Terry Peloton

Category: Ride It Forward

  • RIDE NOW, ACT OLDER LATER.

    A formula for living to 93.

    Although I have known my father for my entire life, I just learned the saying “Ride now, act old later” from him a month ago. He owned a t-shirt with that saying…and upon reflection; I realized that he truly led his life based on that motto.

     

    His life was an anthology of adventures…of watching the Hindenburg minutes before it exploded, of getting out of Pearl Harbor in time before the strike, marrying the love of his life and having two daughters with her, dodging dogs trying to attack him while he was on his bike, outliving his identical twin, facing cancer, getting TWO tattoos in his 80s, learning to text message, and finally, learning what it means when one’s body has had enough.

     

    My father was diagnosed 70 years ago with anxiety and it is miraculous that a Doctor in 1940 suggested that exercise would be the cure for him, but that’s exactly what he did. So, similarly to Forrest Gump who used running to relieve his emotional pain, my father cycled.

     

    My father’s cycling became his life. It was his religion, his medicine, his mental conditioning, and his solace. He biked mile after mile often with complete strangers who became his family when his real family was hundred of miles away. His idea of heaven was a hotdog after a 50-mile bike ride and a clean rest room before he turned around and cycled back home. His standards were high for himself but his genuine love of life allowed him to enjoy even the smallest of details. And how did everyone know that he was happy? He gave them the thumbs up. And a big smile. He didn’t have to say anything; he just stuck his thumb up in the air and everyone knew it was all ok.

     

    My father recently told me a story about when his heart defibrillator went off for the first time – he was traveling across Tennessee as the Grand Marshall of a bike ride when “BAM”…it hit him. He fell right over with the shock of it going off. And he lay there for a second on his side, still clipped in…frozen. Everyone who saw him fall cycled up to him screaming, “are you ok – Ken, are you ok?” And he didn’t move a muscle, except for that thumb which made its way up into the air to let everyone know he was just fine.

     

    My father passed away peaceful this month surrounded by his family and with his favorite cycling t-shirt on…he made it to 93 years. We all thought he would live to 100. And perhaps that is now his legacy; he has given us all the recipe for how to live to 100…eat well, exercise and keep that thumb up.

     

    Rest in peace Ken Magyar. Thumbs up to you.

     

    Amy Magyar is a Derailleur.  She helps her clients across North America change their gears, their pace, and their direction.  She is the essential piece of equipment to get you where you need to move forward at a different pace and with a different power.  As an industry veteran and a Certified Performance Coach, Amy works with individuals who are athletes, were athletes, or wish to be athletes, on navigating change.

     

  • Make it Count.

    As The Derailleur at Terry Bicycles, my job as your “Life’s Coach” is “to make it count”. What do you need to make count? What if I told you everything?

    As a Performance Coach for my clients’ minds, I am reminded that placing a premium on a positive outcome – a personal best or a breakthrough of some sort is not uncommon during their goals for success during a race or an event. But what happens in your day-to-day journey on the bike (and in your life)? Do you intentionally set a goal to have a breakthrough or a PR each time you go out and ride? Probably not. Perhaps you are like me where the victory is in actually getting out and getting your ride in. Juggling family, their needs, your work and life itself, just getting out on the bike for a mile can be a major victory.

    So let’s just assume that that is an every ride goal – getting out there. But what if we set an intention to make each ride count…for something? Every effort needs to mean something, but maybe that something doesn’t always have to be aimed at furthering a race goal. Maybe it’s just appreciating the movement of your body or the unique clarity of mind that only comes with a good sweat session. We get so stuck on “progress” that we don’t fully appreciate the “process”.

    Now, let’s take it one step further and ask ourselves what if we made “everything count” as we moved through our day off the bike. Making “it” count may mean being more intentionally, mindful or being fully present during an activity. Imagine what your trip home from work might be like if you “made it count”? Perhaps instead of listening to the radio chatter, you turned the radio off and used the time instead to listen to yourself. Aren’t you worth listening to? Who knows, there might be an idea ready to pop just waiting for you to listen to. But you are making the time count in the car. And that counts.

    Or what if, during our lunch, we chose to make “it count? In this case, maybe “it” is eating. Maybe that looks like slowing down while we eat, looking at the food we have chosen to nourish ourselves with, and perhaps reading a document that also nourishes our mind? What might that help with? Again, we might not see the progress immediately, but let’s think about the process.

