Great quote
Blogger Post June 27th, 2006I was reading Velonews today on the bus to Denver, fretting about commuting and having a bad attitude. I read tihs quotation by Floyd Landis and it is really good. I try to do this a lot too and I totally agree with him. He just put it so well.
When talking about racing in the rain: “The best thing to do is just keep on smiling and pretend you’re okay, even if you’re not. That goes not just for bad weather, but for any time you’re suffering. Sometimes it helps if you smile, even when it hurts.”
June 28th, 2006 at 10:44 am
Thats funny you say that, but I was hitching a ride up by the Ozarcs one cold fall eve when I got a bit of advice very similar to yours. It had been raining for 3 days straight, and I was smelly wet. It was a large truck, half semi and half car. It stopped to pick my poor soul up….a soul that had been battered by life and by a big black guy who picked me up last county. The truck looked like it had been through alot, but being through a lot was exactly what I was looking for. Being half semi and half car, I popped open the door with ease and sat down in the comfy vinyl seats. After taking a much needed load off, I look up at the mysteriosu stranger piloting this truck of life… a vehicle that was born on this earth to save me at this very momemnt. When my eyes met hers / his, I was entranced. I was staring at the legend himself…or herself. However you look at it. it was Brian Boitano. Yes thats right. Brian Boitano driving a truck. At that moment, I knew it was going to be a one hell of a day. Boitano looked at me, looked back at the road and with one desisive moment, threw the massive semi-car in gear, and we made our way down the road. I sat there in awe…I may of shat my pants as well…I don’t remember. But what I do remember is this. After a few minutes of silence, Brian Boitano turned that big fluffy head of his to look at me and said, “the best thing to do when its raining is to keep on smiling and pretend you’re ok. Somtimes it helps if you smile, even if it hurts.” Those words echoed in my head forever. I assume he was talking about smiling because the tights he was wearing was hurting him, but at that moment I didn’t care. That was the best moment of my life….and that was the best road trip ever