticize some opinions - mabye yes or maybe not. This page is for normal people like you and me. We want show you, that sport on a high quality level isn't an impossible goal or kind of life. There so much more things and will talk about nice experience of us and of course bad ones. So we hope that you'll click next time on our site again.

paddy & juju