Pidcock: discuss

[sparky33]

Is ego an important part of the equation that makes a great rider or athlete? Taking huge safety risks and betting on long strategies requires enormous confidence and/or craziness.

[Alistair]

Originally Posted by sparky33

Is ego an important part of the equation that makes a great rider or athlete? Taking huge safety risks and betting on long strategies requires enormous confidence and/or craziness.

Probably, yes.

But, having a large ego/self-confidence doesn't require acting like a petulant child (not claiming Pidcock does, but we've all seen super-stars that do). Look at Pog - from everything we see in the media, he's polite, friendly, graceful both in winning and losing. But, by all accounts, he's also a ruthless competitor on the bike.

[fourflys]

Originally Posted by sparky33

Is ego an important part of the equation that makes a great rider or athlete? Taking huge safety risks and betting on long strategies requires enormous confidence and/or craziness.

I think it is.. at least a large part.. I equate it to the Aviation Survival Technicians in the Coast Guard (think of the movie The Guardian with Costner).. these folks are trained to jump in the Gulf of Alaska in the nastiest weather you can imagine and pull folks off a sinking vessel or out of really crappy situations.. I kind of want these folks to think they are God's gift to the nation when they are out there in the water, we need them to have that confidence..

I can imagine being a pro or elite level athlete is very similar.. if you are going to be successful, I think you need to believe you are better than the person beside you.. now, that doesn't mean you need to be a complete arsehole, esp off the bike, etc.. but I do think you need to have a healthy ego and view of self-worth.. there are other things that motivate folks as well (trauma, etc), but you gotta believe you are the best to be the best i think.. but I'm just a dude on the sidelines, so who knows..

[Red Tornado]

Originally Posted by sweitee

Escape Collective released an article on some of the rationale behind the move.

Paywall after the first few paragraphs

[sparky33]

Originally Posted by Red Tornado

Paywall after the first few paragraphs

Is Escape Collective worth paying for? This is the second time this week that that I’ve run into their paywall. Never heard of them before that.