    So the idea of making “it” count is about mindfulness – not in the long, contemplative mediation mindfulness that so many of us claim we don’t have time for, but about 5 minutes of intentionally practice of something. And with the mindset of making “it” count. With the idea of appreciating the process, perhaps we won’t get so caught up in the progress and can just enjoy things as they are. That is what counts.

    Amy Magyar is a Derailleur.  She helps her clients across North America change their gears, their pace, and their direction.  She is the essential piece of equipment to get you where you need to move forward at a different pace and with a different power.  As an industry veteran and a Certified Performance Coach, Amy works with individuals who are athletes, were athletes, or wish to be athletes, on navigating change.

     

    Photo Courtesy Ron Wu

     

  • Competition :: Testing your mental conditioning…against yourself.

    As The Derailleur at Terry Bicycles, my job is to be your “Life’s Coach”. As a Performance Coach for your mind, I am reminded time and time again about the social comparison theory that my clients allow to rattle around in their minds. The social comparison theory sounds like, “She is so much better than me at that….his life is perfect….why can’t I be more like them.” We compare ourselves to those who we feel are better, stronger or appear to have the perfect life. In other words, we compete.

    While comparison and competition are good things when they offer us awareness around where we are in our journey, we too often use comparison and competition for the wrong reasons, especially around things we cannot change. For example, I am 5’4” in height, a fireplug in stature and have bone straight hair. I will never be 5’10”, or rail thin, and will never have Julia Roberts’ hair. But I admire the beauty in all of those characteristics as long as I remember to admire the beauty in having all of my qualities. I don’t want to compete with anyone anymore…then why do I race my bike weekend after weekend? What am I trying to prove? What am I seeking by competing?

    The book, “Flow” by Mihaly CsikszentmihalyIt reminds us that the word “competition” came from the two Latin words “con petire,” which meant, “to search together.” The idea was that the best way to find out how good our skills were was to match them against the skills of another person. The point of competition was not to beat someone else, but to search out the best in yourself. Well that is a perspective change on competition!

    So perhaps instead of competing to beat others, we all can become competitors who are in search of the best in ourselves. Many cyclists don’t ride to compete, but with this new perspective, doesn’t it make sense to go out and take on that century ride or your local 2-day fundraiser ride? But be sure to focus on the “why” you are competing and not the “who” you are trying to beat.

    Added bonus: PDF of the book “Flow”

    (http://www.integralvision.net.au/share-it-hub/flow_the_psychology_of_optimal_experience.pdf)

    Amy Magyar is a Derailleur.  She helps her clients across North America change their gears, their pace, and their direction.  She is the essential piece of equipment to get you where you need to move forward at a different pace and with a different power.  As an industry veteran and a Certified Performance Coach, Amy works with individuals who are athletes, were athletes, or wish to be athletes, on navigating change.

  • Why do you ride?

    This week’s inspiration from coach Amy comes from the heart. Use it as your screen saver and give yourself a motivational boost!

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Amy Magyar is a Derailleur.  She helps her clients across North America change their gears, their pace, and their direction.  She is the essential piece of equipment to get you where you need to move forward at a different pace and with a different power. As an industry veteran and a Certified Performance Coach, Amy works with individuals who are athletes, were athletes, or wish to be athletes, on navigating change.

  • What shape are you in (your mind, that is)?

    Testing your mental conditioning through awareness.

     

    In my introduction last week as The Derailleur at Terry Bicycles, I mentioned that I coach, among other types of clients, athletes of all shapes and sizes on their mental conditioning. Your body can be as fit as an elite athlete’s but if your mental conditioning is lacking, you may perform like you have “cement shoes” (as my friend from Jersey says.) So what is mental conditioning? I know you are about to click off this blog because the last thing you need to be told is to do more exercising. But listen up, this form of exercise is important. This isn’t about your athletic strengths; this is about how you show up on a day-to-day basis in your life. This is about how your mind performs.

    Ok, so how do you even know how “fit” your thoughts and beliefs are? Let’s break it down to this…mental conditioning is about training your mental fitness. Mental fitness is your own self-awareness around how your mind works (or doesn’t work) to support you and your physical conditioning. In other words, what you think is what you do…so what have you been thinking lately? Does it sound like “That was a really hard ride but I am proud of the effort I put on the last ascent.” Or does it sound like this, “Really? You were the slowest on that climb…you came in last. Last! Because that’s where losers come in…last. Nice job loser.”

