Inspiration, Motivation who do you look up to ?

[Luckypants]

Funny this because I never told Fizz I find Lance Armstrong an inspirational sportsman. He has been spectacularly successful on the Tour de France and has even made a good comeback since early 2009 and finished third in the Tour de France that year. He remains a contender for Le Tour still. He is vehemently anti-doping and his battles with Pantani are legendary, made more piquant by Pantani's subsequent fall from grace. The race between them up Mont Ventoux in the 2000 Tour is epic! Armstrong has it all on the bike, a good climber, time trialist and stage rider, he knows when to do enough and when to attack.

But what inspires me about Armstrong is not his exploits on a bike. It's the way he has successfully battled cancer. He has not only got through his treatment but went on to become one of cycling's greats. He demonstrates that there is life after this dreadful disease. not only that but he works hard for the cause of defeating cancer. Having lost my father to cancer, I know how hard it is to beat, let alone stay healthy enough to be a world beater. Chapeau Lance!

And to see the great men in action, this is the highlights of the epic Mont Ventoux finish.

[anna]

I actually have many people on the look up to list, the famous two for me are Amelia Earhart and Isambard kingdom Brunel.

Amelia to me epitamises not the "female equality" rubbish that people spout today, but rather a very decisive, positive approach to achieving her aims and goals. After flying solo myself I can appreciate that a solo flight across the Atlantic not to mention the numerous other records she set must have been terrifying. She remained true to herself and achieved her goals doing something that she absolutely loved to do.

Isambard to me was a genious and a true engineering inspiration; it was said that one one coach trip he was making the carriage caught fire, and he was more annoyed that it had disturbed him working then the fact that the fire had put his life in jeapordy. From all accounts I have read he wasnt just someone who pen-pushed, when the tunnels he designed were collapsing, he was the first down there to help his workers make it right with no thought to the very real possibility drowning or being crushed.

Putting aside the famous people above there are actually a few member off here whom I truly look up and have motivated me and I am proud to call them friends.

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

Following on a PM convo Luckypants and I were having since I changed my Avatar.

Who inspires you and why ?

I'll explain mine. Marco Pantani, Winner of the Tour de France Giro di Italia in the same year ( 1998 ) is a very elite club and only few cyclists have ever done it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Pantani

I used to love the way he would pull the pin and attack on a climb, all of a sudden whoosh he was gone up the climb, it was pretty spectacular, it would either work or he'd blow and get caught and end up loosing time.

I know he dopped with EPO and he got flung out of the Giro in 1999 when his hemacrit ( sp ) levels went over 50%. That really did for him mentally and he always defended he hadnt taken it despite there being some pretty strong medical evidence that he did. It was the norm in his era of cycling in his mind he probably never thought he was doing anything wrong. He never recovered after that and slid down a slippery slope of subsance abuse and depressoin.

He died in 2004 due to a cocaine overdose. He had a darker side to his character and IMHO had some mental issues that he never got the help for that he needed. A tragic loss.

He was one of a handful of cyclists who put Lance Armstrong under real pressure especially at the Tour in 2000. To me the doping is secondary, what he did doesnt to my eyes glorify it. In fact quite the opposite, without it I still think he would have been a great cyclist, in fact doping was his downfall and getting caught tipped him over the edge.

Perhaps more of a flawed genuis rather than a true figure of inspiration or hero. But when I'm slogging it up the local climbs. I'm thinking to myself of what it says in my signature...

My hero when I was younger was Eddy Merckx - 5 Tours, 5 Giros, 2 Vueltas, numerous classics, six-days, world championships, cyclo-cross, hour records, etc. He was called "The Cannibal" for the way he always rode to win.

In the 1975 Tour he crashed and broke his cheekbone, and for the rest of the tour he was unable to eat solid food or hardly speak, yet he continued to race and still finished second!

[fizzwheel]

Originally Posted by Luckypants

He is vehemently anti-doping and his battles with Pantani are legendary, made more piquant by Pantani's subsequent fall from grace. The race between them up Mount Ventoux in the 2000 Tour is epic!

Indeed. I've read both Lance's books, he is defintely an inspirational character but for me more his cancer battle than his cycling. Like Pantani I think Lance has a darker side to his character and he's not somebody I would want to get on the wrong side of. Like Greg Lemmond did and lost his bike building business ( Trek subsidised ) because of it.

That battle up Ventoux in 2000 cost Lance more than I think he let on. His comments about Pantani afterwards show that darker nastier side of his character. I did read that subsequently he regreted the names he had called him though.

Both Legends but for different reasons...

Eddie Izzard, David Walliams.

Odd choices for inspiration, but the challenges they have put themselves through to help other people are absolutely phenomenal.

Average Joes swimming the Channel and running 40 plus (nearly) back to back marathons. I actually don't like David Walliams very much but can't help but admire him for what he has initiated and achieved.

