Every cyclist begins somewhere.

For this guy, somewhere happens to include a bicycle, a considerable belly, and the firm conviction that there is a 150-pound climbing machine hiding underneath it all.

He can already see him.

Lean. Muscular. Fast.

The sort of cyclist who floats up mountain passes while carrying on a conversation.

150 pounds. Sixteen percent body fat. Legendary FTP. Hills crushed.

There are only a few minor details standing between the man beside the bike and the man in the thought bubble.

Like losing a substantial amount of weight.

Getting on the bicycle regularly.

Learning that buying lighter components is not technically the same thing as losing weight.

And perhaps reconsidering the role cookies currently play in his training program.

The dream is probably unrealistic.

But that's the interesting thing about dreams.

They don't have to come completely true to take you somewhere worth going.

Suppose he starts riding.

At first, five miles feels like an accomplishment. So he rides five.

Eventually five becomes ten.

He discovers a route he likes. Then another. He begins riding twice a week. Then three times.

The first hill requires stopping halfway up.

A month later, he reaches the top without stopping.

Six months later, he wonders why he ever thought it was such a big hill.

The scale begins moving too.

Maybe 150 pounds never happens.

Maybe the six-pack remains safely hidden from public view.

And perhaps his FTP never becomes remotely legendary.

But fifty pounds?

Possible.

A resting heart rate he hasn't seen in twenty years?

Possible.

A fifty-mile ride through the mountains?

Very possible.

One morning, he may find himself standing beside that same bicycle, several years older but looking and feeling considerably younger.

He still won't be the guy in the thought bubble.

He'll be something better.

The guy who kept going.

And somewhere along the way, he'll discover one of cycling's better-kept secrets:

You don't have to become the cyclist you imagined.

You just have to keep becoming a cyclist you never thought you could be.