    Your thoughts may not be that radical either way, but my guess is that there has been a time or two that you “trash talked” yourself after a ride that didn’t go as planned. Worse yet, you may have even “trash talked” yourself BEFORE you even got on the bike. Mental trash is not a source of motivation; it is exactly as it is named…trash. It clutters up the mind, keeping you from learning the lessons of the experience and definitely keeps you from being able to pat your self on the back for the effort you put in. All-important steps to increase your mental fitness level.

    So the first step to mental conditioning is awareness. You have to understand where you are first, before you know how much to train. One way to test your mental fitness level is to see how many times in a day you say the word “Should” or “Must” or “Gotta”…it might sound like “I should have done better” or “I must go faster.” Keep a list of how many times in a day you say words like “should” and its evil friends (Must and Gotta) and see how limiting the “should” often makes you feel. How heavy are the “Shoulds” that you carry with you on your ride each time?

    What would happen if instead of thinking about what you “should do”, you started to train yourself to think about “what is.” This is often called mindfulness and is a way to self-awareness. Thoughts, feelings, attitudes, beliefs, behaviors – all are raw material for the growth of the mental side of your game. The mentally conditioned athlete makes self-awareness a priority and uses it to strengthen their core mental skills. And instead of “should do” they condition themselves to think “I am…” More on “I am” to come in future blogs.

    Once you become aware of how many times you use limiting self-talk or beliefs, you are able to get a clearer picture of how what your mental conditioning level is. Is it strong and designed to move you forward in a healthy, sustainable way or does it act as a defeating message keeping you in your place and preventing you from growing?

    The first steps to increased mental fitness include the most important…awareness. So I challenge you this week to become aware of condition level of your mental game. Keep track of the “shoulds” and share with us what you find! There is no judgment, only awareness. Once we know, then we can change them.

     

    Amy Magyar is a Derailleur.  She helps her clients across North America change their gears, their pace, and their direction.  She is the essential piece of equipment to get you where you need to move forward at a different pace and with a different power. As an industry veteran and a Certified Performance Coach, Amy works with individuals who are athletes, were athletes, or wish to be athletes, on navigating change.

    photo courtesy of Ronwuphoto.com

  • A coach for your head?

    I am…a Derailleur.

    I am…a Certified Performance Coach.

    I am…an agent of change.

    I am…certain.

    I am…loud.

    I am…a firm believer in getting outside and playing.

     

    I help prevent broken resolutions one day at a time by offering:

    – Performance Coaching

    – Career Coaching and Development

    – Resume Construction

    – Mental Conditioning for Athletes

    – A Kick-In-The-Ass

     

    As a Derailleur, I help my clients across North America change their gears, their pace, and their direction. I am the essential piece of equipment to get you where you need to move forward at a different pace and with a different power.

     

    After a good ride, you’re a different person. You’ve changed. You faced a fear. Proved a point. Impressed yourself. It’s like somebody drilling a hole in your brain, inserting all this wonderful scenery, certainty, and freedom. And it forces out the bad stuff. But the ride doesn’t stop when you step off the bike. That’s where I come in…I am here to remind you that you can also change, face fears, prove a point and impress yourself off the bike as well.

     

    Some folks call me a “Life Coach” or a “Head Coach”. But I am more than that. I am all the benefits of a Coach without the annoying whistle some trainers have. I can’t make your body stronger, faster or more flexible but I can help you train your mind to be stronger, faster and more flexible. You are not broken…you don’t need to be fixed. You need support. I do support.

     

    Partnering with Terry Bicycles, we have expanded Ride it Forward so that we’d have a place to post original content about the psychological, emotional, and social aspects relevant to intense exercise or other physical and competitive endeavors. Most of what will happen on this blog, including articles, videos, and pictures, will have some relationship to Cycling. However, there will be something here for you even if you do not consider yourself a Cyclist.  Ride it Forward is a forum where people will be challenged and inspired toward self-reflection and will find ways to make their lives more meaningful. It is a resource for people to learn about sports performance enhancement and access tools to improve training. And I am your tour guide. I won’t always wear the “yellow jersey”…I will invite you, the community to share your stories and wisdom as well. This is a collaboration. Now let’s get going! Contact Amy

