Joe Petersen - Cycling
There are adventurers who seek obstacles. They look for journeys considered too challenging for most. They push harder, dig deep and suffer more. They put themselves through the physical wringer with the sole intent of reaching a higher plane of self awareness.
Consider cyclist Joe Petersen such an adventurer. Since taking up serious cycling at age 28, Joe quickly established himself as a competitor to be reckoned with. In addition to having won eight California State Time Trial Championships and numerous other national honors, Joe and his three teammates won the brutal 3,000-mile Race Across America in 1995. In fact, they won the event three consecutive years, setting a new transcontinental record of five days, six hours and four minutes in 1996.
To understand the phrase ‘push harder, dig deeper, suffer more,’ consider some of the challenges Joe faced during competitions.
During the 2000 Race Across America Joe crashed 600 miles into the competition; he finished the last 2,400 miles with three cracked ribs and a separated shoulder. In 2006 Joe was struck by a truck while cycling. The accident shattered his right clavicle. Two weeks later, with the shoulder bone-grafted, plated and screwed back together, Joe won a team triathlon with the fastest bike split of all competitors, including two top professionals. The next week he posted the fastest time in a Southern California time trial. A week later, he and a teammate established a new two-man transcontinental record for the Race Across America.
Now approaching 50 years old, Joe credits his ability to compete at such competitive levels to hard work, a positive outlook and intelligent nutritional choices, including a full array of Mannatech products. Some of his favorite products include Advanced Ambrotose™, PLUS, SPORT, Accelerator 3, Catalyst, FiberSlim™ and Emprizone®.
“As a personal trainer and motivational speaker, I exhort people to never say ‘I can’t.’ Challenge and test yourself constantly,” he says. “The human potential is so much greater than we can imagine. If you say you can’t, you won’t. Success doesn’t just happen; it is born from inner strength.”
Joe says he intends to compete as long as he can because he relishes the journey. He believes sports are a reflection of life. When all is said and done, it’s not the staged battles on the playing field that impact us, it’s the choices we make and the decisions we live by.
“There’s a champion in each and every one of us,” he says. “Why settle for less?”
Posted on Monday, July 21st, 2008
