In a simpler and more optimistic sense, what happens is that you stop quitting; you have to be made to quit.

That’s a big difference, and it can end up changing not only who you are as a rider but who you are as a person. The acclaim you receive for this, however, is as subtle as the transformation is monumental: You become taken for granted as a cyclist. Those who are always there when there’s a there worth being there for assume you always will be there with them. That’s your reward: you become ordinary.

[Many people pray for ordinary all the time. I love ordinary in my life as much as love extraordinary. And while the amounts don’t balance (I prefer ordinary in abundance and extraordinary in measured amounts), the reality is you can’t have one without the other.]