     

    Amy Magyar is a Derailleur.  She helps her clients across North America change their gears, their pace, and their direction.  She is the essential piece of equipment to get you where you need to move forward at a different pace and with a different power. As an industry veteran and a Certified Performance Coach, Amy works with individuals who are athletes, were athletes, or wish to be athletes, on navigating change.

    photo courtesy of Ronwuphoto.com

  • RIF:: A Jersey Print is Born

    Silhouette of Myself on My Ride Home

    Submitted during our inaugural Ride it Forward℠ bike grant, this photo was not only one of the finalists, but also the inspiration our 2012 custom jersey and glove print, Bike Shadow.

    Terry Euro Jersey in Bike Shadow

     

  • RIF:: The Most Joyful Young Cyclist

    Stopping to check in with mama

    Our latest Ride it Forward℠ winner, Sam, was nominated as the The Most Joyful Young Cyclist by proud mom, Denise DeGhelder. Her winning entry won her daughter a brand new 2012 Burlington Terry Bicycle! Read Denise’s entry: This is my wonderfully amazing and resourceful daughter Sam. She is seen here on a bike trip up the coast from CA to Canada that was funded through a grant she wrote and was awarded as part of her undergraduate degree in Social Ecology. She is riding an old Fiji touring bike of my husbands that she rigged up to work for her through the bike co-op at her college (Truman State) that she helped start. The tours purpose was to visit sustainable organic farms and farmers markets and document their practices. The entire trip was documented in the student visitors center after she graduated… including her helmet and and other memorabilia. She camped all but a few nights on this 5+ week trip! She has rode this same bike on many shorter biking trips for fun, in a Bike MS fundraiser with me and it’s her only form of transportation in Columbia Missouri where she works for AmeriCorp as Urban Farm Outreach VISTA coordinator. I could not be more proud of the strong, independent, caring person she has become or think of a more worthy, inspiring person to be awarded one of your bikes. Thank you so much for your consideration!

  • RIF :: The Best Bike Shop for Women

    Our most recent winner is Lori Scheel, who nominated Bicycles Plus in Folsom, California: “Why do I love Bicycles Plus in Folsom? Because they treat me like I am the most important customer they have, every time I walk through their doors. They happily change my flats, fix my gearing issues, and address my fit problems. They never charge me…they just believe in treating women with chivalry and respect. They offer free bike clinics for women who want to be their own mechanic. They also have the latest and greatest in women’s fashions for the road. Whether you are a beginner (as I was the first time I walked into their shop) or an expert, they meet you at your level, educate, advise and make you feel good about your choices, always respecting your budget. The bottom line is never the sale…it’s about what is best for you, the customer. If they can’t provide what they think is best for you, they will direct you to someone who can, even if it’s the competition. I love that. It screams, “We value YOU and think your needs are more important than our profit.” ”

    But, wait, there’s more. When we emailed Lori to tell her she’d won a Terry Symmetry bicycle, she responded with this: “Thank you so much 🙂 I plan to give the bike away to a girl on my cycling team, The Bodacious Biking Babes, who has never had a new bike in her life. She rides a 50 pound clunker, owns no car, and she is as fit as they come! She can never ride with the rest of the team on our long rides because she is so slow on her 50 pound bike. NOT ANY MORE! She is a very deserving recipient and I can’t wait to tell her…she has no idea I even entered the contest, let alone that I am giving her the bike.”

    Now that’s what we call Riding It Forward!

    Lori Rides It Foward for a cycling compadre!

  • Ride2Recovery is Our October RIF Winner

    Verna Bell submitted the story of her daughter, Sara, who volunteers for Ride2Recovery. We couldn’t think of a more deserving cause and we’re thrilled to present a Symmetry bicycle to Verna and a Susan B. bicycle to Ride2Recovery. Here’s Verna’s entry:

    Ride2Recovery is a not-for-profit organization that promotes rehab for those heroes who have been injured while serving our country. This group helps all wounded veterans and features cycling as the core recovery activity. My inspiration for supporting this cause is in part to my daughter, Sara’s, participation and involvement in R2R. She rides along and assists riders that need help. R2R provides bikes, lodging, meals and transportation to those veterans who want to participate. Much effort and creativity goes into the preparation of the bikes for those who are missing arms and legs or both, so they can participate.