Racing quotes or statements from interviews, books, etc.

[P!N20]

Such a long, long way and then fatigue hit me in such a way it felt like my stomach was flapping on my backbone. - Eileen Sheridan, talking about her record breaking ride from Land's End to John o' Groats in 1954.

[CXCommuter]

I do like this quote:
Moderators are like Club Handicappers; I often think they are wrong, but I dont want the job.

[Derny Driver]

"To prepare for a race there is nothing better than a good pheasant, some champagne and a woman."
Jacques Anquetil

[Farmer Elvis]

^^^^ what a quote!

[P!N20]

Pain is weakness leaving the body. - United States Marine Corps

[Big Pete 1]

"It's like wrestling a Gorilla. You don't quit when you're tired. You quit when the Gorilla is tired." - Fausto Coppi.

[P!N20]

It was everyone for themselves on the way down. We were just surviving. I was on my bike crying on the descent. I don’t ever feel sorry for myself, but it was one of the moments when — apart from being a commando and doing extremely hard things — I have never suffered so hard in my life. - Dag Otto Lauritzen recounting the descent of the Passo di Gavia at the 1988 Giro d'Italia.

[Chuck]

"Yes"
LA on Oprah.

[P!N20]

I sometimes used to sit on my bike, weeping with the the pain. - Eddy Merckx

[P!N20]

...at its best an early morning ride can have a sort of mystical quality to it, like the earth is a giant set of rollers and your pedal strokes are raising the sun. - Eben Weiss

[ironhanglider]

Ride lots. - Eddy Merckx.

Cheers,

Cameron

[P!N20]

Losing is not coming second. It's finishing knowing you could have done better. - Andrew Lauterstein.

[P!N20]

Somewhere he is out there, training while I am not. One day, when we meet, he will win. - Mike Krzyzewski

[P!N20]

There are no miracles. No freak victories. No God given genetic favours you can call on. You are all together devouring pavement like a whirring hurricane, yet you are all alone. Only you. Containing pain in a poker faced grimace so that others can't profit from it. Clenching your teeth. Holding strong when reason tells you to let go. The endless monologue rattling through your brain, coaxing you through it, striking deals with your legs. In this most circular pursuit everything always comes back to the beginning. Infinite. Hour upon hour given to the marginal victories of improvement. A little bit better than last week. The mind always tries to complicate, but the road to success is so enduringly simple. Just keep pedalling. - Pedla

[P!N20]

Let’s clear something up. There is no such thing as a “fast bike.” Bikes are neither fast nor slow. Bikes are shiny or expensive. Bikes have a lot of mass or a little. Without a rider, they are stationary. Physics holds a bike in place until you get on it and start pedaling. Even then the bike may not necessarily be fast. Of all the equipment on your bike, your legs are the most critical component. - Jim Gourley, Bike Weight and the Myth of ‘Fast’ Bikes, VeloNews.

[Sharkey]

"Dave has an impressive ability to reach into the toilet and pull out chocolate."

Jonothan Vaughters on Sir Dave Brailsford.

[Calvin27]

Already been a few 'shut up legs' fans.

Another of my favorites is Mike Tyson.

'Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face'.

[P!N20]

The best way to look good on a bike is to drop everyone on a climb. - Henrie Westlake

[P!N20]

The joy in the climb of any hill, the triumph of the summit, the moment when you pushed over the edge of your fear into the descent, to go fast, faster than ever, by yourself. Another freedom, granted by your bike, one earned, one that was yours. - Since6

[P!N20]

The legs are two beef sausages on a barbeque hissing anger at the flame that burns them. - Nikolai Razouvaev

[stevenaaus]

About Cervelo (and others) getting away with putting poorly manufactured BBs into their frames.
Koen "I suppose if you pay $5K I just expect you're an idiot in the first place."

[Big Pete 1]

I sometimes used to sit on my bike, weeping with the the pain. - Eddy Merckx

Many years ago I accidentally taped myself cycling home from a meeting. The ride was in a rural area, listening to the rhythm of my cycling, and the occasional car passing by, brought tears of personal struggle, determination, risks taken, and the love of the sport. I was surprised how emotional this sport is deep to our soul.

[P!N20]

Ride what you want.
Want what you ride.
Stick to this rule, and be satisfied.

Like what you build.
Build what you like.
Just remember, it’s only a bike.

Oldish cool frames
Newish cool parts
Make going fast easy, for crotchety old farts.

You may ask now
But soon you will know,
It really don’t matter, as long as they go.

- RobbieTunes, bikeforums.net

[P!N20]

It’s because gears are like money, and when the going gets tough, no matter how much or how little you have, you’re going to go through it all eventually. So if you don’t have much to begin with, then you’ve got no choice but to slug it out. Conversely, why get out of the saddle, wrestle with the bike, and pull with all your might on the cockpit when all you’ve got to do is downshift?

On the bike and in life, sometimes we’re flush, and sometimes we’re lean. Sometimes we’ve know we’ve got enough in reserve to reach the top, and sometimes we have no idea even where the top, is or if we’ll be able to keep turning over the pedals. But as long as we keep at it, we’ll get there. - Eben Weiss

[P!N20]

She was the best in the world. She wasn't going to get worse, I had to get better. - Anna Meares reflecting on her preparation for the 2012 Olympic sprint against Victoria Pendleton.