How should I act? That is a question people seem to have forgotten. Indeed, we need to automate most of our actions; otherwise, the cognitive load would be unbearable. However, I think that we need to evaluate more profoundly the choices we make daily and consider how they impact ourselves and others in the long term. After a year of deep reflection and learning, I have concluded that we only need two rules to make our cycling practice, our lives, and those of others around us genuinely great. Here, I present you with these two rules that made France and the West great.

Individual Level: Golden Mean

In The Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle introduces the concept of the Golden Mean. He argues that virtue (good behavior) is not merely the opposite of vice (bad behavior) but rather a balance between a lack and an excess. For instance, courage is the balance between cowardice and recklessness. This balance is what you are aiming for individually in everything. It is where progress and Eudaimonia (flourishing) lie.

In cycling, this balance can manifest itself in several ways. You can obviously train for too few hours or too many hours. You can train at a too-low intensity or a too-high intensity. You can train too much time on the bike and not enough off the bike or vice versa. All of these statements can then turn into questions, and if you have the right questions, you may find the right answers.

This concept applies to the broader view of life as well. The reality is that the way I arrive at a synthesis in bike fitting or cycling training is through the same dialectic method I use for life in general. The basics always come from the same place. They come from Athens. It seems that we are dangerously forgetting about it.

For your life, I will only leave you with some questions. What is the balance between input and output? Work and family? Reason and faith? Take the time to think. It is how we build meaningful lives.

On a different note, as individuals, we have rights, but we also have duties. That latter part seems to have been forgotten about in recent years. Your duty is to take full responsibility for your life. That way, you inspire others to do the same. It is the basis behind the broken window theory. You might think that a minor crime like jaywalking or littering is not that serious, but it opens the door for more significant crimes. The truth is that we are either moving in a virtuous circle or a vicious circle. There is no static mode.

So, I invite you to observe what you do in the day and reflect on it. Write down your shortcomings (sins) and face them. See what you can do better. No action is too small to make a difference. Saying no to smoking, alcohol, porn, opioids, fast food, social media, and terrible clothing makes a heck of a difference. Think about all the happiness, health, and money problems it can save you and society from in the long term. Indeed, the better you take care of yourself, the better you take care of your family, your community, and society, and these three are all that matter in the end, in that order.

Ask yourself: What would be the most noble way to act in this particular situation?

Collective Level: Golden Rule

“Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.”

Matthew 7:12

We have previously seen that Greek philosophy made the world great because it gave us reason. It allowed us to think. It communicated to us that we can understand the world we live in and that we ought to. However, there is another component missing, and that is the component that unites us all. It might surprise you, but it is the Ten Commandments that Moses received on Mount Sinai.

As you may notice, today, we see so many people becoming more and more individualistic. What happened? I would argue that the advent of social media had a destructive impact. It is even worse now with short-form content. However, it is not the root cause.

We ought to look for the root cause of any problem to find the correct solution. If you go back in time, you will find other issues than social media, but if you keep digging long enough, you will realize it comes from abandoning our Judeo-Christian tradition and, therefore, values. Indeed, the Left has convinced us that life would be so much better if we killed our “imaginary” God and that we would be the most advanced individuals the world has ever known, but the reality we see around us today speaks for itself. The lesson here is that before we attempt to destroy something, we must think about why it is here in the first place. The reality that no one wants to hear is that we need God.

When cycling, when you meet someone on the cycling path, always greet him, either saying “hello” or waving at him. Do not forget to smile. It is so basic that it seems absurd that I need to say it. If you are reading this, you are probably doing that right already. However, I want to make you think about the rest.

In cycling races, I have always been horrified of people insulting each other. I was bewildered about what it would help them achieve. It does nothing good, but it starts the vicious circle of Hell. This kind of behavior can only happen because people do not think about the long-term impact of their actions. For that reason, we have to value self-control. Self-control is mastery. It is to be praised. All the atheists who pushed for the sexual revolution, in reality, advocated for a form of an end of self-control. I hope that you can see the irony here when they call themselves “the tolerant people” when they do not even have tolerance for their own bodies.

Try always to treat people the same way you want to be treated. It does not mean letting everything pass. It means standing up for the truth. If you see evil, you denounce it. As C. S. Lewis writes in Mere Christianity: “If you had committed a murder, the right Christian thing to do would be to give yourself up to the police and be hanged.” Justice is indeed necessary to keep the evil away. We all know that our judicial system is drowning, and that is because we have abandoned what united us: God.

I know it is hard to always treat everybody with the utmost respect. You may face some demons at the moment, or some of the past may still haunt you, but it is never a reason to stop being good. Being good is rewarded in the long term. If you heroically show your heart first, you will meet fantastic people along the journey of life, as there are plenty of them. Sometimes, they just need a little confidence to reveal their hidden hearts from the shadows of life’s challenges.

Ask yourself: How would I want to be treated in this situation?

We must remember where we come from and what made our society great. The abandonment of Greek philosophy and Judeo-Christian theology just does not work. It does not work on either individual or collective levels, especially on the latter. In the same way, we have to think long-term. What kind of society do we want to leave to our children, grandchildren, and further? Let us stand up and build a great future together.