Last week, I was on a panel of three in central Manchester discussing resilience with a diverse group from the worlds of sport, business, and education. It was the second iteration of our “Performance Evening” events in conjunction with Pullwood Consulting.
Stupidity. Stubbornness. Adaptability.
Those were the three words that I came up with when I was asked to describe resilience. Three words that were very different to the other two people that were on the panel.
To my left was Paul McGuinness, a man who spent over two decades working in the Academy of Manchester United. He has Manchester United running in his blood, with his father being one of the Busby Babes.
At the end of the panel was Laura Malcolm. A former England Netball player who is now coaching at the highest level too. Although in a completely different sport, her journey up the ranks had some strange parallels to my own.
There were two distinct differences between myself and my co-panellists. The other two had moved into the coaching side, so now see it through another lens. But, perhaps more striking, the other two work in team sports. Cycling is a weirdly individual team sport.
There’s a healthy dose of selfishness that comes with being an athlete. Just this afternoon on a training ride we were debating whether being selfless (usually known as being a good person) is a weakness for a pro athlete.
My story started with the time I finished the final 25km of a stage in Volta ao Algarve with a broken knee. On one hand, that was resilient, on the other hand, it was stupid. I even tried to start the next day’s TT, believing that I could get through it just pedalling with one leg.
That crash can be seen as the traditional version of resilience. Not letting the pain show, pushing through no matter what. Maybe to some that is resilience, in reality, it’s bloody stupid. Somehow, after both that injury and a couple of others I’ve always managed to come back a better athlete. That’s the true resilience.
The second story looked at win percentages in pro-cycling. In football, the best managers in the world win more than 50% of their games, even the worst managers in world football history often hover around the 5% or 6% mark.
Most pro-cyclists will never win a race in their ten-year career. Is the fact that they keep turning up resilience?
Do we get good at losing? Or, do we just get good at lying to ourselves?
A few weeks ago, I raced the Santa Vall just outside of Girona. It’s a three-day stage race, and on the uphill mass start prologue, I took second. It was one of the best rides of my life in a stacked field. The next day, I was good. Finishing just outside of the Top 10. On the third day, I was horrendous and struggled to even get around in the fifth group.
My point here is that after the prologue I was telling myself how I was flying, how it was going to be the best season of my life and how I was ready to prove everyone wrong. I’ve put my name out there in the first race of the year and the big result isn’t too far away. Yet, by the third stage, I was telling myself how the Santa Vall was just a small pre-season race and not one to stress about. Who wants to be good in February anyway?
While telling the Santa Vall story, I realised that I’m not as resilient as I thought. When the pressure got to my head on Stage 3, I folded. It’s something I’m working on. I’m world-class at over-analysing situations when it comes to performance - sometimes that is my biggest asset, and other times it’s my biggest flaw.
The final story I told was one that people who are close to me will know all too well. It looked at the winter of 2022-23, and at just how close I came to stepping away from the sport. It would’ve been an easy decision to leave the sport. I gave it a good crack, now it’s time to travel before settling down to get a real job.
If somebody was in my situation, I would probably have advised them to do exactly that, but I’m glad I took the risk. Was that risk me being resilient, or was I simply too stubborn to hear no, and adamant that I could do it myself?
In hindsight, my resilience - or arguably my stubbornness - not to step away is the best decision I’ve ever made. I’m happier, I’m healthier, and I’m in the form of my life heading into an exciting season of racing.
Every time someone asks me about my plans for 2024 and Project TAG, a big smile comes to my face. Not being quite good enough to step up could have been the best thing that ever happened to me.
Now we’ve got the second of our Performance Evenings under our belt, it feels like we have an event that works. It brings together those in the business world to a sports environment, it teaches lessons, it gets us thinking, and it allows people to connect with others.
The next Performance Evening will be coming to Sheffield in May…
It’s been a busy month here in Casa Laverick. If I haven’t replied to you or seemed a little quiet online, the launch of Ribble Rebellion is why. I was parachuted in at the last minute to help set that project up!
With the work of that, plus setting up all of my privateer plans and training too. It’s been manic. I’ve had an actual full-time job (okay, not quite), but it’s been close. It’s been frustrating and a little nervous at the time. Knowing when to push on training and when to avoid it. Trusting the work that has already been put in and not pushing simply for the sake of it.
On March 12th, I fly to Oklahoma for my first big race of the year - The Mid South. From there, it’s six weeks that crisscross the United States, from Oklahoma to Texas, Utah, California and Georgia.
I’m excited about the first block, there are some great opportunities for me to attack races that suit my capabilities as a rider, both on road and off. I loved the small block of racing I did out there last year, so I’m excited to see what comes of it this year.
There’ll be many more updates next week, and I’m hoping once the project is launched, I’ll have more time to get back to the Substack. There are articles in the pipeline, from the story of signing with Castelli, to how and why I re-signed with Ribble for another year.
I’m sticking to what I said that I want to be as open as possible with all my privateering stuff. From budget to logistics to whatever more. I want to publicly show the cost and how it all works, it’s just figuring out what format works best.
If you have any questions or topics you want me to cover, my email inbox is always open.
Thanks,
Joe
Project TAG, proudly partnering (both for my athletic and influencing ability) with…
While you’re here…
I’ve added both paid subscription and a ‘Buy Me A Coffee’ link to this post. As the year progresses, I’m planning on building this blog and putting out articles which I’ve always wanted to write but for whatever reason, haven’t wanted to pitch.
Any money that I make from either my Substack, or BMaC link will go straight back into supporting my 2024 racing project. I am planning on keeping all content on here free to view though.
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/joelaverick