Monthly Archives: February 2012

Welcome to the new www.dukescycle.ca

 

To say that we are long overdue for a new website is certainly an understatement of monumental proportions.

We originally began to look at this exercise back in the very early days of 2008… and just as we begin the thought process of wondering what kind of new website we wanted to build… disaster struck and we lost Duke’s Cycle in the Queen Street fire.

Needless to say in the subsequent years our efforts and energies became a little more single-minded… our only efforts were focused on rebuilding the business and our beloved shop.

Which brings us to the present.

We now have a fantastic new facility, back home on Queen Street. And, thanks to our partners at AdPioneers, we now have a fantastic new website that is reflective of this new environment.

At this point in time, our new site is still very much in Phase One. We have a lot of new features planned for the site and as we continue to move forward with its development we firmly believe that this new site [just like our new store] will be a site against which others are measured.

As we transition into Phase Two and Three we will also begin to offer additional features such as online purchasing, e-commerce and special orders.

One of our primary objectives with this new site is to offer the visitor more than just a glorified product catalogue. Yes… you will be able to see our various product lines, but we wanted to offer you more.

Of paramount importance to this site is the ability to communicate and engage with our various communities… that’s you. Whether you are a commuter, racer, cycling for fitness, or weekend warrior, we want to be able to offer you reasons to revisit our site for more than just to see what bikes we sell. We truly want this site to become a living community for cyclists and an opportunity for you to gather information, about all things cycling.

Moving forward, we anticipate that this Community Blog section of our site will be dynamic and ever changing. We plan to fill it with the latest news and events from a variety of resources. From the “happenings” with the Toronto Cyclists Union and IMBA Canada… to what’s happening on the Pro Tour and unique stories about cyclists. We’ll try to keep you up to date on information that is relevant to all who ride.

In the meantime, please be patient as we get comfortable and up to speed with this new site and begin to grow its content and features.

Which brings us to you…

… as we get more comfortable with this site and please know that we welcome your feedback, tips and comments.

 

 

 

Racing…It’s about the Pain

 


A few years ago a good friend of mine said to me “I can’t wait until I’m in better shape so I can race and ride hard without pain.” I told him it would never happen. Not to be unkind or anything, but I told him to know that if you race… and I mean truly race, you will experience pain. No matter how fit you are… racing hurts. It always hurts.

Now pain is not always a bad thing. Pain lets you know you’re alive and pain tells you when to stop. As cyclists, we grow to love the burn of climbing or legs screaming during a sprint that does not want to end. To succeed, one must learn to live with pain, understand it and master it. You need to remind yourself that if you’re feeling pain, so is everyone else.

Which brings us to mental toughness. I truly believe that beyond being physically tough, one needs the psychological fortitude to push through the physical even when your head is telling you to stop. From personal experience I can tell you that if you do this, you will reach another level of performance.

Tenacity, and an ability to reach deep is not something everyone can do. I’ve seen very strong riders give up and loose to riders with less physical ability strength simply because they could dig deep and ride through the pain. I once lost a race by 3 seconds because I was having a bad day, had crashed twice very hard and decided I was done for the day. I gave up and let another take the lead. With less than 1k to go it suddenly occurred to me what a huge mistake I had made. With the race leader already out of site, I changed my attitude, focused on the task at hand, and push through the physical and mental pain. I didn’t win and learned a very valuable lesson.

A lot happens during a race… at times you will feel good… but more often than not, you will be feeling pain.

Champions ride through the pain.