I've given gifts in the Tour de France and it's come back to bit me. So no gifts.

The answer is hard work. What are you doing on Christmas Eve? Are you riding your bike? January 1st - are you riding your bike?

I rode, and I rode, and I rode. I rode like I had never ridden, punishing my body up and down every hill I could find. I rode when no one else would ride.

I wanted to live, but whether I would or not was mystery, and in the midst of confronting that fact, even at that moment, I was beginning to sense that to stare into the heart of such a fearful mystery wasn't a bad thing. To be afraid is a priceless education. P 99

I believe that the mind powers the body, and once the mind says we want to do it, then the body will follow.

I've committed to surfing the rest of my life.

Live strong is exactly I guess what it says. It's one thing to live, but it's another thing to live strong, to attack the day and attack your life with a whole new attitude. This was a gift for me. I guess before the illness I just lived. Now, after the illness, I live strong.