SKATE TIP OF THE WEEK
Inline secrets from the world's top skaters and coaches

This week's tip:

Strategies for Success

By Tony Muse
May 23, 2008

When I was 16, I headed off to my first World Championships on a team that included my brother Dante, the world champion Donnie Van Patter, and my then-skating hero Bobby Kaiser.

For some reason, Bobby took me under his wing. He taught me all he knew about international competition and, in his last race, let me win my first gold medal.

Two things that Bobby told me continue to resonate with me to this day:

1) Be the Bus

Bobby used to tell a story about a boy who was on a mission. The boy's elders told him he needed to catch a certain bus to get where he was going. The boy spent many hours trying to figure out how to catch the bus: where and when it stopped and where to get off. But no matter how hard he tried, he was unable to reach his destination.

Then one day, he forgot about the bus. Instead, he woke up early and set out on foot. Somehow he arrived at his destination with plenty of time to spare.

Bobby said, "If you want to make an impact, you have to be the bus."

Back then, Tom Peterson (future founder of Hyper Wheels) was the only consistent performer on the U.S. World Team. Years of skating indoors had polished his turns and sprint, so he performed well on the track, although he was less successful on the road ...

And that's where the Italians dominated; they controlled the pace and then lined up like a train to out-teamwork, out-muscle and out-sprint everyone else.

Everyone tried to imitate them, but few were able to beat the "Blue Train."

But then Bobby decided to be the bus that beats the train.

From then on, he was no longer content to sit back in the pack and wait for the race to unfold. Instead, he was the race.

He never sat in the pack without a reason, and when he went to the front, it was because he was going somewhere. He never led just to lead or to take his turn at the front. Instead, he spent every second of the race as if what he was doing was how the race was meant to be.

With this simple change of attitude, Bobby not only became the man to beat, he controlled who would win, place or show. No longer did races end in field sprints; instead, they finished in breakaways with wobbly legs and cramped muscles.

Bobby became legendary worldwide as the man who took the race to the Italians and beat them consistently. He changed the nature of our sport, turning distance races into endurance events, and paved the way for the U.S. domination of Worlds.

2) Go Out on a Limb

At 16, I didn't think I belonged on the same track with my hero ... or at the World Championships, for that matter. So Bobby Kaiser had a lot of baby sitting to do.

To be honest, though, I was born with a silver skating spoon in my mouth. My parents owned skating rinks, one of which was connected to our house. So naturally, I skated a bunch.

And I was the youngest in a family of skaters. One of my brothers was just ending his competitive skating career and focusing on coaching; another (Dante) was developing into a champion ... and I hated to lose to him.

My background made me fast but didn't prepare me for the mental challenges of international competition.

One day, Bobby asked me if I liked fruit and if I knew where it came from. I lied and said, "yes," at which point he launched into another of his proverbs:

Fruit is delicious and is good for you, he said. But there is only one way to get to it — you have to go out on a limb.

Sometimes, the limb will break, he said. But the only way to get the fruit is to go out on a limb.

He knew what he was talking about. If he hadn't tried something new, he would've never beat the Italians. He took a big risk, and that allowed him to rewrite the culture of distance racing and define an era.

Using the Rules

For 20 years now, ever since meeting Bobby, my rules for training and racing have been: be the bus and go out on a limb.

Going out on a limb has helped me win numerous races that I did not deserve to win. In one recent race in the rain, I was physically drained and struggling technically with slippery pavement.

Nonetheless, I chose to go to the front, which allowed me to control the tempo. The tactic worked. Since I was leading and skating in the only decent lane, no one even tried to pass me.

Being the bus has had an even bigger impact on my career. In fact, I think it was the reason I was able to dominate my era. I became the sprinter the Italians had never had to compete against. And by also preparing for the longer distances, I was able to help my teammates in long races while the rest of the sprinters were on the sidelines.

As I get older, I find I have to rely more and more on my mind and perseverance. But thanks to Bobby's proverbs, I know how to get it done.

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Tony Muse was the younger half of the legendary Muse brother team of the late-1980s and early-1990s. The two dominated speed skating as the racing world moved from quad to inline skates. Tony won 18 gold medals at the World Championships and another seven at the Pan American Games. These days, he is a father of five and a real estate broker in his homeown of West Des Moines, Iowa. He still races and is a member of the Luigino/Answer racing team.

• Luigino Racing

Related reading:

• Skate Tip of the Week Archive
• Beginners Guide to Outdoor Racing
• Beginners Guide to Inline Skating