August 24, 2025, here we are, back on a starting line, the day of my twenty-eight rotations around the sun. Despite the difficulty of the sport of cycling, which continues to puzzle me after all these years of competition, I cannot help but be overcome by an emotion other than a profound joy for this return to my roots. This return is also a philosophical experience, because each experience of life is rich in data. Indeed, there is nothing that exists in the intellect before being in the senses, Saint Thomas tells us (1). Each moment of my life therefore becomes a new discovery on the winding and inexhaustible path to wisdom. Cycling must be ordered to a virtuous life—ordered according to the proper nature of man.

Context and organization of training

Let's go back a bit. For many months, my faithful steed gathered dust over its dazzling coat. Indeed, for the first time in my career, or let's say strictly, since I began taking cycling seriously—even if from a very young age I'm not sure that the adjective serious is inappropriate, given my natural inclination toward the pursuit of excellence—I put the bike away for several months. I didn't do nothing; I still continued to maintain my physique—this essential to human health. As soon as I learned of the organization of the first edition of the National Gravel Bike Championships (2) (in good French), it didn't take me long to rediscover an intense motivation. Man is driven solely by an end, like everything in nature. In this case, success in the championship became the final cause and appetite the efficient cause. This end is not the fullness of man's natural end: the common good, and even less of his supernatural end: union with the First Principle; but it is right to say that it is subordinate to these other, more absolute ends.

After long months away from the dusty trails, I got back on my bike. I had to exercise patience—that virtue integral to the third of the four cardinal virtues—the ability to be joyful while waiting for the realization of an end. Cycling must always be a means of cultivating virtue—not a simple disordered pursuit of performance at all costs, where man must surpass himself, beyond everything, to metamorphose into an ideal of the Nietzschean superman.

As I expressed earlier in this piece, knowledge begins with sensory experience. I always have an idea of the ideal training with a view to the right end, but for this reason, I leave myself the possibility of always adjusting the program according to the information communicated by my internal senses. This means that even if the day before I thought I would complete a six-hour outing, in the event that my legs do not respond as expected, I will adapt the session—a mark of cautious attention. I generally decide on the session after the first fifteen minutes spent at a moderate pace, exactly when I begin the first climb of my outing. The pace of my climb will therefore be determined at that moment.

For this preparation, I gradually increased the weekly volume, reaching a peak of twenty hours the week before this regional championship. Over time, I realized that I am capable of digesting a significant load the week before the objective. In my life, the act of pedaling has gradually revealed itself as an introspective search for being, and even for Being.

Running the race

The race got off to a flying start. As soon as the lead car declared the chase open, some riders quickly showed that they weren't there to make up the numbers or complete the event at a cyclosportive pace. When entering the first path, I paid for a first mistake that could have been decisive. Indeed, during the reconnaissance of the route that I did the previous week, I didn't recognize this particular section, thinking that there was an error in the GPS track. I therefore entered it in a disadvantageous position. In gravel, as soon as the circuit transforms into a narrow track (or single track in Shakespearean), it is essential to be placed among the very first in order not to be subjected to the tension of the elastic. As we all know, stretched beyond its capacity, it breaks.

After a long period during which my internal engine was pushed dangerously close to overheating, I had to let some of the frontrunners go and settle for a place in the counter-attack group. This moment is never the easiest, but it is nevertheless one of the key moments of the race. Negative thoughts assail us, but man is free to respond to them as he wishes. So, I had to remain, as in every moment of life, focused on the end determined by synderesis—the inner light illuminated by natural law.

The nature of gravel cycling means that races feature long days in the saddle, but also the risk of mechanical incidents is increased due to the rough terrain, which is much more impactful on equipment than the wood of the velodrome. It is also much harder to find windows of opportunity to rest. For example, taking the time to consume a bar is a significantly more arduous exercise than during a road race. There are, certainly, few moments where pressure can be released on the pedals. Considering the points mentioned here, it is critical to manage your effort by taking into account the entirety of the race; it is an act of foresight, the right relationship with the future. Finally, it is crucial to remember that being part of a group further back does not mean settling for the current position—this position is only potential, not actual, until the finish line is crossed. I have indeed noticed many times that I spend my race regaining positions - the others not holding the distance or suffering mechanical problems. As always, it comes down to prudence in determining the means.

It is of the utmost importance to "know thyself," as Socrates taught us. Colby Pearce, an Olympian cyclist and one of my mentors, reminds us that this is the first rule of all athletic success. Carrying a few extra kilograms during this event that I was not able to shed until the big day, I knew that I would produce a considerable effort when the slope inclined towards the sky. Conversely, I was aware of my technical advantage on the descents, and even my advantage on the rough roads, naturally pedaling at a high torque—at a low cadence. All this may seem obvious, but it is perhaps wise to recall the known facts of common sense in our strange age where chimeras swarm like a pack of hungry wolves.

Finally, my temperance was about to be put to the test. Having just finished with the major difficulties of the day, the horizon now seemed clear enough to easily reach the promised land. It was quite different; I suddenly suffered a flat tire. So, I remained calm, even though I must admit that there is still work to be done to achieve the ideal of self-control, even if anger is not bad in itself, but only if its direction is not adequate. Aristotle reminds us that anyone can easily become angry, but that it is difficult for a person to be virtuous, that is, to find the medium between lack and excess: "In all things, in fact, it is difficult to find the means: for example, finding the center of a circle is not within everyone's reach, but only to one who knows. So too, giving oneself over to anger is something within anyone's reach […]" (3). At such a time it may be well to remember words such as these from the wise king: "The fool at all hours expresses his moods, the wise man has perspective and tempers them." (4)

Later, another hitch would appear on the road to the finish. The signs indicated that we should enter a forest, but the passage was blocked. What should we do? Turn back and leave the official route, which did not seem correct, or persevere even if it meant wasting an infinite amount of time if the obstacle was not singular, but plural. I chose the first option. Here, we had to make a decision quickly, to show sagacity, as the Ancients said. "Sagacity is a disposition by which all of a sudden one discovers what is appropriate." (5) Paralysis by analysis is the potential illness of the philosopher, but probably not that of the one worthy of this distinction, the one who understands philosophy as the love of wisdom in relation to theesse ipsum subsistens — the very being that subsists — which cannot be other than the unique King wearing, in glory, the crown at the summit of the hierarchy of being.

I then arrived at the breakdown service, which I might have missed if it had been located at the entrance and not at the exit of the village. Luckily, the second case occurred. The wheel of fortune stopped on a favorable square. Then, like a pit stop in Formula 1, my team—my family, the first cell of society so threatened in our times—made the change at full speed, then I returned, with a significant effort, to the level of my only companion at the moment of the puncture. All that remained was for us to work together to reach that precious rear line.

This leap into the unknown therefore concludes with a satisfactory result—a fifth place—and a new significant dose of data gathered by the senses to be processed by the agent intellect and end up as forms in the possible intellect. I conclude in particular that I made correct decisions to add more variations to my training program, a sign that this natural prudence, a primary virtue, and purified by grace, develops every day through habit. Now, I must already return to my beloved two-wheeled machine to continue preparing for the real sporting event of this year 2025: the very first French championships of this beautiful discipline.

References:

1. Of truth, q. 2, a. 3, arg. 19.

2. Quebec Office of the French Language, All-terrain road bike, Language showcase [online] : https://vitrinelinguistique.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/fiche-gdt/fiche/26543567/velo-de-route-tout-terrain, accessed September 23, 2025.

3. Eth. Nic., II, 9, 1109a.

4. Prov. 29, 11.

5. S. Th., IIa-IIae, q. 49, a. 4, c.