File this under: Beast Mode My friend Peto has been seriously punching life in the face.  Yesterday, he delivered a knock out blow by doing something that seems impossible to me: 425 miles on a bike.  Yea, you read that right.  425. He signed up with a few other local riders for the La Vuelta Puerto Rico, which is a 3 day 375 mile ride.  And because that isn’t hard enough as it is, Peto and friends tacked on another ride before that, pushing the total well over 425 miles.  As a rookie cyclist with a pretty slow average, a century ride seems super tough.  But to go out 4 days in a row and pound out this kind of mileage is really crazy.  Inspiring as hell, but crazy. The text updates were awesome though.  Photos and videos during the short rest stops really brought a smile to my face.  The second day was a 155 mile ride where he maintained an 18.2 average.  Insane.  At mile 105 he had a flat and raced back with a friend to catch the group, going 45 miles without water to catch up.  The very next day was an 80 miler, so the rest certainly was not long at all.  Then another century plus followed that.  Unbelievable. Some of his teammates dropped back on the last day to a slower group, but not this dude.  As I have seen time and time again, he doesn’t tire out in the middle or toward the end like a lot of people.  He seems to thrive and fight harder and getting his texts it was clear there would be no way he would drop to a slower group.  Staying where he was merely fueled him to ride harder. Major props to Peto for completing something so awesome and thanks for the endless inspiration. SIEMPRE ADELANTE
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File this under: Beast Mode

My friend Peto has been seriously punching life in the face.  Yesterday, he delivered a knock out blow by doing something that seems impossible to me: 425 miles on a bike.  Yea, you read that right.  425.

He signed up with a few other local riders for the La Vuelta Puerto Rico, which is a 3 day 375 mile ride.  And because that isn’t hard enough as it is, Peto and friends tacked on another ride before that, pushing the total well over 425 miles.  As a rookie cyclist with a pretty slow average, a century ride seems super tough.  But to go out 4 days in a row and pound out this kind of mileage is really crazy.  Inspiring as hell, but crazy.

The text updates were awesome though.  Photos and videos during the short rest stops really brought a smile to my face.  The second day was a 155 mile ride where he maintained an 18.2 average.  Insane.  At mile 105 he had a flat and raced back with a friend to catch the group, going 45 miles without water to catch up.  The very next day was an 80 miler, so the rest certainly was not long at all.  Then another century plus followed that.  Unbelievable. Some of his teammates dropped back on the last day to a slower group, but not this dude.  As I have seen time and time again, he doesn’t tire out in the middle or toward the end like a lot of people.  He seems to thrive and fight harder and getting his texts it was clear there would be no way he would drop to a slower group.  Staying where he was merely fueled him to ride harder.

Major props to Peto for completing something so awesome and thanks for the endless inspiration.

SIEMPRE ADELANTE

Siempre Adelante

“If you’re going to do anything interesting in the world, criticism is an unavoidable fact. You’ll be criticized, because you’ll make mistakes, because some will be jealous, because people have opinions about anything interesting, because people want to help you, because some want to drag down those doing anything different.

The trick to navigating the icebergs of criticism is to figure out which are helpful, and steer clear of those that aren’t. And above all, do it with grace.”

 - Leo Babauta.

The above is part of another great read from my friend Peto’s new blog: PUNCH LIFE IN THE FACE.  You MUST read it.

Life can throw some pretty hard punches…

I think anyone that has been alive for more than 5 minutes can attest to the fact that life can throw some pretty hard punches.  Sometimes it feels like getting hit below the belt.  When you get hit, and trust me, you will, you really have two choices.  You can take the punch and wallow in the pain or you can take the punch, then turn around and see how hard you can hit back.

If you need an example, look no further than my friend Peto.  I have written about him before, specifically my desire to drop kick him in the head as well as my total appreciation of his friendship.  But the guy has been battling some health issues lately, and while he is still in the middle of that fight, he is not just sitting there taking the lumps.  Truth be told, he is doing quite the opposite: he is hitting back.

And not just hitting back by himself either.  He is taking his story, along with those of others, and will be featuring them on a new blog here, appropriately titled “Punch Life in the Face”.  Just to give you a glimpse of what he has been able to accomplish over the past 12 months, just take a look at where he once was and where he is today:

He has some better photos on the new blog which show even more of his progress, but I will save that for his blog.  If you want some inspiration and motivation for throwing punches of your own, follow his new project: http://punchlifeintheface.tumblr.com/