What is important for the professional athlete? What counts? How does one measure achievements? If your name is Lance Armstrong, that question might be easy to answer, too easy maybe. But what if you are the 35 year old domestique, with no top international victories to show for. Then what?

What if your legs are too old and too tired to win the GC in the Tour. And what if the explosiveness of your muscles have somehow disappeared. The power that used to be there, simply vanished. The media and the sponsors are now chasing the number 1 guy. He gets all the honor and glory. You know you can never measure up to the palmares of the top riders. Why do you keep going?

When the game is over, is it possible to measure your achievements and success on your own scale? Or do you have to compare your results to the top riders of the day? Can you say to yourself; "I did well, I am happy with my career", when everyone is measured on results from the classics or grand tours?

You keep going because you know, deep down inside, that when you have that perfect ride, the ride where everything works, nobody can beat you. Nobody. You may have to wait until next season, or maybe even the season after that, before you will experience this ride again. Because of this, you keep going.

I am a full-time endurance athlete, working towards the 2012 London Olympics. I maintain a blog, describing my ups and downs of training / racing. http://roadrace1.blogspot.com