together and we finish together . Ours is a group effort , focused on common goals---making it to the next hotel , doing the miles , helping others .
Relationships . We Chautauquans know that everyone who rides is a member of Club Chautauqua , part of a community of shared experience and common interests . During the day , everyone who rides joins a “ club within the club ” that suits their psyche best---Stud Boys with Stud Boys in the Stud Boy Club , Geekers with Geekers in the Geeker Club , Slow and Steady with Slow and Steady in the Slow and Steady Club . But at the end of the day , over drinks and dinner , these many morph into one , Club Chautauqua , united by the ride and a bond of sweat .
Relationships . We Chautauquans have noticed that inhibitions shrink into insignificance during the ride . Status and distance evaporate . Presidents yap with chefs . College professors yap with Board Room editors . Yapping during breakfast . Yapping during the morning “ upbrief ”. Yapping during Gatorade breaks . Yapping during lunch . Yapping while fixing flat tires and busted chains . Yapping at check-in . Yapping during the Budweiser Debrief . Yapping during dinner . Laughing the entire time at life , at bikes , at maps that aren ’ t read , at roads that disappear , at drivers who turn without signaling , at jobs lost to a younger manager . Relationships are built by doing---and then yapping about what ’ s been done .
Relationships . We Chautauquans acknowledge Chautauquans as members of “ Club Chautauqua ” during conference . We introduce Chautauquans during seminars . We Chautauquans high five each other in the hallways . We Chautauquans commiserate with other Chautauquans when they lose their jobs , and celebrate with them when they get new ones . We are a band of brothers , touched by fire , forever connected .
So we ride .
Exercise : We Chautauquans know that good health is the key to happiness and happiness is the business we ’ re in . Exercise energizes the exerciser . Good health releases the endorphins , restores the soul , provides the buzz , relieves the stress , elevates the confidence , unchains the animal . So---we Chautauquans ride bikes for the love of the sport , for the exercise it provides , for the stress it removes , for the joy of “ unspoken competition ,” for the community created when a group rides together , sweats together , laughs together , climbs hills together , shivers together .
We Chautauquans know that at conference , exercise removes The Sludge . Sludge deposited during seminars . Sludge deposited from high caloric , high cholesterol meals . Sludge deposited while drinking vodka rocks and expense account wines . Sludge can muddy the brain , goo the arteries , deaden the soul and shift the center of gravity earthward . Exercise is the antidote for The Sludge .
So we ride .
Reflection : We Chautauquans know that “ Doing demands debrief .” We know that it ’ s not the doing that makes us wise but the debrief once something ’ s done . Reflection takes time and unhurried opportunities to ponder . And we Chautauquans have the time and the opportunity and the inclination to ponder .
Reflection . We Chautauquans are a reflective lot . We reflect pre-ride over yogurt , mid-ride over pizza , and post ride over prime rib and merlot . Once the inhibitions are gone , when status and age and experience are removed by road grime and grease , we Chautauquans are predisposed to ask the Big Questions of ourselves and others . What is the good life ? Why work in clubs and not hotels ? How do we find balance in a business as looney tunes as ours ? What is the perfect club--- for you ? For me ? Why did you lose your job ? Why did you leave that job for this one ? Why did you get married ? Divorced ? Have kids ? Travel to India ? Read that book ? Lots of questions . Few answers .
So we ride .
Chautauqua---Time to Ride !!!
Club managers , spouses , girlfriends , boy friends , professors , students , editors , writers , golf pros , tennis pros , executive chefs and most anyone even remotely related to the business of clubs , need an opportunity to do “ stuff ” together , to achieve “ stuff ” together , to forge a bond of sweat together and to think deeply about the “ stuff ” of life---together .
We Chautauquans know how its done . Each year . At conference . During Chautauqua . Riding and reflecting . Bike on .
And enjoy the journey-------------------------------------
30 The Golf Marketing Professionals I www . golfindustrycentral . com . au