I took this picture back in 2009 during my first year of racing cyclocross. It was a hard season, finishing in the bottom 25%, getting lapped, popping at one lap into a race, etc. This was a particular race as it was one of the last ones for the season in our series (Santa Cross), and we took our dog out onto the course during warm up and Coco managed to jump both barriers much better than most people could. I thought to myself: “if he can jump a barrier twice his size, what is my excuse?” That really put things into a clearer perspective and motivated me to do better over the years. He motivates me when we go mountain biking as he is always by my side no matter how far back I drop him. He keeps going and doesn’t give up. What motivates and inspires you? Think about that next time you are hitting the wall and don’t think you have anything left in the tank.