Finding Pandemic Purpose Through Riding and Writing
Video stills and cinematography by Pixel Peak / Jeff Clark and Nick Nelson
What do we do when the direction changes?
When the world turns upside down?
When the dream disappears?
When those best-laid plans go awry...
When a global pandemic cast a season into chaos, canceling more than half of the races on the international calendar, pro cyclocross racer and journalist Andrew Juiliano was like most of us. He wondered what he was going to do.
What do you do with months of preparation and planning? What do you do to stay motivated when the dream starts disappearing? What do you do to maintain a sense of purpose?
He had questions, just like all of us did.
Keep Riding. Keep Writing.
He found his answer in what he knows best.
He kept riding. He kept writing.
He took his favorite training session, inspired by the famous sand races in Belgium like the Koksijde World Cup, and decided to share it with the cyclocross world.
Collaborating with cinematographers Jeff Clark and Nick Nelson of Pixel Peak Productions, they captured a typical cyclocross training session.
To provide context, and to add a bit of creative flair, Andrew wrote a poem to accompany the footage. It's that combination, the writing and the riding, that has helped him process every major challenge in his life.
Cyclocross Is Everywhere
The beauty of cyclocross can be found everywhere.
Lakefronts. River washes. Deserts. Volleyball courts. Drainage basins. Local parks.
Races or not, with the right perspective, cyclocross is everywhere.
Keeping momentum is not always easy, especially when circumstances change.
But doing what we know and what we love keeps us moving, gives us purpose, and helps maintain our spirits during exceptional times.
Keep Rolling Forward
So what do we do when the world spins wildly out of our control?
We do what we've always done. We control what we can.
We keep rolling. Forward.
