In my last podcast I mentioned a book called From Good to Great. In it the authors looks at what it takes to go from being an average company to being a great one, although he also used several sports analogies because of the direct ties between achieving greatness in two fields. One of the most striking things to me was how in both cases the use of technology was a good indicator of whether companies were on a good path or not.

In the book they pointed out how great companies would use new technology to accelerate progress that was already there while others would use technology to stimulate progress. In other words, one group was experiencing good results and used technology to make them even better while another group was dead in the water with no idea of what to do and used technology to try and get things going again.

This principle also ties in to how a lot of riders are told to use technology to improve their ride. They are not encouraged to follow a good training program and/ or take a skills course, instead they are fed a steady dose of technology to stimulate progress. It is no wonder that when the progress stops they look to technology to get the ball rolling again.

If you’ve stalled out in your progress as a rider you don’t need a lighter bike, bigger wheels or more travel. Odds are you can’t really push your current bike to its limits – you’re holding it back!

Do some stretching, start using one of my training program and visit sites like www.betterride.net, www.bikeskills.com and www.leelikesbikes.com to find out more on skills training. Don’t fall into the mind trap of thinking that your equipment really matters that much. It has its place but it is at the end of the improvement equation, not at the beginning of it.

-James Wilson-