My inspirations- just ordinary people that I know and love -

Mr VT: for his calm and loving nature, to be able to trust him 100% and learn from him to take life one day at a time and enjoy the moment

Fizzy Fish: for her sensible approach, to boss me when I need it but also to be one of the best friends I have ever known in my life. I have learned a lot from her attitude towards people in life and her kindness and trust in me

SVStorm: for her big heart, no matter how upset she is, she always puts others first and tries to be brave all the time even when she is on a downer. Her ability to be independant and dedicated to her job is a new inspiration for me as I no longer enjoy what I do for a living and it shows

Graciepants: for just being her, Grace is one of those people that you just can't help liking immediately. I admire her for her career change from Medicine to Law and the strength to study it and pass her exams.

Milky Bar Kid: an ear to listen to my worries, she always sends me little text messages which are great, even if I dont get to reply I always feel loved and thought about and I think she is awesome. When she was sick she drove for hours just to come up and see me and the girls, I think thats fab

Gruntygiggles: My substitue mummy....love you, thank you, you are the best x

[pookie]

+1 for Eddie Izzard ..just watched the marathon man program that was on bbc and he was in bad shape before he started. Amazing that he made it through considering the pain agony boredom etc. I guess it took a lot to overcome his personal demons and even more to do something so mad for so long.

Originally Posted by Scoobs

Eddie Izzard, David Walliams.

Odd choices for inspiration, but the challenges they have put themselves through to help other people are absolutely phenomenal.

Average Joes swimming the Channel and running 40 plus (nearly) back to back marathons. I actually don't like David Walliams very much but can't help but admire him for what he has initiated and achieved.

My inspiration is my Dad but I only realised this after he died, will be 10 years this week.

He was an old school grafter and couldn't say No to anyone. Throughout his life he always worked hard, in the RAF, own business as a driving instructor, police, security, and finally working for the then DSS as security guard. He was a proud man and fiercly loyal. Always standing up for whats right. I remember we had a miniture poodle that he used to walk every night. One night he was beaten up because 2 drunk lads were making fun of him and the dog! I was the one who found him and took him to the hospital.

He lived for his work and then at weekends played cricket and football ending up refereeing both. He semi retired in the April of him turning 65, in the September he was diagnosed with skin cancer, by December they could do nothing for him and Mum gave up work to nurse him at home. We had a fun but sad Christmas as a family in the March Mum phoned me to say she wasn't coping that particular day so I came home from work to help. I think he knew it was time to go cos he died early the next morning.

I still cry when I think of the harseness of it all. I remember him getting a phone call when he was sick asking him to referee a game that day. Although he knew he couldn't do it he really struggled to say no. I think if there had been a way of him doing it he would have lol

Probably explains alot about who I am!!!

No one. I have admiration for a lot of people who have achieved something from adversity but they don't motivate me or give me inspiration.

Hmmm, this is really making me think a lot!

Ever since I was tiny, I doted on my Granma. I used to have tantrums when Mum and Dad came to pick me. I was her shadow and would spend the entire school holidays with her. She instilled a lot of my morals in me and taught me from a very, very early age how to display good manners. My Granma, although she never admitted it, and will be shouting at me if she can see me type this, had an issue with alcohol. She worked as waitress and then eventually as bar managers all her life and back then, it was the done thing to have a drink whilst she worked. Despite this, she was always immaculately dressed, make up done perfectly and to be honest, a cut above everyone else.

Two years ago she suffered from a brain haemorrage (sp?) and fought back from it before being diagnosed with lung cancer. She immediately gave up smoking and had an almost militant attitude towards her treatment. She never complained. Unfortunately the cancer spread into her brain and 6 weeks after this was diagnosed, she had lost her battle. In the final 6 weeks she was well aware, and had accepted, she was dying. The last 2 weeks of her life was spent in the local hospital. She was in pain and her dignity was gone but she still managed to make me feel like I was the most important thing. She still made me laugh and held on to a (terrible) pic of me when I was little.

So in respect of my Granma, she inspires me to be brave, no matter what I face. To keep my head up, even if I feel like the wind is blowing in my face, and show the world that no matter what it throws at me, I will get through it.

With regards to motivation, at the minute, Cheryl (GG) is the one doing that! She is responsible for making me see a new path and helping me to get onto it.

There isn't anyone sports wise that I really look up to. Yeah, there are some amazing athletes but like others on here, I prefer everyday people. People I can relate to.

One of the biggest inspirations I had in my life was my music teacher at high school. I was very shy and lacking in confidence and was picked on (I won't say bullied because it wasn't quite that extreme) frequently by the "cool" kids. Miss Stewart recognised early on that I had an ability in music and she pushed me and gave me the confidence I needed. It was her that turned me into the "performer" I am today. If she hadn't, I would still be the shy little blonde girl sitting in the corner, now, generally, I am the one thats in the middle of things being silly and mischievious.

I think that in all stages of our lives we will have different people who motivate and inspire us and make us realise that we can give that little bit more.