My brother approached me last weekend with a proposal. He wanted to start flipping bikes. He said that he would provide the capital, I would provide the knowledge, and we’d both pick up bikes/talk to people and split the profits 50/50. I told him I wasn’t sure, but was willing to try it. We purchased our first bike on Monday for $850 and just sold it today for $1900. Now I’m feeling pretty excited about it. Maybe we got lucky? Or maybe it was a simply knowing what a bike is actually worth and seeing a good deal. Probably both.

But flipping bikes got me thinking about coaching. As a coach, the goal is basically to flip athletes. They come in as a $850 dollar bike, and the goal is to have them leaving a $1900 dollar bike.

I take them as they are: strengths, weaknesses, everything. And I assess what is best to help them increase their abilities on the bike. Particularly with racing. Sometimes athletes need full upgrades, others just need to see the value that was already there. Usually they need a combination of both. What I mean by that is athletes can always do more than they think they can do. It’s like what Joe Friel said in his book the Cycling Training Bible “Every athlete I’ve ever coached [And he’s coached a lot of the worlds best athletes] has been more limited by their mind than their body.” Think about that. Joe Friel, has coached olympians, and he’s saying that they could have gone faster if their mind would have been stronger.

The mental side of training and racing isn’t everything, but it’s just as big and perhaps bigger than the physical side. They go hand in hand. As you have good training, you become mentally stronger, and as you become mentally stronger, you train and race faster. As one grows so does the other. As one decreases, so does the other.

So sometimes with athletes, they need to be flipped. They need to see their potential, which is high. Each athlete is a capable person, who can accomplish big goals if they’re willing to put in the work to become both mentally and physically strong.

If you want to be flipped for the better, get a coach.