WOW! This guy nailed it.

[The Moose1]

Stolen directly from May 2011 Road Bike Action magazine;
"I ride because, as Vince Lombardi once said, "any man's finest  hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle, victorious."  While in most sports you have a discernible opponent, the only opponent you ever really face in cycling (apart from pro racers) is yourself and your own limitations.  So, to achieve victory, you have to essentially kick your own behind or allow limitations to stand over you, victorious, as you lie defeated.
As the outside world looks upon us a little more than masochists on two wheels, only other cyclists understand that continuing on as every fibre of your being screams at you to give up and call for a ride home is what makes a ride great.  Victory isn't the miles ridden or the elevation gained, it's riding until you're sure you can't ride any more, but continuing on anyway and still making it to the end of your route that allows us to lie exhuasted upon our field of battle, basking in the warm glow of VICTORY."
I would argue that you could easily subsitute running for cycling, and this would still be true.

Battle on friends.


Mike

[king]

Does this mean you will be doing Peter's Epic Ride this summer? I think it's 400k this year, oh ya and if I'm right it will be in one day.

[Newt]

Bob...

I think it will only be 30km this year, a scenic loop, downhill with a tail wind. Starting just around noon so we can sleep in.

 
Though I think Mike is right, we can be a bit Masochistic at times (for better or worse).

Peace
Peter

[Newt]

G'day Mike,

Just to let you know that the jist of your thread wasn't lost on me before Bob and I banditted it.

"Why is our sport of cycling so deeply captivating? Is it the depth of suffering we feel when we push too far? Is it the fact that what we feel often engages all of our senses and that no ride is ever as memorable as the ones where we suffer worst? Is it the never-ending temptation to overextend ambition -- be it the pace of a climb or the distance of ride? Agony becomes a means of ecstasy. In this way, every cyclist is one part mystic and one part athlete"

Peace
Peter

[Jeff]

All this deep thought has me ready to go for a bike ride!  When it's warm and dry.

[Craig]

Sweet! 30k downhill with a tailwind.
 Finally an Epic ride I'll be able to finish. I'm in.

[Newt]

Craig, Craig, Craig, you've rode with us enough to know better.....
Some guys just never learn. 

Peace
Peter